brings forth piety and in piety dwells charity.”
“And charity in turn gives rise to love,” the Angel concluded, “those are the words of the Apostle Peter."
“But how did we know them? We didn’t understand them back in the cave, because he was speaking in a foreign language,” said Ben in amazement.
“Peter has so much strength that he fills whoever is listening to him with faith and love no matter what language he is speaking," said the Angel with pride, "and Saint Paul helps you feel this and be certain of it.”
Further on the Angel took a course towards the ancient churches and monasteries that Michael and Ben's ancestors and indeed the boys themselves had visited. A screen shone in front of them, which showed them where all these events had taken place. Sometimes the Angel would provide them with a bit of commentary. Flying over so many places and countries Michael and Ben realised that they had a wide-branching and far-flung family tree. Thus when they were in Greece, where Varvara and George had spent many years with their children, their two sons had settled here and a whole village was filled with their Greek descendants. Darya and Marko’s descendants lived in Poland. And in the 19th century one of three brothers, called Philip came to live in Podoliya in the Ukraine. His son Nikolas went on to marry a great beauty called Aleksandra. And they were Michael and Ben’s great-grandfather and great-grandmother. Nikolas became a priest and served in one of the oldest churches in Kamianets-Podilskyi, where his son, Ivan, also later served. And Michael and Ben had also been in this church when they were very small.
One particularly touching scene stuck in Michael's memory. His mother was standing in front of the priest explaining to him about Michael’s apparent nervous disposition. She had tried her best to teach him things but they just wouldn’t sink in and she looked so terribly sad. But then the priest said to her:
“Just you see, your son will grow up to be the most remarkable person," and even underlined this statement with uncharacteristic thumbs up sign. To this day Michael still remembers this scene.
Ben had also been in this small church with his mother. He remembered how he had stood in front of a huge full length icon of St. Nicholas. The saint seemed to look straight into his eyes no matter where he stood in relation to the picture. Ben even specially ran to all four corners of the church and wherever he went the saint's gaze would follow him. And now sitting in the starship Ben nearly jumped out of his seat.
“Of course that’s where I’d seen him before! St. Nicholas was the Wise Old Man!"
“It’s possible, everything is possible,” said the Angel, “but the main thing is that you were touched at that time by a source of wisdom. Look, your mothers have also been here.”
And the cousins were now looking at two young girls. They were standing right at the front of the church next to their grandmother, completely absorbed in the proceedings, like real grown-ups. Then Natalie, Sophia and their grandmother went down some very steep steps carved out of the side of the cliff and having crossed the small bridge spanning the river they climbed another almost vertical set of stairs which came out next to the church. There they were met by a very powerful image of a great battle of wills, which covered the whole wall. This was Saint George the dragon slayer their grandmother explained to them. Michael also remembered this church. And he recalled something else… or had he just been imagining it… but it had seemed to him that Saint George had lightly touched his hand at the time. And Ben had asked his grandmother:
“Who did Saint George defeat?” And she had answered him with one word:
“Evil.”
Further on the starship hovered over Pochaiv Monastery, which the boys’ great-grandmother had visited many times. And now the Angel showed the boys how she had walked on foot from Kamianets-Podilskyi to Pochaiv.
“What? The whole way on foot?” said Ben in amazement.
“She came up with the idea,” replied the Angel, “that by undertaking and overcoming such a difficult journey she would leave all that was bad in her life behind and arrive at the monastery in Pochaiv full of joy and with a renewed and purified soul, because all the prophets and saints are constantly exhorting us to rejoice in their teachings.”
And a great wave of joy also touched the boys. The starship was now hovering over Kyiv. The cousins saw how their mothers and their grandmother went into a church on the banks of the Dnepr. It was the Church of the Prophet Elijah, which stood next to a convent. It was here that the girls had literally grown up before the nuns’ very eyes. And grandmother, who was still quite young, had stood there in a head scarf that had been pulled low over her brow so no-one would recognise her.
“They had to sneak into church like mice,” said Michael, “it must have been quite interesting - a bit like a game of cops and robbers. Nevertheless, what is done at night appears by day."
"Yes, things were pretty bad back then,” the Angel replied, “but God looks after those who look after themselves.”
“Yes, I have also heard about this,” Ben interjected, “and there’s another saying that comes from those times: and the walls also have ears.”
“What ears are you talking about?” Michael asked in surprise and then all three of them burst into laughter.
“How do you know so many folk sayings?” asked the Angel.
