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November 16, 2025 – Thanksgiving is the next major feast day. (There’s a large gap between that holiday and the Halloween Triduum.) And as noted in past posts, the idea behind the holy-day feast goes back long before 1621, Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims.

For Native Americans, “gathering to give thanks was already a familiar custom, taking place not just annually, but 13 times throughout the lunar, calendar year – a cycle known as the Thirteen Moons.” As one Wampanoag said, “Thanksgivings are a big part of our culture. Giving thanks is how we pray.” (The Wampanoag helped Pilgrims survive their first winter in 1620-21.)

And something else to remember: Of the 102 Mayflower Pilgrims who landed in December 1620, less than half survived the following winter that led to November 1621. And of the 18 adult women only four survived those 11 months. (“And you think today is bad?”) Anyway, it turns out there’s a good reason special days of thanksgiving have been around a long time. Research has shown that giving thanks can reduce pain, reduce depression and improve immunity and sleep. “As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they’ve found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive.”

Gratitude is a powerful human emotion… [T]his simple practice can lead to profound positive changes in mood, resilience, and overall well-being… Gratitude can boost emotional resilience by focusing on positive things in life instead of toxic emotions like envy, jealousy, resentment, and anxiety.

In 1620 the Pilgrims just wanted to make it through another harsh New England winter.

But why did they leave the Old World to “The New” where less than half survived? For one thing the Pilgrims spent years in Holland trying to escape persecution from the Established Church in England. Yet while Holland had tolerance and security, there were troubling signs. Those signs included a threat of invasion by Spain (which then owned Holland as a colony) and also:

The Netherlands was … a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine. Their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed by. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there. (Emphasis added.)

But after leaving England – finally – they faced a treacherous voyage across the North Atlantic, during which one member, John Howland, got swept overboard. So when the Mayflower finally landed at “Plymouth Rock” – at long last – William Bradford memorialized the event:

“Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth.” (Emphasis added.)

That was from Bradford’s classic book Of Plymouth Plantation, to which Wikipedia added that the “passengers who had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving.” And by the way, John Howland did more than survive after being swept overboard into that “vast and furious ocean.” He lived on to age 80 and ended up populat[ing] America with two million descendants. 

John and Elizabeth Howland founded one of the three largest Mayflower families and their descendants have been “associated largely with both the ‘Boston Brahmins‘ and Harvard’s ‘intellectual aristocracy’ of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.” American actors Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), Anthony Perkins (1932-1992), and Alec Baldwin (b. 1958) are counted among Howland’s descendants.

But we digress. Meanwhile, back to the Pilgrims. After landing at the tip of Cape Cod, then trying to find a good place to spend the winter, their ordeal was far from over. Most notably there was the risk of starvation: “The Pilgrims had no way of knowing that the ground would be frozen by the middle of November, making it impossible to do any planting.” The frozen ground and starving conditions led to disease, and as Wikipedia noted, “During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able and willing to feed and care for the rest.” 

Also, the surviving colonists had to let the graves in the new cemetery “overgrow with grass for fear the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become.” On the other hand there was Squanto, a Patuxet Native American. He taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn, and served as an interpreter. (He’d learned English during travels in England.)  “Additionally the Wampanoag leader Massasoit had donated food stores to the fledgling colony during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient.”

So somehow the fledgling band of colonists survived, and celebrated their first Thanks-giving:

The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.  The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.

So get ready for your Thanksgiving dinner of eel, mussels and beetroot. And if you feel like giving thanks to the Lord but don’t know how to say it, see the full Lectionary readings at Thanksgiving Day for some ideas. Like “Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them.” Or “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The upper image is courtesy of Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner By Thomas Nast – Image Results. See also Thanksgiving (United States) – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s On the first Thanksgiving – Part I, and On the first Thanksgiving – Part II, On Thanksgiving 2015, and On Thanksgiving – 2016. Also, more recently, On Thanksgiving 2022 – and an Unknown American Icon (which detailed John Howland’s full story), Between Halloween and Thanksgiving – 2023, Thanksgiving 2023 – and an “epileptic Rabbit Trail,” and On Judgment (Good or Bad) – and Thanksgiving 2024.

