Editing Michaelmas (section)

==Modern observances==
[[File:Police Week Blue Mass 2013 (8739367386).jpg|left|thumb|[[Blue Mass]]]]
Because Saint Michael is the patron of police officers, Michaelmas may also see a [[Blue Mass]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-09-29 |title=Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels – September 29, 2014 – Liturgical Calendar |publisher=Catholic Culture |access-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> Lutheran Christians consider it a principal feast of Christ.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Michaelmas is still celebrated in [[Waldorf education|Waldorf]] schools. [[Rudolf Steiner]] considered it the second most important festival after [[Easter]]. The celebration  of this holiday teaches the importance of facing fears and strengthening resolve. As the first festival of the new school year, it is celebrated with an all-school play, in which each class assumes a role, such as peasants, townspeople, nobles, etc. Students assume a new role as they pass from grade to grade, and it becomes something of a rite of passage.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.waldorfnola.org/post/what-is-michaelmas-and-why-do-waldorf-school-celebrate-it | title=What Is Michaelmas And Why Do Waldorf Schools Celebrate It? | publisher=Waldorf School of New Orleans | date=26 September 2019}}</ref>

In the [[City of London]], Michaelmas is the day when the new [[Lord Mayor of London]] is elected, in the ''Common Hall''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverycompanies.info/fellowship-of-clerks/elections/summons-to-common-hall.html|title=Summons to Common Hall |publisher=liverycompanies.info |access-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>

In [[Mifflin County, Pennsylvania]], Michaelmas has been observed since 1786 as Goose Day. Local tradition holds that eating goose on 29 September will bring prosperity. The [[Juniata River]] Valley began celebrating this version of Michaelmas when a [[Pennsylvania Dutch]]man named Andrew Pontius moved his family to neighboring [[Snyder County, Pennsylvania|Snyder County]] to farm. When his farm prospered, he decided to hire a tenant farmer to help. On his way to [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] to hire a German immigrant, he stopped in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] for the night where he met a young Englishman named Archibald Hunter, who was offered the job. The contract that was drawn for employment contained a clause specifying their accounts were to be settled each year on the traditional day to do so, 29 September. When that day came, Hunter appeared at Pontius' door with his accounts and a goose, explaining that in England, eating a goose on 29 September brought good luck. The tradition spread to nearby [[Lewistown, Pennsylvania]], where it is still honored today with many local restaurants and civics groups offering goose dinners, local festivals, and other county-wide activities. In honor of the holiday, painted fiberglass goose statues can be found throughout the county all year long.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Goose Day – Juniata River Valley|date=25 August 2021 |url=https://jrvvisitors.com/events/goose-day/|access-date=2021-09-29|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-23|title=What's special about Mifflin County on Goose Day?|url=https://www.pennlive.com/life/2018/09/whats_special_about_mifflin_co.html|access-date=2021-09-29|website=pennlive|language=en}}</ref>