Chapter 6. The appearance and miracles of the holy Archangels
Saving the switchman's child
In 1885, assistant to the head of the Moscow Oktyabrsky railway station F.I. Sokolov reported such a case. He knew a railway employee, a switchman, who served at one of the stations of the Oktyabrskaya Railway closest to Moscow. Once, while performing his duties on the line, he had to endure terrible moments. There was a courier train from Petrograd to Moscow. The switchman came out to meet him to move the switch and direct him to a clear path. He looks, far ahead he can already see smoke and hear the whistle of a steam locomotive. Looking back, he sees his three-year-old son running along the track towards the train and holding something in his hands. It was already too late to throw the arrow and run towards my son to take him away from the canvas. What to do? Meanwhile, the train was approaching, and in two minutes, if it did not move the switch, the train would have rushed along another occupied track and crashed, which would have led to hundreds of casualties. Then with all his heart he cried out to God: “Thy holy will be done,” he crossed himself, closed his eyes and turned the arrow. A moment - and the train rushed along the track along which his little son had just run. When the train was out of sight and the dust had settled a little, the switchman ran to the place where his son was, thinking to find at least the remains of a corpse, and what he saw: the boy, with his arms folded on his chest, was lying prostrate on the ground. The father shouted to him: “My son, are you alive?” “I’m alive, I’m alive,” he answered cheerfully, rose to his feet, continuing to clutch the little crow to his chest. There was no trace of fear in his eyes. His father asked him: “How did you think of lying on the ground?” And the boy replied: “Some bright, handsome, kind young man with wings bent over me and bent me to the ground.” The switchman realized that when he cried out to the Lord, God's Angel miraculously saved his child. Deliverance from inevitable death occurred on the very day of the holiday dedicated to St. Archangel Michael (November 8/21). The Holy Archangel was that unexpected savior who provided first aid in an obviously disastrous situation.
Appearance of Archangel Michael to the Zaporozhye Cossacks
The appearance of St. dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. Archangel Michael to the Zaporozhye Cossacks. The story of this event was recorded by Metropolitan Peter Mogila of Kiev and given by Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko in his book “The Spiritual World” as an example of God’s mercy for repentant sinners: “After the victory over the Turkish troops near Khotyn, the Zaporozhye Cossacks, as usual, invaded Turkish lands for plunder. . Having plundered many Turkish villages and cities and filled their ship with rich booty, the Cossacks set off by sea on their return journey and were already approaching Zaporozhye. But at that time a terrible contrary wind arose, and huge waves hit the ship with such force that a leak soon formed in it, and it quickly began to fill with water and sink. Seeing their inevitable death, the Cossack robbers turned with tears and cries to God, may he deliver them through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God of Pechersk and St. Archangel Michael from the danger threatening them, while making a vow to serve for some time in the monastery of the Mother of God. And so, when they were praying, a great miracle happened: from the lower part of the ship a golden-looking young man on a shiny horse suddenly appeared before them and, standing in the midst of the dying Cossacks, said to them: “Do not be afraid, men, but pray diligently to God, and He will deliver you from death, that’s why He sent me,” and suddenly he became invisible. Meanwhile, the wind died down, the sea calmed down, and the ship, which was already half filled with water, now turned out to be completely dry, as if there had never been water in it. The Cossacks, who witnessed such a miracle, glorified God with all their hearts, who had delivered them from a terrible death, and returned safely to their homeland, where they hastened to fulfill the vow they had made to serve in the monastery of the Mother of God in the great Kyiv Lavra.”
“The Tale of the Azov Siege of the Don Cossacks” tells about the 3-month defense of the Azov fortress by a small Cossack garrison from the 300,000-strong Turkish army in 1641. The supposed author of the story - Fyodor Ivanovich Poroshin, a military clerk, participant and witness of the events he describes - reports not only on the course of military operations, the difficulties of siege life, negotiations with the enemy, etc., but shows the spiritual side of Cossack life, which also contains prayer appeal to God, the Mother of God, the Heavenly Powers, St. John the Baptist, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for support in the fight against the Busurmans, and the preservation by the people of God, as the Cossacks called themselves, of purity, mental and physical (they fully observed the time of fasting). Many of them were given the opportunity to see both in a dream and in reality “... a beautiful and radiant wife in a bright purple robe standing in the air in the middle of the city of Azov, the body of an ancient husband, hair-haired, barefoot, in bright robes, looking at the Busurman shelves.” The Most Holy Theotokos strengthens the Orthodox in their difficult battle with the Hagarites and gives news of imminent vengeance and impending victory. The Angel of the Lord leads the Cossacks during their military forays from the fortress: “And during the sorties from us from the city, everyone saw the Busurmans, Turks and Crimeans and a revolver, a brave and young man in military clothes with a single sword walking naked in battle, many Busurmans beat you. But our eyes did not see it, except in the morning we know from the slain that it was the work of God, not our hands: the plastans were the people of Tours, the floors were cut. Their victory was sent from heaven, and they asked us about it: “Tell us, Cossacks, who are the two young men in white robes, with bare swords, who are coming from the city of Azov to our Turkish regiments? And they beat all our Turkish strength and strip our people onto the floors in all their clothes.” And we told them about this: “Then our commanders are coming out.” The sudden retreat of the Turkish army from the walls of the fortress on the night of September 26 was unanimously explained by the captured Tatars and Turks as follows: “That night we had a terrible vision in the evening. In the heavens above our Busurman regiments there was a great and terrible cloud from Russia, from your kingdom of Moscow. And she stood opposite our camp itself, and in front of her, like a cloud, two terrible young men were walking through the air, holding naked swords in their hands, and threatening our Busurman regiments. At that time we recognized them all. That night, the terrible commanders of Azov in military clothing went out to fight our attacks from the city of Azov - they cut us in two in our fences. Because of that terrible vision (we fled) without our plows and the Crimean Tsar from the camps.”
