Did you know there is a second Lent? Similar to the Lenten season that leads up to Easter, St. Michael’s Lent is a time of fasting, penance and prayer. St. Michael’s Lent begins on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Aug. 15 and continues for 40 days (excluding Sundays) until Michaelmas, or the feast of Holy Archangels (St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael) on Sept. 29. While this season is not part of the Church’s official liturgical calendar, it has been kept by saints and the faithful for centuries and has lately seen a resurgence.