The Archangel Michael Visits Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 

 By Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias

The Holy Elder Iakovos was not only privileged to see Angels and Archangels at the Holy Altar.

He also saw Michael the Commander of the Heavenly Army giving him instructions for the construction of his church outside the Liturgy.

In 1961 Father Iakovos together with the then abbot decided to build a chapel in honor of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The abbot chose the place and demarcated the area. At night, however, an officer with a golden sword, tall, blond and handsome, appeared to Father Iakovos and said to him:

"I am the Archangel Michael. I do not wish my temple to be built where you marked, but here where I will show you."

On the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel in July (St. Justin Popovich)

Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (Feast Day - July 13)

 By St. Justin Popovich

We praise with songs the harbinger of our salvation, the great servant of God, and the joyful messenger to the Most Pure Virgin Mary, the Archangel Gabriel, organizing a festive synaxis for him for the second time. His first synaxis is celebrated the day after the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the twenty-sixth of March; and now that synaxis of his is being celebrated again in the holy Church, and his miraculous appearances are again being mentioned and celebrated by God's order.

He taught Moses, who escaped from Pharaoh, in the desert to write books, telling him the origin of the world, the creation of the first man Adam, his life and that of the patriarchs after him, the latter times, the flood and the division of the people; he explained to him the position of the heavenly planets and the elements; taught him arithmetic, geometry, and all wisdom.

The Archangels and the Chickpeas

Father Anthimos of Dionysiou Monastery at Mount Athos testified to the following miracle of the Holy Archangels:

At the time when I was a cook, one Sunday while a vigil was taking place, I took chickpeas from the pot to cook them.

I soaked them and at the time of matins I put them in the cauldron to boil. I boiled them for three hours. After expending two loads of wood those blessed (or better to say excommunicated) chickpeas, instead of softening became more hardened.

You cannot imagine my grief. The fathers who were staying up all night, were they to remain without food?

The Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonae Near Colossae (Commemorated on September 6th)

 By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

In Colossae of Asia Minor, in the 2nd century AD, a miraculous event took place, featuring the Archangel Michael, which had been prophesied a few years before by John the Evangelist and Theologian.

Before proceeding, however, to the narration of this miracle, let us briefly mention that the angels are "ministering spirits sent to serve on behalf of those who inherit future salvation." God made them "leaders of all nations and peoples, and guides for their own good." They were created before the visible world and man. God "formed them before us and for us." Their appearance is bright and their garment is usually white, a fact that reveals their purity, and their food is the vision of the glory of God.

The Archangel Michael is referred to by name in the Holy Scriptures, where he is presented to serve the work of the divine Economy for the protection of people from any danger, and especially from the rage of the man-killing devil, who trembles at his sight, as we chant: "Wherever your grace overshadows Archangel, there the power of the devil is vanquished; for fallen lucifer is unable to abide in your light."

Message in a Bottle Destined for a Monastery of the Archangel Micheal on a Greek Island Finds Its Way to Libya

 

Three young men could not believe their luck when they found a bottle that reached the shores of Libya with two fifty euro bills and a note that they could not read because it was in Greek. 

On Friday 9/11/20, on the shores of the Ras al-Hilal area in eastern Libya, a young Libyan man found a bottle with 100 euros and a handwritten message in Greek that read: "Thank you Panormitis! Always take care of us!"

Encomium to the Divine Archangel Michael the All-Greatest (St. Neophytos the Recluse)

By St. Neophytos the Recluse

Michael the all-greatest and great taxiarch, Michael the one radiant like a torch and wholly-shining like the sun, Michael the taxiarch of the heavens, the helper of men, I have desired to hymn, as much as is possible, he who is the head and leader of the bodiless powers, the great glory of men and the muzzling of demons, the blooming and shady tree of the vault of the heavens, the most-sacred and great healer of earthly evils, the great and most-speedy eagle of the "Great King", who with faith hastens speedily throughout the world, the wondrous and fiery pillar that reaches heaven, the highest and heavy-laden branch of the cedar, the unfading and chosen branch, the divine bush, which surpasses every fragrance, he who relieves those suffering from demonic stench, the sheltering branch and God-planted root, who makes to disappear immediately the burning of the demons, the divine cypress and the tall plane tree, which, for those under its shade, heals those from various afflictions and incurable passions. Now, let us praise him, praises from we who are small for him who is all-greatest, and having offered a few words of praise, we will offer up salutations. The divine, holy and honored temple which resembles a harbor of salvation and the sky with many stars, a dwelling-place of divine angels, and an ax and sword which rends all forms of passions and a perfect hospital, which ceases the pains of various forms of afflictions.