Appearance of Archangel Michael to Emperor Paul
“At the beginning of January 1798, when Empress Maria Feodorovna was preparing to be the mother of her tenth baby (Mikhail, January 28, 1798), a deputation of St. Petersburg Old Believers was presented to Emperor Paul at the Winter Palace to express their feelings of gratitude for the patronage they were receiving. The merchant Malov presented the emperor with an ancient icon of the Archangel Michael in a precious gold-forged robe. The Emperor very graciously received the deputation; The icon was placed in the sovereign's office, and a lamp was lit in front of it. At dusk of this day, Paul I, returning to his office with his half-wife, whose state of health inspired him with serious concerns, sat in deep thought in a chair at the table and fixed his beautiful blue eyes on the icon presented to him by the Old Believers. A quiet rustling awakened him from his reverie; he looked around: at the door stood an old man in a monastic robe, with a handsome face, furrowed with wrinkles, with a long gray beard, with a meek, friendly look. How did he get into the sovereign's office? Pavel Petrovich never asked anyone about this...
-What do you say, sir? - he turned to the stranger.
“Your wife,” he answered, “will give you a son, Mikhail.” You will name the palace that you are building at the place of your birth with the same name of the Holy Archangel.
Remember my words: “The holiness of the Lord is fitting for your house for a long time.”
And the mysterious guest disappeared behind the door, as it seemed to the sovereign. On January 28, the Empress gave birth to a son, and, at the request of Paul I, during prayer, he was given the name Mikhail. At the very time when the roar of cannons from the bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress announced to the residents of the capital about the growth of the royal family, the sovereign’s favorite, Count Kutaisov, reported to him that the officer on duty on the internal palace guard wanted to tell the sovereign something important in secret. At first, Paul was alarmed: like all the first people, with any sudden news he felt an unpleasant, painful feeling.
- Send him here! – he said, somewhat cheering up.
“I have the honor to inform Your Imperial Majesty,” the officer reported, “that an extraordinary incident occurred at the post occupied by a sentry from the Schönburg regiment...
- Which one is it, sir? “The sentry, probably in a fit of fever, reported to me about some vision he had... Some old man in a monastic robe, at the very moment of relief from Her Imperial Majesty’s burden, approached the sentry and said: “Remind the sovereign that the newborn is named was Mikhail, and the newly built palace was Mikhailovsky.
- Send a sentry here! - the sovereign shouted.
The sentry, trembling with fear, repeated word for word what the guard on duty had conveyed to the emperor. To the surprise of the soldier and officer, the sovereign said:
– I know, I know... It’s already been done!
The sovereign ordered the sentry to be given a generous reward, and the officer was awarded the Order of St. Anna. The next day he demanded the architect Brenno to come to him.
“On the main pediment facing Italian Street,” the sovereign ordered him, “make this very inscription.” - He handed him a piece of paper, on which the sovereign’s own hand had written: “To your house shall be the holiness of the Lord for the length of days.” The historian reporting on this event notes that the number of letters (47) of the above inscription, which has been preserved to this day on the pediment of the Mikhailovsky Castle, is equal to the number of years lived by Emperor Paul (1754–1801).”
When Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky) visited the Athos Dochiar Monastery (in 1846 and 1859), he discovered a remarkable legend about the construction of the Church of St. Archangel Michael in 1797 by Emperor Pavel Petrovich. The text of the “Tales...”, translated from Greek by Saint Porphyry, not only conveys new amazing details of the vision of Paul I, but mainly reveals the name of the mysterious old monk, directly calling him Archangel Michael. Here is evidence that the Heavenly Guardian of the Russian sovereigns first appeared to Paul when he was still a twenty-year-old youth, and predicted his accession to the Russian throne. Having remembered what has been said, let us turn to the text:
“Brotherhood! Always and constantly, the greatest Chief of all heavenly Angels and the Archangel of the Lord's army, the luminous and most magnificent Michael performed many different miracles at different times and in different places. But even now he does not cease to perform the same great miracles, truly worthy of his Archangelic greatness.
