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Saint Macarius the Great is an Orthodox miracle worker and hermit who achieved veneration in the guise of a Saint, and is also the author of religious conversations.

Life of Macarius the Great

Saint Macarius was born around the year 300 in Lower Egypt (the village of Ptinapor). At the behest of his parents, he married, but soon became a widower. The saint, after the death of his parents and wife, distributed all the property that he had to the poor and then went into the wilderness to an old man. The old man received him with all his love and preached to him the spiritual science of worship, fasts and prayers, and also taught him such a craft as basket weaving. Having erected a separate dwelling not far from his cell, the old man placed his disciple there.

After spending several years in the desert, he went to St. Anthony the Great, the father of the Egyptian hermitage, about whom he had heard while in the world and since then zealously desired to meet him. The Monk Anatoly himself lovingly received Blessed Macarius, who soon became not only a devoted disciple, but also a follower.

Saint Macarius the Great lived with the Saint for quite a long time, but after that, heeding the advice of Anatoly, he went to the northwestern part of Egypt to the Skete hermitage. And it was there that he became famous for his exploits, for which they began to call him “foreign elder”, because by that time he was barely thirty years old, showing himself to be a mature monk with rich experience.

Since that time, a considerable number of healings have been performed by the Monk Macarius the Great of Egypt. People, hoping for help, advice and in order to hear his sacred prayers, came to him from different places.

However, all this did not give solitude to the Wonderworker, and therefore he dug a deep cave under his dwelling, where he could retire to contemplate God and recite prayers. In walking before the Lord, the monk was able to achieve such boldness that, after pronouncing his prayers, the Almighty brought the dead back to life, but, despite the achievements of the Saint, he continued to adhere to extraordinary humility.

During the reign of King Valentine, an Arian (between 364 and 378), the monk, along with Macarius of Alexandria, suffered persecution from Luke, the Arian bishop. Both hermits were seized and put on a ship, taking them to a deserted island inhabited only by adherents of paganism.

It was there, according to the prayers of the Miracle Workers, that the daughter of the chief priest found healing, after which he and all the inhabitants of the island went through the rite of Baptism. But when the bishop learned what had happened, he was ashamed and allowed the elders to return to their deserts.

The saint spent about 60 years in a desert that was dead to the world, where he spent most of his time talking with the Lord being in a state of spiritual rapture, but he never stopped working hard, repenting and crying.

And the Miracle Worker embodied his considerable ascetic knowledge into comprehensive Theological writings, consisting of fifty spiritual discourses and seven ascetic words, namely:

• Macarius the Great on purity of heart;
• About spiritual perfection;
• About prayers;
• About prudence and patience;
• About the ascension of the mind;
• About love;
• About freedom of mind.

It was these creations that became the precious legacy of the divine wisdom of St. Macarius, and the opinion that the task of a believing person and his highest good is the unity of the soul with the Lord is the main idea in his writings. Narrating what methods exist for achieving sacred unity, the monk took as a basis the knowledge of the Egyptian mentors of monasticism, and also used his own experience.

The skills of holy monks in communion with God and the path to the Almighty is open to every heart in which hope and faith live. That is why Orthodox Church introduced the ascetic prayers of the Great Wonderworker into common morning and evening doxology.

The Saint died at the age of about 90 in 391.

What do they pray to the Saint?

Even during his lifetime, for his strictness, accomplished feats and purity of spirit, the monk was awarded the title of Great, therefore the uttered text of the prayer service in front of the image of the Egyptian monk will help in resolving many life situations, and will also protect from temptations and misfortunes. They pray to the miracle worker:

• About enlightenment;
• About help in preserving and strengthening the faith;
• To gain spiritual purity;
• Finding comfort in difficult life situations;
• The prayer of Macarius the Great helps to obtain spiritual peace;
• On the expulsion of evil spirits;
• About descended wisdom;
• To receive patronage.

When is the Day of Remembrance of the Miracle Worker celebrated?

In the Christian Church, a day of celebration in honor of the Saint is established on February 1 (January 19 - according to the old style), where a service is held and an akathist is performed as a veneration.

The text of the prayer of St. Macarius the Great:

O sacred head, reverend father, most blessed Abbo Macarius, do not forget your poor ones to the end, but always remember us in your holy and auspicious prayers to God. Remember your flock, if you yourself saved it, and do not forget to visit your children. Pray for us, holy father, for your spiritual children, as if you have boldness towards the Heavenly King, do not be silent for us to the Lord, and do not despise us, with faith and love, who honor you.

Remember us unworthy at the Throne of the Almighty, and do not stop praying for us to Christ God, for grace has been given to you to pray for us. It’s not imaginary that the creature is dead, but even with the body you have passed away from us, but even after death you are still alive. Do not depart from us in spirit, preserving us from the arrows of the enemy and all the charms of demons and the wiles of the devil, our good shepherd. Even more, and the relics of your cancer are always visible before our eyes, but your holy soul with angelic armies, with incorporeal faces, with heavenly powers, at the Throne of the Almighty, is worthy of fun.

Leading thee truly and living after death, we fall down and pray to you: pray for us to the Almighty God, for the benefit of our souls, and ask us time to repent, let us go unhindered from the earth to heaven, from the ordeals of the bitter, the demons of the air princes and let us be delivered from eternal torment, and let us be with all the righteous who have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ from time immemorial, He deserves all glory, honor and worship, with His Beginningless Father and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.

The Lord is always with you!

Watch the video about St. Macarius:

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Life of Saint Macarius of Corinth

Compiled by Athanasius Parios, his friend
(briefly by K. Kavarnos)

1863, Chios

Corinth is the most ancient and famous city of the Peloponnese. Well known. That the Apostle Paul wrote two Epistles to the Corinthians, filled with Divine wisdom, instructed them and led them from false idolatry to the knowledge of the One True God.

St. Macarius was born and raised in this city. He came from an aristocratic family belonging to a brilliant ancient family of Byzantine senators Notaros. St. Gerasimos of Cephalonia, the glory and praise of all Orthodox Christians, who shone and continues to shine with his countless miracles, also belonged to this family.

The parents of St. Macarius, the most pious George and Anastasia, both occupied the first place in Corinth due to their origin and wealth. They had many children. In 1731 St. Macarius, named Michael in holy baptism. His godfather was Archbishop Parthenius of Corinth.

When the boy reached school age, he was sent to study church reading and writing by Eustathius in Kefalonia. From an early age, Michael showed a desire only for the spiritual. He was not interested in anything worldly. He lived a very pious life. He strove to attend church services and avoided the company of youths and worldly fuss.

With the help of his father, who was an influential politician, Mikhail became the manager of several villages. The father wanted his son to be able to get rich in this way. However, Michael distributed large sums of money to the needy, and his father often scolded him. In the end, Michael decided to leave everything worldly and become a monk. He secretly fled to Mega Spilion ("Great Cave"), a famous monastery in the Peloponnese. Here he tearfully asked the monks to grant his wish. But since he came without the permission of his powerful father, they refused. And, indeed, a few days later, having learned that Mikhail was in the monastery, his father ordered him to be returned home, even against his will.

Returning to his parents' home, Michael began to read and study the Divine Scriptures and other spiritual books. Later, since the Corinthian school had no teacher, he volunteered to teach the children. So he worked for six years without any pay.

In 1764, when the Archbishop of Corinth died, all the inhabitants of the Corinthian region, clergy and laity, rich and poor, old and young, unanimously chose the pious Michael as a candidate for the bishopric. (After he was elected as a candidate, he was tonsured a monk with the name Macarius). So, equipped with letters of recommendation, accompanied by distinguished people, he went to Constantinople and appeared before the Holy Synod. The patriarch at that time was Samuel I Khaizeris. In Constantinople Macarius was ordained Archbishop of Corinth.

When he returned to the diocese entrusted to him by God, he saw how great love for him was: all the Christians of this area celebrated the day of his return, rejoicing, glorifying God for hearing their prayers and giving them such a good shepherd. Indeed, they were not mistaken in their expectations. For, as in early childhood, St. Macarius showed signs of the greatness of his soul and zeal for everything good, and now, when he became a bishop, he confirmed all this with deeds. Like St. Gregory the Theologian, he believed that he received the rank of bishop not as uncontrolled power and a means of enjoying and acquiring wealth, but as a paternal concern for the safety and salvation of his spiritual flock, for which he would be responsible to the High Shepherd, Lord and God of all.

With such thoughts, he, as a faithful and prudent ruler, began to saturate hungry souls with the spiritual food of the Divine word. He preached in the holy churches with great love, kindness, and humility. Up to that time, as a result of either the neglect or the ignorance of his predecessors, his whole diocese was full of disorder and lawlessness, and the ecclesiastical society was in a corrupt state. St. Macarius. Like the new Zerubbabel, he began with great zeal and zeal to restore church life, freeing it from all corruption. First of all, he retired all insufficiently educated priests, as well as those who were not able to adequately perform the priestly ministry because of their advanced age. Then he forbade all priests to take part in politics, because at that time in many places there was a bad custom when the same persons were priests and "Khojambasides". Those who did not obey this institution, he forbade in the priesthood. When ordination of priests, he strictly observed the Apostolic and Council rules. He never ordained priests or other clerks for money. He ordained only those who were worthy by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, he did not ordain anyone under the appropriate age, despite the need for priests in his diocese. Testing those who wanted to become priests, he sent all who were not sufficiently prepared to the monasteries so that they could spend there on education and training money that they would have previously given for ordination. He also did not ordain deacons as priests without first teaching them how to do all church services, and handed out the Catechism to all the clergy for study. In all the towns and villages of his region, he set up large baptismal fonts so that holy baptism would be performed according to all the rules of our Holy Orthodox Church. The holy hierarch performed many other instructive and saving deeds. He built schools throughout his diocese and graciously, with paternal care, shepherded his verbal flock.

But in 1768, during the reign of Sultan Mustafa, a war broke out between the Russians and the Turks, and the Russian fleet appeared near the Peloponnese. Father of St. Macarius, foreseeing and fearing the tragic consequences, took him and the whole family and headed for the island of Zakynthos. On the way, they encountered pirates, who robbed them of everything they had. Luckily, none of them were killed. So, after much suffering, they came to Zakynthos. The inhabitants of the island received them with kindness and sympathy and provided them with clothing and food. They gave special honor to St. Macarius, who was revered as the new apostle of Christ.

Later, Macarius went to the island of Kefalonia in order to venerate the relics of St. Gerasim. Three months later he returned to Zakynthos and lived there for another three years. Then he went to the island of Hydra, where he stayed in a monastery Holy Mother of God until peace was restored between Russians and Turks in 1774.

At this time, the Synod of Constantinople ordained a new Archbishop of Corinth. But to alleviate the grief of St. Macarius, the Synod allowed him to serve freely as a bishop, wherever he was.

