The pictures of this site may not be used in any manner without our written permission.
|
Icon nb 91
Size : 42 x 23 cm.
Linden board
Gilded halo. Egg tempera.
Michael means "who is like God," and all the times, as Saint Gregory says, that miraculous things are involved, it is Michael who is sent, so that his actions, as well as his name, demonstrate that no one else can accomplish what God reserves for Himself. This is why many extraordinary actions are attributed to Saint Michael. According to Daniel, it is he who, in the time of the Antichrist, must rise up to defend the elects as protector and defender. It is he who fought against the dragon and his angels, and who, by driving them out of heaven, won a great victory. It was he who quarelled with the devil concerning the body of Moses, which the devil wanted to bring to light so that the jewish people would worship him instead of God. It is he who receives the souls of the saints and leads them to the joy of paradise. He was once the prince of the synagogue, but is now established as prince of the Church. It was he, it is said, who struck Egypt with the seven plagues, who parted the waters of the Red Sea, who led the Hebrew people through the desert, and who introduced them into the promised landed Land. It is he who carries the standard of Jesus Christ among the angelic battalions. It is he who, by the Lord's command, will strike down the Antichrist residing on the Mount of Olives. It is also at the voice of the Archangel Michael that the dead will rise again. It is he who, finally, on the day of judgment, will present the cross, the nails, the lance, and the crown of thorns of Our Lord on the day of judgment.
|
