There are many miraculous Christian shrines in the world, over the riddles of which scientists around the world have been puzzling for a long time. One of them is a bas-relief of the Archangel Michael from the Mandamados male monastery on the island of Lesvos, whose miracles happen literally in front of the faithful.
Shrine of blood and clay
The legend tells how the great shrine was created. In 1462 the monastery was besieged by Turkish pirates. And although the well-fortified abode was too tough for a handful of invaders, the unquenchable thirst for prey made the robbers cunning. One of the robbers managed to get over the monastery wall and opened the gates to his brothers in arms. Having burst into the monastery, the bandits killed all the inhabitants, and only one of them, the monk Gabriel, managed to hide on the roof of the temple. But when the robbers were already loading the booty onto the ships, the formidable Archangel Michael appeared before them with a fiery sword in his hand. Seeing the leader of God's army, the pirates fled in sacred terror, leaving chests with looted gold on the shore.
As soon as the robbers retreated, the monk came down from the roof and, falling at the feet of Mikhail, begged him for permission to depict his beautiful face in memory of the great miracle that happened in front of the rescued monk.
After burying his murdered brothers, Gabriel collected the blood that flowed from their wounds, which he then mixed with white clay, and from the resulting mixture he molded an image of amazing beauty.
But the unusual material for the shrine quickly ran out - it was only enough for the face of the archangel, and therefore his body turned out to be too small for a large head.
Later, the creation of the monk Gabriel of blood and clay was placed in the main temple of the monastery, and since then the main archangel is considered the protector and patron of the island of Lesbos.
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Pillar of the lord
I must say that from time immemorial the patronage of the main archangel of God was considered a great success for believers, because Michael was very highly revered throughout the Christian world. This is evidenced by the fact that he, the only one of all the "representatives of the ranks of the angels" known to us, is mentioned in the lines of the Old and New Testaments. And besides, Michael became famous as the leader of the army of the Lord.
This is first mentioned in the story of the war of angels, when God's favorite and his right hand Lucifer (Satanael), who took part in the creation of the world, decided to overthrow the Lord from the heavenly throne and began to recruit supporters. Quite a few of the highest archangels responded to his call, including the eloquent Veligor - the Creator's first advisor and the wise Verzaul - the educator of young angels. The army of the rebels grew with great speed, and then Michael called on the faithful to God, who did not succumb to the temptation of the celestials, to fight with Lucifer and defeated the rebels.
It is believed that it was Michael who overthrew the defeated from heaven into the abyss of the underworld, where they are to this day, waiting for the end of time, in order then to get even with his winner and his supporters. The Scriptures say that it is in the last days of our sinful world that the main archangel will descend from heaven to call all the dead to the Last Judgment.
In addition, Michael carried out other equally important orders of God. So, in the form of a pillar of dust during the day and a pillar of fire at night, he walked ahead of the Jews leaving Egypt, showing them the way to the Promised Land.
There is also a legend that it was the main archangel who saved Veliky Novgorod from the invasion of Batu, blocking the road to the invader with his fiery sword. According to the legend, after capturing Kiev, the Khan-conqueror saw a fresco of Mikhail in one of the temples and, pointing at it, said: "Here he forbade me to go to Novgorod."
Living face
The miracles that have been happening on the island of Lesvos for centuries are no less amazing. Despite the venerable age of the bas-relief, its colors have not faded at all. Also, the monks of the monastery claim that the face is alive (!), And if you carefully observe it, you will notice fantastic things. So, from time to time, a bright blush appears on the cheeks of the archangel, and sometimes a joyful smile appears on Michael's lips and even beads of sweat appear on his forehead.
More than once the inhabitants of the monastery observed such a miracle. On the eve of grandiose tragic events or large-scale military conflicts, the eyes of the archangel are filled with real tears. The monks wipe these tears with small cotton handkerchiefs, which are then distributed to the pilgrims.
And Mikhail's expression changes depending on the circumstances. It was noticed that if a person enters the temple with bad intentions, the shrine does not allow him to approach. When an ill-wisher approaches, Mikhail's face darkens, and an unknown force keeps the visitor in place, preventing him from taking a step towards the image.
Often, pilgrims, asking the chief archangel for welfare, put coins on his face, which leave marks on his forehead and cheeks. However, these roughness have never lasted more than a week, after which they disappear without a trace.
Trampled boots
It also happens that the Archangel Michael is “excommunicated” from the temple in order to help the believers. His most famous disappearance was recorded by the inhabitants of the monastery on July 20, 1974. It was associated with the famous Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the outbreak of hostilities there.
Early in the morning of that day, the monastery priest, entering the temple, literally turned to stone with amazement, not seeing the miraculous shrine in its former place. The news of the disappearance of the face of the archangel quickly spread throughout the island, and believers from all around the monastery flocked to the monastery. However, the leadership of the monastery could not give people any explanation. Indeed, it was difficult to imagine that some unknown robber could unnoticeably remove from the temple a bas-relief two meters wide and one and a half meters high.
But a week later, the shrine reappeared in its place. About where the archangel was all this time, it became known six months later. In the winter, a young military man came to the monastery and, falling on his knees before the face of Mikhail, began to warmly thank him for keeping him alive.
It turned out that the pilgrim, participating in one of the battles, found himself in the line of fire of an enemy machine gun. It seemed that the death of the young soldier was inevitable, and he, falling to the ground, began to pray to the archangel to grant him salvation. And then the nest of the Turkish machine gun was covered by a bomb, leaving a huge crater in its place, and the Greek did not receive even a slight wound.
The subsequent absences of the Archangel Michael from the temple are not so noticeable, but the following facts indicate that they occur. Representatives of the Greek armed forces regularly send gifts to their patron, including swords, shields, military uniforms and even a small fighter plane, taken out of service, which was installed by the inhabitants at the entrance to the monastery. Among these gifts are a pair of metal shoes, similar to those often depicted on the feet of the archangel. An unusual gift was left in the temple not far from the miraculous icon, and it soon turned out that their soles had become pretty worn, as if they had worn shoes for a long time. Monks say that it is in these shoes that Michael leaves the temple to help people who pray to him for salvation.
Elena LYAKINA