A year later, St. Macarius went to Chios. From there, he soon went to Holy Athos, where he had long sought to get. However, he did not find a calm spiritual haven of salvation on Athos. On the contrary, he was met by a raging sea. He was immediately approached by those who celebrated requiems on Sundays and asked him if he approved of their practice. He answered in the negative. When the former Patriarch of Alexandria Matthew and St. Macarius was invited to serve a memorial service for him on the fortieth day, which fell on Sunday, he not only refused to serve, but wrote the following to the close ones of the deceased patriarch: “Why do you prefer to serve memorial services on Sunday and skip other days of the week, and thus violate the rules and regulations Churches forbidding this? I have never performed and will never perform requiems for the dead on Sunday.” After that, those close to the deceased patriarch began to threaten him and sent his letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Disappointed by all this, St. Macarius left Athos and returned to Chios. From here he went to Patmos, where he met and befriended the holy fathers Niphon of Chios, Gregory of Nisyros and Athanasius of Armenia. All of them had also left Saint Athos a few years earlier due to scandals related to memorial services.

A year later, Father St. Macarius is dead. At the request of his brothers, St. Macarius came to Hydra, and together they went to Corinth. Here they peacefully divided their father's inheritance under the supervision of St. Macarius. He gave his brothers his full share, and after that he asked them to bring him records of all his father's debtors. He threw these records into the fire, thus freeing a huge number of people from debts. Entire families of debtors praised their benefactor, St. Macarius and called him a saint.

After this, St. Macarius returned to Chios. Here he received letters of recommendation and went with them to Smyrna to meet with John Mavrogordatos. The last one I heard about St. Macarius, received him with respect and reverence. As a man of God. He not only gladly offered hospitality to St. Macarius in his house, but also gave him money for the publication of the holy "Philokalia", a wonderful spiritual book. Influenced by the teachings of St. Macarius, John turned his house into a holy dwelling, where vespers and matins were constantly served, and all fasts were strictly observed.

Later St. Macarius returned to Chios, wishing to spend the rest of his life in the desert (hesychasterion), doing spiritual work. He bought from the city of Chios the deserts of St. Petra in the northern part of the island and settled there with his Chios disciple Jacob. This monk served St. Macarius until his holy death.

At the same time, Hieromonk Niphon of Chios, with whom St. Macarius met earlier, together with several monks went to the island of Ikaria. There they tried to build a monastery for themselves. But they didn't have enough money. St. Macarius helped them through donations from the benefactors of Smyrna and Chios. Thanks to this help, a small cenobitic monastery was built on the island. St. Macarius went there and lived there for some time with the holy fathers, his friends. He then returned to his desert in Chios. The fertile nature of this place had a very beneficial effect on him, especially in view of his poor health, because of which he had previously suffered constantly. Living in the desert, he felt good and, being away from noisy cities and worldly bustle, he enjoyed the silence.

As one of the ancient Fathers of the Church wrote: “The holy people of God, fearing harm from vanity and arrogance, strive in any way to hide their virtues from human eyes. Therefore, we can only know those achievements of theirs, which God shows for the benefit of others, or which become known later, thanks to their disciples. It is truth. We can say about St. Macarius. Only God the All-Knowing saw and knew his struggle and spiritual exploits in the desert, for, striving to please only Him, St. Macarius concealed them more carefully than a vicious person hides his crimes. That is why we write here about St. Macarius only what many people knew for sure, and what every modern inhabitant of Chios knows: about his constant long fasts, in addition to the canonical ones, which he observed with great strictness, like the dogmas of faith, without any doubt about it. That the Holy Canons are not human institutions, but those of the Holy Spirit. It was completely different from today's Christians, who show indifference and contempt for the Holy Canons, considering them to be the teachings of common people, and not written according to the reasoning and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, constantly shamelessly violating them, eating fish and meat, and at the same time saying that God is nowhere. did not command the man to fast.

St. Macarius, who observed both the canonical and additional fasts that he imposed on himself, considered wine and oil to be the two main enemies, claimed that they were injurious to health, and ate them only on Saturday and Sunday. On other days he ate vegetables and (flour products, such as pasta) boiled in water. About fasting, all-night vigils, prostrations and unceasing prayers of St. Macarius we know for sure from the stories of many people, especially his disciple Jacob. And there is no doubt that St. Through such an ascetic life Macarius attained the likeness of God and was kindled with the fire of Divine love. The proof of this is the miraculous works of Divine grace, which are still being performed today through an appeal to him. Thus, the deeds of St. Macarius, invisible to many during his lifetime, are now confirmed by events that are obvious and known to everyone. And as the holy father Isaac the Syrian writes: “It is impossible for those who tirelessly lead such a way of life to remain without the great gifts of God, since they have acquired inner attention, sobriety of the heart and freedom from concern for worldly affairs. The soul that labors and ascends in its pursuit of God acquires cherubic eyes. By which he contemplates the eternally heavenly. So, according to the words of the Divine teacher St. Isaac, St. Macarius, with his Divine gifts and his pure prayer, showed himself to be a true angelic contemplator of the heavenly.

The Holy Fathers teach that prayer is a conversation with God. Everyone who has heard St. Macarius in the church, reading the psalms and the Holy Gospel, confess that his reading was really a conversation with God. Continuous, quiet, calm, it undoubtedly reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. If we admit this about his reading and prayer in church, then how much higher his cell prayer should have been, more spiritual, estranged from everything material and human. Undoubtedly, at that time his mind was completely directed towards God, and not only what came from the lips of St. Macarius, but also all his reverent and beautiful thoughts.

All this is good and worthy of praise. But this is a consequence of concern for one's own salvation and does not yet prove love for one's neighbor, without which, as the Divine Apostle Paul says, everything is useless and in vain. The Lord gives us in the Gospel the concept of such love: Love your neighbor as yourself» (Matthew 19:19). And the divinely inspired Macarius fulfilled his duty to his neighbor. He kept repeating the words of the Apostle to the Gentiles: For God we are companions» (1 Cor. 3:9), meaning that we must help our brothers with all our might in the salvation of their souls. Therefore, he sought to benefit all Christians and prepare for them the path to the Kingdom of Heaven with his paternal advice, instructions and instructive books. Thus, Theodore of Byzantium, Demetrius of Peloponnesus and many others were inspired to martyrdom by reading the composition of St. Macarius book "Martyrology" about the spiritual exploits of the martyrs. And we heard that a layman from Enos said that he carefully read The Philokalia twice and intends to study it a third time.

How great was the desire of St. Macarius for the salvation of all Christians shows the following: after reading a small book "Christian Apologia" and being excited by it, he collected 500 copper coins in order to reprint this instructive book.

It must be added that St. Macarius. While in monastic seclusion in the desert of St. Peter, constantly preached to the parishioners of the church of St. Peter, as well as to all those who gathered from other places in this church for the Divine Liturgy. During fasts, he visited other churches in the area, where he preached the word of God calmly and meekly, like the apostles, of whom he was a strict follower. Undoubtedly, his sermons were fruitful. First, his hearers saw before them the Bishop of Corinth, dressed in very poor vestments, and addressing them with humility. Secondly, instead of receiving money for his labors, he offered financial assistance to those in need: one to pay off debts, another for his daughter's wedding, and many others for other needs. The following incident shows the fruitfulness of the sermons and teachings of the Saint: one woman from a neighboring village found three pounds of silk and was looking for the one who had lost them in order to return them. To those who wondered, she said: “How can I leave this silk when the blessed one will never allow us to do this?” When asked who this blessed one was, she answered: “Archbishop of Corinth. He taught us that if we find something that belongs to someone else, we must return it to the person who lost it or we sin. And what's more, we shouldn't ask for a reward to return a loss."

However, this great love of St. Macarius to his neighbors, his sympathy for their needs began to disturb his peace, especially when, on the advice of friends, the needy began to come to him, not only from nearby places, but also from distant regions. And since some of them needed significant help, the holy father was forced to turn to wealthy people for alms for those in need. Since he did not want to annoy others, but also could not let go of those who came to him for help empty-handed, he was forced to temporarily leave the island of Chios for the island of Patmos.

Let us now say a few more words about his publications. Book of St. Macarius "On the Constant Communion of the Divine Mysteries" contains nothing else than statements from the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, the canons of the Apostles and Councils, the statements of the Holy Fathers and their explanation in modern Greek. All of them contain the same teaching that frequent Communion of the Divine Mysteries is holy and leads to salvation. Thus, this book is quite legal and canon. But for a while, injustice and malice took over. So, after reading this book, one stupid Athos monk sent it to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, writing as much bad things as he could about it. Procopius of Peloponnese, formerly Bishop of Smyrna. He was elevated to the patriarchal throne at that time. Angered by the accusations, on behalf of the Synod he condemned the book of St. Macarius as uncanonical and harmful, and threatened to impose severe penance on those who dare to read it. The monks of St. Athos fought with all their might to ensure that the decision of the patriarch was revised, but to no avail. Later, when Neophyte of Smyrna became patriarch (in 1789), a close friend of St. Macarius, he canceled the decision of his predecessor regarding the book. And he sent the following letter to the saint:

“His Holiness Metropolitan, former Corinthian, beloved in the Holy Spirit, brother and companion Macarius, grace on your episcopacy and peace from God! Regarding your work “On the Permanent Communion of the Holy Mysteries”, which you published, we inform you that it was considered by the Synod, carefully studied and approved. It is ecclesiologically lawful and contains nothing that prevents a Christian from being worthy, through repentance and true confession, to partake of the Most Pure and Terrible Mysteries of Christ. Your named book is approved by the Synod as instructive and leading to salvation. And all who wish to acquire and read it are free to do so, and must be guided by their confessors on any questions that arise.

Because of the rumors spreading that an ecclesiastical decree has been issued condemning this work of yours, which is why pious Christians avoid reading it, we have written this letter and, by the pleasure of the Holy Spirit, issued a decree repealing the former, that all Christians who have read, are reading or will read this book of yours, specifically “On the Constant Communion of the Holy Mysteries”, are forgiven and blessed by the Almighty Lord and freed from all church penances and curses, and have the blessing of all the holy and God-inspired Fathers of the Church. Now, knowing this, leave all prejudice towards your work, for which you will be rewarded by God. May His grace always be with your holiness".

Although St. Macarius published many instructive books, this book "On Constant Communion ...", written by him with great zeal, can rightly be called the source of eternal life.

That is all we wanted to say about the publications of our Holy Father. Now let's talk about his other pious deeds. In the field of Christ, that is, in martyrdom, Jesus Christ himself is the Judge and gives crowns. The fighter is the one who suffers and dies for the glory of Christ, and his opponent is the devil with his tools, enemies and persecutors of the holy Christian faith. True. That fighters do not enter the arena of martyrdom without fortitude. But as the Lord says: The spirit is awake, but the flesh is weak» (Matthew 26:41). Gregory the Theologian argues that words of support for the souls of those who have chosen martyrdom bring considerable courage. Everyone is obliged to provide this support. And St. Macarius did just that. Fulfilling the gospel commandment: And the one who comes to Me I will not cast out» (John 6:37), he readily received everyone and not only encouraged with words, but also left in his desert for many days those who needed further training. Teaching them and strengthening them with fasting and prayers. Among those in whose souls St. Macarius lit the fire of Divine love, especially Polydor Cypriot (he accepted martyrdom at the hands of the Turks on September 3, 1794 in New Ephesus). He actually showed the good changes that had taken place in him. So, one evening he stood at the door of the hotel and loudly proclaimed: "The Lord will bless you for all the good that you have done to me." Another time when Fr. Jacob called Polydor to dinner, then he saw him in a distant place weeping and sobbing. He told St. Macarius, and the Saint said: "Let him cry, for crying is dear to God and leads to salvation."