The Mayflower originally landed at the tip of Cape Cod, then tried to sail south to Virginia, but contrary winds forced them to turn back. For more see Plymouth Rock | Geology, Legend, History, & Facts | Britannica: “The rock, now much reduced from its original size thanks to damage from being moved and to the depredations of souvenir seekers, rests on the coast of Plymouth Bay… The Pilgrims – who made their first North American landfall on Cape Cod, not at Plymouth – did not mention any rocks in the earliest accounts of Plymouth colony. Plymouth Rock’s historic significance was not generally recognized until 1741, when Thomas Faunce spoke up to stop construction of a wharf that would have covered it. Faunce, then 94 years old, was the son of a settler who had arrived in Plymouth only three years after the Pilgrims.” 

The lower image is courtesy of The Puritan By Augustus St. Gaudens, – Image Results. The Wikipedia article on Thanksgiving included this caption about the statue: “The ‘buckle hat’ atop the sculpture’s head, now associated with the Pilgrims in pop culture, was fictional; Pilgrims never wore such an item, nor has any such hat ever existed as a serious piece of apparel.” See also – on the “American Myth” cite – The 40 Most Enduring Myths in American History — Best Life. Number 16 said, “Pretty much everything you know about Thanksgiving isn’t true… The real story involves plagues, and Pilgrims showing up because they thought the Native Americans were sick or dead, so it’d be easy to steal their food.” (Not so Kumbaya.)

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November 1, 2025 – We call it “Halloween,” but few know the October 31 Eve is just one of three days called the Halloween “Triduum.” (Meaning three days.) It’s also called Allhallowtide:

The word Allhallowtide was first used in 1471, and is derived from three words: the Old English word hallow, meaning ‘holy’, the word tide, meaning ‘time’ or ‘season’ [see Eastertide or Christmastide] and all (from Old English eall) meaning “every.” The latter part of the word Hallowmas is derived from the word Mass. The words hallow and saint are synonyms.

And speaking of Old English, its word for “saint” was halig, which as an adjective meant holy or sacred. It eventually became “hallow” – as easier to say? – which led to the main triduum event, All Hallows’ Day, November 1. (What we now call “All Saints’ Day.”) And since the night before a big day is often called its evening or “eve” – think Christmas Eve – the full old-timey name for the night before November 1 was All Hallows’ Evening. (Or “Eve.”) In time that got shortened to All Hallows’ E’en, then to Hallows’ E’en – dropping the “all” – and finally just “Halloween.”

So much for etymology, but what about all those weird things people do on All Hallows’ E’en? And what’s it all about anyway? Is it just an excuse for wearing crazy costumes, getting lots of candy or watching really creepy movies, as so many seem to think?

Actually, Wikipedia said the three days are times “to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints, and all faithful departed Christians.” The main day of the three is November 1, now called All Saints Day, but previously called Hallowmas. It was established sometime between 731 and 741 – over 1,300 years ago – “perhaps by Pope Gregory III.”

Put another way, November 1 honors “all the saints and martyrs, both known and unknown.” In other words, special people in the Church. (A saint is defined as one “having an exceptional degree of holiness,” while a martyr is someone “killed because of their testimony of Jesus.”) On the other hand, November 2 – All Souls’ Day – was designed to honor “all faithful Christians … unknown in the wider fellowship of the church, especially family members and friends.’” In other words, the rest of us poor schmucks. (That is, those who have gone on before.) Also, consider this:

Given that many Christian cemeteries are interdenominational in nature, All Souls Day observances often have an ecumenical dimension, with believers from various Christian denominations praying together and cooperating to adorn graves.

Another note: Ecumenism means that Christians even from far different denominations “should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity.” Which would be a nice change of pace for this year’s November 2.

But again, what about all those strange “Eve of All Hallow’s” customs? It seems they started with the old-time idea that evil spirits were strongest during the long nights of winter. And that on the night of October 31 the “barriers between our world and the spirit world” were at their most permeable; the barrier between this world and the next was at is lowest point. Which brings up the masks and costumes that are a big part of Halloween. In the old days people wore masks or costumes to disguise their identities. The idea was to keep the ghosts or spirits – coming from the netherworld – “from recognizing live people in this ‘material world.’”