“Just try not learning them,” replied Ben with a look of resignation, “first our great-grandmother had these sayings for every eventuality then our grandmother followed in her footsteps pouring them into our ears at every opportunity…”
“Oh, therein lies the rub,” added Michael, “because my mother is also always quoting them.”
“Well, what's to be done? Now all the generations that come after you will be bequeathed with a rich inheritance of folk wisdom," said the Angel, "just look at the screen."
And Michael and Ben now saw themselves when they were tiny babies. First Sophia held Michael in her arms and then two years later it was Natalie holding Ben in hers at the Church of the Prophet Elijah. Michael and Ben then noticed the Angel standing next to them during their christening.
“An Angel is always present during christenings, he is always unseen but you are now able to see him because you are watching from above,” explained the Angel looking at Ben, who then said:
“And also this is because you are with us now.”
“Yes, when an Angel is next to a person, they always see that which is invisible to others," the Angel explained.
“How good it would be if you were always next to us," Michael exclaimed wistfully.
“An Angel is always near, you only need to remember that, but sometimes people's thoughts and actions cause their Angels to withdraw from them,” the Angel added sadly.
“But let’s have a look at the next episode,” and with that the Angel turned on the screen.
Once above the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra the Angel brought the starship lower and lower until a huge burst of positive energy penetrated right through the ship. The first time Michael had visited the underground caves of the Lavra was when he had come to Kyiv with Sophia at the age of six. It had seemed to him that the great meandering river of pilgrims would never end and that somewhere far away he could hear singing.
Michael had asked his mother:
"Who is that singing?"
“It’s the choir,” she had replied. “But evidently it’s the wise ‘Startsi’ saying something to the people,” Michael had thought. And then Ben saw a large man in black robes looking, for all intents and purposes like an integral part of the walls. He put his finger to his lips. And quietly said to the grown-ups who were rushing this way and that: “You need to come here in quiet prayerfulness.”
At the time Ben didn’t fully understand what the man meant, but later when he had grown up and used to come to the caves to simply talk quietly with the ‘Startsi’ who were resting in peace he understood more fully. Ben had also noticed that Mic
hael and all his other relatives behaved in a slightly mysterious way in the caves of Pechersk Lavra and likewise when in church when standing in front of the icons.
“And do the icons listen to us?” Ben asked.
And the Angel answered him:
“No doubt about it.”
And as if to confirm what the Angel had just said, they could hear the singing of a huge choir coming from the depths of caves, the ‘Startsi’ were obviously wishing them well on their mission! The boys could feel pure love woven into the rhythm and melodies created by this wonderful choir and even make out the occasional word:
“Be adventurous, be strong, and be victorious.”
These were the parting words of encouragement from the Saints before the boys’ upcoming trials. As the starship flew away from the Pechersk Lavra hundreds of hands waved in farewell.
“So there is an invisible thread of communication that exists even between the living and the dead,” Michael asked the Angel.
“Of course they are alive, how else would they be able to help people and their holiness gives them immense power. Look a bit further over there,” said the Angel turning the ship so that it hovered right over Volodymyr Cathedral.
There on the front steps stood an extraordinarily beautiful young woman together with an extremely distinguished looking holy man. She looked straight up at them, smiled and waved her hand.
“Saint Varvara!” Ben involuntarily cried out.
“Yes, that’s her,” the Angel replied smilingly and made several turns around the cathedral.
A moment later and they were flying over the monument to Princess Olga the first person to convert to Christianity in Kyivan Rus. Then they flew past the restored St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery the ancient Saint-Sophia Cathedral, the Pokrovsky Monastery and many other holy churches. It felt as if all the saints were channelling their positive energy towards them. The starship made several circles around each of them as a sign of thanks.
In recent years Natalie had often travelled on business to various different places and would use the opportunity to visit many remarkable, beautiful and ancient churches and monasteries. Ben could see on the screen how his mother had been to one of these monasteries for a meeting with a very famous monk. But she looked very lonely. Ben’s heart contracted looking at the expression on her face. And in general Mum was an enigmatic figure. Who was going to unlock her secret and when? Ben looked at the Angel searching for an answer but he only replied with a phrase from the Gospels:
“Everything will be revealed in its own time.”
In the meantime the ship had gained altitude and was speeding away towards the West. And there in the south of Bulgaria stood Rila Monastery that has been famous since the first millennium and which was founded by Saint Ivan of Rila. This place had not only been visited by Varvara and her family but also by Michael's parents. The starship flew low over the path leading to the monastery and Michael and Ben saw Sophia and Alexander. They were met by one of the monks who blessed them before inviting them to come into the monastery.