The same influence of St. Macarius had on the soul of Theodore of Byzantium. Theodore used to be afraid of death, but thanks to St. Macarius, he overcame his cowardice and boldly rushed towards death for the sake of Christ (he came from the town of Neochori (a suburb of Constantinople, and in ancient times was called Byzantium), and was hanged by the Turks on February 17, 1795 in Mitylene).

Also St. Macarius influenced the immature, uneducated soul of Demetrius of Peloponnesus. When Demetrius was led to the execution, he, turning to heaven, exclaimed: “Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for honoring me unworthy of this blessed moment of martyrdom” (he was beheaded in Tripolis Peloponnese on April 13, 1803).

We think we are right to say that St. Macarius, this teacher of the glorious martyrs, in fact belongs to them himself. St. Basil the Great calls the martyrs saints. Therefore, our Saint Macarius, who for many days and nights instructed and strengthened those who were to enter the arena of martyrdom, the saint who kindled in their hearts the fire of love for Christ and the desire to suffer for Him, is even more worthy to be considered equal to the martyrs. And just as a righteous crown was placed on the heads of the martyrs, because, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, they ended the struggle and preserved the faith, so the righteous crown was placed on the head of St. Macarius. Who, with his instructions and zeal in word and deed, was with them, their companion and helper.

But the time has come when this Divine Father had to pay the inevitable debt of nature common to all. As soon as he finished the collection of lives of the holy ascetics and martyrs, ancient and modern, which he entitled "New Limonarion", he began to take care of the publication of this book. However, he was suddenly broken by an apoplexy, and the entire right half of his body was paralyzed. His kind and beneficent hand stopped moving.

So suffering and weaving his crown in patience, he thanked the benevolent God and wept incessantly, saying that God punished for sins and he still did not repent. We came to him once and saw him weeping and lamenting that he, having been punished by God, could not repent. We said to him: "Venerable father, it is true that you do not repent, for your conscience cannot condemn you for violating the Divine commandments, since you have kept them all your life." But still, tears flowed from his eyes. And so it was for all eight months from September 1 to April 17 - the day that became the last day of his earthly life.

At this time, Christians of all ages and classes came to him to receive his holy blessing. He confessed and communed the Holy Mysteries daily. His close friend, the holy Nilus Kalognomos, stayed by his side, conversing and consoling. Together they reflected, philosophized about the spiritual and contemplative, since the mind of St. Macarius remained intact until the last breath of the Saint.

April 4/17, 1795 St. Macarius betrayed his spirit in the hands of God and entered into the ranks of saints, martyrs, ascetics and saints.

His body was buried on the south side of St. Peter. What he desired and predicted came true. When two years before the death of St. Macarius, his cell-attendant Jacob fell ill and was already on the verge of death, the brethren asked St. Macarius where he would like them to dig a grave for Jacob. When the saint heard this, he was deeply moved and said: “I want a grave to be dug first for me, and then for this good old man.”

And so it happened. Only after the transfer of the holy relics of Macarius took place, his disciple Jacob died and was buried in the same grave.

The almighty and all-creating grace of the Holy Spirit, manifested in the great miracles of St. Macarius, confirms that he pleased God and achieved holiness. Let no one doubt the reality of these miracles, for the stories about them were recorded not in some distant and foreign countries, but in the city of Chios itself during the lifetime of those who suffered mortally and incurably, but were healed, turning to the Saint with faith, and who confessed and proclaimed these healings for all to hear.

Zerubbabel - dilapidated, under his leadership the Jews rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.

“Khojambasides” is a word of Turkish origin that denoted the heads of communities or councils of elders. Their main duty was representation before the Turkish authorities.

As other authors point out, not only Macarius, but also other Peloponnesian bishops were replaced at that time by order of the Sultan. Following the start of the Russian-Turkish war. The Greeks in the Peloponnese, prompted by Russia, rebelled against the Turks. The Turks immediately suspected the Peloponnesian bishops of inciting the rebellion. These suspicions about Macarius were unfounded, since he forbade the clergy of his diocese to participate in politics and he himself was busy all his life exclusively with spiritual affairs. Depriving him of the diocese, the Ecumenical Patriarch decided to assign him an annual allowance of 100 grassies.

Today is the day of memory of the saint of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church - St. Macarius of Egypt. Saint Macarius of Egypt was born around the year 301 in Egypt. The father of the monk was a presbyter and was called Abraham, while his mother was named Sarah. Since the marriage of Macarius's parents was barren, they agreed to live in spiritual cohabitation, and not carnal, decorating their lives with many virtues. At that time, barbarians attacked Egypt, who plundered all the property of the inhabitants of Egypt, including Abraham and Sarah. Once, when Father Macarius was sleeping, the holy patriarch Abraham appeared to him in a dream, who began to console him in misfortune and at the same time predicted that God would soon bless him with the birth of a son. It was then that Macarius' parents moved to the village of Ptinapor in Lower Egypt. After some time, Presbyter Abraham became very ill. But in a dream, an angel appeared to him, who said: “God had mercy on you, Abraham. He heals you of sickness and grants you His favor, for your wife Sarah will give birth to a son named blessedness. He will be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, living on earth in the form of an angel, and will lead many to God.” Soon after this, Sarah conceived in her old age, and after a certain time, a son was born to her, who was named Macarius, which means “blessed”.

When the youth Macarius reached the age of perfection and learned to understand the Holy Scriptures, he wanted to lead a monastic life. But the parents, forgetting about the prophecy, persuaded him to enter into marriage. Macarius obeyed, but after the wedding he did not touch his bride. A few days later it happened to one of the relatives of Macarius to go to the Nitrian mountain. Macarius went with him. The Nitrian Desert bordered Libya and Ethiopia and got its name from the neighboring mountain, where there was a lot of nitra, or saltpeter, in the lakes. In Nitria, in a dream vision, a wondrous man appeared before the saint, shining with light, who said: “Macarius! Look carefully at these desert places, for you are destined to settle here.” Awakening from his sleep, Macarius began to think about what had been said to him in the vision. At that time, no one had yet settled in the desert, except for Anthony the Great and the unknown hermit Paul of Thebes.

Immediately upon the return of the blessed one, his wife died, departing undefiled into eternal life. Macarius thanked God, thinking at the same time: "Take heed to yourself, Macarius, and take care of your soul, for you too will soon have to leave this earthly life." And from that time on, Macarius no longer cared about anything earthly, incessantly staying in the temple of the Lord and reading the Holy Scriptures. Meanwhile, Abraham, the father of Macarius, lost his sight due to old age and illness. Blessed Macarius looked after his father with love and diligence. Soon the elder went to the Lord, and six months later, Sarah, the mother of Macarius, also died. The Monk Macarius buried his parents, and then distributed all his property in remembrance of the souls of the deceased.

Having thus been freed from all worldly concerns, Macarius came to an experienced elder, who lovingly received the humble young man, showed him the beginnings of a silent monastic life and taught him the usual monastic needlework - weaving baskets. He also arranged for Macarius a separate cell not far from his own. Some time later, the bishop of that country came to the village of Ptinapor and, having learned from the inhabitants of the village about the exploits of blessed Macarius, called him to himself, appointing him as a clergyman of the local church, although Macarius was still young. But Saint Macarius, burdened by the position of a cleric, left and settled in a deserted place. A reverent man came to him here and began to serve Macarius.

The devil, who hated all goodness, seeing how he was defeated by the young monk, began to fight intensely with him, plotting various intrigues: sometimes instilling in him sinful thoughts, sometimes attacking him in the form of various monsters. When Macarius was awake at night, standing at prayer, the devil shook his cell to the very foundations, and sometimes, turning into a snake, crawled along the ground and rushed furiously at the saint. But blessed Macarius, guarding himself with prayer and the sign of the cross, considered all these intrigues for nothing. Then the devil taught one woman to slander Macarius that he allegedly dishonored her. Relatives, believing her, beat the blessed one half to death, and then demanded that he now support their daughter. Having recovered, the blessed one began to make baskets and sent the money from their sale to feed the woman. When the time came for her to give birth, the righteous judgment of God overtook her. For a very long time she could not be relieved of the burden, sobbing bitterly from severe pain, until she confessed to slander. Hearing that the hermit was innocent of her disgrace, the inhabitants weepingly tried to fall at his feet, asking for forgiveness, so that the wrath of God would not comprehend them, but Macarius did not want glory from people and hastily retired to the Nitrian mountain, where he once had a vision in a dream.

After living there for three years in one cave, he went to Anthony the Great, for he had long wanted to see him. Received with love by the Monk Anthony, Macarius became his disciple and lived with him for a long time, receiving instructions and trying to imitate his father in everything. Then, on the advice of St. Anthony, Macarius withdrew to a solitary life in Skete. The Skete desert was a day's journey (25–30 versts) from the Nitrian mountain, in the northwestern part of Egypt. It was a waterless rocky desert, a favorite place of the Egyptian hermits. Here Macarius shone so brightly with exploits and succeeded so much in monastic life that he surpassed many of the brethren and received from them the name “old man”. Macarius had to fight demons both day and night. Sometimes the demons, obviously, having turned into various monsters, rushed at the saint, sometimes they raised an invisible battle against the saint, inspiring him with various passionate and impure thoughts. However, they could not overcome this courageous fighter of truth.

It happened somehow that Macarius gathered in the desert a lot of palm branches for weaving baskets and carried them to his cell. On the way he was met by a devil with a sickle and wanted to hit the saint, but could not. Then he said to Macarius: “Macarius! Because of you, I suffer great sorrow, because I am not able to defeat you. Here I am, everything you do, I do. You fast, and I eat nothing at all; you are awake and I never sleep. However, there is one thing in which you are superior to me. This is humility. That's why I can't fight you."

When the Monk Macarius was 40 years old, he received from God the gifts of miracles, prophecy, and power over unclean spirits. At the same time, he was ordained a priest and made rector (abba) of the monks living in Skete. About the exploits of Saint Macarius, this heavenly man, whom everyone called the Great, various legends circulated among the fathers. It is said that the monk constantly ascended with his mind to the heavenly and most of his time directed his mind to God, rather than to the objects of this world.