The same is true of bonfires; literally bonefires, fires where bones were burned. One idea? Evil spirits could be driven away with fire and noise. Also, old-timers thought the fires brought comfort to “souls in purgatory and people prayed for them as they held burning straw up high.”

Then there are those pumpkins. Some other old-time people set out carved pumpkins on their windowsills to keep “harmful spirits” out of their home. But yet another tradition said  jack-o’-lanterns “represented Christian souls in purgatory.” And while today jack-o’-lanterns are made from pumpkins, they were originally carved from large turnips.

In turn, both the jack-o’-lantern and Will-o’-the-wisp – see a Japanese interpretation at right – are tied in with the strange ghostly light known as ignis fatuus. (From the Medieval Latin for “foolish fire.”) That refers to the “atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached:”

Tradition had it that this ghostly light – seen by travelers at night and “especially over bogs, swamps or marshes – resembled a flickering lamp. The flickering lamp then receded if you approached it, and so it “drew travelers from their safe paths,” to their doom…

And about traveling on All Hallows E’en. (Holding a candle.) If you hiked from 11:00 p.m. until midnight, your had to be careful. If your candle kept burning, that was a good omen. (The traveler would be safe in the upcoming “season of darkness.”) But if the candle went out, “the omen was bad indeed.” (The thought was that the candle had been blown out by witches…)

But once again, the Halloween Triduum officially ends on November 2, All Souls’ Day. The idea iss to remember the souls of the dear departed, illustrated by the painting below. Good Christians remember deceased relatives on the day, and – in many churches – the following Sunday includes a memorial service for those who died in the past year. Which should make for the Good News of Halloween. Accordingly, here’s wishing you:

A Happy “All Hallow’s Triduum!”

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The upper image is courtesy of Allhallowtide – Wikipedia, with the caption:  “A graveyard outside a Lutheran church in Röke, Sweden on the feast of All Hallows. Flowers and lighted candles are placed by relatives on the graves of their deceased loved ones.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2018’s The THREE days of Hallowe’en, The Halloween Triduum – 2019, On the Hallowe’en “Triduum” – 2021, and On Halloween 2023 – and a Sheol “rabbit trail.”

The lower image is courtesy of All Souls’ Day – Wikipedia.  The caption: “All Souls’ Day by William Bouguereau.” See also Allhallowtide, and All Saints’ Day – Wikipedia.

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October 23 is the Feast Day for James, brother of Jesus, also known as St. James of Jerusalem. (Where he ended up later in life.) He’s one of several “Jameses” in the New Testament…

…about which there seems to be some confusion, not least of all on my part. He’s sometimes confused with James, the son of Zebedee, also called James the Greater, “to distinguish him from James, son of Alphaeus (James the Less)…

And if that wasn’t confusing enough, this James of Jerusalem is also known as “James the Just.” (Because of how pious he became in response to the Crucifixion; he changed from not believing in Jesus to becoming one of His most devoted followers. See John 7:5, that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe His claims – “even His own brothers did not believe in Him” – from which some infer that this James “was not a disciple of the Lord until after the Resurrection.”)

But while many New Testament writers refer to him as brother of Jesus, Catholic teaching holds that he was actually a cousin, or step-brother “from a previous marriage of Joseph.” And tradition holds that for many years he was the leader of the Christian congregation in Jerusalem, and that he wrote the Epistle of James. (“Although the Epistle itself does not state this explicitly.”)

And speaking of confusion, there appear to be at least three men named James mentioned in the New Testament, and possibly as many as eight. That led me in past posts to confuse him with “St. James the Greater,” whose feast day is July 25. (Among other things, James the Greater is the “patron saint of pilgrims,” especially Camino pilgrims like me.)

This James is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, who calls him “the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ.” Josephus also reports that he was much respected even by the Pharisees for his piety and strict observance of the Law. However, his enemies took advantage of an interval between Roman governors in 62 AD to have him put to death. His death is also reported by the second-century Christian writer Hegesippus.

