Venerable Macarius the Great, Egyptian. Prayer of Saint Macarius of Alexandria Spiritual life and instructions of the saint

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

Life of Macarius the Great

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

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

The Monk Macarius the Great lived with the Saint for quite a long time, but then, heeding the advice of Anatoly, he headed to the northwestern part of Egypt to the Skete desert. And it was there that he became famous for his exploits, for which they began to call him “an old man,” because by that time he had barely reached thirty years of age, showing himself to be a mature monk with rich experience.

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

However, all this did not provide privacy for the Wonderworker, and therefore he dug a deep cave under his dwelling, where he could retire to think about God and say prayers. In his walk before the Lord, the monk was able to achieve such boldness that, after saying 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 (from 364 to 378), the monk, together with Macarius of Alexandria, suffered persecution from Luke, an Arian bishop. Both hermits were captured and put on a ship, taking them to a deserted island where only adherents of paganism lived.

It was there that, after reading the prayers of the Miracle Workers, 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 hermitages.

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 while in a state of spiritual ecstasy, but he never stopped working hard, repenting and crying.

And the Wonderworker embodied his significant ascetic knowledge in comprehensive Theological writings, consisting of fifty spiritual conversations 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 heritage of the divine wisdom of Saint Macarius, and the opinion that the task of a believer and his highest good is the unity of the soul with the Lord is the main idea in his writings. In telling what methods exist for achieving sacred cohesion, the monk took as a basis the knowledge of Egyptian monastic teachers, and also used his own experience.

The skills of holy monks in Communion with God and the path to the Most High is open to every heart in which hope and faith live. That is why the Orthodox Church introduced the ascetic prayers of the Great Wonderworker into the commonly used morning and evening hymns.

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

What do they pray to the Saint for?

During his lifetime, for his rigor, accomplished deeds and purity of spirit, the monk was awarded the title Great, therefore, the text of the prayer said before 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 faith;
• To gain spiritual purity;
• Finding consolation 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 Wonderworker celebrated?

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

Text of the prayer of Saint Macarius the Great:

Oh, sacred head, reverend father, most blessed Abvo Macarius, do not forget your poor to the end, but always remember us in your holy and auspicious prayers to God. Remember your flock, which you yourself shepherded, 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 remain silent for us to the Lord, and do not despise us, who honor you with faith and love.

Remember us unworthy at the Throne of the Almighty, and do not stop praying for us to Christ God, for you have been given the grace to pray for us. We do not imagine that you are dead, even though you have passed away from us in body, but even after death you remain alive. Do not give up on us in spirit, keeping us from the arrows of the enemy and all the charms of the devil and the snares of the devil, our good shepherd. Even though your relics are always visible before our eyes, your holy soul with the angelic hosts, with the disembodied faces, with the heavenly powers, standing at the Almighty Throne, rejoices with dignity.

Knowing that you are truly alive even after death, we bow down to you and pray to you: pray for us to Almighty God, for the benefit of our souls, and ask us time for repentance, so that we may pass from earth to heaven without restraint, from the bitter ordeals of the demons of the air princes and may we be delivered from eternal torment, and may we be heirs of the Heavenly Kingdom with all the righteous, who from all eternity have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with His Beginning Father and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and ever. Amen.

The Lord is always with you!

Watch the video about St. Macarius:

Venerable Macarius the Great, Egyptian, was born in the village of Ptinapor, in Lower Egypt. At the request of his parents, he married, but soon became a widower. Having buried his wife, Macarius said to himself: “Pay attention, Macarius, and take care of your soul, for you too will have to leave earthly life.” The Lord rewarded his saint with a long life, but from then on mortal memory was constantly with him, forcing him to feats of prayer and repentance. He began to visit the temple of God more often and delve into the Holy Scriptures, but did not leave his elderly parents, fulfilling the commandment to honor parents.

After the death of his parents, the Monk Macarius ("Macarius" - in Greek means blessed) distributed the remaining estate in memory of his parents and began to fervently pray that the Lord would show him a mentor on the path of salvation. The Lord sent him such a leader in the person of an experienced old monk who lived in the desert, not far from the village. The elder received the young man with love, instructed him in the spiritual science of vigil, fasting and prayer, and taught him handicraft - basket weaving. Having built a separate cell not far from his own, the elder placed a student in it.

One day a local bishop arrived in Ptinapor and, having learned about the virtuous life of the monk, made him, against his will, a clergyman of the local church. However, Blessed Macarius was burdened by the violation of silence, and therefore he secretly went to another place. The enemy of salvation began a stubborn struggle with the ascetic, trying to frighten him, shaking his cell and instilling sinful thoughts. Blessed Macarius repelled the attacks of the demon, protecting himself with prayer and the sign of the cross. Evil people raised a curse against the saint, slandering a girl from a nearby village for seducing her. They pulled him out of his cell, beat him, and mocked him. The Monk Macarius bore temptation with great humility. He meekly sent the money he earned for his baskets to feed the girl. The innocence of Blessed Macarius was revealed when the girl, having suffered for many days, could not give birth. Then she confessed in agony that she had slandered the hermit, and pointed out the real culprit of the sin.