Macarius often visited the teacher of his Anthony the Great, conducting spiritual conversations with him. Together with two other disciples of the Monk Anthony and Macarius, he was honored to be present at his blessed death, and, as a kind of rich inheritance, he received Anthony's staff. Together with this staff of Anthony, the Monk Macarius received the purely spirit of Anthony the Great, as the prophet Elisha once perceived such after Elijah the Prophet. By the power of this spirit, Macarius created many marvelous miracles. So, he destroyed the machinations of sorcerers, returning people to their original appearance after the evil eye and magical transformations, healed incurable diseases with prayers and holy oil, cast out demons many times. The Monk Macarius received from God such grace-filled power that he could even resurrect the dead. With this gift, he shamed heretics, restored the truth in complicated cases related to murders and unpaid debts.

In the prologue about the Monk Macarius, the following is also told. One day he was on his way and, when night overtook him, he entered a pagan cemetery to spend the night there. Finding there an old bone of a dead pagan, the monk laid it at his head. The demons, seeing such boldness of Macarius, took up arms against him and, wanting to frighten him, began to shout, calling the bone by a woman's name: "Go wash in the bathhouse." The demon who was in this dead bone answered this call: "I have a wanderer over me." The monk was not afraid of demonic wiles, but boldly began to beat the bone he had taken, saying: “Get up and go if you can.” The demons were put to shame.

On another occasion, the Monk Macarius was walking through the desert and found a dried-up human skull on the ground. Macarius asked the skull: “Who are you?” “I was the head of the pagan priests who lived in this place. When you, Abba Macarius, filled with the Spirit of God, having mercy on those who are in torment in hell, pray for us, then we receive some relief.” “What relief do you get, and what are your torments?” “How far the sky is from the earth,” the skull answered with a groan, “so great is the fire in the midst of which we are, scorched from everywhere from head to toe. However, we cannot see each other's faces. When you pray for us, we see a little of each other, and this serves as some consolation to us.” Hearing such an answer, the monk shed tears and said: “Cursed is the day when a person transgressed the Divine commandments.” And again he asked: “Is there any other torment that is more severe than yours?” “We, who did not know God,” replied the skull, “although a little, we still feel the mercy of God. Those who knew the name of God, but rejected Him and did not keep His commandments, are tormented below us by much more difficult and cruel torments. After this, the Monk Macarius took that skull, buried it in the ground, and withdrew.

Many different people came to Saint Macarius, even from distant lands. Some asked for his prayers, blessings and fatherly guidance, others for healing from their ailments. Because of this crowd, Macarius now had little time to indulge in meditation in solitude. Therefore, he dug a deep cave under his cell, where he hid for prayer. His monastery, according to Rufinus, was lower, in another desert; there were many brothers in him.

Once Macarius was sitting on the road leading to the monastery. Suddenly he sees the devil walking in human form, dressed in shaggy clothes and all hung with pumpkins. Macarius asked: "Where are you going, breathing malice?" - "I'm going to tempt the brethren." “Why did you put pumpkins on yourself?” – “I bring food to the brethren.” – “Are there food in all pumpkins? the reverend asked. "In all. If someone does not like one, I will suggest another, third, etc., so that everyone can try at least one.” Having said this, the devil departed. The Reverend remained on the road. Seeing that the devil was returning, Macarius again asked: “Did you go to the monastery well?” “Bad,” answered the devil, “and how could I succeed? All the monks took up arms against me, and no one accepted me.” “Don’t you have a single monk who would obey you?” Macarius asked again. “I have only one,” answered the devil. - When I come to him, he spins around me like a top. - "What is his name?" - "Theopempt!" Then Abba Macarius went into the far desert to the named monastery. The brethren, hearing that the saint was coming towards them, came out to meet him with palm branches, and each of them prepared his cell, thinking that the monk would want to stay with him. But Macarius the Great asked the monks who Theopemptus was, and went in to him. He received the monk with great joy. Left alone with Theopemptos, Saint Macarius questioned him with wisdom and learned that he was possessed by the spirit of fornication and other sins. Having given the monk soul-beneficial instructions, the blessed one returned to his wilderness. There, sitting by the road, he again saw the devil going to the monastery, and he confessed that now all the monks were turning against him.

Once, when Saint Macarius was praying, there was a voice to him that said: “Macarius! You have not yet reached such perfection in a virtuous life as two women living together in a nearby city. Having received such a revelation, the monk took his staff and went to that city. Finding there the house where the aforementioned women lived, he called both of them to him and said to them: “For your sake, I undertook such a great feat, having come here from the far desert, for I want to know your good deeds, about which I ask you to tell me hiding nothing.” “Believe us, honest father,” answered the women, “that we shared our bed with our husbands last night. What virtues do you wish to find in us?” But the monk insisted that they tell him the way of their life. Then, the women said: “We were not relatives among ourselves before, but then we married two siblings, and for 15 years now we have all been living in the same house; all the time life together we did not say a single malicious or bad word to each other and never quarreled among ourselves. We have recently decided to leave our carnal spouses and retire to the host of holy virgins who serve God. However, there is no way we can beg our husbands to let us go. Then we made a covenant with God and among ourselves not to utter a single worldly word until our death.” After listening to their story, the Monk Macarius said: “Truly, God is not looking for a virgin, or a married woman, or a monk, or a layman, but – a free intention, accepting it as the very thing, and gives to the voluntary will of every person the grace of the Holy Spirit acting in a person. and directing the life of everyone who wants to be saved.”

During the life of Macarius the Great, also called the Egyptian, another Saint Macarius, the Alexandrian, shone with holiness. He was a presbyter in a monastery that bore the name of Cell. This area was in the desert between Nitria and Skete. The ascetics of the Nitrian mountain retired to the desert of Kelia after they had already established themselves in the monastic life. Here they practiced silence, and their cells were far removed from each other. This blessed Macarius of Alexandria often came to the Monk Macarius of Egypt, and they often walked together in the wilderness. When the Arian emperor Valens reigned, he raised a very cruel persecution of the Orthodox. Lucius, the Arian bishop, arrived in Alexandria by royal order, and deposed from the episcopal chair St. Peter, the successor of St. Athanasius the Great. He also sent soldiers into the desert to capture and send into exile all the desert fathers. Among the first, both Saint Macarius were captured and taken to a remote island, whose inhabitants worshiped idols. One of the priests who were on that island had a daughter possessed by a demon, and the monks, having prayed, cast him out and healed the girl. Her father immediately believed in Christ and received holy baptism. Likewise, all the inhabitants of that island turned to Christ. Upon learning of what had happened, the wicked Bishop Lucius was greatly ashamed that he had expelled such great fathers. Therefore, he secretly sent to return the blessed Macarius and all the holy fathers who were with them to their former dwelling places.

Meanwhile, many people came to St. Macarius the Great from everywhere, so it became necessary to build a hotel for wanderers and the sick. This is what the saint did. Every day he usually healed one sick person, anointing him with holy oil and sending him home completely healthy. The monk did this so that other sick people, who were not immediately healed by him, lived with him for some time and thus received healing not only of the body, but also of the soul, listening at that time to his divinely inspired teachings.

Once the Monk Macarius went from Skete to the Nitrian mountain with one of his disciples. When they were already approaching the mountain, the monk said to the disciple: “Go ahead of me.” The disciple went and met a pagan priest who was carrying a large log. Seeing him, the monk shouted: “Listen, you demon! Where are you going?" The priest beat the monk so hard that he barely survived. Grabbing then a log that had been thrown, the priest ran away. Soon he met the Monk Macarius, who lovingly said: "Save yourself, hard worker, save yourself." The priest stopped and asked: “What good did you see in me, greeting me with such words?” “I see that you are laboring,” replied the reverend. Then the priest said: “Father, I was touched by your words. I see that you are a man of God. Here, before you, another monk met me, who scolded me, and I beat him to death. And with these words, the priest fell at the feet of the monk, embracing them and saying: “I will not leave you, father, until you convert me to Christianity and make me a monk.” And he went along with Saint Macarius. After walking a little, they came to the place where the monk, beaten by the priest, was lying and found him barely alive. Taking it, they brought it to the church. The fathers, seeing together with the Monk Macarius a pagan priest, were greatly astonished. Then, having baptized him, they also made him a monk, and for his sake many pagans converted to Christianity. Saint Macarius gave the following instruction on this occasion: “An evil word makes the good ones evil, but a good word makes the bad ones good.”

Once the Monk Macarius came to the monastery of Abba Pamvo. Here the elders asked the blessed one to give a word for the edification of the brethren. Saint Macarius began to say: “Forgive me, for I am a bad monk; but I saw monks. So one day I was sitting in Skete in my cell, and the thought came to me to go to the inner desert. Five years later I went there and found a huge swamp, in the middle of which I saw an island. At this time, animals came to drink water. Among the animals, I noticed two naked people and thought that I saw incorporeal spirits. Seeing that I was very frightened, the people reassured me and said that they were from kinovia, but it had been thirty years since they had left the monastery. One of them was an Egyptian, the other a Libyan. Then they also asked me in what state the world is now, whether the rivers are still filled with their streams, whether the earth abounds with its usual fruits. I answered them: "Yes." Then he asked them how I could become a monk. They answered me: "Unless a person renounces everything that is in the world, he cannot be a monk." To this I said: "I am weak and therefore cannot be like you." “If you cannot be like us,” they said, “then sit in your cell and lament over your sins.” Again I asked them if they suffered from the cold in winter and from the scorching heat in summer. They answered me: “The Lord God gave us such bodies that we do not suffer from frost in winter, nor from heat in summer.” “That is why I told you brethren,” Saint Macarius ended his speech, “that I have not yet become a monk, but I have seen monks.”

Once the Monk Macarius was asked by the Skete Fathers how he managed to keep his body always thin? The Monk Macarius gave the following answer: “Just as a poker, with which burning wood and brushwood is turned over in a furnace, is always scorched by fire, so in a person who always directs his mind to the Lord and always keeps in mind the terrible torment in the fire of Gehenna, this fear not only consumes body, but also dries out the bones.”

Then the brethren asked the monk about prayer. He gave them this instruction: “Prayer does not require verbosity, but you need to lift up your hands, saying: Lord! as You wish and as You Yourself know, have mercy on me. If the enemy raises sinful warfare in the soul, it is only necessary to say: Lord, have mercy. The Lord knows what is good for us and will show us mercy.”

Another time, Abba Isaiah asked the monk: “Tell me, father, some instruction for the good of the soul.” “Run away from people,” Saint Macarius answered him. “That is, sit in your cell and repent of your sins.” To his disciple Paphnutius the Great, he said: "Do not offend anyone, do not slander anyone - by doing this, you will be saved." The saint also said: “If you wish to be saved, be like a dead man: do not be angry when you are dishonored, do not be haughty when you are praised. By doing so, you will be saved.” To the elders who lived on Mount Nitria, the monk said: “Brethren! let us weep, and let tears flow from our eyes, purifying us before we go to the place where tears burn our bodies in torment.”

One day Saint Macarius found a thief in his cell. Outside, near the cell, a donkey was tied, on which the thief laid the stolen things. The monk, seeing this, did not make it clear to the thief that he was a householder, and even himself began to help him take things and put them on the donkey. Then he let him go peacefully, thinking like this: “We didn’t bring anything with us into this world, we can’t take anything away from here. The Lord has given us everything, and as He wishes, so everything happens. May God be blessed in everything!”