For more enlightenment on this topic see Men Named James in the New Testament – Agape Bible Study, detailed in the notes. More to the point, the James remembered on October 23 is – as noted – said to have written the Epistle of James. Other New Testament books – the Pauline epistles and Acts of the Apostles  – show him as key to the Christians of Jerusalem.

When Paul arrives in Jerusalem to deliver the money he raised for the faithful there, it is to James that he speaks, and it is James who insists that Paul ritually cleanse himself at Herod’s Temple to prove his faith…  Paul describes James as being one of the persons to whom the risen Christ showed himself … and in Galatians 2:9 Paul lists James with Cephas (better known as Peter) and John the Apostle as the three “pillars” of the Church.

There’s also confusion on how he died. “According to Josephus James was stoned to death by Ananus ben Ananus.” But Clement of Alexandria relates that ‘James was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club.’” Either way, he was important.

Next up, Saints Simon and Jude, two of the other 12 Apostles, whose Feast Day is October 28.

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The upper image is courtesy of St. James Of Jerusalem Brother Of Jesus – Image Results.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For more on this “James” in the New Testament, see St. James of Jerusalem at The Lectionary – Satucket. Or James, brother of Jesus – Wikipedia. I also borrowed from On Saints Luke, and James of Jerusalem – 2021. And re: Men Named James in the New Testament. The site listed the following men named James in the New Testament:  1) James the son of Zebedee and brother of the Apostle St. John (James the Greater);  2) James the “brother” of Jesus (whose Feast Day is October 23);  3) the Apostle James, “son of Alphaeus;”  and 4) James, the father of the Apostle Jude. Other sources indicate there were as many as six “Jameses” in the Bible.

See also Hegesippus (chronicler) – Wikipedia: “Hegesippus’ works are now entirely lost, save eight passages concerning Church history quoted by Eusebius… Through Eusebius, Hegesippus was also known to Jerome, who is responsible for the idea that Hegesippus “wrote a history of all ecclesiastical events from the passion of our Lord down to his own period,” c[irca] 110 – c. 180 AD.

The lower image is courtesy of Saints Simon And Jude Images – Image Results.

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October 14, 2025 – Saturday, October 18 is the feast of St Luke, Evangelist. He wrote the third and last “synoptic” gospel. (See below.) The first one – Mark’s – was written “as early as the mid 50s.” (A.D.) Matthew’s came somewhere between 61 and 70 A.D. But scholars like Isaac Asimov say Luke wrote his Gospel some time later, between 71 and 80 A.D. As to those “synoptics:”

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are considered synoptic gospels on the basis of many similarities between them that are not shared by the Gospel of John. “Synoptic” means here that they can be “seen” or “read together…” The synoptic gospels are the source of many popular stories, parables, and sermons, such as Jesus’ humble birth in Bethlehem, the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Last Supper, and the Great Commission… The fourth gospel [John], presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry…

(See Gospel – Wikipedia.) Getting back to Asimov, he said Mark was written for “the ordinary Christian of Jewish background” and Matthew for “those learned in Old Testament lore.” But Luke wrote his Gospel for Gentiles sympathetic to Christianity and considering conversion. Then too Luke treated Roman authorities more gently than the first two gospels, and Jesus Himself is portrayed as more sympathetic to Gentiles than in Matthew or Mark.

Luke the Evangelist – Wikipedia added that he is “believed by many scholars to be a Greek physician who lived in the Greek city of Antioch in Ancient Syria.” The article added that going back as far as the early church fathers, Luke is considered to have written“both the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.” (Originally one work called Luke-Acts.) Also:

Based on his accurate description of towns, cities and islands, as well as correctly naming various official titles, archaeologist Sir William Ramsay wrote that “Luke is a historian of the first rank [and] should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.” Professor of Classics at Auckland University, E.M. Blaiklock, wrote: “For accuracy of detail, and for evocation of atmosphere, Luke stands, in fact, with Thucydides. The Acts of the Apostles is not shoddy product of pious imagining, but a trustworthy record… it was the spadework of archaeology which first revealed the truth.”  New Testament scholar Colin Hemer [also attested to] the historical nature and accuracy of Luke’s writings. (Emphasis added.)

