The monastery of Archangel Michael in Mandamados, Lesvos,Greece
Its history • We don’t know when it was built because it is very old. It looked like a castle with stone walls and towers. The monks wanted to protect it from pirates.
• But the pirates were determined to conquer it. Sirhan the pirate, a fierce and dark gigantic guy, grabbed his sword and said: “I only want the gold cup, that the monks use for the service, to drink my wine. All the rest is yours!â€?
• Around 1100AD. one dark night, the pirates climbed the monastery walls with ropes and killed all the monks. A 17-year-old boy, who was helping the monks hid in the roof. But the pirates found him. Suddenly, one warrior in black clothes, with a big sword in his hand, appeared. The pirates were scared to death, left the gold in the garden and ran back to the ships.
• The boy was saved. But all the monks were dead. Then, the boy took soil and mixed it with the monks’ blood to make the picture of the warrior. Ever since, people believe that the warrior was Archangel Michael and there have been reports for many miracles.
• One similarity we found with the story of “Tuscany Sword in the Rock” is that Archangel Michael is considered the protector of the army in our religion.
• Another similarity is that people believe Archangel Michael has the power to perform miracles. That is why they give him special “tokens of appreciation”.