About this same Saint Macarius, the Fathers told that he became, as it were, an earthly god, for, just as God, although he sees the whole world, does not punish sinners, so Saint Macarius covered the human infirmities that he saw. It happened that even being far from his children, he appeared to them during demonic temptations and miraculously helped to avoid falls. The prayer of Macarius the Great with God had such power. Once the monk himself, being very tired, prayed fervently and was transferred through a great distance to where he needed to go.

It is now time to tell about the blessed death of Macarius of Egypt, which Serapion, the scribe of his life, told us about. The time of death did not remain unknown to the monk. Shortly before his repose, Saints Anthony the Great and Pachomius the Great appeared to him in a vision. Those who appeared told the saint that on the ninth day he would depart into blessed eternal life. Then the divine Macarius called his disciples and said to them: “Children! the time has come for my departure from here, and I entrust you with the goodness of God. So, keep the statutes of the fathers and the traditions of the fasting.” After laying his hands on his disciples, teaching them enough and praying for them, the monk began to prepare for his death. When the ninth day came, the Cherubim appeared to Saint Macarius with many angels and with the saints and took his immortal soul to heavenly abodes.

Serapion, who describes the life of Saint Macarius, heard from the Monk Paphnutius, one of the disciples of the saint, that when the soul of Macarius ascended to heaven, some of the fathers saw with their mental eyes that airborne demons stood in the distance and shouted: “Oh, what glory you have been granted, Macarius! ” The saint answered: “I am afraid, because I do not know anything good that I would do.” Then those of the demons that were even higher along the path of the soul of Macarius who followed, yelled: “You really escaped our hands, Macarius!” But he said: "No, but you must also avoid it." And when the monk was already at the gates of paradise, the demons exclaimed: "He escaped us, he escaped." Then Macarius loudly answered the demons: “Yes! Protected by the power of my Christ, I escaped your wiles.” Such is the life, death and transition into eternal life of our reverend father Macarius of Egypt.

Saint Macarius the Great died about the year 391 at the age of 90. The place of his exploits is still called the Macarius desert. The relics of the saint are in the city of Amalfi in Italy. The precious heritage of the experienced wisdom of St. Macarius, which has come down to us, is 50 Words, 7 Instructions and 2 Epistles, as well as several exalted prayers. The subjects of conversations and instructions of St. Macarius are the grace of God and the inner spiritual life, as it is accomplished on the path of contemplative solitude. Despite the deep subject matter, the conversations and instructions of the spirit-bearing teacher are simple and intelligible to the mind and close to the reverent heart.

They were named after the ancient holy forefathers - Abraham and Sarah, for the father of the Monk Macarius was called Abraham (he was a presbyter), while the mother of Macarius bore the name Sarah. Since the marriage of Macarius' parents was barren, they decided to lead a chaste life, however, not parting from each other, but living together. So, for many years the parents of Macarius lived, united by spiritual cohabitation, and not carnal. They adorned their lives with abstinence and fasting, frequent prayers, unremitting vigil, generous distribution of alms, hospitality and many other virtues. At that time, by Divine will, barbarians attacked Egypt, who plundered all the property of the inhabitants of Egypt. Together with others, Macarius' parents also lost all their property, which is why they even wanted to leave their fatherland for some other country.

But one night, when the father of Macarius - Abraham was sleeping, the Holy Patriarch Abraham appeared to him in a dream, in the form of a venerable, gray-haired, old man in brilliant clothes. The holy patriarch who appeared consoled Abraham in his misfortune, commanding him to trust in the Lord and not leave the Egyptian borders, but move to the village of Ptinapor, located in the same country. At the same time, Patriarch Abraham predicted to Macarius' parent that God would soon bless him with the birth of a son, just as He once blessed the Patriarch Abraham himself when he was a stranger in the land of Canaan, giving him a son in old age (Gen. 21:2). Upon awakening from his sleep, Presbyter Abraham recounted his vision to his wife Sarah, and they both gave praise to God. Immediately after this, Abraham and Sarah moved to the indicated village of Ptinapor, which was not far from the Nitrian desert. All this happened according to Divine will, so that the son who had been born from them - the Monk Macarius - would love the wilderness life more strongly, to which he surrendered, as we will see later, with all his soul. During the residence of the parents of Macarius in the village of Ptinapor, it happened that the father of Macarius, Abraham, became so ill that he was close to death. One night, when he was lying on the bed of illness, he saw, in a dreamy vision, that the angel of the Lord came out of the altar in the temple where Abraham served, and, approaching him, said:

Abraham, Abraham! get up from your bed.

Abraham answered the angel:

I am sick, sir, and therefore I cannot get up.

Then the angel, taking the patient by the hand, said to him with meekness:

God has mercy on you, Abraham: He heals you of your illness and grants you His favor, for your wife Sarah will give birth to a son named blessedness. He will be the home of the Holy Spirit, for in the form of an angel he will live on earth and lead many to God.

Upon awakening from this vision, Abraham felt perfectly well; filled with fear and joy, he immediately told his wife Sarah all that he had seen in the vision and what the angel had told him. The truth of this vision was confirmed by his sudden healing from a serious illness. And both of them, Abraham and Sarah, gave thanks to the most merciful Lord God. Soon after this, Sarah conceived in old age, and after a certain time, a male child was born to her, who was named Macarius, which means "blessed", and enlightened him with holy baptism.

When the youth Macarius reached adulthood and learned to understand the Holy Scriptures, his parents, as if forgetting what the angel who appeared in a vision to Abraham had predicted about him, wished Macarius to enter into marriage, although Macarius himself had no desire for this. On the contrary, he resisted with all his might the persuasion of his parents, wishing to be engaged to a single imperishable bride - a pure and immaculate virgin life. However, obeying the will of his parents, Macarius obeyed them, putting himself entirely into the hands of the Lord and hoping that He would show him the future path of life. After the wedding feast, when the newlyweds were brought into the bridal chamber, Macarius pretended to be sick and did not touch his bride, praying from the depths of his heart to the only true God and placing his hope in Him, so that the Lord would soon grant him to leave worldly life and become monk. A few days later, it happened to one of the relatives of Macarius to go to the Nitrian mountain to bring saltpeter from there, which was there in huge quantities, from which the mountain itself was called "Nitrian". At the request of his parents, Macarius went with him. Arriving on the way there, to Lake Nitria, Macarius stepped aside from his companions, wanting to rest a little from the journey, and fell asleep. And so, in a dreamy vision, a wondrous man appeared before him, shining with light, who said to Macarius:

Macarius! Look at these desert places and consider them carefully, for you are destined to settle here.

Awakening from sleep, Macarius began to think about what was said to him in the vision, and was at a loss as to what would happen to him. At that time, no one had yet settled in the desert, except for Anthony the Great and the unknown hermit Paul of Thebes, who labored somewhere in the inner desert and was seen only by Antony. When, after a three-day journey to the Nitrian mountain, Macarius and his companions returned home, he found his wife suffering from such a severe fever that she was already dying. Soon she died in front of Macarius, an immaculate virgin, departing into eternal life. Macarius thanked God that He had granted him to see the death of his wife and, as a warning to himself, he thought about his death in this way:

Pay attention to yourself, Macarius, - he said, - and take care of your soul, for you too will soon have to leave this earthly life.

And from that time on, Macarius no longer cared about anything earthly, incessantly staying in the temple of the Lord and reading the Holy Scriptures. Macarius's parents, seeing the way of life he was leading, did not dare to mention even a woman's name in his presence, but they were very happy about such a chaste life. Meanwhile, Abraham, the father of Macarius, had already entered advanced years and became very ill, so that from old age and illness he lost his sight. Blessed Macarius cared for his elderly and sick father with love and zeal. Soon the elder went to the Lord, and six months after his death, Sarah, the mother of Macarius, also died in the Lord. The Monk Macarius buried his parents with an ordinary Christian burial, and became completely free from the bonds of the flesh, distributing after their burial all his property to the poor in remembrance of the souls of the deceased. Macarius had great sadness in his heart that now he no longer had anyone to whom he could reveal his secret and receive good advice for a God-pleasing life. Therefore, he earnestly began to pray to God that He would send him a good mentor who would guide him on the path to salvation.

Some time later, the Day of commemoration of the memory of one saint came, in whose honor, according to the custom of his parents, Macarius also wished to arrange a holiday. In view of this, he prepared a dinner, destining it not so much for his neighbors, but for the poor and wretched. Being present on this Day at the church service, Macarius saw one venerable old man - a monk who entered the temple. This monk had long gray hair and a beard that reached almost to the waist; his face was pale from prolonged fasting; his whole appearance was magnificent, for his inner spiritual image was also adorned with the beauty of virtues. This elder lived not far from the village of Ptinapor in a deserted place, where he had a hermit's cell. He never showed himself to anyone from the people, and only on the present day, according to the Divine dispensation, did he come to the church located in the village to partake of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ. At the end Divine Liturgy, Macarius begged this monk to come to his house for a common meal. After the meal, when all those invited by Macarius had gone home, Macarius detained the monk and, taking him to a secluded place, fell at the feet of the elder and said to him:

Father! let me come to you tomorrow morning, for I want to ask your experienced advice regarding my future life!

Come, child, - answered the elder, - whenever you wish - and with these words he left Macarius.

The next Day, early in the morning, Macarius came to the elder and revealed to him the secret of his heart, that he wanted to work for the Lord with all his strength, and together he earnestly asked the elder to teach him what he should do for the salvation of his soul. With heartfelt conversations, the elder kept Macarius at his place for a whole day, and when the sun went down, they ate some bread and salt, and the elder ordered Macarius to go to bed. The elder himself began to pray, directing his mind to grief; at the onset of deep night, he came into an enthusiastic state and saw the cathedral of monks dressed in white clothes and having wings. They walked around the sleeping Macarius and said:

Get up, Macarius, and begin the ministry indicated to you by God; do not postpone it for another time, for the lazy one acts imprudently, and the unlazy one earns his wages.

In the morning, the Holy Elder told Macarius this vision of his own and, letting him go, gave him the following instruction:

Child! whatever you intend to do, do it quickly, because God is calling you for the salvation of many. Therefore, from now on, do not be lazy in charitable deeds!

