The Miracle at St. Michael’s Church: The Apocalypse

By Radu Gherghel

A teacher and second-generation Romanian, forty-two-year-old Rudy Kostic is a parishioner, choir member, and councilman at St. Michael’s Church in the small town of St. Clair in Eastern Pennsylvania. When the miracle occurred at the church in April of 2026, the leaders asked Rudy to chronicle the event as an historical record describing how civilization reacted to God’s message preparing us for the final chapter, the coming of Christ.

At the time, Christians from other congregations from around the world questioned why St. Michael’s was chosen for this miracle and message. Rudy surmises it’s maybe because Christianity is divided, with St. Michael exemplifying of how a Christian community struggled to stay united? Did God send this message to unite Christians, to strengthen the good for the constant battle against evil, preparing for the end time when united Christianity will prevail?

A work of religious fiction, The Miracle at St. Michael’s Church shares a vision of the future based on past events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663212238

Radu Gherghel

Radu Olimpiu Gherghel. A native of Timisoara, Romania, Immigrated to America in 1967. He is a romanticist with a big heart and adventures mind. He discovered his true passion in writing books and painting. He and his wife, Judy, have two children and six grandchildren. They live in Orwigsburg Pennsylvania. This is his fourth book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Radu Olimpiu Gherghel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

844-349-9409

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-1222-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-1225-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-1223-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020921324

iUniverse rev. date:   11/25/2020

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1    Why St. Michael’s?

2    The Miracle

3    Authentication of the Miracle

4    The Vatican, the Catholic Church

5    The Government of the United States of America

6    The Siege

7    The Death of Father Mathias

8    The Dry Run

9    The Second Coming of Christ

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the two woman who were influential in whom I am, my character and ideology. My mother, Gordana Kostic Gherghel. My love for her was overwhelming. I can still imagine her face with calm brown eyes. She loved to read books and live in a fantasy world detached from the cruel world around her. Her love for literature molded my childhood when I started to read her books. And then, my wife Judy. Her love for God and Jesus is immeasurable. Married for more than fifty years our love grew more every year as they pass by. She reads the bible every day, helping me understand passages I questioned. The essence of this book has her spiritual interpretation in it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

St. Michael’s Centennial Celebration Book 1897–1997

The Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament and Psalms, 1993

King James Bible

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia

The Reverend Father Jeff Zias

Jack Shandor, church councilman, testimony

Austin American-Statesman

The Associated Press

Bibleinfo.com

Pixabay.com

Shutterstock.com

Depoitphotos.com

Pinterest.com

INTRODUCTION

We are destined to grapple with the concept of the unknown. Right after birth, we open our eyes and see things unknown, such as matter changing from solid to liquid. We see all kinds of life, from birds to insects to animals. Where is all this coming from, and more importantly, where is it all going? We all have two sides to our thinking, good and bad. Then we discover that by questioning our existence, we realize that we have a soul that may answer some of the unknowns.

This book will try to unite people to respect and love each other. What is the author trying to tell us? Is it about himself or all of us? Radu Gherghel was born in a country that has no respect for life, and he spent most of his life in a free country that has high regard for humanity. This book illustrates how from bad, sacrifices and sorrow lead to good, ending in heaven, an everlasting happiness.

When we are young, we’re oblivious to life in general. I cannot remember eternity ever entering my mind. The only time I contemplated death, I was sitting in a church pew looking at icons of saints, God, and Jesus. By the way, I was only momentarily, being distracted by the choir songs and people around me. Later in life, you see reality from being born to getting old and dying, the mystery of life. The other mystery divulged in this book is how Christianity split in so many directions, despite God’s teachings always being about unity, not division.

Sitting in a pew and looking at the altar in St. Michael’s Church, I asked myself, why am I here rather than in another church? It dawned on me that the only thing to do was to take God’s teachings from the beginning to the end and find out. Jesus preached strongly about the importance of community and how the church is the congregation, not the building. The apostle Peter, the rock, was chosen by Jesus to be the foundation of his church, and so it happened, with Peter introducing Christianity to the world.

The Bible is a great book. It’s preached in all divided Christian churches, but it’s all different if you read it. You can see how God made us in his image and called us his children. He sent his son, Jesus, to save us. Jesus died to take away our sins, and three days later, he rose from the dead. Now he sits at the right side of his father, but he will come again to save the world. This book talks about a united Christianity.

CHAPTER 1

WHY ST. MICHAEL’S?

29815.png29824.png

WHO AM I, AND why am I writing this book? You all heard about the miracle that happened on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2026, at St. Michael’s Church. It was an extraordinary event that perplexed the entire world. It’s already the end of July, and I’m still writing about those fast-paced events.

My name is Rudy Kostic, and I’m a member of that church, a choir member, and a councilman. I’m only forty-two years old, a teacher and a second-generation Romanian. My parents escaped from Communist Romania. One of my attributes is that I’m a good listener, so I was able to learn a lot about the history of St. Michael’s Church and the entire area.

Our church had a priest and a deacon working hard to keep the congregation faithful. Our priest, Father Mathias Marcus, was a kind man, slim at sixty-one with a short beard turning white. He had earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from Christ the Savior Seminary of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese. His education in theology, morality, and spirituality helped him in his sermons, but