Note also Luke 21:5-36, on “Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times,” known as the Little Apocalypse. See The Son of Man and the Little Apocalypse|Catholic World:

[T]he Olivet Discourse, sometimes called a “little apocalypse” … because it contains difficult teachings by Jesus about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in A.D. 70 and the final day of judgment. Like The Apocalypse of John the Revelator [the Book of Revelation], the little apocalypse is filled with strong imagery and a complex web of allusions drawn from the Old Testament, especially from the prophets.  

(See too Wikipedia on the Olivet Discourse; Jesus saying His followers “will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God.”) 

Not that there’s any connection to current events or anything…

Some other notes: Luke is commonly thought to be the only non-Jewish writer with a “book” in the New Testament. (It includes numerous letters.) And he wrote more pages in the New Testament than anyone else. While Luke’s Gospel and Acts occupy a total of sixty pages, “all the letters traditionally attributed to Paul (not counting Hebrews) total fifty-six.”

And the rest of the acts of Luke, are they not described in the chronicles of some past posts? (Which is being interpreted: “See the Notes for links thereto.”) Including the idea that Luke was also a painter, and beyond that painted Mary, the mother of Jesus, as shown below.

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Some final thoughts, thoughts that occurred during a service at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville NC last October 5: It struck me that I’m a writer, and that my writing can be described as mostly about my “journeys with Jesus.” Which includes the metaphoric physical journeys I describe in a companion blog. (Long hikes on the Camino de Santiago, etc.). But it also includes the journeys I’ve made through the Bible – 16 full trips and-counting – starting in 1992 via the Daily Office. (The two-year cycle of Bible readings by which you go the whole Bible one time in two years, and the psalms and Gospels three to four times in those two years.)

Another, simple thought for these troubling times: “Moses said love your neighbor, Jesus said love your enemy, and Paul said Christ died for the Ungodly – whoever you think they may be.” In these times of political (and religious) polarization it pays to have a nice, simple sound bite. And this simple mantra may both help you defend yourself – and may even spread the Gospel…

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The upper image is courtesy of St. Luke – Image Results. It goes with a page, “Catholic Prayers.”

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Re: “And the rest of the acts of Luke, are they not described in the chronicles of some past posts?” An allusion to 2 Kings 20:20, “And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah … are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” See also 2 Kings 8:23, 2 Kings 15:6,26, and 2 Kings 16:19.

Re: “Which is being interpreted.” I.e., for this post I borrowed from 2014’s On St. Luke – physician, historian, artist, On St. Luke – 2015, 2022’s On Luke, James the Just and Halloween, and St. Luke’s day – 2023. (With the image I borrowed for the top of this post-page.) See also the St. Luke article on the The Lectionary – Satucket website.

The Asimov quotes are from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One),  Avenel Books (1981), at pages 912-15.

The lower image is courtesy of St. Luke Painting The Virgin – Image Results, with the caption: “‘Saint Luke Painting the Virgin Mary #1’ is a painting by Central European Painter which was uploaded on October 23rd, 2020.”

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September 27, 2025 – Next Monday, September 29, is the Feast Day for “St. Michael and All Angels,” also called Michaelmas. “In the Christian angelology of some traditions, the Archangel Michael is considered as the greatest of all the angels; being particularly honored for defeating satan [Satan] in the war in heaven.” I’ll get to Saint Michael in a bit, but first a few words about angels in general. For one thing, there are good angels and bad angels.

As it says in Revelation 12:7, “Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels.” (With the dragon being Satan, as clarified in Revelation 12:9.*) But let’s stick with the good angels for this post.

For example, in Matthew 18:10 Jesus warns not to despise children because “their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Then there are guardian angels, “a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation.” (Is our nation’s guardian angel working overtime these days?) And there are said to be three levels (“spheres”) of angels, inside each of which there are three orders. See Wikipedia for the full list of orders and sub-orders, but they include Seraphim and Cherubim, the latter seen at left.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith.” And turning to other sources, consider the theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, who said all angels “originate from the human race, and there is not one angel in heaven who first did not live in a material body. Moreover, all children who die not only enter heaven but eventually become angels.”

