The feast of St. Michael and the Archangels is coming up on September 29th. It is one of my favorite feasts for sure; with one of our most favorite feast day treats to go along with it. On this feast we honor my husband (Todd Michael), father-in-law (Michael), son (Timothy Michael), and my nephew (Michael). As well as, in college I belonged to a household (think sorority with a Catholic twist) that was dedicated to Our Lady and the Angels, with St. Michael as our patron. I am a serious fan of St. Michael. Yet somehow I have NO pictures from over the years to document it!!! How is this even possible???? We are so faithful to this feast that 3 years ago when we traveled to Ohio to visit friends and attend our godson's baptism, we brought all the fixins for the feast with us ( made even more fun by the fact that they have a son named Michael)!
But I digress. This post is to tell you how we celebrate and why a little ahead of time so that if you are so inclined, you have enough time to go out and gather all the ingredients to celebrate next week!
First and foremost, we pray a novena for the nine days leading up to the feast. We are already a couple of days in, but you could double up a few days if you need to. That's what we did this year, as we started a day late. We just did the novena in the morning with our morning prayers, and then again in the evening after dinner. No biggie. It's not about perfection. We just do our best to show our children how to pray, and the great gift the Church has given us in the saints and the liturgical year. Here is a link to the novena.
After we finish praying for the nine days leasing up to the feast, we try to attend Holy Mass on the actual feast day. Then we FEAST on St. Michael Fondue!!!!! We all grab our "swords" (aka fondue spears/forks) and do battle with the enemy (fruit, marshmallows, ANGEL food cake, etc), dipping it into the firey pit (the fondue pot), and ultimately putting an end to the enemy once and for all(by eating the food)! We LOVE this feast day. It is fun AND delicious!!!! You can tailor it to suit your taste buds and make it your own, but this is the recipe we have used for years:
St. Michael Fondue
-2/3 cup heavy cream
-4 3 1/3 oz.Toblerone bars
-assorted fruits and treats for dipping (grapes, strawberries, marshmallows, angel food cake, bananas, etc.)
Break the Toblerone bars into chunks and heat with the heavy cream in the fondue pot, stirring until melted and smooth. Dip your toppings and enjoy!!! So easy and delicious.
*we usually double the recipe since we are a large group....and you can never over-fondue!!!!
* if you don't have a fondue pot, you can do this over a double boiler as well and then dip once it is all melted, but you would have to be fast to keep it from hardening.....although, I doubt that would be a problem!
One last thing we do, is to talk about the battle between St. Michael and the bad angels and then have the kids do a "re-enactment" using foam swords or light sabers. Its always a good time!!!
I will be sure to take lots of pictures this year and update this post accordingly!
God Bless you and your domestic church! And as always, happy feasting!!!
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