One of them is that wondrous miracle that he performed in the presence of the most pious Emperor of the All-Russian sovereign Pavel Petrovich. And this is how it happened. When the spoken Paul was still twenty years old, then the Archangel Michael appeared to him in a vision and predicted that he would eventually become a king, adding: when this happens, then let him remember this prediction and build a temple in his name. Paul made a promise to the one who appeared that he would fulfill his command, and having awakened from sleep, he immediately wrote down in the memorable book of his life this vision that he saw, and the day and promise given to the Archangel. However, when he became king last year according to the prediction of Archangel Michael, among many royal concerns he forgot the promise given to the Archangel to build a temple in his name. But the Divine Michael again reminded this king of his previous promise, and this is how. Taking on the appearance of a monk, he sensually and visibly approaches the king’s first bodyguard and tells him: go and tell the king to destroy the palace that was built in such and such a place, and build a temple to the Archangel Michael there. This bodyguard promised to go and tell this to the king, but due to the divine change in his mind and surprise at the sight of the monk who had appeared, he forgot to interrogate the one who spoke to him, who he was, and where he was from, and why, and to find out other circumstances, as royal people usually do, examining all such things and writing them down, in order to give a detailed account of them to their kings; but when the monk left, then the bodyguard remembered that he had to interrogate the one who had appeared, who he was and where he was from, and so on. Remembering this, he immediately called the other guards to him and ordered them to talk to that monk and bring him back. They run and look for him above and below. But the monk was invisible. Therefore, the chief of the bodyguards, thinking that if he went to the king and told him the words of the monk, the king would ask who he was, where he was from and why, he was afraid that he might lose his life, and did not go to the king. The Archangel appeared to him a second time in the same form; and again the same thing happened as the first time. Then he appeared a third time in the same form and, having convicted the chief of the bodyguards of a crime, he went in to the king alone and told him the same thing that he had told this chief, that is, that he should destroy the palace that is located in such and such a place , and would build a temple to the Archangel Michael here; to this the Archangel added that he told this three times to the chief of the bodyguards, but he was afraid and did not announce it. The king, having heard this, made a promise to fulfill what was required, but he himself, having suffered the same change in his mind and the same surprise that occurred in the soul of the chief of the bodyguards, forgot to ask the one who had appeared who he was and where he was from, and when he had already left, then I remembered that I needed to ask him. Therefore, he immediately called one nobleman, who then came to the palace, and ordered him to talk to the monk who had just left the palace and to turn him back. But the nobleman answered the king that he did not see anyone, since this monk had become invisible. Then the king called the chief of the bodyguards and questioned him about the monk who had appeared; and he told him the whole matter, as it was. After this, the king remembered that he had seen the Archangel Michael in a dream, when he was twenty years old, he remembered the promise given to him to build a temple in his name, and leafing through his royal memos, in which this was written down, he was firmly and indisputably convinced that the monk who appeared to him was the same Archangel Michael. Then he immediately ordered the demolition of the royal palace that the one who had appeared to him had told him about, and in its place he built a beautiful and wondrous temple in the name of the Archangel Michael. This miracle was announced throughout the Russian state, and they talk about it everywhere. And here (to Athos) came some worthy Russian monks who live in the monastery of Black Vir, former eyewitnesses of the broken palace and the newly created temple of the Archangel Michael. This miracle has blocked and will block and will block the devilish lips of the atheists, because it is the clearest and most tangible proof of the Divinity. It also foreshadows that there will be great and worldwide victories for the kingdom of Ross, which honors the greatest Archangel of the Powers of the Lord, Michael, through his intercession may we get rid of visible and invisible enemies, and may we all be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen". This remembrance of the appearance of the Archangel Michael, according to the testimony of Saint Porfiry, was read in the Dochiarsky monastery either during the Divine service or at a fraternal meal.
Appearances to Venerable Parthenius of Kyiv
Two instances of the appearance of the Archangel Michael are noted in the biography of the Venerable Elder Parthenius of Kiev-Pechersk: “One day after an all-night prayer vigil, lost in a thin sleep, he sees his cell filled with many bestial-like monsters rushing at him with fury. In horror, he cried out: “My Most Holy Lady, Mother of God!” At this proclamation, a wondrous light illuminated the cell, and the Most Blessed Virgin, accompanied by Archangel Michael, appeared in indescribable glory; the monsters disappeared like smoke, and he, having awakened, in joyful awe saw with his waking eye the radiance in the place where the Most Pure One stood.” As a hieroschemamonk, Elder Parthenius celebrated the Divine Liturgy daily. During one of these services, “On the 13th day of November 1843,” he writes in his cell notes, “I saw Chrysostom and the Archangel, who came to my aid, and made an icon as a keepsake.”
