Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 6

The Month of September

Day 6

7. The Holy Angels Are Our Invisible Protectors and Guardians

(The Miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael. September 6, Menaion)

Both the word of God and the Holy Fathers teach us to believe that the holy Angels of God, who in God's goodness always care for human beings, do us good, care for us, remain near us, and, as those who stand ever wakefully before the face of God, attending to God's all-good providence for mankind, always protect us at the prompting of the divine will. Thus, the Prophet David, glorifying the protection of God manifested over him, says: “The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Ps. 33:8), that is, from the schemes devised against them by evil men. And elsewhere: “No evil shall befall you, and no plague shall come near your dwelling; for He shall command His Angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways” (Ps. 90:10–11). Saint Basil the Great teaches: “As the walls of a city, surrounding the city on every side, repel enemy attacks from every direction, so the Angel serves as a wall before you, guards you from behind, and on both sides leaves nothing unprotected” (Works of Basil the Great, Part 5, Homily on Ps. 33:8). Thus, from all these words we become convinced that the Angels are our invisible protectors, guardians, benefactors, and keepers. But having been convinced by these words, can we also become convinced of this truth by an example? We can. And here is such a proof.

There once lived in Bulgaria a rich and illustrious nobleman named Dohiar. Desiring to become a monk, he took a large amount of gold one day and went to Mount Athos, believing that there God would show him a place where he could best settle. On Athos he found a beautiful place on the seashore, near the Lavra of Saint Athanasios, and there he built a church in honor of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, established cells for monks, surrounded them with walls, and settled there, taking upon himself the monastic habit.

When he had spent all the gold he had brought with him on the construction of the monastery, he noticed that the church dedicated to Saint Nicholas had not yet been fully adorned. Dohiar, however, placed all his hope in God's help and believed that God Himself would help him adorn the church. His faith did not prove vain, and this is what happened.

Opposite the Holy Mountain there is an island called Lug. On this island stood a stone pillar, and on the pillar was an idol; upon the idol was the following inscription: “Whoever strikes me upward will find a great quantity of gold.” Many, wishing to obtain the treasure, came and struck the idol on the head, but they did not find the treasure. It was discovered by a shepherd boy.

One day, at sunrise, he began digging the earth at the point where the shadow cast by the idol ended, and beneath a large stone he found a great quantity of gold. Unable to move the stone and take out all the gold from beneath it, the boy was at a loss: what was he to do? Then the thought came to him to go to Athos and tell the abbot of one of the monasteries about the treasure he had discovered. The boy took several gold coins with him, went to the Holy Mountain, and, by God's providence, came precisely to the abbot Dohiar, after whom the newly established monastery had also been named.

When the boy showed Dohiar the gold coins and told him about the treasure he had found, Dohiar immediately sent three monks with the boy to the island, so that they might take the gold and bring it to the monastery. The monks arrived on the island, and, following the shepherd boy's directions, took the gold. Then one of them began to think and said to his companion: “Brother, what need have we to carry the gold to the abbot? Let us take it for ourselves and build cells and a monastery for ourselves.” His companion said: “But how shall we do this?” “Very simply,” replied the first. “We shall throw the boy into the sea, and that will settle the matter.”

The two wicked men agreed upon this and told the third monk who was with them of their decision. But he was not like them. Despite their threats, he refused to become an accomplice in their crime, and only out of fear of death did he swear that he would tell no one of their deed.

And so the evildoers, together with the shepherd boy and the treasure they had taken, got into a boat, and when they had rowed out into the deep sea, they tied a stone around the boy's neck and, despite the pleas and tears of the unfortunate child, threw him into the depths. It was night.

It seemed that everything was over for the boy, but in reality it turned out otherwise. The Lord commanded the Archangel Michael to snatch the boy who had been thrown into the sea from the depths and place him in the altar of Dohiar's church. And the holy Archangel took the boy from the depths and laid him in the aforementioned church of Dohiar.

The night passed, and morning came. Before the beginning of Matins, the sacristan unlocked the church, entered, and began preparing what was needed for the divine service. But what happened? Suddenly he heard a moaning in the altar. The sacristan was terrified and, running out of the church, told the abbot what he had heard. The abbot did not believe him and, reproaching the sacristan for cowardice, sent him back to the church.

The sacristan entered it and again heard the moaning, and once more went and told the abbot. Then the latter himself went with him and, to his genuine astonishment, indeed heard the crying of a boy coming from the altar. The abbot entered the altar, and what did he see? Near the altar lay the shepherd boy with a stone around his neck, and seawater was flowing from his clothing.

“What has happened to you?” cried the abbot.

The boy, as though awakening from sleep, replied: “Father, the two monks whom you sent with me to take the gold I had found tied a stone around my neck and threw me into the sea. But at the moment when, sinking into the depths, I fell to the bottom of the sea, suddenly there appeared to me two men shining like the sun, and one of them said to the other: ‘Archangel Michael, bring this boy to the monastery called Docheiariou.’ After that I remember nothing, and I do not know how I was brought here.”

Hearing this, the abbot glorified God and then decided to expose the murderers. He instructed the sacristan to tell the brethren that they should chant Matins in the narthex, while he himself went up onto the tower above the gates and waited for the wicked, greedy men to enter.

When the abbot saw them and came down to them, he asked: “What does this mean? Yesterday four of you went in search of the gold, and now only three of you have returned; where is the fourth—the shepherd boy?”

The murderers angrily replied: “The crafty boy deceived both you and us, Father. He did not show us any gold at all, and he himself ran away from us.”

The abbot, as though knowing nothing, said: “Well, what can we do? God's will be done.” And with these words he entered the church with the murderers.

He led them to the place where the shepherd boy whom they had thrown into the sea was lying and, pointing to him, exclaimed: “And who is this?”

Who can describe the horror of the merciless greedy murderers? At this they stood for a long time without uttering a single word, as though turned to stone; then, whether they wished it or not, they confessed their evil deed and indicated the place where they had hidden the gold, which was soon brought to the monastery.

And the miracle, the account concludes, spread throughout the entire Holy Mountain, and monks from all the monasteries flocked to Docheiariou to glorify God and His great servant, the Archangel Michael. And they unanimously resolved to rename the church in which the boy saved by the Archangel had been found in honor of this Archangel, while, in honor of Saint Nicholas, to whom it had previously been dedicated, they would build a new church. As for the murderers, they were subjected to excommunication and expelled from the monastery.

Therefore, brethren, it is not only through the word of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers, but, as you see, through the very deed itself, that we become convinced of this truth: that the Holy Angels are our invisible protectors, guardians, benefactors, and keepers. And if this is so, then, of course, everything that has been said reveals to us our duty toward the Angels: to honor them as those who stand before the face of God, as our intercessors and advocates before God, as our guardians and deliverers from every evil. We also have this duty: reflecting upon their purity and holiness, to learn purity and holiness from them; and finally, reflecting upon their nearness to the throne of God and upon their might, to ask for their intercession before the Lord, and also for their instruction and guidance in our life. Amen.

Questions for Discussion 7

1. Why did the shepherd boy come specifically to Abbot Dohiar to tell him about the treasure he had found?

2. From where did the Archangel Michael take the shepherd boy, and where did he place him?

3. What did Dohiar do before deciding to expose the murderers?

4. For what purpose did monks from all the monasteries gather at Docheiariou after the miracle had spread throughout the entire Holy Mountain?

5. What should we learn from the Angels?

 

Source: The Cheti-Minei: Homilies for Every Day of the Year (Book 1: September, October, November) by Archpriest Viktor Guryev. Publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, 1896. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.