MIKHAIL’S MIRACLE

“God knows I don’t want to be an angel,” Till Lindemann exclaims in his famous song. Orthodoxy complements this assertion: it is impossible for a person to become an angel, but one can imitate them. The archaeology of holiness allows us to see the reasons for this using the example of one of the “forgotten” angelic feasts of the liturgical calendar.

1 On September 19, the Church commemorates the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonai. This is a very important, yet today almost forgotten, feast. The famous Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, which had a colossal influence on the fate of Russian history, was named in honor of Michael’s Miracle, as this day was also called in Russian and Slavic traditions. The holiday, which had a colossal influence on the history of Russian piety and holiness, was based on an event that took place near the ancient city of Colossae, to whose inhabitants the Apostle Paul once wrote his Epistle, at a time when the Russian Church did not yet exist.

2 The word “chonai” in Greek means a funnel or crevice. Once, in the historical region of Phrygia, pagans wanted to destroy a temple erected in honor of the Archangel Michael, built in fulfillment of a vow for healing. They built a dam and redirected two rivers toward the church. An angel appeared in a vision to the pious sexton, the altar boy Archippus, and with his staff he cut a hole in the rock, into which the water rushed.

3 If the feast in honor of the Archangel were limited to the commemoration of this event, the chronology of which is not even fully known, it would not make much sense to extend this one-time and geographical commemoration to all of Orthodoxy. But the Church chose this day to thank God for all the blessings of Saint Michael throughout history. Therefore, this miraculous sign is joined by the commemoration of all the numerous miracles and interventions of Saint Michael in human history. This day is an occasion to thank God for His blessings through the Angel, to congratulate those who bear this glorious biblical name, and to remember those named Michael.

4 Michael is the great Angel of God. His name itself translates as “who is like God.” Often, based on the words of the Apostle Paul, there are references to nine ranks of angels, a heavenly hierarchy (cf. Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21). This is an extremely beautiful and deeply theological theme. However, its interpretation, especially in the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, is a later development in relation to Scripture. It is important for believers to remember that Michael is the chief angel, the Archangel. He fought with the devil, according to the Book of Revelation (Revelation 12:7), and cast Satan into the abyss. Saint Michael is the leader of the angels, but there are many other angels. How can we understand them, and who are they? It is important to be able to reconcile two poles of understanding the angelic world. On the one hand, angels are God’s bureaucrats. A bureaucrat is a person devoid of emotion. He does what he is supposed to do.

5 Angels have no body, cannot create anything, are devoid of imagination, and cannot cry or laugh. Anything secondary, human, or unrelated to God, is of absolutely no concern to them. The happiness of angels lies in fulfilling God’s will and in praising Him. In light of this biblical and, at the same time, deeply philosophical perspective, Orthodox Christians should be careful not to offend God by neglecting Him. Angels are obligated to assist believers in Christ until moral impurity arises between them and the person. Ritual impurity is unimportant to angels, for it was abolished in the earthly life and the Gospel of Jesus Christ Himself. Immorality offends angels. The greatness and calling of angels lie in praising the Creator.

6. On the other hand, there is something unusual and outlandish about angels. To understand it, one can consider the beneficial nature of pets, stuffed animals, the world, and the emotions of children. There is much that is harmless and defenseless in the world, and this is a reflection of angelic existence. We should greatly cherish the fact that God created the world precisely this way. After all, the world is not only visible, but also invisible. The latter is far more mysterious than the former.

7 Medieval theologians believed that angels were truly created each in their own way. There is no specific angelic genus or race, as in biology, theology, or the human world. Each angel is a unique being, a singular being. Angels cannot repent or fall after their single decision in favor of good and evil at the very beginning of history. Angels cannot follow each other’s example; they are completely individual, living and standing by their original decision. More broadly, more hypothetically, we can say that due to the uniqueness of each angel, “evolution” does not apply to them. They are incapable of either repentance or fall once they have chosen God or war with him. Thus, the notorious Darwin finds his new, unexpected place in thinking about the world of angels and the world of humans.

8 Humans, however, have examples to follow. In prayer, one should pray sternly, without emotion or creativity, without fantasies, bureaucratically—that is, like an angel, without thinking about anything extraneous. God looks upon believers and expects their service, both at work and in bureaucracy, in austerity, asceticism, and severity, according to the rule: “zero emotion,” “no bribery or persuasion, only turning to God always and everywhere.” The other side of the angelic world is also worthy of emulation. One must be harmless to inherit that land of the meek, of which the Lord Himself speaks in the Gospel. The meek are the defenseless, the harmless, the unarmed, the losers, the “very, very kind,” as the children bless the God’s world of in their own language. May the Holy Archangels and Angels intercede before God for the planet of the humans.