21 November 2024
Today, the Orthodox Church celebrates one of the feasts most honoured and beloved by our people — the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers.
The Archangel Michael is both the first praiser of God and the first protector of men. It is his defence that those who have found themselves in trouble or want to protect themselves from powers of evil turn to.
Since ancient times, the Archangel Michael has been considered to be the Heavenly Patron of Kyiv. He is painted at the coat of arms of our capital. A monument to the Holy Archangel Michael, who symbolises the powers of light, who are ready to defend Kyiv from calamities, is set in the city's main square.
In former times, devout Kyivans knew that it was much more reliable to turn to the intercession of the Heavenly Host with faith and prayer than to bow down to alliances of foreign armies. Could it be for this reason that Kyiv has stood for these thousand and a half years?
And is it no coincidence that, as many as two times in this century, it was on the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael that followers of the first revolutionary in the history of the universe, who had fallen from the height of Heaven, tried to once again challenge the existing state of things and put their political passions, pride and greed, cult of false messiahs, and wrong aspirations above the Faith and Law?
History teaches that any revolution, as the highest manifestation of division, enmity, and hatred, engenders only chaos and bloodshed. Unfortunately, the policy line based upon an impudent challenge to the Lord continues. On the eve of the Feast, a call to persecute and completely destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was voiced again from the tribune of the Verkhovna Rada.
So aren't the calamities and misfortunes which have befallen our land a consequence of this unrighteous impudence before the Lord? Of the falling away from the faith of our fathers and, hence, from the protection of the Archangel Michael and his Holy Host?
The fate of all those who rise up against God is miserable. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself has given a warning to those who attack the Church and attack humble believers: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).
The Lord has also revealed to us that any situation, even seemingly the most horrible and unresolvable, can be corrected — that requires rejecting sin, bringing our sincere common repentance, setting the right priorities, and changing the way of thinking.
At the divine service on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers, the Church praises them as ministers of the glory of God and instructors of men. The Church also asks the holy angels to “encompass us beneath the wings of their immaterial glory and deliver us from all harm”.
I wholeheartedly greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, on today's Feast! Happy name day to those who have the glorious name of Michael! I wish all of us the strengthening and help from God and the protection of angels in these most hard times.
All related news The Archangel Michael is both the first praiser of God and the first protector of men. It is his defence that those who have found themselves in trouble or want to protect themselves from powers of evil turn to.
Since ancient times, the Archangel Michael has been considered to be the Heavenly Patron of Kyiv. He is painted at the coat of arms of our capital. A monument to the Holy Archangel Michael, who symbolises the powers of light, who are ready to defend Kyiv from calamities, is set in the city's main square.
In former times, devout Kyivans knew that it was much more reliable to turn to the intercession of the Heavenly Host with faith and prayer than to bow down to alliances of foreign armies. Could it be for this reason that Kyiv has stood for these thousand and a half years?
And is it no coincidence that, as many as two times in this century, it was on the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael that followers of the first revolutionary in the history of the universe, who had fallen from the height of Heaven, tried to once again challenge the existing state of things and put their political passions, pride and greed, cult of false messiahs, and wrong aspirations above the Faith and Law?
History teaches that any revolution, as the highest manifestation of division, enmity, and hatred, engenders only chaos and bloodshed. Unfortunately, the policy line based upon an impudent challenge to the Lord continues. On the eve of the Feast, a call to persecute and completely destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was voiced again from the tribune of the Verkhovna Rada.
So aren't the calamities and misfortunes which have befallen our land a consequence of this unrighteous impudence before the Lord? Of the falling away from the faith of our fathers and, hence, from the protection of the Archangel Michael and his Holy Host?
The fate of all those who rise up against God is miserable. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself has given a warning to those who attack the Church and attack humble believers: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).
The Lord has also revealed to us that any situation, even seemingly the most horrible and unresolvable, can be corrected — that requires rejecting sin, bringing our sincere common repentance, setting the right priorities, and changing the way of thinking.
At the divine service on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers, the Church praises them as ministers of the glory of God and instructors of men. The Church also asks the holy angels to “encompass us beneath the wings of their immaterial glory and deliver us from all harm”.
I wholeheartedly greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, on today's Feast! Happy name day to those who have the glorious name of Michael! I wish all of us the strengthening and help from God and the protection of angels in these most hard times.