When do we celebrate the feast of the archangel Michael?

The Coptic Church celebrates his feast on the twelfth of every Coptic month, especially in Hathor and Paone. The Eastern Orthodox Churches who follow the Byzantine rite celebrate the feast of the archangel Michael and the archangel Gabriel on the eighth of November; and the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the archangel Michael on the twenty-ninth of September, as does the Anglican Communion.

It was the custom of the Copts — especially in rural areas — to mark this celebration with liturgies and prayers, followed by banquets to feed the poor and the needy customarily

694 St. Basil of Caesarea, On Renunciation of the World XX (FOTC 9:31).

695 St. Basil of Caesarea, Letters 1–185 Letter 2 (FOTC 13:7–8).

consisting of fish, sweetened pastries, and a certain kind of bread baked with sugar or honey and oil, known in Arabic as feteer al-malak (the sweetbread of the Angel).

The date of the commemoration of the archangel Michael — the twelfth day of the Coptic month of Hathor — was, for the ancient Egyptians, the feast of the god Zuhul. When the Egyptians became Christians, Pope Alexander I (the 19[th] Patriarch of Alexandria, 312–328 A. D.), converted this celebration into a feast for the archangel Michael, having built a church in his honor in place of the old temple of Zuhul.

The other major feast day — the twelfth day of the Coptic month of Paone — coincides with the beginning of the flooding of the Nile River, which was one of the most important national feasts for the ancient Egyptians. Originally, the Egyptians celebrated the god of the Nile on this day, believing that by doing so, the god would be merciful to the Egyptians in their hot, dry season. They believed that the god would fly up to the source of the Nile and would spit out droplets of water from his mouth, which would then evaporate and turn into many clouds, so that rain would come down over the mountains, causing the Nile River to flood, and water to give fertility to the land and joy to the people, who would then exchange gifts as an expression of joy and gratitude for all the abundant goodness.

When the Egyptians became Christians, that national feast of the Nile became a feast for the archangel Michael, who is the archangel who stands before the divine throne in heaven, interceding on behalf of the people and raising their prayers to God, asking God for the rising of the waters, and for fertility to fill all the valley of the Nile.