After teaching Macarius instructions on prayer, vigils, and fasting, the elder let him go in peace. Returning home from the elder, blessed Macarius distributed all his property to the poor, leaving nothing for himself even for basic needs. Having thus been freed from all worldly concerns and having himself become, as it were, a beggar, Macarius again came to the elder, in order to completely surrender to the service of the Lord he had long desired. The elder lovingly received the humble young man, showed him the beginnings of a silent monastic life and taught him the usual monastic needlework - basket weaving. At the same time, the elder arranged for Macarius a separate cell not far from his own, for he himself loved to serve the Lord in solitude. He took his new disciple to the newly arranged cell, again giving him the necessary instructions about prayer, food and needlework. So blessed Macarius, with the help of God, began to undergo a difficult monastic service and day by day he succeeded in monastic deeds. Some time later, the bishop of that country happened to come to the village of Ptinapor, and, having learned from the inhabitants of the village about the exploits of blessed Macarius, he called him to himself and, against his desire, appointed him a cleric of the local church, although Macarius was still young. But St. Macarius, burdened by the position of a clergyman, which disturbed his silent life, a few days later, fled from there and settled in a deserted place near another village. One reverent man of a simple rank came to him here, and he began to serve Macarius, selling his handicrafts and buying food for him with the proceeds. The hater of all goodness - the devil, seeing how he is defeated by a young monk, conceived a battle against him and began to fight intensely with him, building various intrigues against him, sometimes inspiring him with sinful thoughts, sometimes attacking him in the form of various monsters. When Macarius was awake at night, standing at prayer, the devil shook his cell to the very foundations, and sometimes, turning into a snake, crawled along the ground and rushed furiously at the saint. But blessed Macarius, guarding himself with prayer and the sign of the cross, considered the intrigues of the devil for nothing, exclaiming, as David once did:

- "Thou shalt not be afraid of terrors in the night, of an arrow that flies by day, of a plague that walks in darkness."(Ps. 91:5).

Then the devil, not being able to defeat the invincible, invented a new trick against him. One of the inhabitants of the village near which Macarius labored, had a daughter - a maiden, whom a young man who also lived in this village asked to be his wife. But since the young man was very poor and, moreover, of a simple rank, the girl's parents did not agree to give their daughter in marriage to him, although the girl herself loved that young man. After some time, the girl turned out to be not idle. When she began to ask the young man what answer she should give to her parents, the latter, taught by the teacher of malice - the devil, told her:

Tell me what a hermit who lives near us did this to you.

The girl listened to the insidious advice, and sharpened her tongue against the innocent monk, like a snake. And so, when the parents noticed that the girl should be a mother, they began to ask her with beatings who was responsible for her fall. The girl then replied:

This is the fault of your hermit, whom you consider a saint. Once, when I was outside the village and approached the place where he lives, the hermit met me on the road and did violence to me, and out of fear and shame I have not told anyone about this until now.

Wounded by these words, the girls, as if with arrows, her parents and relatives all together rushed to the saint's dwelling with loud cries and swear words. Pulling Macarius out of his cell, they beat him for a long time, and then brought him with them to the village. Here, having collected many broken vessels and shards and tied them with a rope, they hung the saint around his neck and, in this form, led him throughout the village, outrageously abused him, beating him, pushing him, tormenting him by the hair and kicking him. At the same time they exclaimed:

This monk defiled our girl, beat him all!

It happened at that time to pass by a prudent person. Seeing what was happening, he said to the beaters of the saint:

How long will you beat an innocent wandering monk without knowing for sure whether the accusation against him is just? I think the devil is tempting you.

But they, not listening to the words of this man, continued to torture the saint. Meanwhile, the man who, for the sake of God, served Macarius by selling his handicrafts, walked at a distance from the saint and wept bitterly, not being able to prevent the saint from being beaten and to free Macarius from the hands of those who " how the dogs surrounded him"(Ps. 21:17). And those who beat the saint, turning around, rushed with abuse, and threats to this person.

That's what he did, - they shouted, - the hermit whom you serve! - and continued to beat Macarius with sticks until they satisfied their rage and anger; and Macarius remained half dead on the road. The girl's parents did not want to leave him even now, but said:

We will not let him in until he provides us with guarantors that he will feed our daughter, whom he has dishonored.

Barely taking a breath, Macarius asked the man who served him;

Friend! be my guarantor.

The latter, ready even to die for the saint, vouched for him, and, taking Macarius, completely exhausted from his wounds, with great effort led him to his cell. Having somewhat recovered from his wounds, Macarius began to work harder on his needlework, saying to himself this:

You now, Macarius, have a wife and children, and therefore you need to work day and night in order to provide them with the necessary food.

Making baskets, he sold them through the specified person, and sent the proceeds to feed the girl. When the time came for her to give birth, the righteous judgment of God overtook her because she slandered an innocent saint. For a long time she could not be relieved of the burden and suffered for many days and nights, crying bitterly from very severe pain. At the sight of her such torment, her parents also suffered with her and asked her in bewilderment:

What happened to you?

Then the girl, although she strongly did not want it, was forced to reveal the truth. With loud cries she said:

Oh, woe to me accursed! I am worthy of a terrible punishment for having slandered the righteous man, saying that he is the cause of my fall. He is not the culprit of this, but the young man who wanted to marry me.

Hearing the cries of the girl, her parents and relatives who were near her were greatly struck by her words; and a strong fear fell upon them, and they were very ashamed that they dared to insult the innocent monk, the servant of the Lord, in such a way. In fear they cried out: "Woe to us!" Meanwhile, the news of what had happened spread throughout that village, and all its inhabitants, from young to old, flocked to the house where the maiden lived. Hearing the cries of the maiden there that the hermit was innocent of her disgrace, the inhabitants strongly reproached themselves and grieved greatly that without mercy they all beat the saint. After consulting with the girl's parents, they all decided to go to the Monk Macarius and weep at his feet, asking for forgiveness, so that the wrath of God would not befall them for offending an innocent person. Having learned such a decision of theirs, the servant of Macarius, the husband who vouched for him, quickly ran to him, and joyfully said to him:

Rejoice, Father Macarius! - happy and joyful is this day for us, for today God has changed your former reproach and dishonor into glorification. And I no longer need to be a guarantor for you, for you turned out to be an impassive, righteous and glorious innocent sufferer. Today the judgment of God has befallen the one who unjustly accused you and slandered you innocent. She cannot be relieved of the burden, and confessed that you are not the cause of her fall, but one young man. Now all the inhabitants of the village, young and old, want to come to you with repentance in order to glorify God for your chastity and patience and ask your forgiveness so that they do not suffer any punishment from the Lord for having unjustly offended you.

With regret, the humble Macarius listened to the words of this man: he did not want honor and glory from people, for it was much more pleasant for him to accept dishonor from people than honor; therefore, at nightfall, he got up and departed from those places, going first of all to Mount Nitria, where he once had a vision in a dream. After living there for three years in one cave, he went to Anthony the Great, who was fasting in the Faran desert, for Macarius had long heard of him, even when he lived in the world, and greatly desired to see him. Received with love by the Monk Anthony, Macarius became his most sincere disciple and lived with him for a long time, receiving instructions for a perfect virtuous life and trying in everything to imitate his father. Then, on the advice of the Monk Anthony, Macarius withdrew for a solitary life to the skete desert, where he so shone with deeds and succeeded in monastic life so much that he surpassed many brethren and received from them the title "young old man", because, despite his youth, discovered quite old life. Here Macarius had to fight with demons day and night. Sometimes demons, obviously, having turned into various monsters, rushed with fury at the monk, sometimes in the form of armed warriors sitting on horses and galloping to battle; with a great cry, a terrible cry and noise, they rushed at the saint, as if about to kill him. Sometimes the demons raised an invisible battle against the saint, instilling in him various passionate and impure thoughts, trying in various cunning ways to shake this solid wall built by Christ and destroy it. However, they could not at all overcome this courageous fighter of truth, who had God as his helpers and, like David, exclaimed:

- "Some with chariots (with weapons), others with horses, but I boast in the name of the Lord our God: they staggered and fell, with God I will show strength" (Ps. 19: 8-9; 59: 14) and He will destroy all my enemies - demons, so fiercely attacking me.

One night, the sleeping Macarius was surrounded by many demons who woke him up and said:

Get up, Macarius, and sing with us, and don't sleep.

The monk, realizing that this was a demonic temptation, did not get up, but, lying down, said to the demons:

- "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for your father the devil."(Matthew 25:41) and you.

But they said:

Why do you insult us, Macarius, blaspheming us with such words?

Is it possible, the monk objected, that one of the demons would awaken someone to pray and glorify God, or instruct someone in a virtuous life?

But the demons continued to call him to prayer, and for a long time they could not do this. Then, filled with rage and unable to bear the neglect of Macarius, they rushed at him in multitudes and began to beat him. The saint cried out to the Lord:

Help me, Christ my God, and " you surround me with the joys of deliverance, for the dogs have surrounded me, have opened their mouths against me"(Ps.31:7; 21:14,17-18).

And suddenly all the multitude of demons disappeared with a great noise.

On another occasion it happened that Macarius picked up many palm branches in the desert for weaving baskets and carried them to his cell. On the way he was met by a devil with a sickle and wanted to hit the saint, but could not. Then he said to Macarius:

Macarius! Because of you, I suffer great sorrow, because I am not able to defeat you. Here I am, everything you do, I do. You fast, I eat nothing at all; you are awake and I never sleep. However, there is one thing in which you are superior to me.

What it is? the reverend asked him.

Your humility, - answered the devil, - that is why I cannot fight with you.

When the Monk Macarius was forty years old, he received from God the gift of miracles, prophecy, and power over unclean spirits. At the same time, he was ordained a priest and made rector (abba) of the monks living in the skete. About his food and drink, that is, about how he fasted, it is not necessary to say much, because even the weakest of the brothers of his skete could not be reproached either for overeating, or for eating any exquisite food. Although this happened partly due to the lack of any refined food in those places, but mainly for the sake of the competition of the monks staying there, who tried not only to imitate one another in fasting, but also to surpass each other. About other exploits of Macarius, this heavenly man, there are various legends among the fathers. They say that the monk constantly ascended with his mind to the heavenly and most of his time directed his mind to God, rather than to the objects of this world. Macarius often visited his teacher Anthony the Great and received many instructions from him, having spiritual conversations with him. Together with two other disciples of the Monk Anthony and Macarius, he was honored to be present at his blessed death and, as a kind of rich inheritance, he received Anthony's staff, with which he supported his feeble body on the road, dejected by old age and fasting deeds. Together with this staff of Anthony, the Monk Macarius received the purely spirit of Anthony the Great, as the prophet Elisha once perceived such after Elijah the prophet (2 Kings 2:9). By the power of this spirit, Macarius created many marvelous miracles, to the story of which we now turn.

One wicked Egyptian was inflamed with impure love for a beautiful married woman, but could not in any way persuade her to betray her husband, for she was chaste, virtuous and loved her husband. Strongly desiring to take possession of her, this Egyptian went to a certain sorcerer with a request that he, by means of his magic spells, arrange so that this woman would love him, or that her husband would hate her and drive her away from him. The magician, having received rich gifts from that Egyptian, used his usual magic, trying to seduce a chaste woman to an evil deed by the power of magic spells. Not being able to incline the unshakable soul of a woman to sin, the sorcerer enchanted the eyes of everyone who looked at the woman, arranging it so that she seemed to everyone not to be a woman with a human appearance, but an animal that had the appearance of a horse. The husband of that woman, having come home, was horrified to see a horse instead of his wife and was very surprised that an animal was lying on his bed. He addressed her with words, but received no answer, only noticed that she was becoming furious. Knowing that it was supposed to be his wife, he realized that this was done out of someone's malice; wherefore he was greatly grieved, and shed tears. Then he called the elders to his house and showed them his wife. But they could not understand that before them was a man, and not an animal, since their eyes were also fascinated, and they saw an animal. It has been three days since this woman began to seem like a horse to everyone. During this time, she did not take food, because she could not eat hay, like an animal, or bread, like a person. Then her husband remembered the Monk Macarius, and decided to take her to the desert to the saint. Putting a bridle on her, as if on an animal, he went to the dwelling of Macarius, leading his wife, who looked like a horse. When he approached the cell of the monk, the monks who stood near the cell were indignant at him, why did he want to enter the monastery with a horse. But he told them:

I came here so that this animal, through the prayers of Saint Macarius, would receive mercy from the Lord.