As for those guardian angels (Swedenborg added), they should be approached with caution: “Due to man’s sinful nature it is dangerous to have open direct communication with angels and they can only be seen when one’s spiritual sight has been opened.” (All the more reason to read the Bible on a daily basis, and understand it with an open mind, per Luke 24:45.)

And then there are archangels, which brings us back to Saint Michael. The word is used twice in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 1:9. Further, the term “appears only in the singular, never plural, and only in specific reference to Michael.” Further – for those of us (theoretically and statistically) closer to life’s end than the beginning – he is the “Christian angel of death: at the hour of death, Saint Michael descends and gives each person the chance to redeem oneself before passing.” (Something I didn’t know but found quite comforting, for those who may need that extra chance: “Who’d be stupid enough to pass up that deal?”)  

And as noted, Michael is mentioned most prominently in Revelation 12:7-10:

[T]here was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not… [T]he great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying … the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

See Michael (archangel) – Wikipedia, which added that he is also mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, once as a “great prince who stands up for the children of your people.” But now comes the tricky part, for me anyway. I attend the Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion. We use the Book of Common Prayer, and it says the idea of purgatory is both a “Romish doctrine” and “repugnant to the Word of God.” But I’m willing to be flexible.

The thing is, without purgatory your dying day is pass-fail. No Via Media, no “way between two extremes.” You’re either in or out. You go to heaven or “down, down the down-down way.”  But with purgatory you get another chance, an “intermediate state after physical death,” where some ultimately destined for heaven can first undergo “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” And so, like I said, I’m willing to be flexible. So here’s to Michael (archangel), and his reaching out to save souls in purgatory.”

“Hey, I’ll take all the help I can get!”

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Michael in the Catholic Church – Wikipedia. The full caption: “St. Michael’s church in Hammerfest, Norway, the northernmost Catholic church in the world.” (To which I like to add, jokingly, “It’s okay. Catholics are almost Episcopalians! And they sure got Gregorian chant right.”) Then too the Catholic Church – Wikipedia link added this:

Saint Michael is one of the angels presumed present at the hour of death. Traditionally, he is charged to assist the dying and accompany them to their particular judgment, where he serves as an advocate.

But see also 1st John 2:1, “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.” (BTW: I’ve compared Jesus with “the Ultimate Public Defender.”)

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s St. Matthew, and 2018’s On Holy Cross, Matthew, and Michael – “Archangel.” Also from 2023’s An update – “Feast Days in France.” (It included notes on St Matthew, Evangelist and St Michael and All Angels, and some on hiking the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail.) Also, Angels in Christianity – Wikipedia. And for future reference (future posts on this feast day), see St. Michael & All Angels on the The Lectionary – Satucket website. It includes “Everything You Never Wanted to Know about Angels,” along with information about the Nine Choirs and “Cherubs, Griffins, and Grimm Shifts.” (Which is being interpreted: “I had to work my way through a number of such readings, this morning, September 29, leading to this update.”

On dragons in the Bible, see What the Bible Says About the Meaning of Dragons: “In the Bible, the term ‘dragon’ often symbolizes chaos, evil, and opposition to God, particularly representing Satan or the forces of darkness… The imagery utilized in these verses evokes a sense of impending threat and turmoil, indicating that the forces of darkness are ever-present in the lives of believers and the history of salvation.” (And is that so hard to believe these days?)

Re:  Purgatory as a “Romish doctrine.”  See page 872 of the BCP, or The Online Book of Common Prayer under Historical Documents of the Church, Articles of Religion, Part XXII:

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well
of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

But another note on Purgatory and the Episcopal Church:  “Although denying the existence of purgatory as formulated in Roman Catholic doctrine, the Anglican and Methodist traditions … affirm the existence of an intermediate state, Hades, and thus pray for the dead.”  The latter will be addressed later this month, as noted in 2017’s On the THREE days of Hallowe’en.