Soon they were headed for Sofia.
“Stay for a little while with your family here, have a rest and visit whichever of these holy places you would like," said the Angel landing the starship next to their block of flats and once again wishing them good luck.
“I’ll be waiting for you on this exact spot in two days.”
The boys dashed up to the eighth floor – they were so full of energy and the desire to fulfil their mission. They really felt that they could move mountains. The next day they set off with their mothers overflowing with joy and high spirits. In the centre of the city the boys and their mothers agreed to split up and meet again in a couple of hours. The boys walked along light-heartedly, joking with each other and singing songs. Ben suggested that they go and have something to drink in one of the many cafes that faced right out onto the street. Michael had just got his wallet out when out of nowhere a young lad, about ten years old, grabbed it and ran away as fast as he could. But the young thief hadn’t reckoned on his two victims being such fast runners. In two bounds Ben had caught up with the young scamp and had gently put him in an arm lock face down on the floor. His judo lessons had come in handy after all. But the nasty little scallywag started howling so loudly that anyone would have thought he’d been beaten half unconscious. This dreadful wail soon had a policeman running along with a whole crowd of onlookers. The young thief pointed accusingly at the cousins.
“This is news to me that I've done anything wrong," said Michael in bewilderment.
“It would easier to prove to them that you're not a camel. Quick run for it!” cried Ben who was already in full flight.
But where could they run to? At that moment they saw that they were right next to the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
“Let’s leg it over there!” cried Ben and in an instant the two cousins were hiding behind the cathedral’s doors. The crowd that was chasing them had barely come to their senses before they had disappeared. It had not occurred to any of them that the boys could have run into the church but the cathedral was full of peace and serenity. People stood in groups by the icon lamps lighting candles and occasionally leaving messages for the saints. Ben dug into his pockets, found some small change and bought some candles. The boys placed them in front of different icons and then sat in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. When the cousins came out of the cathedral, there was no-one about and everything was calm. Everyone had gone away. It was only then that Michael realised that in all the commotion he had twisted his ankle.
“You’re going to need to get that strapped up,” advised Ben, “here I’ve got a handkerchief, Mum is always putting them in my pocket just in case. We’ll need to wet it with cold water first. Let’s go back into the cathedral.”
The woman who had sold them the candles wet the handkerchief with water:
“This water will sort you out,” she said tenderly.
Ben tied the handkerchief tightly around Michael's ankle and the pain immediately eased.
“You know what Ben; let's go down those stairs over there. That is where Seraphim, the founder of this church, was buried. If we ask him to help us he is bound to help. I know this, because Mum has told me many times and she is absolutely convinced.”
The boys stood for a while in front of the saint’s marble flagstone and each left their own message for him. Without having agreed beforehand, both of them had asked something for each of their mothers.
When the boys got to the agreed place their mothers were waiting for them. And as Michael liked to put it: they were in a bit of a tizzy. For the last fifteen minutes they had been harassed by a street beggar with an unpleasant voice making wild complaints about her lot in life. Sophia had seen her many times before, even paying for expensive taxis. Nevertheless Natalie had given her a coin, but this hadn't satisfied her and she just continued to harangue and even abuses them. Michael immediately summed up the situation, went up to the beggar woman, spoke to her kindly and gave her two Leva. The woman was taken aback and mumbled:
"You're a good boy," and then quickly scuttled off and really did hail a taxi.
“Granny would have said:
There's nowt so queer as folk," Ben concluded.
They all burst laughing and with a light heart went into the Church of the Holy Week. A priest had been watching the scene from a distance and came up to them and blessed them with the following words:
“It is the lot of the poor to ask for money and it is for you to give it in silence. And you are remarkable people for doing just that.”
Then they all went to a café and spent the rest of the day just wandering around the park and the city. That evening Ben persuaded Michael to come and play football. Thus ending off a perfect day!
The Angel met the boys with a broad smile on his face. Michael rushed to assure him that
:
“Everything has been fine with us."
“Yes, I know. I sent a very young junior Angel to keep an eye on you. It was he who kept the crowd from catching you. You are still such children. But you did come to your mothers’ aid in the nick of time. It wasn’t out of poverty that beggar woman had latched on to them. She was so irritated by their beauty, youth and happiness that she would have gone on to say many other horrible things and that would have been most undesirable,” said the Angel explaining the whole scene like a teacher to his pupils.
“But how do you avoid these sorts of people?” Ben asked sadly.
“By doing exactly what Michael did. You must give the poor what you can in good faith and with kind words as well and then go into the church to get away from her petty spite.”
