Today is the name day of those bearing the names Michael, Mike, Taxiarchis, Angelo, Efstratis, Efstratia, Matina, Michelle, Michaela, Stamatia, Stratigos, Panormitis, Gabriel, Mikayla, Mihalitsa, Taxiarhoula, Gabriella and more!
The feast day celebrates the day, when according to the Orthodox religion, the angels were sent forth to minister, according to the Apostle Paul. (Heb. 1:14).
The Orthodox Church honours the angels as ministers, protectors and guardians and marks today as the Synaxis – the coming together of the faithful in assembly for their common feast to chant their praises, especially for the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, who are mentioned in the Scriptures by name.
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The name Michael means “Who is like God?” and Gabriel means “God is mighty.” The number of Angels is not defined in the divine Scriptures, where Daniel says that thousands of thousands ministered before Him, and ten thousands of ten thousands attended upon Him -(Dan. 7:10). But all of them are divided into nine orders which are called Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.
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