Michaelmas 2025 Novena: A Pilgrimage Toward the Light

Join Fr. Ambrose Criste and the entire community of St. Michael's Abbey for nine days of prayer and reflection, leading to the Feast of St. Michael — when heaven's light falls upon the altar

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For centuries, Christians have gone on pilgrimages to holy places, seeking grace and conversion. The Michaelmas Novena is such a pilgrimage — not measured in miles, but in prayer.

Each day, Fr. Ambrose Criste and the entire abbey community will guide us as we ask God for a specific grace: to recognize the darkness, to turn back in conversion, to walk under angelic protection, to persevere with zeal, and to radiate Christ's light into the world.

Our destination is the altar of God, where Christ's victory over sin and death is renewed in the Eucharist. The journey culminates on the Feast of St. Michael (Sept. 29), when Solemn Vespers fills the abbey church with chant, incense, and a glorious sign: the rose window's light falling directly upon the altar.

This is the goal of our novena. This is our pilgrimage into the Light.

Novena prayer

Daily Graces of the Novena

Great Saint Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host, your name is a question filled with awe: "Who is like God?" Your vocation is to reveal His power and His wisdom, and so your name teaches us that nothing can compare with His might and goodness. What is there that we cannot hope to receive from God's hand through your intercession and care? We entrust to you the intentions we bring in this novena: for Holy Church in Her trials; for our homelands so much in need of healing and grace; for our families who are shielded by the angels who guard us on our way to heaven; for the sick; for sinners; for the dying; for our dear, departed loved ones; and for protection from all the forces of evil who oppose these intentions. We expect great things and abundant blessings as we invoke you. Christ the Lord is your King and ours; we are safe under your shield and with your fiery sword of burning love for Him. We thank you in advance for the gifts to be obtained in this novena and promise in our gratitude to make your name and devotion known as much as we are able. Blessed be God, glorious in His fair hosts of angels led by you, Michael, the leader of the bodiless powers of heaven! Amen.