Mishael

Holy Martyr Misail (Mishael) of Babylon, the youth, was one of the three youths in the fiery furnace, with Ananias and Azarias, friends of the Holy Prophet Daniel. Six hundred years before Christ, Jerusalem was conquered by the king of Babylon, the temple built by Solomon was destroyed, and a multitude of the people of Israel were led into captivity. Among the captives were the noble youths Daniel, Ananias, Azarias and Misail. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be taught the wisdom of the Chaldeans and brought up in abundance at his court. But they, keeping the commandments of their faith, refused excesses and led a strict life, eating only vegetables and water. The Lord gave them wisdom, and to Saint Daniel the gift of foresight and of interpreting dreams. The Holy Prophet Daniel, holding the faith in the one God as holy and hoping in His almighty help, surpassed in wisdom all the astrologers and magicians of the Chaldeans and was brought close to King Nebuchadnezzar. Once Nebuchadnezzar had a strange dream that troubled him, but on waking he forgot it. The wise men of Babylon could not learn what the king had dreamed. Then the Holy Prophet Daniel glorified before all the power of the true God, who had revealed to him not only the content of the dream but its prophetic meaning. After that Daniel was raised by the king to the rank of governor of Babylon.

Soon King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his image to be raised, a huge statue, to which divine honours were to be paid. For refusing to do so, the three youths, Ananias, Azarias and Misail, were cast into the blazing furnace. The flame rose above the furnace forty-⁠nine cubits, scorching the Chaldeans standing near, while the holy youths walked in the midst of the flames, raising prayer to the Lord and singing to Him (Daniel 3:26-90). An angel of the Lord appeared and cooled the flame, and the youths remained unharmed. Seeing this, the king commanded them to come out and turned to the true God. In the time of King Belshazzar Saint Daniel interpreted the mysterious writing ("Mene, Tekel, Peres") that appeared on the palace wall during the feast, foretelling the fall of the Babylonian kingdom. Under the Persian king Darius, Saint Daniel, through the slanders of his enemies, was thrown into the den of hungry lions, but the lions did not touch him. King Darius rejoiced and commanded that in his whole kingdom the God of Daniel be worshipped. The Holy Prophet grieved deeply for his people, who were receiving a just punishment for their many sins and lawless deeds, the heavy captivity of Babylon and the devastation of Jerusalem. Daniel interceded for his people with Darius's successor, King Cyrus, who valued him greatly, and he proclaimed freedom for the captives.

Daniel himself and his friends Ananias, Azarias and Misail lived to a deep old age and died in captivity. According to the testimony of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, however, Ananias, Azarias and Misail were beheaded by command of the Persian king Cambyses. Misail is commemorated on 30 December, in the new style.