Protector and Patron
In the book “On the Bank of God’s River,” the famous spiritual writer Sergei Aleksandrovich Nilus included letters from one monastic sister to her spiritual father and elder about her life, from the age of 12 to 73 and beyond.” The manuscript of an unknown nun was given to S.A. Nilus for information about. Erast (Vytropsky), head of the Optina chancellery, January 26, 1909. The woman who wrote this diary lived a difficult life. The constant guidance from the spiritual world helped her to endure all the trials and come to true faith. One of its guardians and mentors was St. Archangel Michael, who appeared in a subtle dream several times in order to protect and comfort his ward. At first St. The Archangel comes in visions as a young warrior of extraordinary beauty, whose name is until now hidden from the woman he leads. This is what she saw when she was still 17 years old. One day, unable to bear the insults of her husband, the young wife turns to God with a prayer to deliver her from suffering: “With bitter tears and a feeling of sorrow, I fell asleep. And I see in a dream: I am walking through a meadow covered with thick, green grass and flowers; and in the distance there is a forest. It’s as if, despite this, it’s cold autumn outside. I’m running into this forest naked, but I’m not cold, but light and cheerful... The road through the forest is wide and smooth, and I’m running along it... Suddenly a dog with a long chain came from somewhere and blocked my way. I got scared and began to pray. At this moment, I see a young man of extraordinary beauty come out of the forest, wearing a helmet and weapons, like a warrior, and asks me: “Where are you running?” I stopped and remained silent. He took my hand and began to speak so quietly and tenderly: “I came to you so many times, but you keep running away from me. You’re mine and know that I won’t give you away to anyone!” I began to ask him to let me go as soon as possible. He left my hand and said: “Remember that you are mine!” I rushed to run from him through the forest and ran to some large house, and in this house the doors opened by themselves before me. I didn't see anyone. I entered the house. I look: a large, superbly decorated room, and in it lies a lot of wonderful things and a lot of different clothes. I looked at all this and said to myself: “Lord! Who is all this prepared for?” And with these words I want to go back to my home. But then the doors suddenly closed by themselves with a great noise, and I found myself entangled in some bars. And I see that there is no salvation for me and that I cannot get out of these bars. And I began to cry and ask the Lord to help me free myself. At the same moment, the young man I had seen earlier suddenly appeared. I began to ask him to release me and let me go home. “My husband is waiting for me at home,” I say. Let me go home, set me free!” Seeing that this young man was my salvation, I became a little bolder and asked him: “Whose house is this? Where did I go? And the young man answered me: “This house is mine, and everything in it belongs to you. Whether you like it or not, you will live with me inseparably. Remember that I won’t give you to anyone.” And then this young man freed me and let me out of the house. I ran as fast as I could and was already close to my house, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a dog jumped out at me again and blocked the way to the house. And again that wonderful young man appeared to me. "Where are you running? - asks. “You’ll get cold without me!” Then he handed me a large Turkish shawl, wrapped me in it and said: “Remember, you should not belong to anyone but me! I will be with you everywhere." This dream, like the subsequent ones, became an omen of important events in the fate of the narrator, although the comprehension of the signs and images that appeared to her did not occur immediately, but after a certain time. Soon after the dream, the poor girl becomes the owner of her own village at the sudden desire of her husband. And the secret poisoner - a peasant woman who attempted the life of the young housewife - is expelled. Many years later (at the age of 25), our heroine has a dream in which the faithful heavenly guardian and patron again appears. The sleeping woman hears a voice ordering her to build a house. Obeying what was spoken from above, the woman began to erect a building. “And so, when I was walking near the building I had erected, the same young man who had once, in a dream vision, dressed me with a shawl suddenly came in to see me. He came up to me and began to admire the building, and then said to me: “Go, look in your yard: what’s going on there?” I looked at the yard and saw: half of my yard was sown with rye, and this rye was already ripe. And I wonder what kind of rye it is and where did it come from? It grows, I see, in bushes and like nothing I’ve ever seen. In the middle of this rye there is one ear taller than all, and on this ear there are several more ears. “What kind of rye is this? What kind of amazing ear is this?” - I ask the young man. “This ear,” he answers me, “has seven ears of corn in itself, and each ear will bear seven ears of fruit, and all your barns will be filled with bread.” An event that followed soon revealed the meaning of what was seen in the dream. A woman, by the will of her husband and contrary to his numerous heirs, is declared the sole owner of the estate in the event of the death of her husband. The death of the latter was also foreshadowed in one of the dreams, in which the secret mentor and leader reappears in the form of a young man. “This time, as if with some special power, he came to my house and began to break everything in the house. He broke the clock, furniture, piano and began to throw everything out of the house; then he grabbed my husband and locked him in the room, putting a guard on it and forbidding anyone to let anyone in... I began to cry and ask this young man not to torture my husband, but he menacingly told me: “Do you remember that I came to you and said that you should not belong to anyone but me? You kept driving me away from you; Now I myself have come to you and I won’t leave without you and I’ll be with you everywhere.” In one of her letters to her sister, this woman, who had been widowed by that time, describes a dream in which, through the mouth of a young warrior known to her, a new marriage was announced: “Today I saw in a dream: as if I were in my village, walking from room to room in a house : and in the house everything is empty and there is nothing. I entered my office, stopped at the window, raised my eyes to the sky and began to thank the Lord with emotion that I was a widow and that it had become so easy for me to live as a widow... Suddenly I heard a voice: “You should get married soon!” I looked back at the sound of this voice and was frightened: I saw sitting at the table that young warrior who had already appeared to me several times in a dream. “No,” I tell him, “I will never get married: the Lord will have mercy on me for this.” “No,” he objects, “you’ll go!” I began to cry and ask him to save me from a new marriage. When I asked him about this, some unfamiliar officer came out to me. “Here is your groom! - the warrior told me, took his and my hand and put wedding rings on both of us. “Look,” he says to my fiancé, “take care of her, she’s mine, I’m not completely giving her to you!” “And he said to me: “Don’t be afraid, go for him: I’ll be with you everywhere!” - and disappeared from me.” Two weeks and two days later, an acquaintance took place, and then a wedding took place with an officer exactly like the one the woman had seen in her dream. The name of the Angel, who had been keeping his charge for many years, unexpectedly appeared in one of her visions. Omitting the content of the entire dream, we will cite only the place that concerns St. Archangel Michael. “I stood at the window [the woman sees herself in her own house. – M.M.] and I feel incredible sadness... And in the sky, I see, a terrible storm is rising, and black, swirling clouds rush low over the earth... In terrible fear, I fell to my knees and began to pray, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the sky. And I see: among the worrying clouds of the approaching storm, a radiant Angel appeared and began to fight with them, stopping the storm. And I heard a voice calling loudly: “Where is she, where is she?” And then my long-dead cousin ran into my bedroom, grabbed me by the hand and took me into another room with the words: “This is how it has to be. Calm down: Archangel Michael is calming your storm!”
