My
name is Stavritsa Zachariou, and I am a Greek American. In 1969 I went to
Africa as a missionary. I am 75 years old, and 15 years I spent in Africa, near
our suffering brothers, sowing the seed of the Gospel. I stay by myself in
Nairobi, Kenya, and from there I go to Kampala, Cameroon, and other places,
where the seed of the Gospel of Christ needs to be sowed.
I am a
missionary of the Archdiocese of America. With the help of God and of
benefactors, we built 12 holy Churches in [Africa]. We built the 10th holy
church in honor of the Archangel Michael, and I wanted to paint his icon from
the prototype from the north gate of the Patriarchate. As I was finishing the
icon, when I went to the post office, I received a letter from Fr. Soterios
Trampa. I know Archimandrite Fr. Soterios, who was a missionary for many years
in Korea, and who also served as a preacher of your Metropolis, along with
Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Athens from 1968-1973. In his letter was a
small booklet on the Taxiarch of Mantamados. Then I learned about Mantamados,
and the bas-relief icon of the Archangel Michael. Fr. Soterios wrote: “I am
sending you the information on the Taxiarch of Mantamados, that you might come
to know his wondrous icon. Within this you will see one of his many miracles,
which occur daily to the glory of God. I served there in the past, and I
especially honor him…”
I
began to read the booklet on the Taxiarch, including the miracle of the sword.
As I continued reading, I reached the place regarding the passing of the sword
from some unknown person to Mr. Diamante, when there was as if some marked
commotion in the icon [that she had painted]. I turned around to see what was
happening then and, O my God!!!! The Archangel of the icon began to come to
life, to take on flesh and bones! I was astonished! I knelt before it and began
to pray with tears and to ask for his help and his protection. After a short
while, slowly the icon began to return to its natural state.
I was
supposed to go for a trip to Kampala. I always thought that when I would go on
some trip, that I should take with me the icon of some Saint from my icon
corner. That time, I took with me the little icon of the Taxiarch of
Mantamados.
We
reached the border of Kampala and Kenya, and Kampala at that time (1988) had a
military regime. When we speak about a military regime in the center of Africa,
it means that human life is cheaper than the life of a blackbird!
As we
were passing through, my driver (a Kenyan and my Koumbaro) did not notice that
at one place there was a stop sign and he kept going. Five wild motorcyclists
surrounded us. They got off their motorcycles, drew their weapons, and knelt,
preparing to fire at us and to take our car and our possessions as spoil. That
is what usually occurred there…
Then,
I don’t know what strength was within me, but I opened the door of the car..I
exited with the icon of the Taxiarch in my hands, and approached them, crying
out:
“For
God’s sake, stop! I have with me the Taxiarch of God, who is dark-colored (2)
like you, come see him!!!”
Automatically,
it was as if someone grabbed them by the hands. They calmed down, left their
weapons in the grass, and ran up to me, took the icon, like something holy and
venerable, and began to examine it carefully and to shout. They bowed their
faces to the ground and holding my hands, they asked for forgiveness. Then I
saw that one of them was injured badly in the hand by a knife. I took my first
aid kit from the car, nursed the wound and dressed it. We became friends! The
most impressive thing is that, there was sown the word of God, and the five of
them received Christ, and became Christians!
After
all of this, I promised to the Archangel to come to Greece, to Mantamados, to
thank him. And today, I feel very blessed that the Lord made me worthy to
fulfill my promise. I thank Him from all my heart!”
Ed.’s
Note: Dark-colored, because of dirt, mud and dried blood:
“There
are two accounts surrounding the date of this icon, one having to do with the
Ottoman Turkish occupation and destruction of 1462, and the other with Saracen
pirates during the 9th and 10th centuries during which the entire island was
invaded.In either case, the story of the creation of the icon shares the theme
that the target of the raids was the monastery of the Taxiarchis. The pirates
threatened the monks with death if they would not reveal the whereabouts of the
hidden villagers. The monks refused and the invaders slaughtered all of the
monks except for one novice-monk .
As the
pirates were leaving, the novice climbed to the roof of the monastery to be
sure that the pirates had left. However, the pirates noticed him from afar and
returned to kill him as well. It is at this point in the story that the
Archangel Michael makes his appearance in front of the Saracens with his own
sword drawn forcing them to retreat in terror.
Thanks to this miracle from the Archangel the monk survived and
descending to the courtyard buried the bodies of his fellow brotherhood.
The
monk still in deep respect and reverence for having witnessed the Archangel
Michael in all his fury, gathered up the earth that was red by the blood of the
martyred monks and shaped it into the icon-sculpture of the Archangel as it is
today; while it was still vivid in his memory. According to legend, the monk
did not have enough of this dirt-blood mix and so the head of the Archangel has
turned out disproportionately larger to the rest of his body.
This
icon, is now kept within the interior of the church. Many islanders claim to
have had personal experiences of miracles being granted for them by Mantamados.
This is evident by the numerous cabinets full of tagmata (gifts) to the
Archangel housed inside the church. To this day, pilgrims to this church have
mixed emotions regarding this icon. At times, the expression on the icon can
appear severe, sad, or happy, according to the message that the Archangel wants
to convey to that pilgrim or the faithful. This is the tradition of the
much-celebrated icon of Mantamados.
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