Ann M. Hutchison is a Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, and Academic Dean Emerita; in 2014 she retired from Glendon College, York University where she was Chair of the Department of English for five and a half years; she is also Associate Professor (status only) at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto. Research on women’s literacy and women’s education in the mediaeval period led to her work on St. Birgitta of Sweden (c. 1303-73) and the English house, Syon Abbey, founded by Henry V in 1415 with an unbroken history of more than 600 years. She has written articles on the importance of St. Birgitta in England, the history of Syon and its devotional practices, co-edited a 16-century life of St. Birgitta, and edited a monograph on the Life of Sister Mary Champney. In November 2023, she was awarded a doctorate of Sacred Letters, Honoris Causa, from the University of St Michael’s College.
Michaelmas, or the Mass of St. Michael, is an old and varied celebration said to have begun in the Eastern Church in the 4th century (celebrated on 8th November) and to have spread to the Western Church in the 5th century when a basilica near Rome was dedicated in honour of Saint Michael the Archangel on 30 September, beginning with celebrations on the eve of that day, 29th September. St. Michael was venerated as the greatest of the archangels and a mighty defender of the church against Satan. Before the Fall, Lucifer, the “light bearer”, outranked Michael, but God chose this lowly archangel to lead the charge and cast out the rebel angels from Heaven, as is powerfully depicted in Milton’s Paradise Lost (see especially Book VI). With his sword “… it met/The sword of Satan with steep force to smite/… deep ent’ring shared [cut off]/All his right side; Then Satan first knew pain,/And writhed him to and fro convolved [contorted];… (320-34).
In The Book of Revelation (XII: 7-12) Satan is depicted as a dragon:
“And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him.” (Jerusalem Bible, Rev. 12: 7-9).
This has inspired numerous artistic representations of St. Michael slaying the dragon with his sword. One unusual, but particularly apt, example is the bronze sculpture created in 1958 by Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) for the new Coventry Cathedral. Prominent on an outer wall, the statue greets visitors entering the new cathedral which has arisen beside the ruins of the original mediaeval cathedral dedicated to St. Michael and bombed in 1940 by the Nazis in World War II. Unusually, St Michael holds a spear in an upright position, rather than a sword pointing downward, and he stands triumphantly over a writhing Satan who is depicted as a human with horns, rather than a dragon.
Michael appears elsewhere in the Bible. His name in Hebrew translates as a rhetorical question “Who is like God?” to which the answer is “There is none like God” or “There is none as famous and powerful as God”. There are later depictions of Michael with the Latin translation of his name on his shield “Quis est Deus”. He is viewed as a mighty warrior, defender and advocate. In the Book of Daniel (10:9-11:2) Michael, called a prince (10:13,21), appears to Daniel after he has seen a vision during his battles with the kings of Persia and tells Daniel that he has been sent to help him by reinforcing his strength and supporting him. In the Letter of Jude Michael is briefly mentioned as one who did not use the language of abuse even when arguing with Satan about the corps of Moses (verse 9).
St. Michael is also said to have responded to the prayers of Pope Gregory the Great (as he later became) when near the end of the 6th century a severe plague ravaged the city of Rome, even claiming the life of Pope Pelagius II. It was an extraordinarily difficult time for the people of the city, and on his election as Pope (590-604), Gregory I immediately set out to call upon the mercy of God. He organized a massive procession around the city, inviting everyone to pray to God that the plague would be lifted. As the procession was going around the city, St. Gregory reached the Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian and saw an angel of the Lord standing atop the castle wiping a bloody sword and sheathing it, and he understood that that marked the end of the plague. Eventually a statue of St. Michael the Archangel, sheathing his sword, was placed on the top of Castel Sant’Angelo; it remains a constant reminder of the mercy of God and how he responded to the prayers and supplications of the people.
There are a number of similar examples of St. Michael guarding what might be viewed as a sanctuary. Mont-Saint-Michele in Normandy, Mount Saint Michael in Cornwall, Skellig Michael in County Kerry, Ireland, and the remaining tower of St. Michael’s Church on the Glastonbury Tor, are among the most well-known. Since Michaelmas falls near the equinox, in the northern hemisphere this holy day is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days. It was one of the English, Welsh and Irish quarter days when accounts such as rent had to be settled, as is evoked vividly near the beginning of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Michaelmas in an extended sense denotes autumn and is associated with the beginning of the academic year and in many universities in the UK (such as Oxford and Cambridge), Ireland and some Commonwealth countries is the name of the first term. In keeping with this tradition, the University of St. Michael’s College marks the beginning of each academic year with a mass on or near the 29th September and welcomes back its community and its new students. This year Michaelmas is being celebrated on 26th September since the 29th falls on a Sunday.