The Angel invited the boys into the starship and they flew off.
“I am talking about this in detail now, because there won’t be an Angel next to you in the City of the Robots and you will need to pay close attention to the smallest details."
It was clear that the Angel was very worried about the boys.
“You know, maybe it's not worth us going into that horrible city? Maybe we can somehow find another way round things?” asked Ben in the hope that they might be able to avoid this serious test.
“Unfortunately, there is no way out of it. People have to act for themselves against evil and win back their lives and souls for themselves. But most importantly they need to bear witness to the truth, like in the saying…
“…Or else everything will go to wrack and ruin?” Ben ventured interrupting the Angel.
“Well, that’s not quite the folk saying I had in mind.” giggled the Angel and all three of them burst into peals of laughter.
“Well my dear boys, I have just one last thing that I want to show you before I have to leave you in front of the City of the Robots, you will be met there by one of our people in a car who is working in the city as restoration artist. He will pretend that you are his children who have just arrived for the summer holidays to see the sights of the city. From there on, you will just have to take it as it goes. So, God be with you!"
The Angel gently patted each of the boys on the shoulder.
The starship flew in front of an enormous platform that reached right up into the sky. One end of the platform touched the ground and the other went way up into the sky. There were many, many people on the platform and they were all wearing light hooded macs, which left their faces obscured. They were all kneeling and praying. New people would arrive from the earth, put on one of the macs and join the ranks of those who were already praying.
”My goodness look how many there are. Are they all praying? And are they alive or dead?” Michael asked.
“They are all very much alive and all praying. Amongst them are many people that you know,” and the Angel pointed to the ranks of people who had recently arrived. One man had his hood pulled back slightly and he was staring straight at the boys with a knowing look.
“Oh, I think I know him,” drawled Ben trying to get a better view of the man.
But the starship began to move away leaving the mysterious praying man waving his hand in their wake.
“Yes, I also seem to recognise him from somewhere,” Michael exclaimed.
”Well that’s great; it means that your relatives know about this mission and we will all be wishing you success.”
And with that the Angel gave a friendly wave in reply and the starship sped away from the mysterious platform.
The City of the Robots
It was going to be a fairly long flight to the City of the Robots. The light in the heights of the heavens through which the starship flew changed many times. Initially it was the softest of blues, but then it became increasingly darker until eventually they found themselves flying through threatening black clouds and even thunder and lightning. Ben could control his curiosity no longer and asked the Angel:
“Are we going back to the past again?”
“Oh, there are plenty of these sorts of cities in our times as well, but there are a lot of dark forces swarming around them. By approaching from this side our starship will be mistaken for a dark cloud that is being driven by an evil wind. But we’ll be there very soon. We will be landing right onto the road. There will be a car waiting there with two other boys. You will swap places with them and they will get into a different car and return home. This will all take place fifty miles away from the city so that no-one sees anything and gets suspicious. You will pretend to be the children of the restoration expert who will be driving this car. You have come to see him for the holidays and to see the sights of the city. This will give you the perfect cover to wonder around the city, have a look around and come up with a plan to carry out your mission. The restoration artist does not know all the details of your mission but does know that he needs to help and protect in whatever way he can. The man who will be able to help you infiltrate into the Museum House is disguised as an inoffensive tramp. You will meet him right outside the entrance to the city next to the security check point. After that you’ll have to act on your own initiative. Once again, I repeat: do not forget that you are on holiday and that you should always appear calm and relaxed. So, God be with you!”
The starship landed on the road with barely a sound. The car was already waiting for them. Michael and Ben went up to the driver.
“Are you our ‘dad’?” Michael asked.
“That’s one way of getting acquainted,” smiled the driver welcomingly, "and from now on you will be Nick and Bob. But how did you get here?” asked ‘dad’ looking all around.
The starship was parked on the side of the road but was invisible to everyone but the boys. When the boys had sat down in the car, the Angel waved goodbye and disappeared out of sight.
Soon they were approaching the security checkpoint at the entrance of the City of the Robots. The boys had the impression that the checkpoint was closed with not a soul in sight. ‘Dad’ suggested that the boys should get out and have a look around while they waited for the gate to be opened. The boys' first impressions were not positive. Around the gates the only sign of life were a few scruffy tufts of sun scorched grass and the occasional scraggy jaded tree. At a short distance from the city wall was a completely dry canal. The bottom of the canal had been cracked by the sun and it was evident that it hadn't seen water for a very long time. The cousins descended down a set of steps into the canal. There in the shade under the wall of the canal lay a huge snake. The snake made no move so Michael decided to touch it with his hand. Even then the snake didn’t stir but just lay there under the wall looking parched. Further along under the wall was a dog that was also in a terrible condition. Its coat was matted and had dried into great clumps and its eyes were sad and lifeless. A little bit further on they found the tramp, unkempt, unwashed and in incredibly old and threadbare clothes.
