Our Church has a wealth of traditions that help the faithful ascend to moral virtue and combat the vices that distract us from the ultimate goal, union with Christ in the beatific vision. One such tradition quickly approaching is “Saint Michael’s Lent,” a nonobligatory devotion that began in the 13th Century. Unlike Lent, which precedes the Easter season, Saint Michael’s Lent is a devotion that Catholics are not bound to and is, therefore, an excellent opportunity to practice restraint from the attachments that prevent us from becoming closer to Christ without feeling as though we must maintain an overly strict regime.
Saint Michael’s Lent began as a personal devotion to Saint Michael and the angels by our Parish’s namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, who was intensely devoted to the archangel. While spending his Saint Michael’s Lent on Mount La Verna, Saint Francis received his stigmata, the wounds of Christ. Like the normal Lent, Saint Michael’s Lent runs for approximately 40 days, starting at the Feast of the Assumption on August 15th and ending on Saint Michael’s feast day on September 29th. Likewise, Saint Michael’s Lent consists of prayer and fasting, excluding Sundays and feast days.
When we think of fasting for Lent, most of us think primarily of fasting from food, which is good. Feeding ourselves is the most basic human instinct, and learning to control our lower instincts trains our intellect to resist bodily temptations. However, an often unthought-of way of feeding ourselves is through media. One study concluded that U.S. adults consumed approximately eight hours a day of digital media. There has never been a better time to learn to fast from this potentially hazardous obstacle to Christ.
Digital media can have many positive benefits. Early on in the age of media, the Church recognized this and quoted Pope Pius XII in the 1971 Pastoral Instruction on the Means of Social Communication Communio et Progressio saying,
“The Church sees these media as ‘gifts of God’ which, in accordance with his providential design, unite men in brotherhood and so help them to cooperate with his plan for their salvation.”
This statement remains the Church’s position with the internet. Despite this, like with food, too much and of the wrong type can have a detrimental effect.
Like much of our food today, media is saturated with highly addictive content. Some studies have found correlations between heavy digital media use and mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Additionally, much of the content on digital media has become toxic or outright contrary to the dignity of the human person, such as pornography, the glorification of gratuitous violence and crime, or even satanic practice. In one alarming anecdote, a study showed pornography to be never more than three clicks away on social media. Further, the recent trend of “witch-toc” on the popular platform tic-toc, which demonstrates and instructs on various forms of witchcraft, is equally disturbing.
Digital Fasting is an excellent way to avoid the negative aspects of media and gain control over the body’s desire to consume it in excess. In prayer, we must each analyze our consumption and determine if it must be reigned in and moderated. Consider taking this upcoming Saint Michael’s Lent as an opportunity for additional fasting, remove some apps from your phone, or limit your television intake. As you consider fasting from media and participating in Saint Michael’s Lent, keep this quote from Saint Francis in mind;
“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
Matthew Weller — SFA Theologians Guild Member