St..Michaels' name day

This weekend has been the name day for our church St. Michael.Saturday evening we had vespers followed by a nice gathering in our museum, which our Fr. Peter had been busy hanging pictures and getting organized for almost a week, then Sunday we had liturgy and our banquet. it turned out to be a very nice day and a good and loving get together for not only our church but also those who joined us from St. Nicholas,the albanian church several streets over from us, whose feast day will be coming up soon.
its always nice to be able to get together with our neighbor churches it makes us understand that orthodoxy is about the things we have in common not our differences. In the end we are one big family and all God's children.
Tradition says that St. Michael,the arcangel, was the leader who remained faithful to God and cast out Lucifer at God's comand. he is invoked by the church in times of emergency and unusual danger, when the malice of the devil seems truimphant St. Michael will come to our aid.
One day at work i had a patient who was dying, his son, a police officer, took his St.Michael's medal off from around his neck and lovingly placed it on his father neck. He explained to his father that he had gotten this medal on the day he graduated from the police academy and had not taken it off since that day. he told his father that St. Michael would protect him and help lead him to the other side when the time came.several weeks later, after his father pasted away, i removed the medal from his father and handed it back to his son, i told him what a wonderful and loving thing he had done and was sure it helped his father to feel at rest. the son thanked me and left.
in this day and age when it feels like evil is everywhere tempting us, its comforting to know that all we have to do is ask St. Michael for help and he will lovingly be with us and help us face our demons. We can stand strong because St. Michael stands near by helping to defend us.