Re: “Theoretically and statistically closer to life’s end.” I’ve noted that – if the Lord wills and I help with right diet and good exercise – I hope to live to 120, like Moses, with “eye undimmed and vigor unabated,” like it says at the end of Deuteronomy. See From two years ago – “Will I live to 141?”

See also – on the “way between two extremes” – Via Media – The Episcopal Church, and Via media – Wikipedia, on the Latin phrase meaning “the middle road” or the “way between (and avoiding or reconciling) two extremes… Its use in English is highly associated with Anglican self-characterization, or as a philosophical maxim for life akin to the golden mean which advocates moderation in all thoughts and actions.” And the “[it went] down, down the down-down way” is what my brother said many years ago after he flushed our grandmother’s expensive watch down the toilet.

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article, with the full caption: “Guido Reni‘s painting in Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636 is also reproduced in mosaic at the St. Michael Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican.”

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September 20, 2025 – As indicated in the last post, September 21 is normally the feast day for St Matthew, Evangelist. But this year it’s like Holy Cross Day, because this year it too also fell on a Sunday. Meaning that – like Holy Cross Day – it too was transferred to the following Monday. (This year St. Matthew’s day will be celebrated on September 22.)

With that out of the way, we can begin his story with Matthew 9:9-13:

As Jesus went on from there [Capernaum], he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth.  “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Which turned out to be good news for pretty much all of us, because in Jesus’ time tax collectors were “lower than dirt.” That is, in His time tax collectors were social outcasts. “Devout Jews avoided them because they were usually dishonest (the job carried no salary, and they were expected to make their profits by cheating the people from whom they collected taxes).”

Thus, throughout the Gospels, we find tax collectors (publicans) mentioned as a standard type of sinful and despised outcast. Matthew brought many of his former associates to meet Jesus, and social outcasts in general were shown that the love of Jesus extended even to them.

Get that? “The love of Jesus extended even to them.” (For more see Tax collector – Wikipedia.) And as noted in 2014’s On St. Matthew, a tax collector like Matthew was “sure to be hated above all men as a merciless leech who would take the shirt off a dying child.” Further, in Jesus’ time “the word ‘publican’” – or tax collector – was “used as representing an extreme of wickedness in the Sermon on the Mount.” In plain words tax collectors worked for Rome’s forces of occupation and so were viewed as collaborators, “Quislings,” and traitors to their country:

Tax collectors, also known as publicans, are mentioned many times in the Bible (mainly in the New Testament). They were reviled by the Jews of Jesus’ day because of their greed and collaboration with the Roman occupiers. Tax collectors amassed personal wealth by demanding tax payments in excess of what Rome levied and keeping the difference. They worked for tax farmers. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus sympathizes with the tax collector Zacchaeus, causing outrage from the crowds that Jesus would rather be the guest of a sinner than of a more respectable or “righteous” person. 

So what’s the good news in all this? Just that by accepting the forgiveness and grace offered by Jesus, Matthew the hated tax-collecting, collaborating Quisling got magically transformed. Magically transformed into a Gospel writer of the first magnitude, much like Saul, who got magically transformed into Paul through his Damascus Road Experience. (Where he was changed from an enemy of the early Church to its foremost spokesman.)

Which means that “if those two could be so magically transformed, so can we!”

Or as a biographer wrote of Thomas Merton, he was an ordinary man with more than his fair share of human faults, but it was just such “base metal which, in the marvelous alchemy of the spiritual journey, became transmuted into gold.” Or transformed, like it says in Philippians 3:21, on Jesus, “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.”

Which brings up a point. I Googled “transfigure synonyms” and at the top got “transform into something more beautiful or elevated.” And isn’t that what Jesus wants? So don’t stay in your spiritual cocoon. Get transformed from a creepy-crawly caterpillar into “high-flying mode.”

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The upper image is courtesy of Brugghen, Hendrick ter – The Calling of St. Matthew. See also Matthew the Apostle – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Re: Matthew and “from there.” I figured Matthew 9:9 referred to Nazareth as Jesus’ own city. But see Matthew 9:1 in the Bible Hub link, where Jesus healed a paralyzed man: “Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town.” The Commentary notes: “‘His own town’ refers to Capernaum, which served as Jesus’ base of operations during His Galilean ministry… This town is where Jesus performed many miracles and taught in the synagogue, fulfilling prophecies about the Messiah’s ministry in Galilee.”