A Relic in Mount Athos Connected to an Ancient Greek Treasure and a Miracle of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel

On November 8th the Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Commemorated on the next day are the builders of Docheiariou Monastery on Mount Athos, Saints Euthymios and Neophytos, whose monastery is dedicated to the Holy Archangels, as well as a great miracle of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel which occurred early in the history of the monastery.

In summary, the miracle took place as follows:

Saint Autbert, Bishop of Avranches, Founder of the Monastery of Mont-St-Michel on the Normandy Coast (+ 720)

St. Aubert of Avranches (Feast Day - September 10)

Saint Aubert lived in Gaul during the reign of Childebert III (695-711) and died about 720. He was born of a noble family from Genetas, and received an extensive education. When the See of Avranches became vacant, Aubert, known for his wisdom and piety, was chosen bishop.

According to the accounts of the foundation of Mont-Saint-Michel, in 708 Aubert had retreated to Mont Tombe to pray. There he had a vision in which the Archangel Michael instructed him to build an oratory on the rocky tidal island at the mouth of the Couesnon. Aubert did not pay attention to this vision at first, doubting it was a true vision. The archangel appeared a second time, but still Aubert hesitated. In view of the condition of this rocky point, scarcely attached to the continent, covered with bushes and brambles, and only inhabited, besides the wild beasts, by some hermits, he judged it impossible, and at first thought of it as a trick of the devil. At last in exasperation Michael appeared to him again, this time poking him in his head and ordered him to complete the task. Upon awaking and feeling the hole in his head, it was confirmed for him that the vision was truly from God. After this the oratory was built, many miracles taking place in the process, and henceforth Mont Tombe came to be called Mont-Saint-Michel. It was dedicated on 16 October 709. Here Bishop Aubert at first established a chapter of twelve canons; then the Benedictines. Aubert's body was first buried in the oratory, then translated to the abbey on June 18, c. 1009.

Consecration of Chrysovalantou Monastery Which Was Dedicated to the Archangels

The Monastery of Chrysovalantou was located on the fifth hill of Constantinople, known then as Chrysovalantou from which the Monastery took its name, though the Monastery itself was dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, or perhaps only Gabriel. In the ninth century biography of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou, we read that on July 26th the celebration of the consecration of the Monastery took place, and on this day also its abbess Saint Irene was informed by an angel that she would die the day after the feast of Saint Panteleimon, which would be July 28th.

Consecration of the Archangel Gabriel in Chaldais

According to the Lavra Codex D39 the consecration of the Church or Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel in Chaldais took place on July 25th, while the Synaxaristes of Saint Nikodemos says it was on July 26th. The location of Chaldais is probably where the people of Chalybes dwelt, mentioned by classical authors as living in Pontus and Cappadocia in northern Anatolia. Their territory was known as Chaldia, extending from the Halys to Pharnakeia and Trebizond in the east and as far south as eastern Anatolia.

Consecration of the Archangel Michael in Skallai

According to the Lavra Codex D39 the consecration of the Church or Monastery of the Archangel Michael in Skallai took place on July 25th, while the Synaxaristes of Saint Nikodemos says it was on July 26th. The location of Skallai is probably where Bebek is located today in modern Istanbul, along the European shores of the Bosphorus, and another Greek name for it was Chelai.

Synaxarion of the Miracle of the Archangel Gabriel at Adein and the Revelation of Axion Estin

Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel at Adein

 June 11

Verses

Beforehand Gabriel sang Rejoice to the Maiden,
Now in Adein, he sings the hymn Axion Esti.