What bad thing happened to her? - asked the monks.

This animal you see, the man answered them, is my wife. How she turned into a horse, I do not know. But now three days have passed since the time when this happened, and all this time she has not eaten any food.

After listening to his story, the brethren immediately hurried to the Monk Macarius to tell him about this, but he already had a revelation from God, and he prayed for the woman. When the monks told the saint what had happened and pointed him to the brought animal, the saint said to them:

You yourselves are like animals, because your eyes see a bestial image. She, as created by a woman, remains her, and has not changed her human nature, but only seems animal to your eyes, seduced by magical spells.

Then the monk blessed the water and with a prayer poured it on the woman brought in, and immediately she took on her usual human form, so that everyone, looking at her, saw a woman with a human face. Having commanded to give her food, the Saint made her completely healthy. Then both the husband and the wife and all those who saw this wonderful miracle thanked God. Macarius instructed the healed woman to go to the temple of God as often as possible and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

This happened to you, - said the monk, - because five weeks have already passed since you did not partake of the Divine Mysteries.

Having instructed the husband and wife, the Saint let them go in peace.

Macarius healed in a similar way a maiden, whom a magician had turned into a donkey, and who, in this form, was brought to the saint by her parents. The other girl, all rotten from wounds and scabs and teeming with worms, he made completely healthy, anointing her with holy oil.

A lot of different people came to Saint Macarius - some asked for his prayers, blessings and fatherly guidance, others to be healed of their ailments. Because of the multitude of people who came to him, Macarius had little time to indulge in meditation in solitude. Therefore, the monk dug a deep cave under his cell, about half a stadia long, where he hid from those who constantly came to him and violated his Divine thought and prayer.

The Monk Macarius received from God such grace-filled power that he could even resurrect the dead. And so, one heretic named Jerakites, who taught that there would be no resurrection of the dead, came from Egypt into the wilderness and confused the minds of the brethren who lived there. Then he came to the Monk Macarius and, in the presence of numerous brethren, competed with him about the faith. Being himself skilled in words, he mocked at the simplicity of the reverend's speeches. The Monk Macarius, noticing that the brethren began to waver in faith from the speeches of this heretic, said to him:

Of what use is it to us to quarrel with words, more for the hesitation of those who listen to our dispute than for confirmation in the faith? Let us go to the graves of our brethren who died in the Lord, and to which of us the Lord grants to raise the dead, then everyone will be convinced that his faith is right and is testified by God Himself.

The brethren approved these words of the monk, and they all went to the cemetery. There, the Monk Macarius told Jerakite to call from the tomb one of the deceased from the brethren. But Hierakith said to Macarius:

First you do it, because you yourself appointed such a test.

Then the Monk Macarius prostrated himself in prayer to the Lord and, after a long prayer, raised his eyes to the mountain and called out to the Lord:

God! You yourself reveal now which of the two of us believes (in You) more correctly, reveal this, arranging it so that one of the dead lying here rises from the tomb.

Having prayed thus, the monk named by name one recently buried monk, and the dead man immediately answered his voice from the tomb. Then the monks hurriedly dug up the grave and found their brother resurrected in it. Untying the bandages that were on him, they brought him alive from the grave. At the sight of such a marvelous miracle, Ierakit was so horrified that he fled. All the monks drove him away, as they drive away enemies, and drove him far beyond the borders of that land.

On another occasion, the Monk Macarius also resurrected another deceased, as Abba Sisoy narrates.

I was, - he says, - with the Monk Macarius in the skete. It was time for the harvest of grain. Seven of the brethren were hired for the harvest. During it, one widow picked up ears of corn for us and at the same time cried all the time. The Monk Macarius, calling the owner of the field, asked him:

What is it that happened to this woman, and why is she crying incessantly?

The owner of the field told the monk that the husband of that woman, having taken money from one person for safekeeping, suddenly died without having time to reveal to his wife where he had put what he had taken. Therefore, the lender wants to take this woman with her children into slavery. Then Macarius said to him:

Tell the woman to come and visit us at the place where we rest at noon.

When she fulfilled the words of the monk and came to him, the Monk Macarius asked her:

Why are you crying all the time, woman?

Because, - the widow answered, - my husband died suddenly, and shortly before his death he took gold from one person for safekeeping and did not tell me where he put the taken gold.

Show us where your husband is buried,” Macarius said.

Taking the brethren with him, the monk went to the indicated place. Approaching the grave of that widow's husband, the monk said to her:

Go home, woman!

Then, having prayed, Macarius called out to the dead man, asking him where he had put the gold he had taken. Then the dead answered from the grave:

I hid it in my house at the feet under my bed.

Rest again, - Abba Macarius told him, - until the day of the general resurrection!

The brethren, seeing such a miracle, from great fear fell at the feet of the monk. The elder, for the edification of the brethren, said:

All this happened not for my sake, for I am nothing, but for the sake of this widow and her children, God created this miracle. Know, then, that God is pleased with a sinless soul, and whatever she asks from Him, she receives.

Then the monk went to the widow and showed her where the gold taken by her husband was hidden. She took the hidden treasure and gave it to its owner, and thus delivered both herself and her children from slavery. Hearing about such a wondrous miracle, everyone glorified God.

Having finished the story of the life of the monk, let us glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God, glorified in His saints, forever. Amen.

The Monk Macarius, called the Great, is one of the Holy Fathers of the Church, who composed many prayers and left many labors for the edification of the Orthodox. He was a hermit, a hermit who labored in the Sinai desert and experienced the whole spiritual life, at the same time instructing people with his conversations and writings.

The writings of St. Macarius, who is also called Egyptian, since it was from the Nile Valley that he was born, is an example of patristic writings, a kind of instruction that Orthodox Christians are guided in their spiritual life today. His life is full of numerous instructive stories and miracles.

ICON OF ST. MAKARY THE GREAT: HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE HOLY?

The image of St. Macarius is difficult to distinguish among the images of other hermits. Be careful when choosing an icon: it must be signed with the name of Macarius next to the face of the saint or at his foot.

The most famous image of Mary of Egypt is a fresco, that is, an icon painted on a wall on wet plaster, by Theophanes the Greek (c. 1340-1410). This icon painter was indeed born in Byzantium, on the territory of modern Greece, and worked in the Italian colonies of that time - Cafe and Galata. Now in their place is the Crimean city of Feodosia. Apparently, it was there that Feofan learned about the Russian Renaissance: while in Italy the Renaissance began, at the center of which stood man and his desire for pleasure, and in Rus' Orthodoxy, driven by the Tatar-Mongols, rose from its knees. Temples began to be built.

As a pious man and, judging by the frescoes, with great spiritual experience, Feofan began to develop the art of fresco icon painting in Rus'. His first work on our lands was the frescoes of the Church of the Savior on Ilyina Street, and among the best preserved is the image of St. Macarius the Great. Even existing in fragments and restored today, this fresco is one of the most beautiful examples of world art. It is located in the choirs of the Trinity chapel of the temple, and perfectly reflects the expression, expressiveness and originality of the manner of writing the Greek (in addition to this image, a number of frescoes have also been preserved in the temple: the Trinity, the Mother of God, the prophets and the most famous - the Almighty Savior in the dome).

The icon of Macarius the Great is a monochrome (black and white) image of a tall and strong old man with a face dark from sunburn in the desert. He only shows a cap of gray hair and a long beard. At first glance, his whole figure seems to be covered with hair - but looking closely, a person sees that the hermit stands as if radiant, doused with a pillar of Light. The figure of the saint is depicted with wide strokes of white paint, in “cursive writing”; the face and palms are highlighted in black - this is the absence of details and the color, as if shining from an unusual icon, makes an amazing impression.

It should be noted that on other icons St. Macarius is depicted in gray clothing made from the wool of wild goats. But the Monk Theophan the Greek interpreted the image of the saint in a completely different way: in a flash of light, as if in a mystical radiance of God's grace that descended on him, depicted in free strokes, which, as it were, burns the sinful and highlights the face of the saint, riveting attention to him.

In the icon of St. Macarius Theophan the Greek and in his other images, there is a very small number of colors: such avarice of colors denotes the ascetic renunciation of Macarius himself from the world, its diversity and multicolor, supported by the icon painter and visually reflected by him focusing on the One necessary - the radiant grace of God. It was Macarius the Great who laid the foundation for individual, personally oriented spiritual work in Orthodoxy and monastic asceticism in obedience to mentors, confessors, and experienced elders.

On the dark face of Macarius of Egypt, "gaps" are more clearly visible - features of white paint on the face, evicting facial features and symbolizing the light of God's grace, changing man and matter in general, creating him in a different, spiritual state. The same gaps on his palms: on the icon they are usually raised up, or only one hand is raised, and in the other the saint holds a cross. The gesture of opening the palms means accepting the prayer of the one who is addressing the saint, as well as sending peace to the one who prays. One can see in this gesture the strength and confidence in the force of peace: so often the rulers of cities and countries, ascending the podium, only stop the noise in the hall with a gesture. The posture of St. Macarius calls for spiritual peace and, as it were, immediately sends it to everyone who turns to him. Each one who prays feels spiritual silence, heartfelt peace within.

Turn with a prayer to the icon of St. Macarius, who loves people and sends them God's grace.

THE ROAD TO THE MONASTY OF SAINT MACARY

The place and time of birth of the future great ascetic, one of the founders of Christian monasticism, is known: about the year 300, Saint Macarius was born in the village of Ptinapor in Lower Egypt. Brought up in Christian obedience, despite the desire to devote his life to God, he married at the will of his parents. However, God soon took his wife to Himself. The saint worked, helped his parents and studied the Holy Scriptures a lot. He was able to become a monk only after the death of his parents, who did not want to let him go to the monastery.

Even then, in the Egyptian (Sinai) desert, there was a community of hermits under the leadership of St. Anthony the Great, the founder of monasticism. Like Saint Macarius, this saint is revered in the main Christian denominations: Orthodoxy and Catholicism.