“What's the matter with him?” Ben wondered out loud.
“The water hasn’t been turned on here for a long time so all life here is dying out," 'dad' answered. The checkpoint had still not opened so he had decided to join the boys.
“Well, let’s turn the water on then,” Michael suggested.
“There should be a faucet here somewhere, but it’s probably in a hidden recess and won’t be easy to find,” said their ‘father’ shrugging his shoulders.
Then the tramp stirred unexpectedly and beckoned with his hand for somebody. Ben ran up to him and leaned close to him. The tramp was barely able to whisper:
“Give me a pen and paper and I will draw a plan to show you where the faucet is hidden.”
‘Dad’ handed him his note book and pen. With great difficulty the tramp sat up and drew a very precise plan of all the concealed water pipes on the blank piece of paper. The faucet was located in one of the canal’s well holes directly under the city walls about one hu
ndred metres from the gate.
”Well, what have we got to lose? We’ll quickly turn it on and pretend that it was nothing to do with us," 'Dad' proposed.
They all nodded to each other as a sign of agreement and even the dog and the snake lifted their heads out of curiosity.
‘Dad’ gave Michael the map and proposed that he should go down the well while he and Ben would create a diversion. They approached the checkpoint from a different direction chatting away loudly so that all eyes would be on them. Michael quickly opened the manhole cover and jumped in. Using the tramp’s map he quickly found the faucet, gently turned it on and was relieved to hear the gurgling sound of water passing through the pipes. Soon water was spurting into the canal. The water had already covered the bottom and had risen up one third of the side of the canal but neither the tramp dog nor snake had come out yet. How glad they were to be in the water! The tramp dived here and there, the dog capered about and the snake wound and unwound its whole huge length like a ribbon being waived by a gymnast. Michael recalled some pictures he had seen of his mother with a ribbon on the gymnastic podium. Having bathed their fill, the tramp, dog and snake formed themselves into a line like happy and contented soldiers. Although the snake stood to attention by wrapping himself around his favourite post and his eyes almost seemed to be smiling.
"It doesn’t seem possible! But I think they’re going to tell us something,” Ben quietly whispered to Michael.
And then the tramp, who, now clean and combed, no longer looked anything like a tramp, quietly whispered to the cousins (while 'dad‘ had gone to checkpoint):
“I have been told to expect you and I know what you need. Come here tomorrow or any other day that you can by ten o'clock in the morning. At that time the gates will be open, but make sure you come to this very spot. I will have everything ready for you. But… not a word to anybody!” And he pressed his finger to his lips.
At that moment the driver waved to the boys. They got into the car and entered the strange city. The boys’ new Dad worked in the city as a restoration artist because it had recently become fashionable to restore old churches. However, these churches were only a church in name. They had been closed as places of worship long ago and were now being used for various uses: some as warehouses, some as night clubs and some as offices. And each time the building was used for a new purpose it would be re-painted and “modernised” according to the taste of its new owners. One of these churches was currently being restored by our restoration artist. Under the layers of gaudy paint he had discovered the most wonderful murals on biblical themes painted by ancient artists. The ascetic lives of the saints and in the centre of the church right above the altar was the most wonderful depiction of Christ’s resurrection in beautiful golden hues.
“How could they have plastered such temporal and spiritual beauty with this rotten paint?” The artist had exclaimed as more and more murals were revealed.
When he came back from work, 'dad' would tell the boys what he had managed to restore that day.
“Just a little bit more and I will be able to take you on an excursion round the church,” he promised.
The boys had got used to dad's house and had decided to find out a bit more about the city. Dad warned them not to speak too much on the street and only to address each other when really necessary.
“Under no circumstances should you ask passers-by any questions, or make any comments on what you have seen.”
“And what are we permitted to do?” Ben asked in surprise.
“You need to know exactly where you are going and with purposeful step head directly towards it without deviating from your path at all,” ‘dad’ explained.
“Like in those maths questions," laughed Michael, "if a man goes from point A to point B..."
“Yes, yes that’s exactly it, so that you don’t get caught on camera and it might even be an idea if you walk at a short distance from each other,” ‘dad’ continued telling how them how they should behave, “and always be sure to avoid any suspicious people.”
“And