By Fr. Seraphim Thipolos,

Protos of Mount Athos

(Account Written in 1548)

This Synaxis and Feast of the Archangel Gabriel is followed on the Holy Mountain of Athos, in a cell of the Monastery of Pantocrator, called "Axion Estin," in a place called Adein. It is followed because of the following miracle. At the Skete of Protaton, which is found in Karyes, next to the location of the Sacred Monastery of Pantocrator, there is a large gorge with various cells. In one of these cells, which is dedicated to honoring the name of the Dormition of the Lady Theotokos, there was an elder and virtuous Hieromonk, together with one of his submissives. As it was customary every Sunday at the Skete of Protaton for a vigil to take place, on one Saturday evening, when the elder wanted to go to the vigil, he said to his disciple: "Child, I am going to listen to the vigil, as is customary. You however, remain at the cell, and as you are able read your Service." With this he departed. When the evening had passed, behold there was a knock on the door of the cell. The brother rushed to open it, and he saw a stranger Monk, unknown to him, enter inside and he remained in the cell that night. When the time for Matins came they rose up, and both of them chanted the Service,. When they came to the "More Honorable" (Tιμιωτέραν), the resident Monk chanted only "More Honorable than the Cherubim" (Tην τιμιωτέραν των Xερουβίμ) and so on till the end, which is the customary ancient hymn of Saint Kosmas the Poet. The stranger Monk however began the hymn differently, chanting: "Truly it is meet to bless the Theotokos, the ever-blessed and all-pure, and the Mother of our God" (Άξιόν εστιν ως αληθώς μακαρίζειν σε την Θεοτόκον, την αειμακάριστον και παναμώμητον, και Mητέρα του Θεού ημών.). Then he attached to it the "More Honorable" until the end.

Historical Facts About the Revelation of the "Axion Estin" by the Archangel Gabriel

FIRST WRITTEN REPORT OF THE MIRACLE

The miracle was originally written down by Seraphim Thipolos who was Protos on Mount Athos in 1550. The authentic document of the hieromonk Seraphim was at first published with minor additions by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite in 1799 in his book called New Martyrology. It begins by saying: “On Mount Athos, at the Skete of Protaton, which is at Karyes, near a big pit called Adein, Adein means 'hymn,' there is a cell. In that cell a hieromonk lived…”

Concerning the time of reporting the miracle, St. Nikodemos says the following: “Fr. Seraphim, a priest monk, lived in 7056 since the creation of the world; now we are in 7306, therefore 250 years have gone by since the miracle was recorded…” Consequently, the original text was written around 1548, two years before Fr. Seraphim became Protos of Mount Athos. This blessed man was the spiritual father of St. Dionysios of Olympus too, and had a close spiritual bond with St. Theophilos the Myrrhgusher when Fr. Seraphim was staying at the cell of St. Basil the Great in the nearby Kapsala. That cell is near the cell of the Dormition of the Mother of God and as he used to come often to the place where the angelical hymnody glorified in a wondrous way the Mother of God, he decided to write down this miracle for all generations. He, too, built the narthex of the Protaton, the most ancient and historical church of Karyes, which takes pride having the venerable icon of Axion Estin.

Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Archangel Michael at the Sosthenion

On the 8th of June we commemorate the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Archangel Michael in the Sosthenion district of Constantinople.

The Michaelion was one of the earliest and most famous sanctuaries dedicated to the Archangel Michael in the Roman Empire. According to tradition, it was built in the fourth century by Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) over an ancient pagan temple called the Leosthenion or Sosthenion, erected by the Argonauts and dedicated to Zeus Sosthenios or a winged deity. According to tradition, Constantine interpreted the winged statue of the temple as a Christian angel. After sleeping the night in the temple, Constantine reported a vision that the angel was the Archangel Michael, and converted the building into a church to honor him. In the early fifth century the historian Sozomen recorded the devotions by the crowds at the Michaelion and wrote of first-hand reports of healings at the Michaelion, stating that he had himself received a healing. The pagan temple which had existed there had been previously associated with healing and medicine, and the Christians continued to associate the location and the Michaelion with its healing waters.

Synaxarion of the Holy Venerable Martyr Conon of Isauria

St. Conon of Isauria (Feast Day - March 5)

Verses

God brought him to take a seat among the gods,
Leaving behind your dust in the earth Father Conon.
On the fifth Conon released his stout-hearted soul.