St. was reposed as the deliverer and guide of righteous souls after their parting from the earthly vale. Archangel Michael in the wonderful dream of one Optina ascetic, which is cited by S.A. Nilus in the book “The Power of God and Human Weakness.” Hieromonk Barsanuphius, a little over six weeks after the repose of the hieromonk of the Baptist Skete of Optina Hermitage Nikon (October 2, 1850), saw the latter in a dream.
From the biography of the great ascetic Antonia - abbess of the Sretensky Monastery in the city of Kashin, Tver province (in the world of Alexandra Pavlovna Mezentsova) - the following is known: “In 1852, she went with three nuns on a pilgrimage to Kyiv. Along the way they stopped at the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery. An interesting case from this trip was the rescue of pilgrims from an attack by robbers in a deep forest; they were saved by the young voice of some invisible man, who commanded the coachman to turn to the right... and Mother Anthony considered St. Archangel Michael, to whom every day I read aloud the prayer of all my companions.”
"Observant of the will of the Heavenly Father"
About the miraculous healing from a serious illness of St. The Archangel Michael of the abbess of the Leushinsky monastery, Abbess Taisiya (Solopova), is reported in her handwritten notes in early March 1883. On the eve of her departure from St. Petersburg for the Leushinsky monastery, Mother Taisiya, being paralyzed, was in a dejected and anxious state from the flood of sorrowful memories of the unrest in her community. The last night in the capital was drawing to a close, 5 o'clock in the morning struck, but the nun could not close her eyes and, saddened by her insomnia, cried bitterly. “Something extraordinary happened here. It couldn’t have happened in a dream because I didn’t fall asleep. Or rather, in some kind of oblivion, or no longer understanding how it seems to me that I am sitting with someone alone and talking precisely about the fact that I need to have an icon of the Archangel Michael. At this time, someone entered the door that was directly opposite me, carrying an icon of the Archangel Michael in his hands, and stopped not far from the door. The one who carried her was a young man, very, very handsome, blond, golden hair, long, parted in the middle, like a young novice, dressed in a blue velvet cassock. Seeing the icon I needed, I approached the person carrying it and without hesitation said: “Give me this icon; I need it, but I can’t look for it - you see, I have no legs and can’t walk, give it to me, I ask you!” Instead of answering, the young man asked me very graciously, but seriously: “Do you know who holds this icon?” In confusion, I looked at him and saw, to my amazement, that both faces, both on the icon and the face of the young man, were completely identical. But in the icon, Archangel Michael was in military clothing, with a flaming sword, as is always depicted, and the young man was in a cassock, which seemed inappropriate to me; nevertheless, seeing the similarity of faces, I answered somewhat embarrassed: “Isn’t it the Great Archangel himself?” As if answering my first thought about the cassock, he said: “Angels are obedients to the will of the Heavenly Father.” Then he continued: “You will receive my icon, but do not be embarrassed by not having it; go with God to your monastery (and then there was still a community, not a monastery), the Archangel will be with you.” With these words, he made the sign of the cross over me, and I, having crossed myself, bowed to the ground and venerated it. He, as I remember, overshadowed me with the icon three times, repeating the same words: “Go with God to the monastery, the Archangel will be with you.” All three times I bowed to the ground and kissed. After the third fall, I seemed to wake up, lowered my legs from the bed, which had not moved for two months, put on some clothes with my hands that had not moved until now, and walked along the corridor to the washroom, where I washed myself. Having washed my face and not finding my personal towel, because there was none, I headed back to my room, where I began to look for a towel. I did all this in some kind of half-consciousness, not understanding what was wrong with me. Suddenly the novice Nadezhda woke up and, seeing me standing on my feet and with my face and hands wet, she got scared and, not knowing what to think, grabbed me by the legs and screamed loudly: “Mother, what’s wrong with you?” Only then did I come to my senses and, remembering that an hour before I had been lying motionless, I remembered what I had seen and realized that Archangel Michael himself had healed me.” Talking about what happened, Mother Taisiya, and with her her novice, cried tears of true spiritual joy and tenderness. On the same day, the healed abbess left St. Petersburg, believing that the Archangel himself was accompanying her.
