September: Day 6: Teaching 1: Commemoration of the Miracle of Holy Archangel Michael in Chonae

September: Day 6: Teaching 1: 

Commemoration of the Miracle of Holy Archangel Michael in Chonae
 
(The Christian's Hope Is In God, Who Says to Him: "Do Not Be Afraid, I Am With You!")

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The feast of the commemoration of the miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael was established for the following reason. Near Hierapolis, in Phrygian Colossae, over a spring that miraculously granted healings, there was a church of the Holy Archangel Michael. The church was built in gratitude for a healing through the intercession of the Holy Archangel Michael. A young man named Archippus settled in the church to perform the duty of sexton. He led an ascetic life: he ate very little, wore shabby clothes and slept on stones, and at the same time he converted many pagans to Christ. The pagans repeatedly attacked Archippus, insulted him and even beat him. Finally, they decided to destroy the church itself and kill Archippus. Two rivers flowed not far from the church, and they decided to direct both rivers to the church and the miraculous spring. They dug a deep and wide ditch and filled it with water from the rivers. Saint Archippus saw the plans of the enemies and prayed in the church to the Holy Archangel Michael to save the church and the spring. Meanwhile, the pagans were already preparing to let the water flow onto the church, and they themselves stood on a hill to see the destruction of the holy place with Archippus. Suddenly Saint Archippus heard a voice that inspired him to leave the church. He went out and saw the Archangel Michael, who ordered him to watch how God would save the church. The Archangel raised his right hand and held back the flow of the waters that had already been released to flow, ordering them to go into the crevice of a larger stone located near the church, and after that he himself became invisible. Saint Archippus died at a ripe old age.

II. St. Archippus, miraculously delivered by God from mortal danger through the intercession of the Holy Archangel Michael, whose faithful servant he was, reminds us, my beloved brethren, of the comforting truth that a Christian should fear nothing if God is with him, saying to him: “Fear not, for I am with you!”

“It happens,” says Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, “that a mother consoles her crying child saying to him: 'Fear not, for I am with you!' So also the merciful, man-loving God, our Creator, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations, says to every believing soul that is in temptations and misfortunes, grieves, laments and fears: 'Fear not,' the Lord says to her: "for I am with you! I am your Creator, I am your Redeemer, I am your Savior, I am your Helper and Intercessor, I, Who hold everything in My hand and to Whom everything obeys, I am with you! Zion said: "The Lord has forsaken me, and God has forgotten me. Can a wife forget her child, that she should not have mercy on the offspring of her womb? And though the woman forget these things, yet will I not forget you," says the Lord (Is. 49:14, 15). When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you, for I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King” (43:2, 3).

So the Lord was with His faithful Noah, and saved him from the great flood.

He was with His faithful Lot, and saved the righteous man from the destruction of Sodom.

He was with His servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and preserved them in the land of their sojourning, as it is written of them: He did not suffer a man to do them wrong, and rebuked the kings concerning them: "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" (Ps. 104:14, 17).

He was with Joseph, and in the temptations and sufferings that befell him, He preserved him and glorified him.

He was with the people of Israel in Egypt, which is why he said: "I saw the affliction of my people who were in Egypt, and I heard their cry" (Ex. 3:7).

He was with the same Israel during their exodus from Egypt, and divided the Red Sea for them, and led them through the waters, and saved them from the tormentor Pharaoh.

He was with the same Israel in the desert, and fed them with miraculous manna, and struck down their enemies before their face, and brought them into the mountain of His sanctuary.

He was with the same people in the promised land and saved them, as the prophet sings: "If the Lord had not been among us, let Israel say, If the Lord had not been among us, when men rose up against us, they would have devoured us alive" (Ps. 123:1-2).

He was with David, His anointed, in various temptations and persecutions, and saved His servant from his enemies.

He was with Jonah in the deep sea, and kept him in the belly of the whale, and delivered him from the beast of the sea.

He was with the three youths in the Babylonian furnace, and quenched its fiery power, and taught them to sing a song of thanksgiving.

He was with Daniel in the den, and stopped the mouths of the lions, and delivered him from there.

He was with the apostles, He was with the martyrs, and He saved them in the midst of terrible torment.

He was with the hermits who lived in caves and in the abysses of the earth, and saved them from the wiles of the enemy.

He was and is and will be to the end of the age with His faithful servants, according to His unfailing promise: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:20).

O Divine, O beloved, O sweetest of Your voice! For You unfailingly promised to be with us to the end of the age, O Christ, in whose confirmation we, the faithful, rejoice.

This is why His faithful servants, feeling His presence and living consolation, dare exclaim and sing a song with joy of spirit: "God is our refuge and strength, a help in the afflictions that have greatly come upon us. Therefore we will not fear when the earth is troubled and the mountains are turned into the hearts of the sea. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob our helper" (Ps. 45:2, 3, 12). "Even though I walk in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You, O God, are with me" (22:4). "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps. 26:1).

III. “"Look, Christian, you yourself be only God's, and God will not abandon His own," instructs the same saint. Believe in Him with all your heart, as in God, please Him with faith and truth; place all your hope in Him, and call upon Him from your heart, He is near you, He is with you, the Holy One of Israel who saves you. And wherever you may be, in whatever temptation or sorrow you may be in, He is always with you, and looks at your struggles, and with an invisible hand strengthens you and helps you, and even though all evil people rise up against you, and demonic hordes surround you, they will not succeed. "The Lord will preserve you, the Lord is your protection on your right hand. The sun will not burn you during the day, nor the moon at night. The Lord will preserve you from all evil, the Lord will preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your goings in and your goings out from henceforth even unto the ages" (Ps. 120:5, 8).

"Forsake me not, O Lord my God, depart not from me, attend to my help, O Lord of my salvation!" (37:22, 23). "Lord of hosts, be with us, for we have no other helper in sorrows except You: Lord of hosts, have mercy on us!"

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.