It was a beautiful spring morning in
the far away country of Sudan. There was unusual activity at the international
airport of the capital of Sudan. In
addition to the regular flights that were taking off there were an unusual
number young people present filling the waiting rooms of the terminal. An educational excursion had been planned for
that particular day for the young students.
School songs and happy voices could be heard breaking the monotonous
routine of the airport where planes were continuously landing and taking
off. Suddenly the public address system
announced: “All those who are part of the educational tour and their guides should
prepare to board the airplane. The plane
is scheduled to depart in five minutes.”
A river of young people rushed to the boarding area where their plane
was waiting. The plane was ready to
board in three minutes. The pilot, who
was a young athletic type, not much older than the student passengers, was one
of the best pilots of the airline. He
welcomed the young students aboard and promised them that they would have a wonderful
flight. Everything was now ready for
takeoff.
The captain checked the instruments
one last time and then announced to the control tower that everything was ready
for takeoff. The control tower gave the
pilot the latest meteorological forecast for the trip. All indications showed that the weather was
good for the planned trip and the tower wished the captain a good flight. Within a short period of time the airplane
was racing down the runway and lifting up into the morning sky like a huge bird
on its way to its destination which was 500 miles away. The plane had covered about 100 miles and
everything appeared that they would have a great flight with blue skies in
every direction. The young passengers
were enjoying the great views of the ground below. The topography below them appeared like a
huge live map with villages, rivers and verdant plains. The airplane hostess continuously pointed out
to the students what they were seeing below.
The captain also took his turn on the
intercom system giving a description of the airplane and its
technology. It was truly a wonderful trip. The captain then radioed
the tower giving his
location and the weather conditions. The
tower responded that it did not foresee any change in the weather
throughout
the course of the flight. The captain
turned off the radio and then started to talk to the passengers on the
intercom
when he suddenly noticed in the distance a very black cloud. He turned
off the intercom and grabbed the
control stick and directed the plane below the cloud so that the
passengers
could see the ground below them. The pilot had now taken the plane below
the
cloud when he saw before him another even blacker cloud with flashes of
lightning
and thunder. They had flown directly into
a tempest.
Upon seeing this second cloud, the
pilot gained altitude in order to avoid the cloud formation. The
altimeter indicated that he was at 8,000
feet and the storm was still intense. He
then climbed higher in the sky. The
altimeter showed that he was now at 10,000 feet, the maximum limit of
the plane. The passengers began to become uneasy. The visibility was
zero. The hail was pelting the windows of the plane
like bullets. The thunderbolts and
lighting lit up the sky like enemy artillery trying to shoot down the
plane
from the sky. The stewardess calmly attempted
to reassure the passengers that everything would be all right.
The airplane was being bounced around
like a toy in the fearful arms of the storm.
The plane was creaking and the altimeter was now at 12,000 feet. The
captain calmly began a descend. He kept moving down to 8,000 feet, then
to
6,000, then 5,000, 4,000, 3,000, and then 2,000 feet and the conditions
were
the same. At this altitude the pilot was
now afraid that he might hit a mountain top and so he began to climb
again. He ascended up to 8,000 feet and then
attempted to contact the control tower with his wireless radio to report
his
situation, his location and to report the weather conditions. Instead
of receiving a weather report, he
found that the wireless was dead. He then immediately turned on the
plane radio
and that too was silent. He felt a cold
hand squeeze his heart. He looked at a
map and attempted to find his exact location but this was also useless.
In his attempt to avoid the terrible storm,
he had lost all sense of direction. He
also could see that the co-pilot was in a state of total panic. Seeing
the panic in the eyes of his co-pilot,
the captain again tried to communicate with the tower with his wireless
radio.
All of these efforts were in
vain. The violent weather had destroyed
all forms of communication. He again
attempted to find his location on the map and again he came up empty. In similar circumstances, the courage and
calmness of the captain usually brings about good results. The captain turned again to his co-pilot and
found him motionless. He asked him to be
calm because the situation had become very critical and they must keep the
passengers from panicking. The
passengers were very close to being panic stricken. The stewardess, not knowing about the
critical situation they were in, tried every possible way to calm the
passengers. Truly, the situation was
very critical. The captain, without
having any sense of direction, no wireless, no radio, or where he was in this endless
storm, was no longer able to pilot the plane properly. He began to fly in circles, climbing and then
descending attempting to maneuver out of the storm. The plane was now flying blind.