Worse than “a thousand deaths”
S.A. spoke about one appearance of the formidable Archangel Michael. Nilus Optina Elder Fr. Joseph. This story was recorded on March 16, 1909: “... the summer before last, a young man came to see me and repented of the fact that it was the lot of the revolutionaries to kill our sovereign. “Everything,” he says, “we had prepared for this, and I had access to the sovereign himself. One night remained before the assassination attempt. I didn’t sleep all night and worried, and in the morning I barely forgot... And I see: the sovereign is standing. I rush towards him to strike him... And suddenly, like lightning from heaven, Archangel Michael appeared before me with a fiery sword. I fell on my face before him in mortal fear. I woke up from horror and fled from St. Petersburg with the first departing train and now I am hiding from the revenge of my accomplices. “They will find me,” he says, “but it’s better to have a thousand of the cruelest deaths than the vision of the formidable Archangel and eternal damnation for the anointed of God...” Here, friend, is my message to you: while the Lord protects His anointed with His Archangel and His Heavenly Host, until now the Lord lives! – there is no point in saving yourself either for the world or for Russia. Remember this firmly...”
Another is St. Archangel Michael to a righteous young layman in the last moments of his life. The Holy Archangel meets the soul on the threshold of eternity in order to lead it to the heavenly abodes of the Heavenly Father.
- Goodbye, dear ones! - he said. - Goodbye - where there will be no more separation!
- Mitrosha, are you really dying? - the mother moaned.
- Yes, mom, I’m dying!.. Look, look who came! Holy Archangel Michael!.. Lord, accept my soul in peace!
This is how Mitrosha the recluse, the son of a provincial archpriest, died.
Unearthly guests
On the pages of the same book S.A. Nilus gives a detailed description of the vision of the novice Olga, made in the Kiev Intercession Monastery by Mother Abbess (Grineva) in April 1917. Before falling into an unusual dream, young Olga sees St. Archangel Michael. The girl's soul wanders with her heavenly guide, first through places of hellish torment, and then visits heavenly abodes, in which, among other saints, she meets St. Archangel. “This garden was more beautiful than all the previous ones. There were small houses there, as if cast from crystal. In this garden we saw St. Archangel Michael, who told me that this garden is the dwelling of the desert dwellers.” Outside the wonderful garden of St. Mikhail becomes invisible to the traveler. But just before returning to the earthly world, Olga again notices St. standing next to her. Archangel. Elder M. Anna told S.A. Nilus about another vision of his novice Olga, which happened to her at the moment of her brief awakening after a 24-day sleep. Waking up, Olga warned her mother and sister-nuns about the imminent arrival of mysterious guests: “Then we realized that there would be unearthly guests coming to us, and we began to ask if we would see them?” Olga answered: “I don’t know.” When they come, you will feel it.
Then the appearance of her face changed, as if she had seen something mysterious - great, she silently looked around the cell with her eyes. She was in this state for about twenty minutes. At that time I felt a kind of jolt in my heart: I was seized by some kind of awe that I had never experienced before, and I began to cry, feeling the presence in the cell of someone not from this world. The sisters who were in the cell said a prayer in a whisper; some cried... Then from their words it [became] clear that at the same time they experienced the same thing as me when they cried, but no one, like me, saw or heard anything. About twenty minutes later, Olga’s face took on its usual expression, and she burst into tears. Having calmed down a little, she answered the sisters’ questions:
- How is this possible? After all, I thought that you see and hear singing. And what guests there were: the holy Archangel himself with his Heavenly army!
-What were they singing? - we ask.
“They sang “We praise God to you,” and how they sang! With them were the blessed elders and the holy prayer books, to whom we resorted with M. Anna and whose names were written down during the psalter reading. The Holy Archangel Michael baptized all those present and sprinkled them with holy water...
Rescue from German captivity
About one appearance of St. The Archangel Michael during the Great Patriotic War is told on the pages of the Samara newspaper Blagovest. Fourteen-year-old Alyosha was captured along with other children during field work and placed in prison by the Germans. Alexey had to abandon the idea of running away together with his new friend, because in a dream a certain voice told him: “You two can’t escape, run alone!” The boy decided to carry out his plan one rainy day, when the prisoners were being escorted to the work site. In these tense moments, Alyosha remembered his grandmother and her words addressed to God: “Lord, help, save us, Lord!” Stumbling and falling into the mud, the young prisoner froze, waiting for a shot, but the soldier only hit him with his boot and went to catch up with the others. After lying there for some time, the boy decided to run in the direction of the forest. A few hours later, completely exhausted, he collapsed in a small forest clearing. “When Alyosha woke up, he saw a young man sitting next to him. There was nothing special about him. Only later will Alexey be surprised and understand why he immediately trusted him, as if he had known him for a very long time. “Why are you lying there? Went!" – these were the only words that the stranger uttered. Without a moment's doubt, the boy stood up and followed him. Alyosha didn’t know how long they walked; the road was difficult, small bushes and grass wrapped around their legs, branches whipped their faces. “I wish I had a knife or an ax,” the boy thought. And at the same moment the stranger handed him a huge knife, more like a sword. Now the going has become easier. If the boy completely lost his strength, the stranger would sit on the ground and patiently wait for Alyosha to rest. What seemed strange to the boy was that the stranger himself never lay down or dozed off. When they went out into the familiar forest, where Alyosha and his friends visited almost every day, Alexey suddenly realized that the stranger had disappeared, he was nowhere to be found, as if he had melted in the ringing cool forest air. Alyosha couldn’t find that big knife anywhere. From joy and resentment, the boy cried for a long time and inconsolably. At home, the adults were surprised; how he could escape from captivity; It was so easy to cross the front line alive and unharmed - no one could understand this. Alyosha incoherently tried to explain that he was not alone, that he was being led by an unfamiliar young man. But everyone just sighed and repeated: “Well, thank God, he’s alive! God bless!" Alyosha’s old grandmother went to church the next morning to thank God for saving her granddaughter. A few days later, when Alyosha became stronger, she insisted that he go with her. Arriving at the church, the grandmother placed the boy near the icon, in front of which she herself prayed. Alyosha looked up at the icon and cried out in surprise: “Grandma, here is my savior!” Archangel Michael looked at Alyosha from the icon. In his right hand he held a sword, the same one that helped the boy make his way through the impassable forest thickets, overcome fear, hunger and death.
