THE MIRACLE OF ST. MICHAEL
(Wednesday, September 6)
Today (NC) is a little feast of “The Miracle of Archangel Michael at Colossae/Chonae.” (Fun fact: The “Chudov” Monastery in Moscow is named in honor of this “chudo” or “miracle.”) It happened at some point in the 4th c., when a little church of St. Michael, situated at the bottom of a mountain near the city of Chonae (previously called Colossae), was about to be destroyed by certain pagans, who tried to turn the flow of two rivers that flowed down the mountain toward the church, to flood and collapse it. (Don’t ask me about the technical details of this scheme.) The steward of the church, a very pious layman called Archippus, prayed fervently for the intercessions of St. Michael, and the Archangel appeared near the church and struck with his staff a big fissure in the ground, into which the waters flowed and thus did not harm the church. The pagans saw this and fled.
Because of this story, I like to pray for the intercessions of St. Michael for Ukraine, that the Archangel and all the heavenly powers help out, to stop the aggressors from their evil intentions to “flood” the far smaller country (and its churches) with their death and destruction. Intercede for them, Archangel Michael, and for all the Davids fighting off the bullying Goliaths of this world! May we all be blessed today, by the invisible good guys in our midst.