He lived during the time of the Holy Apostles, the son of lieutenant parents Nestor and Nada, and was from a village called Bydane, which was a distance of eighteen stades, or a little over two miles, from Isauria. When he came of age, his parents urged him to take a woman named Anna as his wife. The Saint persuaded his wife to prefer virginity over marriage. So he cohabited with her, but not as a couple, rather as a sister in a community of virginity and purity. There the Saint was led by the Archangel and Chief Commander Michael, who, it is said, appeared to him in a bright garment, taught him the faith of Christ, baptized him in the name of the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity, and communed him with the Immaculate Mysteries. Until the end of the Saint's life, he was not absent from standing by his side invisibly, granting him the power to perform awesome wonders. By this means the Saint persuaded his wife Anna to embrace virginity, and he converted his parents to the faith of Christ and baptized them.

Encomium to the All-Great Archangels Michael and Gabriel (St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite)

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

If, my beloved fathers and brethren, I were granted the gift of acquiring one of the tongues which the angels have, as the Apostle of Christ Paul says, (“even if I speak in the tongues of the Angels”) it would be certain and only to be expected that I would be able to praise Michael and Gabriel, the Archangels of the Lord, in a manner befitting them, since it is natural that one thing can be praised and presented to others by something similar to it. Had I but one of those fiery and immaterial tongues which were given to the holy and divine Apostles, I would be able to speak with supernatural praise, as is their due, of the fiery and immaterial Chief Captains.

If, even for a short time- I had purified my tongue, as Isaiah did, with the coal from the Seraphim, there would be some hope that I might say something worthy of the Commanders. But since I do not possess any of these qualities and I do not have an angelic tongue, but a human one; not fiery, but earthly; not immaterial. but material; not pure but impure, and apart from all that, not rhetorical or methodical, but unlearned and without method; what can you expect to hear from me? Just a few, poor things about the holy Archangels.

The Well of Docheiariou Monastery and the Archangels

When Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328) ruled, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel wondrously helped the fathers of Docheiariou Monastery at Mount Athos, revealing to them a well of water.

Until that time water arrived at the monastery by channels, three miles in length, which caused the water to be contaminated and the monks became sick, especially causing swelling and arthritis. So they got together and decided to dig deep and place large tubes for the water to pass through safely. The operation was assigned to a monk-builder, Theodoulos, and he decided to begin the next day.

The Archangel Michael Monastery of Roukouniotis in Symi

The Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Archangel Michael the Roukouniotis is located on the western side of the island of Symi, in a region known as Roukouna, after which the monastery gets its name. The island is itself dedicated to the Archangel Michael, as is evident from its many shrines to him.

According to tradition, the monastery dates back to the fifth century, which would make it the oldest monastery on the island of Symi. It is said to have been built over the ruins of a pagan temple. The original church is believed to have been dedicated to the Holy Trinity, based on the fact that its oldest icon from Byzantine times depicts the hospitality of Abraham to the three angels, which may be a reason why the Archangel Michael came to be revered there, or if the Archangel Michael was already revered there, it could be the reason why it was dedicated to the Holy Trinity with this icon at its center.

Synaxis of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel and All the Bodiless Powers

On the eighth of this month [November], is the Synaxis of the Chief Commanders Michael and Gabriel, with the other bodiless and heavenly orders.

Verses

To the Archangel Michael*

Michael, a fitting song I wished to sing

As is fit, but one free from matter I have not.

To the Archangel Gabriel**

I behold Gabriel the Angel with great joy,

In you I exceedingly rejoice and fly towards what I long for.

On the eighth the heavens glorify the Leaders of the orders.

To the Assembly of the Nine Orders of Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Principalities, Powers, Archangels and Angels.

What offering worthy of the nine orders,

Could one the offspring of nine months pronounce?

Testimony of a Miracle of the Archangel Michael to a Child Born Blind

Around 50 years ago Mr. Argyris Malidakis, a 91 year old resident of Kalymnos, was at the Monastery of the Archangel Michael Panormitis in Symi, and witnessed the following miracle, as he narrates in his own words:

I got ready with my wife and child to go venerate the Chief Commander at Symi from Kalymnos for his feast, but there was no means to do so. The Coast Guard advised us that a ship would pass by, carrying wood and reinforced bars to the Monastery in Symi and that it alone could take us there.