Maltsev M.V., priest. My angel is with you. M., 1994
Archangel Michael in different religions
This angel is worshiped by representatives of various religious movements.
- In Judaism, Michael (Michael) leads the Heavenly Host and in this sense opposes the demon Belial, who commands the dark forces. Michael is one of the four main angels along with Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, who form the inner circle of the Lord and guard the four cardinal directions. The name Michael itself translated from Hebrew means “who is like God.”
- In Islam, the archangel is called Mikail. He is part of the highest hierarchy of angels living in the Seventh Heaven. According to the Koran, Mikail has wings of an unusual emerald color, and he is called the Angel of Mercy. He bestows grace on devout Muslims. Mikail is credited with the ability to control the winds and the movement of clouds.
- In the Christian religion, Michael also plays a central role. He is tasked with leading an angelic army that wages an eternal battle against a horde of demons. Michael's responsibilities also include enforcing God's law. The Archangel appears at the Heavenly Court as the protector of souls who have left the earthly world. God also entrusted Michael with guarding the gates of Eden. The archangel is also known for helping Christians get rid of illnesses. In his honor, miraculous springs with healing water are named in Asia Minor.
Protection
Turning to Archangel Michael, people seek his protection in situations where they have to “deal” with those who often neglect the Ten Commandments. To protect yourself from the evil thoughts of ill-wishers, you need to read a special prayer.
“Archangel Michael, Great Heavenly Voivode and Savior of the human race from dark forces. Pray to the Lord God for forgiveness of all my earthly sins, committed through my foolishness. I urge you to come down from heaven, and for this I will pray earnestly to God. I ask you to protect me from damage and the evil eye.
Keep my enemies away from me, but do not harm them, let God judge them and decide their fate. Let them beg for forgiveness for their sins, because we on earth have one road that leads to God’s threshold. Amen".
But before that, you should visit the temple and submit a note about the health of your loved ones. It is also necessary to put three candles on the images of Jesus Christ, Matrona of Moscow and Nicholas the Wonderworker. Before leaving the church, the worshiper must buy 12 candles, which must be lit at home and repeatedly pray to Archangel Michael on the same day until the fire goes out. Then you can drink Holy water.
Prayer from enemies
Archangel Michael is able to provide very strong protection from enemies who are trying to harm you, from evil emanating from false friends and envious people. The text of the protective prayer goes like this.
Oh, Saint Michael the Archangel, bright and formidable commander of the Heavenly King! Before the Last Judgment, let me repent from my sins, deliver my soul from the net that catches me and bring me to the God who created me, who sits on the Cherubim, and pray diligently for her, so that through your intercession I will send her to the resting place. O formidable commander of the Heavenly Powers, representative of all at the Throne of the Lord Christ, guardian of the strong man and wise armorer, strong commander of the Heavenly King! Have mercy on me, a sinner who requires your intercession, save me from all visible and invisible enemies, and moreover, strengthen me from the horror of death and from the embarrassment of the devil, and grant me the honor of unashamedly presenting myself to our Creator at the hour of His terrible and righteous Judgment. O all-holy, great Michael the Archangel! Do not despise me, a sinner, who prays to you for your help and intercession, in this world and in the future, but grant me there together with you to glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Historical facts
There is a version that the text of the prayer was found in 1929 on the porch of the destroyed Miracle Monastery, which is located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. Moreover, there was a postscript to the plea for help, the content of which boiled down to the following: “Whoever finds this prayer must rewrite it on 7 sheets of paper and address it to 7 believers. Anyone who fulfilled this condition was forgiven 49 sins.”
Some clergy claim that the origin of the “Prayer to Archangel Michael” is a mystery that humanity cannot solve. Some claim that the text of the “sacred letter” was discovered in the altar of St. Michael the Archangel (Rome), others - on Mount Tabor (Great Britain) under the icon of the saint. But some representatives of the church community insist that the text originally appeared many centuries ago in Jerusalem with one of the bishops.