When her parents learned the truth, they were amazed and intended to go to the blessed one with repentance, but the Monk Macarius, avoiding disturbance from people, moved away from those places at night and moved to Mount Nitria in the Paran desert. Thus, human malice contributed to the success of the righteous.

After living for three years in the desert, he went to the father of Egyptian monasticism, whom he had heard about while still living in the world, and was eager to see him. The Monk Abba Anthony lovingly received Blessed Macarius, who became his devoted disciple and follower. The Monk Macarius lived with him for a long time, and then, on the advice of the holy Abba, he retired to the Skete desert (in the northwestern part of Egypt) and there he shone so brightly with his exploits that they began to call him the “old man”, since, having barely reached thirty years of age, he showed himself to be an experienced, mature monk.

The Monk Macarius experienced many attacks from demons: one day he was carrying palm branches from the desert for weaving baskets; on the way the devil met him and wanted to hit the saint with a sickle, but he could not do this and said: “Macarius, I suffer great sorrow from you, because that I cannot defeat you, you have a weapon with which you repel me, this is your humility." When the saint turned 40 years old, he was ordained a priest and made abbot (abba) of the monks living in the Skete desert. During these years, the Monk Macarius often visited the Great Anthony, receiving instructions from him in spiritual conversations. Blessed Macarius was honored to be present at the death of the holy Abba and received as an inheritance his staff, along with which he received the purely spiritual power of the Great Anthony, just as the prophet Elisha once received from the prophet Elijah extreme grace along with the mantle that fell from heaven.

The Monk Macarius performed many healings; people flocked to him from different places for help, advice, asking for his holy prayers. All this violated the saint’s solitude, so he dug a deep cave under his cell and retired there for prayer and contemplation of God. The Monk Macarius achieved such boldness in his walk with God that through his prayer the Lord raised the dead. Despite such a height of achieved Godlikeness, he continued to maintain extraordinary humility.

One day, the holy abba found a thief in his cell, who was loading his things onto a donkey standing by the cell. Without showing that he was the owner of these things, the monk silently began to help tie up the luggage. Having dismissed him in peace, the blessed one said to himself: “We have brought nothing into this world, it is clear that we cannot take anything away from here. May the Lord be blessed in everything!”

One day the Monk Macarius was walking through the desert and, seeing a skull lying on the ground, asked him: “Who are you?” The skull answered: “I was the main pagan priest. When you, Abba, pray for those in hell, we receive some relief.” The monk asked: “What are these torments?” “We are in a great fire,” answered the skull, “and we do not see each other. When you pray, we begin to see each other a little, and this serves us as some consolation.” Hearing such words, the monk shed tears and asked: “Are there even more cruel torments?” The skull replied: “Below, deeper than us, there are those who knew the Name of God, but rejected Him and did not keep His commandments. They endure even more severe torments.”

One day, while praying, Blessed Macarius heard a voice: “Makarius, you have not yet achieved such perfection as the two women living in the city.” The humble ascetic, taking his staff, went into the city, found a house where the women lived, and knocked. The women received him with joy, and the monk said: “For your sake, I came from the distant desert and I want to know about your good deeds; tell us about them, without hiding anything.” The women responded in surprise: “We live with our husbands, we have no virtues.” However, the saint continued to insist, and then the women told him: “We married our own brothers. During our entire life together, we did not say a single evil or offensive word to each other and never quarreled among ourselves. We asked our husbands to let us go to the women’s monastery, but they do not agree, and we took a vow not to utter a single word of the world until death." The holy ascetic glorified God and said: “Truly the Lord does not look for a virgin or a married woman, nor a monk, nor a layman, but appreciates the free intention of a person and sends the grace of the Holy Spirit to his voluntary will, which acts and controls the life of every person striving to be saved.”

During the reign of the Arian emperor Valens (364-378), the Monk Macarius the Great, together with him, was persecuted by the Arian bishop Luke. Both elders were captured and put on a ship, taken to a deserted island where pagans lived. There, through the prayers of the saints, the priest’s daughter received healing, after which the priest himself and all the inhabitants of the island received holy Baptism. Having learned about what had happened, the Arian bishop was ashamed and allowed the elders to return to their deserts.

The meekness and humility of the saint transformed human souls. “A bad word,” said Abba Macarius, “makes the good bad, but a good word makes the bad good.” When asked by the monks how one should pray, the monk answered: “Prayer does not require many words, you just need to say: “Lord, as You wish and as You know, have mercy on me.” If the enemy attacks you, then you only need to say: “Lord, have mercy!” The Lord knows what is good for us and will show us mercy.” When the brethren asked: “How can one become a monk?”, the monk replied: “Forgive me, I am a bad monk, but I saw monks fleeing in the depths of the desert. I asked them how I can become a monk. They answered: “If a person is not refuses everything that is in the world, he cannot be a monk." To this I answered: "I am weak and cannot be like you." Then the monks replied: "If you cannot be like us, then sit in your cell and lament your sins."