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Join the St. Michael’s community as we celebrate the university’s patron saint, St. Michael, with the annual Michaelmas festivities on Thursday, September 26. Michaelmas is the feast day for the three archangels, Michael, Raphael and Gabriel. In addition to being the college’s patron saint, Michael is also the patron saint for the Archdiocese of Toronto and many of the city’s founding Catholic institutions are named after him.
“The tradition of celebrating our patron saint honours our college’s roots while also serving as a second orientation, one that welcomes the entire community back to campus each fall,” explained Sonal Castelino, Director of Mission and Ministry.
The celebrations commence as faculty don their academic regalia for an academic procession into St. Basil’s Church, where a special Mass will be held at 12:10 p.m. Afterwards, the festivities move outside to Elmsley Lane where there will be food trucks, cake and games organized by various student clubs.
Campus Ministry and SMC Wellness teams have collaborated to offer students a family-style dinner. Starting at 4:30 p.m., students are invited to a taco and karaoke night in Macrina Hall at St. Basil’s Church.
A highlight of the Michaelmas celebrations will be St. Michael’s Schola Cantorum’s first concert of the season. Schola Cantorum is an auditioned choir that draws members from the entire St. Michael’s community, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, alumni and parishioners of St. Basil’s Church. This year’s concert will take place on Monday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Basil’s Church.
The concert will feature joyful music written to celebrate this angelic feast, including Michael Haydn’s festive Missa Sancti Gabrielis and Te Deum, together with selections by Baroque composers Grandi, Torres and Young, and the beautiful chant propers of the liturgy. The Schola, directed by Campus Ministry music director, Dr. Christina Labriola, will be joined by four invited soloists and accompanied by a stellar instrumental ensemble under the leadership of Christopher Verrette. Admission is free for this event, with donations welcome in support of Campus Ministry’s outreach to St. Basil’s Out of the Cold program. All are welcome to attend.
Sonal Castelino, xmcj is the Director of Campus Ministry at the University of St. Michael’s College.
At the end of this week (Friday, September 29), we celebrate Michaelmas. In one word this is our university’s feast day commemorating St. Michael, one of seven archangels present in the Christian (Muslim and Jewish) tradition. But one could pose a basic question: Why St. Michael?
A simple response: St. Michael is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Toronto and thus most of the initial institutions bore and still bear this name: St. Michael’s Hospital, St. Michael’s College School, St. Michael’s Cathedral, and so, University of St. Michael’s College. While this is an interesting piece of history, for us, today, 171 years later, how do we live, appropriate, give meaning to this name?
Why St. Michael’s today? Is this name relevant today?
The name Michael means, ‘Who is like God/The Divine?’ and an angel means messenger. As a university community that desires to embody its place and history of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Catholic Social Teaching, as well as remain active and affected by the questions, issues, realities of today, there is a tension and, in my humble opinion, an invitation to all of USMC to lean into–and wrestle with– this tension so that we may bear fruit as an institution. Just as we have throughout history these 171 years.
St. Michael the archangel may have some relevance here after all as a messenger who points to the source/the Divine, while also upholding his role of the defender. Some of us may be attracted to the military image that St. Michael presents but that is not where I intend to move us. Instead, we could look at St. Michael as a keeper, a guarantor of a tradition we have received and continue to bring to life.
While we may not all be Christians in this university community, I hope that all of us appreciate the legacy of our humble beginnings. Our mission, Grounded in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, and committed to the education of the whole person, the University of St. Michael’s College challenges all its members to exercise transformative leadership in service of the common good and care of all creation, only remains possible because of where we come from. The Basilian Father’s motto of ‘Teach me goodness, discipline, and knowledge,’ the Loretto Sisters, inspired by their foundress Mary Ward to be seekers of truth and doers of justice, and the Sisters of St. Joseph’s impetus of communion with God through the welcoming of ourselves and the other are how we have arrived at our values of
Community — Human Dignity — Service — Social Justice — Sustainability
These are not empty words or frilled catchphrases but each of these unveils both where we come from and where we want to go. This is the beauty of tradition and thus feeds into our desire of celebration.
