Friday 8 May 2009

The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel


Today is the feast of The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel. It is greater-double rite. For more information about the cave at Mount Gargano where St. Michael appeared follow this link to Sacred Destinations.

The feast began with first Vespers on Thursday afternoon. The antiphons and pslams were proper to the feast. The Office is proper. The hymn is proper to St. Michael and its conclusion is not changed to the Paschaltide Doxolgy. A commemoration of the preceding Office of St. Stanislaus is sung.

Mattins has three nocturns. The antiphons are proper to the feast. In the first nocturn the lessons are from the Prophet Daniel. The second nocturn relates the apparition of St. Michael at Gargano at the time of Gelasius I and in the third nocturn the lessons are from a homily of St. Hillary on St. Matthew's Gospel.

At Lauds the antiphons from Vespers are used. At Prime and the Horae Minorae the Paschaltide Doxology is sung.

Mass follows Terce. The Gloria and Credo are both sung. In Vespers there is a commemoration of the following Office of St. Gregory Nazianzen.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' St. Michael's feast had been eradicated. The day is a IV class feria. However, perusing the web it appears many '62ist sites ignore its non existence and keep the feast anyway - the 'make it up as you go' principle at work no doubt.

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