The Monk Macarius distributed all his inheritance to the poor and went into the wilderness to pray to God under the guidance of only his spiritual father. This unknown saint - and possibly an Angel - instructed him in the spiritual life, worship, fasting and prayer. They fed themselves by weaving baskets and lived in two small huts in the desert. Over time, Saint Macarius settled in a monastery under the rule of Anthony the Great, where he lived in a monastic community, becoming a follower and one of Saint Anthony's close disciples. Years later, Macarius the Great left this monastery with the blessing of his spiritual father Anthony, going to the North-West of Egypt to the Scythian monastery. It was here that he himself became a spiritual mentor, having become famous for his exploits and wisdom so that at the age of thirty he earned the nickname “old man”, like a monk-scheme. According to the rules established by the holy apostles, a person cannot take holy orders until the age of Christ: 33 years. But even earlier the Bishop of Ptinapor himself wanted to ordain Saint Macarius as a clergyman, but Macarius himself preferred to retire as soon as possible in order to avoid such an honor.

St. Macarius endured many even visible misfortunes from demons, but it was precisely in his humility that the saint always weakened the devil. Thus, the demons tried many times to beat him; Once, when he was living alone in the desert, a girl, having become pregnant, accused the saint of seducing her. The villagers of the girl almost killed the saint. But he did not even break the vow of silence: Macarius continued to weave baskets, and gave all the money he received to feed the girl. By God's providence, she could not be relieved of the burden for a long time and, realizing that she was punished by the Most High Himself, she pointed to the true father of her child.

When Saint Macarius was about forty years old, he was at the death of Abba Anthony the Great, receiving from him as a blessing a traveling rod, and receiving grace from the saint: as the disciples of Saints Macarius and Anthony said, he received a blessing, like the prophet Elisha, mantle (clothes) from prophet Elijah. It is known that after this, Saint Macarius began to work miracles and healings with his prayer - so that the fame of him spread throughout the cities of Egypt and people began to flock to him from everywhere.

Saint Macarius avoided fame and sought solitude in prayer. Since he could not leave either the monks of his monastery or the people thirsting for his help, he dug a narrow and deep cave under his usual monastic cell in order to pray and wear out the flesh with asceticism. With his prayer, by the grace of God, he even began to resurrect the dead, but he remained just as humble, kind and quiet a person. The Monk Macarius had the Holy Spirit in himself: the inveterate villains, only after talking with him, repented of their crimes, converted to Christianity, and even took monastic vows. Many stories about the miracles of the saint are kept by the ancient Fathers, collections of stories from the lives of saints.

Having reached the age of maturity by the standards of the society of that time - forty years old, Saint Macarius accepted the priesthood. From now on, he helped people with the performance of the Sacraments of the Church, and also led the monastic community.

During the reign of the heretic emperor Valentine (364-378), Saint Macarius the Great, together with Macarius of Alexandria, was expelled from the desert by the king's henchman, Bishop Luke, who had fallen into heresy. The saints, who were already advanced in years, were arrested and taken on a ship to a deserted island inhabited by pagans. However, even there, Saint Macarius the Great was able to perform a miracle, healing the daughter of the main pagan priest and baptizing all the inhabitants of the island. Upon learning of this, the heretic bishop was ashamed of his act and returned the elders to their cloisters.

The intercession before God of St. Macarius, even during his lifetime, saved many from dangers, temptations and vices. The mercy of Saint Macarius, his kindness were so great that they became a proverb among the monks of the Sinai desert, who said that just as God covers the Earth with His grace, so Abba (that is, father, spiritual mentor) Macarius covered sins. He forgave sins, helped to perk up and, as it were, did not hear and forgot the sins of a person in further communication with him after confession.

Saint Macarius lived to be almost a hundred years old and lived in ascetic work, hermitage and monastic cloisters for about 60 years, dying for worldly life, life for himself, but living for God and people. And yet, all his life he continued to talk with God in prayer, growing spiritually again and again, discovering new things in himself and people, learning new things about God and the Earth he created. He continued to repent of every sinful movement of his soul and rejoiced in spirit about God's mercy. Shortly before his death, the Holy Fathers of monasticism appeared to him: Anthony and Pachomius the Great, saying that he would soon depart in peace to the Kingdom of Heaven. Saint Macarius joyfully told his disciples about the coming death, blessing everyone, giving the last instructions and dying in 391, committing his soul into God's hands.

REAL STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF SAINT MACARY

The saint became famous for his simplicity and mercy - so that in the ancient Patericons (patericons), collections of instructive stories from the life of ancient saints, many amazing stories about these qualities of him have been preserved:

• • Seeing a thief at his cell, the saint himself helped him to load the stolen baskets and the small amount of money saved for the ascetic’s food onto the donkey – if only not to judge the person and deciding that God had given, God had taken.

• • One day the saint was walking in the desert and saw a skull lying on the ground. After praying, he was able to speak with the soul of the person to whom the skull belonged during his lifetime - the priest. He told that, due to his malice, he was in the flames of hell, but he was grateful to Saint Macarius: after all, the ascetic prays for the whole world, the living and the dead, and during prayer, this priest and others like him, burning in the flame, can at least see each other a little.

• • One day, an Angel of God told Saint Macarius that he had not reached that spiritual perfection that two women who live in a nearby city have. The saint was not filled with envy, but went to the city to learn from these women. It turned out that these are two wives of two brothers who live in peace among themselves and together with their spouses live a Christian life in the midst of a world full of temptations. This episode from the life of Saint Macarius is given as a consolation and instruction to all Orthodox: one can achieve holiness without being a monk, like Saint Macarius, but by being in prayer and love with one's neighbors.

SPIRITUAL LIFE AND INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SAINT

Saint Macarius described his experience of spiritual work and asceticism in beautiful literary language. His works are read by Orthodox Christians to this day, studying the theological heritage of the saint and guided by his advice as a wise spiritual mentor. About fifty spiritual conversations and less than a dozen instructions and messages remained for humanity after the saint as the pearls of his wisdom. They are divided and titled on such topics as Christian love, reason, his freedom and his ascension to God, spiritual perfection, prayer, patience, purity of heart.

The saint showed how transient earthly life is and how it is possible to prepare the soul for the Kingdom of God in Heaven: it is necessary to cultivate kinship with God in the soul. After all, if we don’t like virtue, we don’t love God and prayer – next to God we will simply be burned by His grace, being alien to it and incapable of communion with Christ, we will be bored in paradise and we ourselves will suffer there. Saint Macarius said that you need to change, rejecting vices and changing your state, your nature to good, pure. We ourselves can become partakers of the Divine nature of the Lord, uniting with him, first of all, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

A person will inherit the Kingdom of God "according to the justice and mercy of God" - that is, God is good, but He will follow the will of the person himself, shown by his actions and earthly life. The ability to pray and the desire for God become vectors in the life of every person who loves Christ. The main foundation of spiritual life is faith, then life according to the commandments of God, without mortal sins.

The works of Saint Macarius have been translated, perhaps, into all the languages ​​of the world. The Russian Orthodox Church, from its very foundation, has been guided by them in the instructions of spiritual life: the saint wrote simply and clearly, which is why today many Orthodox Christians try to follow his advice.

The life of Saint Macarius himself also serves as an example for many Orthodox Christians, especially monks. His life and miracles are described by the priest Rufinus, who knew the saint personally: he described the lives of many of his contemporaries, but dedicated a separate chapter in the book about them to the Monk Macarius. The life of the saint in the same century was written by Bishop Serapion of Lower Egypt, which served for the canonization (official glorification in the face of saints) Macarius the Great. From the records of Father Rufinus and Vladyka Serapion it is clear that Saint Macarius enjoyed authority and reverence among all Egyptians. The monastic communities of Egypt, in turn, gave rise to the entire monasticism of the Eastern Christian Church, which eventually became known as the Orthodox Church.

WHAT DO YOU PRAY TO SAINT MACARIOUS THE GREAT?

The Monk Macarius of Egypt became famous for the severity of his life, his ability to control his passions, and many miracles performed at the request of people. Therefore, even today they pray to him in many needs. The icon of the Monk Macanius is quite rare, but many monasteries revere him as a great mentor and have an image of the saint in the temples inside the monastery. You can also purchase an image of a saint in a church shop - since the image is rare, you need to look for it sold at the cathedral (main) cathedral of your city or in monasteries. Before the image, light a candle, cross yourself twice, kiss the hand of the saint on the icon, cross yourself again and bow, and then start reading the prayer - you can do it in your own words.

You can ask Saint Macarius the Great:

• • About enlightenment with the light of truth, help in making vital decisions;

• • On strengthening faith and the ability to pray;

• • About correcting life, seeing your sins and getting rid of them in spiritual purity;

• • About consolation in troubles and the help of patience;

• • About peace of mind and tranquility;

• • About getting rid of the misfortunes of the devil, getting rid of witchcraft influences;

• • About wisdom and choosing the right path in life.

Memorial Day of Macarius the Great - February 1, on this day special prayers are read to the saint at the evening service and the morning Liturgy, often after it an akathist to the saint is read.

Honoring the Monk Macarius, do not forget his precepts: make it your habit to morning and evening prayers according to his texts, read his instructions, communicate with God and you will hear His voice in your heart, He will guide you on the path of life.

Here is the evening prayer composed by Saint Macarius himself more than one and a half thousand years ago and translated into Russian. You can read it online daily:

Eternal God, the King of all creatures, who helped me to live up to this time, forgive me the sins that I committed today with thoughts, words and deeds, and cleanse my soul, Lord, from all vices and defilements of the body and spirit! And help me, Lord, to live this night's sleep in peace, so that, rising from my humble bed, I would please You with good and good deeds and thoughts all the days of my life, and defeat my visible enemies - evil people - and invisible - evil spirits . And deliver me, O Lord, from vain thoughts and vicious and deceitful desires. You can do everything, and the whole Earth is Your kingdom, the power and glory of the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Oh, holy head of the monastic monastery, our reverend father, blessed and righteous Ava Macarius! Do not completely forget us, the poor servants of God, but remember us in your holy and good prayers to the Lord. Remember the monastic flock, which you, as a good shepherd, took care of, do not forget your visits to your spiritual children. Pray for us, O good and holy ascetic of God, because you have the opportunity to speak face to face with the King of Heaven - do not keep silent about us sinners, and do not turn away from us who respect you with love.
Remember us at the Throne of God, because the grace has been given to you by Him to pray for us. We know that you are not dead, although you left us in body, but you remain alive even after death. Do not depart from us in spirit, protect from the arrows of enemies and all the temptations of demons, and the wiles of glasses, our good shepherd! Although your relics are laid before us and all the people of the world, your holy soul with the Angelic Forces and the warriors of Heaven, standing next to the Throne of God Almighty, rejoices forever.
Knowing you as alive and after death, we come to you and pray: ask God Almighty for us, for the benefit of our bodies and souls, so that we can calmly move from earthly life to heavenly life, be delivered from the obstacles of the rulers of the satanic hordes, from eternal torment and the flames of hell, but were vouchsafed to enter and inherit Heavenly Kingdom God, where with all the righteous, who in all ages have pleased the Lord and our God Jesus Christ, whom people always praise and honor and who is worshiped together with His Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit, Good and Life-giving, forever. Amen.

Through the prayers of St. Macarius, may the Lord bless you!