Time was passing and the plane was
scheduled to land at its destination in two and a half hours. The fuel supply was getting critically low.
There was no help and no light at the end of the tunnel. The passengers knowing how long the flight should
have taken began to cry. Even the
stewardess lost control of her emotions and she could no longer offer any help
to the passengers.
It was useless for the captain to convey
a sense of calm to the passengers. The
co-pilot was now a basket case incapable of offering any help. In the midst of this angst, the captain
looked at the fuel gage and then began sweating. They had about twenty minutes of fuel
left. At this point, even the captain
was losing all hope. He felt like crying
but he controlled himself. He was now sure
that they were headed for a catastrophe.
He engaged the automatic pilot, laid his head on the controls and
surrendered to the fate that was awaiting them. Suddenly the pilot was seeing
something like a movie playing in his head.
His whole life was passing in review.
While watching this play out in his mind, he became startled and said to
himself, why of course now I understand.
In the images of his thoughts, Greece appeared; the island of Mytilene
to be exact.
He
was of Greek ancestry and his mother hailed from the village Sikamnia, Mytilene. He remembered that as a small boy, he visited
his mother’s village, Sikamnia in order to visit his grandmother and his
relatives. He even remembered that his
pious mother would often speak to him about the miracle working icon of the
Archangel Michael in Mandamadou. He
remembered that he had visited Mandamadou as a young boy in order to venerate
the miracle working icon of the Archangel.
He also remembered that he felt a chill go through his body when he
first saw the bas-relief of the Archangel Michael. He was now hearing clearly the words of the
elders who said to him about the icon:
“The Arab, my child, when you call upon him with faith he will always be
with you, willing to help you. We have
witnessed many miracles first hand during the wars.” Remembering this
pilgrimage from his youth, the captain regained hope and truly believed in the
power of the Archangel Michael. He
lifted up his hands and shouted with a load voice: “My Archangel, my Arab, save
us, save us, and I promise to light a candle in your honor as tall as I am and
I will also offer you a gold image of our plane. These I will place before your image. “
As the captain was relating this story
to a priest of the Church in Mandamadou, Greece, Nicholas Hatzoglou, the
captain of the airplane stood up trembling, turned yellow, and made the sign of
the Cross. He was still living those unusual
circumstances of his life and he continued to tell me the rest of the story
with difficulty: “At that moment, the
very black clouds opened up below us and the blue sky reappeared. It was
like a curtain opening up for a theatrical performance. There below us was the
airport of our destination, bathed in sunshine. I thankfully took control of the
plane and in a short time we were landing at the airport. Upon landing, I
looked at the fuel gage and noticed that we had only five minutes of fuel left.
When the opportunity first became available to me, I took leave of my job and came
here today, my dear Reverend Father, in order to thank my Saint and my savior.
I offer him my thanksgiving and my reverence.
I also offer him the two items that I had promised him.”
In his hands, which were trembling, he
was holding a gold mock up of his plane.
He was fulfilling his fervent promise to the Archangel. I looked at him
with emotion. I saw in his weeping eyes the satisfaction
one feels in fulfilling a great obligation.
My tongue became heavy and I could not talk. My eyes hurt as I was
trying to hold back my
tears. The only thing I could say was to whisper: “Wanting to show the
fortunes
of men are not dependent on themselves, but are always held in His
Divine Hand,
the Maker of all has given you to the kingdoms of the earth as a
defender and
keeper, that you may prepare all the tribes and peoples for the Kingdom
of God
that is eternal. Therefore all of us
knowing your great service for the salvation of mankind; cry to God in
thanksgiving: Alleluia!” Kontakion—A hymn to Archangel Michael.
Translated
from the Greek by:
+Fr.
Constantine (Charles) J. Simones, Waterford, CT, USA, November 26, 2014
860-460-9089, cjsimones300@gmail.com
