Saint Michael’s feast day: 29 September and the Mont

Saint Michael’s Day is celebrated on 29 September. On that day, the Catholic Church celebrates the three archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael together. In 2027, 29 September falls on a Wednesday.

When is Saint Michael’s Day?

On 29 September, every year. The date is fixed: unlike other religious feasts, it does not depend on Easter. The Service national de la pastorale liturgique, which publishes the website liturgie.catholique.fr, presents this day as the “feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels”.

Who is the Archangel Michael?

For Christians, Michael is the prince of the angels. The Book of Daniel and the Revelation of Saint John mention him; there he appears as the victor over Satan in the battle at the end of time. His name means “Who is like God?”.

The two other archangels celebrated on the same day:

• Gabriel, whose name means “God has shown himself strong”, announces the coming of the Messiah, notably to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation.
• Raphael, known by the name “God heals”, accompanies Tobias in the Old Testament.

Why these three? The liturgical sheet explains that the Church particularly honours the archangels named in Scripture, whose mission the Bible describes. It quotes Saint Gregory the Great, for whom the archangels are those who “announce the greatest mysteries”.

Through them, the liturgical text adds, the Church celebrates all the angels, regarded as messengers of God.

What is the link between Saint Michael and Mont-Saint-Michel?

The Mont has borne the archangel’s name since its foundation. According to the legend handed down by the Centre des monuments nationaux, Saint Michael appeared three times to Bishop Aubert in a dream, in 708, and asked him to build a sanctuary on the rock, then called Mont-Tombe. The Établissement public du Mont-Saint-Michel speaks of Bishop Aubert of Avranches.

This sanctuary then became a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel. Duke Richard I of Normandy installed monks there in 966, and the Mont became a major place of pilgrimage from the 11th century. The whole history is summed up in our article who built Mont-Saint-Michel.

The legend of Mont-Saint-Michel

Before bearing the archangel’s name, the rock was called Mont-Tombe. The account retained by the CMN tells that the archangel had to appear three times before Aubert built the sanctuary he had asked for. This story underpins the whole history of the place: the dedication to Saint Michael, the arrival of the monks, then the flow of pilgrims. The Établissement public speaks of a “divine revelation that forever marks the destiny of the island”.

The statue of the archangel

The gilded statue of Saint Michael at the top of the abbey church spire was installed in 1897. It was restored in 1987, then regilded in 2016, according to the CMN.

What happens at the Mont on Saint Michael’s Day?

The programme changes every year. When we checked, the abbey’s calendar did not announce any specific event for 29 September. The Mont remains an active place of pilgrimage: on 23 July 2026, during the Pèlerinage des Grèves, the Bishop of Coutances was due to promulgate the sanctuary’s new statutes, according to Aleteia.

For upcoming celebrations and events, see our events calendar and the abbey’s calendar.

Visiting the Mont around 29 September

At the end of September, the abbey follows its autumn hours: 9:30 am to 6 pm from 1 September. In 2026, the full price went from €16 to €13 on 1 October. Evening parking becomes free again from 6:30 pm to 3 am from September. Details: abbey: opening hours and prices and parking.