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s St. Matthew, and 2018’s On Holy Cross, Matthew, and Michael – “Archangel.” Also from 2023’s An update – “Feast Days in France.” (It included notes on St Matthew, Evangelist and St Michael and All Angels, and some on hiking the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail.) See also Holy Cross Day – The Episcopal Church, and Celebrating Holy Cross Day | Holy Apostles.

The lower image is courtesy of Metamorphosis Caterpillar To Butterfly – Image Results. I used it in On the Transfiguration – 2025, and my August 2023, “Love one another” – get Transfigured (too). 

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The next major feast – Holy Cross Day – normally comes on September 14, but this year it’s transferred to Monday, September 15. (As happens with many such feast days.) And Holy Cross Day is one of several Feasts of the Cross, recalling the cross used to crucify Jesus:

In English, it is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day…

Historically, the feast is associated with the dedication – in the year 335, nearly seven hundred years ago, on September 14 – of a complex of buildings built by the Emperor Constantine in Jerusalem on the site of the Crucifixion. Constantine’s mother Helena supervised construction and during the work “a relic believed to be the cross was discovered.” In turn, although the “authenticity of alleged relics of the cross may be questionable, Holy Cross Day provides an opportunity for a joyous celebration of Christ’s redeeming death on a cross.”

Which leads to a side note: That last August 14, while hiking the Canterbury Trail in England, I visited the “Church of the Holy Rood,” in Holybourne. And “rood was originally the only Old English word for the instrument of Jesus Christ‘s death.” (How’s that for a segue?)

Holybourne is a village in Alton, in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire. It’s 1.3 miles northeast of the center of Alton, with a population around 1,500. The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Haliborne and appears in 1418 as Halybourn. In turn, the Church of the Holy Rood has foundations dating from the 12th century.

We came across the church not long after leaving the Alton House Hotel, near the famous Jane Austen House. (About a mile and a half later.) But back to Holy Cross Day: It honors “Christ’s self-offering on the cross for our salvation. The collect for Holy Cross Day recalls that Christ ‘was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world unto himself.'”

Which means we have a lot of work to do to make that happen.

But wait, there’s more! Coming up later this month are feast days for St. Matthew, Evangelist, on September 21, and for St. Michael and All Angels on September 29, so stay tuned.

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The upper image is courtesy of Church of the Holy Rood, Holybourne – Wikimedia Commons. See also Holybourne – Wikipedia, and Rood – Wikipedia.

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2018’s On Holy Cross, Matthew, and Michael – “Archangel.” Also from 2023’s An update – “Feast Days in France.” (It included notes on St Matthew, Evangelist and St Michael and All Angels, and some on hiking the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail.) See also Holy Cross Day – The Episcopal Church, and Celebrating Holy Cross Day | Holy Apostles.

Also, and for reference and use in future posts, see the link Holy Cross Day in the “Lectionary Page Satucket” website. It contains deep background on the practice of making the sign of the Cross: “Tertullian, in his De Corona (3:2), written around AD 211, says that Christians seldom do anything significant without making the sign of the cross. Certainly by his time the practice was well established.” (With references to Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.) As for the significance, we today put our “personal mark on something to show that it belongs to us.” By making the sign of the Cross we signify “that we belong to Him,” Jesus. (I should note that I’ve had problems doing posts on Holy Cross Day because of a dearth of information, which is no longer true.)

I borrowed the lower image from the 2018 post, and added, “I’ll take all the help I can get!” It included notes on Purgatory as a “Romish doctrine,” per page 872 of the BCP, or Online Book of Common Prayer under Historical Documents of the Church, Articles of Religion, Part XXII:

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well
of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

But here’s another note on Purgatory and the Episcopal Church:  “Although denying the existence of purgatory as formulated in Roman Catholic doctrine, the Anglican and Methodist traditions … affirm the existence of an intermediate state, Hades, and thus pray for the dead.” (As noted in further posts like 2017’s THREE days of Hallowe’en.)

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