November: Day 22: Holy Martyr Michael, Prince of Tver

 

November: Day 22:
Holy Martyr Michael, Prince of Tver
 
(Lessons From His Life:
a. Love for the Fatherland, and
b. Meekly Enduring Sorrows)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today we celebrate the memory of one of the glorious representatives of the Russian land, from the Russian princely family, the former Grand Duke of Rus', the Holy Martyr Michael of Tver.

Grand Prince Michael of Tver lived in the hard times of the Tatars, when cruelty, violence and lawlessness reigned in the Russian land, when the will of the Tatar Khan meant everything, when one of his threatening words led to the destruction and devastation of entire Russian regions. In such difficult times, under the Tatar Khan Uzbek, about 600 years ago, Prince Michael of Tver occupied the grand princely throne in Rus'. He suffered much and humbled himself much before the invincible power and strength of the Tatars, not wanting to bring trouble upon his long-suffering people. But one day he had to take up the sword, forced by the unjust attack on him by the Khan's army. "Prince, you are right before the face of the Almighty; take up the sword, your faithful servants are with you," said the bishops and boyars to their beloved prince. And he gathered an army and defeated the formidable Kavgadiy, the Khan's military leader, and captured Kavgadiy himself. But even with such success, the Grand Prince humbled himself. Seeing that he cannot cope with all the Tatar forces, which were ready to rise up against him at one word from Uzbek, he releases Kavgadiy, justifies himself by the unjust attack on him and, by order of the Khan, goes to the Horde, almost certainly knowing what awaits him there.

"Perhaps this is the last time I open my soul to you," he said to his confessor. "I have always loved my fatherland. Bless me to shed my blood for Rus', if necessary, and pray that God forgive me my sins." The boyars and the people begged the prince not to go to the Horde, his sons tearfully asked him to send one of them to appease the khan, but the holy prince answered firmly: "It is not you, my children, but me that the khan demands. Can we fight with all his power? If I do not fulfill his orders, he will again begin to devastate my region, thousands of Christians will lay down their heads or go into captivity. Everyone must die; it is better to lay down one's life for many souls." And the great prince went.

The unfortunate prince was put in chains, an iron block was put around his neck and dragged after the Khan, who went hunting with his retinue to the banks of the Terek. For a month or two, such sufferings of the prince continued. "Loving Lord, glory to You!" exclaimed the prince often in his hopeless grief. "You, O Lord, have granted me to begin my suffering feat, grant also that I may finish it!" "My friends," said the prince to them, "you have long seen me in honor and glory; shall we grumble against God for the humiliation of a short time?"

Finally, the prince was sentenced to death by Uzbek. On the day of his death, the prince listened to the Liturgy, received the Holy Mysteries and calmly awaited death, repeating, among other things, the words of the Psalm: "Who will give me wings like a dove, so that I may fly away and rest!" Finally, on the instructions of Kavgadiy, the executioners, like beasts, rushed at the Grand Prince, who was praying in his tent; they threw him to the ground, beat him and trampled him with their feet; then one of the executioners plunged a sword into the prince's chest; "and so he gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord, November 22, at 7 o'clock in the afternoon;" says the ancient chronicle, "and was numbered among the saints with his relatives Boris and Gleb and Michael of Chernigov."

Chronicles call the holy prince of Tver Michael "a lover of the fatherland." This is how he was during his life, and this is how he undoubtedly remained after his martyrdom.

II. The suffering death of the holy and faithful Prince Michael of Tver offers us two lessons for our imitation.

a) The first lesson is that we must, imitating the holy prince, who was a true lover of the fatherland, love our fatherland with a strong love. The feeling of love for the motherland, or the patriotic feeling, is one of the highest and noblest phenomena in human nature. History adorns its best pages with high feats of patriotism.

1) In the Holy Scriptures themselves, feats of patriotism or ardent love for one's homeland are depicted alongside the greatest feats of faith. The greatest representatives of the Old Testament world: Moses, Joshua the son of Nun, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, the Maccabee brothers, the great Old Testament women - Miriam, Deborah, Esther, Judith - present us with examples of high patriotism.

2) In some of the holy people, ardent impulses of love for the homeland or patriotism rose to such an extent that they were ready, out of love for their people, not only to sacrifice all the blessings of temporal life, but, if it were possible before the court of the highest justice of God, their own eternal salvation, God’s very favor towards them. The Holy Prophet Moses prayed to God to rather erase him from the Book of Life, than to deprive the chosen people of His favor (Ex. 32:32). The Holy Apostle Paul said with sorrow that he himself would like to be excommunicated from Christ because of his love for his brethren – the race of Israel (Rom. 9:3).

3) Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who appeared on earth as true God and true man with all human qualities and aspirations, except sinful ones, and who showed us in His life high examples of filial obedience (Luke 2:5-7), friendly love (John 11:3, 33-36), at the same time showed us an example of love for His people. Although He was sent to proclaim thegospel of the kingdom to all people, He first came “to His own” (John 1:11), to like-minded people, “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24), and He was the first to proclaim the mysteries of the kingdom of God to them, and strove “to gather them about Himself, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matt. 23:37). When they did not want this, did not accept Him, hated Him, wanted to kill Him, He, the Most Holy One, grieved and wept over their blindness and the destruction they were preparing for themselves (Luke 19:41-44).

Thus, love for our people constitutes in us not only a natural attachment, but also a highly moral feeling, a Christian virtue.

b) The second lesson presented by the painful death of the holy faithful prince Michael of Tver is that we, following the example of the Holy Passion-Bearer Prince, should never grumble at God when He sends us sorrows, but thank Him, for sorrows are a necessary condition for our salvation.

It would be much worse for us if we did not experience any sorrows in life: then we could easily forget God, and thus stray from the path that leads to the kingdom of God. That is why it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven: they do not have great sorrows, they always live in abundance, they have no opportunity to resort to God, everything goes well for them. No, do not complain inconsolably, but thank God that He allows you to experience at least some sorrows, during which you remember Him: this means that He has not forgotten you, has not abandoned His grace and is leading you to His heavenly kingdom. One of the fathers told another that, being in Alexandria, he once came to church to pray, and saw a God-fearing woman there. "She was dressed in black, mournful clothes, and praying before the icon of the Savior, she kept crying and repeating with tears: 'You have forsaken me, Lord, have mercy on me, Merciful One!' Why is she crying like that? I thought. She is a widow, and apparently she is suffering an insult from someone. I will talk to her and calm her down. Having waited until she finished praying, I called her servant, who was with her, and said to him: 'Tell your mistress that I need to talk to her.' When she came up, I, left alone with her, said to her: 'It is obvious that someone is offending you, that you are crying like that?' 'Oh, no,' she answered, and began to cry again, 'no, father, you do not know my grief. I live among people, and I have never suffered any insult from anyone. And this is what I cry about, that since I live in oblivion of God, God has forgotten to visit me, and for three years now I have not known any sorrow. Neither have I been ill, nor have my son, and not a chicken has disappeared from my house. Thinking, therefore, that God has abandoned me for my sins, and has not sent me any sorrows, I cry before Him, that He may have mercy on me according to His mercy.' Having heard this from her, I was amazed at her God-fearing and strong soul, and, praying to God for her, I still marvel at her strength." This is how God-fearing people reason when they have not had sorrows for a long time: they then think that God has forgotten them, they consider sorrows to be special attention from God, His special mercy to them.

III. Grant us, O Lord, patience in sorrows and protect our dear homeland through the intercession of Your faithful children.

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