These values are not easy to live every day. Neither is the commitment to the education of the whole person: when there are conflicting priorities and the intellect, or the social, or the spiritual, may seem more relevant than the other. But this is where that fruitful tension returns and what makes our story more interesting – our success is in the success of everyone. We become a prominent institution when no one remains behind or is forgotten, and when everyone contributes to making our university what it is: within the classroom and outside. This is our posture of defense, a witness to the importance of wholehearted faith, and gratitude for all that was given so that we may gladly celebrate this tradition. Through the intercession of St. Michael, may this continue to be so.
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Catherine Mulroney, St. Mike’s Editorial Manager, holds a BA and an MDiv from St. Michael’s. She arrived on campus shortly after the statue of St. Michael was installed in the quad and remembers the debate well. As one of the creators of the InsightOut blog, she is happy to note that today’s piece marks the blog’s 170th entry – on St. Mike’s 170th anniversary. Happy Michaelmas!
If asked to name the heart of the St. Mike’s campus, it would be tough to come up with a single answer because there are so many correct responses. I’d start with our classrooms, because that is where the essential work of a university takes place. But the learning that happens in the classroom spills over into the special lectures and social events that take place in Brennan Hall, and into our residences, where friendships are formed, and to the Kelly Library, with its mix of academic services and the welcoming space of the Kelly Café. Every corner of our campus is infused with purpose, dedicated to supporting students as they learn more about themselves and the world — and how they are called to serve that world.
In the days leading up to our annual celebration of Michaelmas on September 29th, though, I would point to the statue of St. Michael, our patron, in the quad. St. Mike’s archivist Jessica Barr notes that Michael was created by Anne Allardyce and that the 15 ½ ft tall stainless steel work was commissioned by the Collegium to mark the 125th anniversary of the college. As we celebrate our 170th anniversary, Michael remains a powerful symbol of our purpose and our place in the world.
Those who were around in the days when Michael was new to campus often mention that the work prompted much debate. It certainly isn’t the traditional Renaissance Michael, adorned in armor and leather battle skirt, sword held aloft. That the work was contentious doesn’t surprise, because change is often unsettling, and when art is effective it often moves us out of our comfort zones. The lively discussions offering interpretations of Michael speak to our role as a liberal arts university. Our purpose is to encourage students and others to participate in fruitful, often challenging, discussions about our world and our understanding of what we know and what we think we know, helping to clarify and deepen our thinking on topics such as faith and beauty – and conflict.
Michael can be seen as the heart of St. Mike’s because its distinctive look points not only to our Catholic roots but also to our place as a home to a diverse student population, as the Archangel Michael is recognized across the Abrahamic religions. It is fitting, therefore, that the statue provides great orientation to anyone visiting our campus and offers an ideal meeting spot. Often colleagues crossing the park to attend meetings at the University of Toronto will meet up in the centre of the quad, and it always makes me happy to pass by Michael and see students seated on the statue’s surrounding wall, chatting about everything from a recent lecture through to plans for the weekend.
Michael also deserves to be considered the heart of the campus because it sits in the middle of the quad, surrounded by both dorm rooms and classrooms, its stark beauty standing in stunning contrast to the green space encircling it. There’s a reason many refer to St. Mike’s as an oasis in the city, as our grounds are an inviting outdoor space not only for students but also for neighbours in the local condos. Whether it’s the students monitoring our bee boxes or groundskeeper John Scarcelli planting milkweed in our rock gardens to encourage monarch butterflies to visit, we are dedicated to creating a sustainable campus both indoors and outdoors, and Michael is ensconced in with the middle of it all.
But Michael also deserves to be considered the heart of the campus because of how the archangel is depicted. From many angles, the statue looks poised to take flight, a classic metaphor for university life. Our goal as an institution of higher learning is to help our students find their purpose and their goals, helping them learn how to launch into life. At the same time, though, the wings of the statue also suggest protection, safe haven, and welcome, reflective of our commitment to offering students a safe and welcoming place for them to think and learn and wrestle with the great questions of life.
That welcome, of course, extends to our alumni and friends. As we mark Michaelmas this Thursday, September 29, which is not only the feast of our patron saint but also the day on which many of the world’s great universities mark the beginning of the fall term, everyone is invited to join in the celebrations. St. Mike’s does not exist in isolation, in an aloof ivory tower, but very much as part of the world and we are eager to come together as a community to celebrate that ongoing reality. We hope to see you then.
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Dr. David Sylvester is the 8th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. A professor of medieval social and economic history, he holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Fordham University, New York City and has taught for three decades in universities in Canada and the United States. For the 50th post in the InsightOut series, Dr. Sylvester offers special greetings for Michaelmas.