About health
Those who suffer from various kinds of diseases also cry out for the help of the Archangel. Patients with neuroses, migraines, and “cardiovascular” pathologies often improve their health status by praying to Archangel Michael. But if a person is overcome by serious illnesses, then not only he himself, but also his loved ones should ask for healing.
You should turn to an angel for help in front of his icon. In cases where the patient cannot walk independently, he can pray while holding the image of the Archangel in his hands.
It is very important to fast (on Wednesdays and Fridays). But if for health reasons it is contraindicated for a person to limit himself in food, then this rule does not apply to him. The Archangel also helps to heal from alcohol abuse and drug addiction.
Miracles of Gabriel:
News about the child:
He presented it to Saint Anne. He said that she would give birth to a daughter - the blessed Virgin Mary, who would later become the mother of Jesus Christ.
Prophecies about the coming of the Savior:
Archangel Gabriel appeared to the prophet Daniel and told him about the coming of the Savior.
The Mystery of the Creation of the World:
The biblical character Moses was guarding a flock of sheep at the time when Saint Gabriel appeared to him. It was he who told the prophet the secret of the creation of the world. Then it was his words that Moses wrote down in the book of Genesis.
About the deceased
Believers venerate the Saint annually on September 19 and November 21. According to church canons, these days he kneels before God and prays for the souls of the departed, who on Earth led a far unrighteous lifestyle and for this are forced to endure torment until the Lord has mercy on them. On these days, services are held in the name of Archangel Michael and parishioners turn to him so that he can give peace to souls who are doomed to hellish torment.
Holy Scripture indicates that on September 19 (the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Khoneh) and November 21 (Michael's Day) the saint can rescue the souls of the departed from hell. He approaches the very edge of the “kingdom of Lucifer”, lowers his right wing and the “Fiery Hyena” calms down for a while, after which the Archangel frees the dead from the Underworld.
According to the apocryphal books Archangel Michael:
- “washes” the souls of the dead before they enter the Heavenly Kingdom;
- entrusts the souls of people who tried not to sin in earthly life to Jesus Christ to transport them to the Heavenly Kingdom;
- “accompanies” the Virgin Mary in the Underworld and explains to her the origins of human sin (the apocryphal “Walk of the Virgin Mary through torment”).
The writings of Greek clergy indicate that the Archangel is present at the moment when a person takes his last breath. Also, representatives of the clergy claim that Michael, fulfilling God’s will, separates the “pious” from sinners. Moreover, the Archangel can transfer a person who could not resist the temptations of Satan, but did a good deed on Earth, towards the righteous.
The main mission of the Archangel is the extermination of the forces of Darkness. The fight against the Devil began immediately after the creation of the world, and Michael managed to expel the dark forces from the Kingdom of Heaven. When life on Earth becomes impossible, Michael will lead the departed souls to the Last Judgment. And between the beginning and the end of human existence, the angel will wage a tireless struggle with Satan.
How to correctly contact Archangel Michael
Often people treat faith very formally. They attend church, light candles, observe external rituals, but in ordinary life they rarely remember God and his helpers. A modern person truly turns to prayer if misfortune befalls him or if trouble befalls his loved ones. And before that, he allowed himself minor and even significant sins: laziness, envy, gluttony, lust, lies. In this way he polluted his soul.
God and the angels will always help, but in order for your prayers to be heard in heaven, you must get rid of negative energy and fill your soul with love and light. There aren't many recommendations.
- First of all, ask (at least mentally) for forgiveness from those whom you, wittingly or unwittingly, offended.
- Clean up your speech. Even in everyday conversations, avoid swear words, intonations of resentment and anger.
- Don't allow anyone to be criticized. Moreover, do not spread gossip and rumors.
- Give up alcohol a week before turning to the angel. Of course, there should be a complete ban on drugs and psychotropic substances.
- Do a light fast for at least a week, give up meat products. Avoid overeating.
After such a cleansing, your appeal to any angel will definitely receive a response.
The Mystery of Salvation
Any of us has experienced grief: our loved ones, relatives, and close people are dying. We remember them, and they, in turn, sometimes appear in our night visions, as if reminding us of themselves. What does it mean? What can we do for them?
Orthodox prayer for the dead
Many people often visit graveyards, look after their own graves, and install expensive and massive tombstones. But do the deceased themselves need grave beauty? Is this what they ask of us?
People who do not believe in God are unable to do anything for the soul of a deceased person. They believe that after death the body disintegrates and the soul does not exist. But the memory of the deceased lives in the hearts of people. They hold feasts with alcoholic libations on death anniversaries, cry and sob looking at old photographs; for them the personality of the deceased no longer exists - it died with the death of his body.
Orthodoxy about death:
- 9 days after death
- 40 days after death
- How to properly remember the dead
The Orthodox religion teaches that a person does not die, that is, he is not dead, but alive!
His soul is immortal! But upon death she goes to heaven or hell. Few righteous people are awarded the joy of heaven; many, due to their unconfessed sins, are sent to hell. During their lifetime, conscience, the Voice of God, did not force them to think and atone for their sins in confession in the Temple of God.
