St. Tikhon Chapel
Sunday, September 6, 2026
Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae · Hieromartyr Maxim Sandovich
2 Cor. 1:21–2:4
Matt. 22:1–14
This Sunday is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel, Christ tells the parable of the wedding feast. The invitation goes out freely, yet those who receive it must also respond rightly. The final words are sobering: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The Christian life is not simply hearing the invitation of Christ, but answering it with repentance, faithfulness, and a life being made ready for His Kingdom.
Sunday also commemorates the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae. Saint Archippus remained in prayer when enemies tried to destroy the church entrusted to his care by diverting two rivers against it. The Archangel Michael appeared and turned the waters away, preserving the holy place. The account gives us an image of steadfast prayer when circumstances seem beyond our strength.
On Tuesday the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the first Great Feast of the new Church year. The celebration continues through the week and concludes with its Leavetaking on Saturday.
On September 8 the Church celebrates the birth of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Her Nativity is the first Great Feast of the new liturgical year and the first great preparation for the salvation of the world: the one who will become the Mother of Christ has entered the world.
The OCA describes the feast as a day of universal joy. In the icon, the infant Mary is shown with Saint Anna, while Saint Joachim appears nearby. The scene directs our attention not only to Mary’s birth, but to God’s providence working quietly through a faithful household.
The OCA’s Orthodox Faith teaches that faithfulness means remaining steadfast in our calling and vocation, serving in truth and love regardless of circumstances or recognition. God Himself is perfectly faithful, and Christian faithfulness is our response to Him.
This connects naturally with Sunday’s Gospel of the wedding feast. Christ’s invitation calls for more than simply hearing or acknowledging Him. We are called to respond with a life that is being shaped by His will. In ordinary life, that faithfulness is practiced through prayer, repentance, worship, keeping our commitments, forgiving others, and continuing to follow Christ even when doing so is difficult or unnoticed.
Hieromartyr Maxim Sandovich — Faithfulness Without Fear
Saint Maxim Sandovich, commemorated on September 6, was a young Orthodox priest who served the faithful of the Lemko region in the years before the First World War. He faced repeated fines, arrest, imprisonment, and official attempts to prevent Orthodox services. Yet when he was released after two years in prison, he returned to his people and resumed his priestly ministry.
When war began, Saint Maxim was arrested again. On the morning of his martyrdom in 1914, he rose and read his prayers as usual. The OCA account emphasizes the lesson of his witness through Christ’s words not to fear those who can kill the body. Saint Maxim’s courage was not stubbornness for its own sake; it came from knowing that fidelity to Christ is greater than fear, pressure, or even death.
His witness gives us a much quieter question for everyday life: what changes when fear no longer gets the final word? Most of us will not face the trial Saint Maxim faced, but we do face moments when faithfulness is inconvenient, costly, or uncomfortable. His life teaches us to begin where he began that final morning—with prayer—and then to do faithfully what Christ has placed before us.
- His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon.
- His Eminence Archbishop Daniel.
- Our clergy, monastics, seminarians, missionaries, and every parish and mission of the Orthodox Church in America.
- Those preparing for Holy Baptism and Holy Chrismation.
- Those who are ill, homebound, or traveling.
- Those who have recently reposed in the Lord.
- The faithful, benefactors, and everyone laboring for the growth of St. Tikhon Orthodox Chapel.
- The continued growth of Orthodox Christianity throughout North America.
May the Lord remember all those who have asked for our prayers and all those known to Him who are in need of His mercy.