The Monk Macarius gave advice to one monk: “Run from people and you will be saved.” He asked: “What does it mean to run from people?” The monk answered: “Sit in your cell and lament your sins.” The Monk Macarius also said: “If you want to be saved, be like a dead man, who is not angry when he is dishonored, and does not become exalted when he is praised.” And again: “If for you reproach is like praise, poverty like wealth, lack like abundance, you will not die. For it cannot be that a true believer and one who strives in piety should fall into the impurity of passions and demonic deception.”

The prayer of St. Macarius saved many in dangerous circumstances and saved them from troubles and temptations. His mercy was so great that they said about him: “Just as God covers the world, so Abba Macarius covered the sins that he saw, as if he had not seen, and heard, as if he had not heard.” The monk lived to be 97 years old; shortly before his death, the Monks Anthony and Pachomius appeared to him, conveying the joyful news of his imminent transition to the blessed Heavenly abodes. Having given instructions to his disciples and blessed them, the Monk Macarius said goodbye to everyone and rested with the words: “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.”

Saint Abba Macarius spent sixty years in a desert that was dead to the world. The monk spent most of his time in conversation with God, often in a state of spiritual admiration. But he never stopped crying, repenting and working. The abba transformed his abundant ascetic experience into profound theological creations. Fifty conversations and seven ascetic words remained the precious heritage of the spiritual wisdom of St. Macarius the Great.

The idea that the highest good and goal of man is the unity of the soul with God is fundamental in the works of St. Macarius. Talking about ways to achieve sacred unity, the monk was based on the experience of the great teachers of Egyptian monasticism and on his own. The path to God and the experience of communion with God among holy ascetics is open to every believing heart. That is why the Holy Church included the ascetic prayers of St. Macarius the Great in the commonly used evening and morning prayers.

Earthly life, according to the teachings of the Monk Macarius, with all its labors, has only a relative meaning: to prepare the soul, to make it capable of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven, to cultivate in the soul an affinity with the Heavenly Fatherland. “The soul that truly believes in Christ must shift and change from its present vicious state into another state, good, and from its present humiliated nature into another, Divine nature, and be remade into a new one - through the power of the Holy Spirit.” This can be achieved if “we truly believe and love God and follow all His holy commandments.” If the soul, betrothed to Christ in holy Baptism, does not itself contribute to the grace of the Holy Spirit given to it, then it will be subject to “excommunication from life”, as having been found to be indecent and incapable of communion with Christ. In the teaching of St. Macarius, the question of the unity of God’s Love and God’s Truth is experimentally resolved. The inner feat of a Christian determines the measure of his perception of this unity. Each of us acquires salvation by grace and the Divine gift of the Holy Spirit, but achieving the perfect measure of virtue necessary for the soul to assimilate this Divine gift is possible only “by faith and love with the effort of free will.” Then “as much as by grace, so much by righteousness,” the Christian will inherit eternal life. Salvation is a Divine-human work: we achieve complete spiritual success “not by Divine power and grace alone, but also by bringing our own labors,” on the other hand, we arrive at the “measure of freedom and purity” not only through our own diligence, but not without “assistance from above the hand of God.” ". A person’s fate is determined by the actual state of his soul, his self-determination towards good or evil. “If a soul in this still world does not receive into itself the shrine of the Spirit through much faith and prayer, and does not become a participant in the Divine nature, then it is unsuitable for the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The miracles and visions of Blessed Macarius are described in the book of Presbyter Rufinus, and his life was compiled by the Monk Serapion, Bishop of Tmunt (Lower Egypt), one of the famous figures of the Church of the 4th century.

*Published in Russian:

1. Spiritual conversations / Transl. priest Moses Gumilevsky. M., 1782. Ed. 2nd. M., 1839. Ed. 3rd. M., 1851. The same / (2nd trans.) // Christian reading. 1821, 1825, 1827, 1829, 1834, 1837, 1846. The same / (3rd trans.) // Ed. 4th. Moscow Theological Academy. Sergiev Posad, 1904.

2. Ascetic messages / Trans. and approx. B. A. Turaeva // Christian East. 1916. T. IV. pp. 141-154.

The teaching of St. Macarius is also stated: Philokalia. T. I. M., 1895. P. 155-276*.

Iconographic original

In the year of celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, a whole host of saints of God, whose activities span about six centuries of church history, were glorified. And among them is the head of the Russian Church of the 16th century, St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'.

All-Russian Metropolitan Macarius was born c. 1482 in Moscow in a family of pious parents. It is known that his father’s name was Leonty and that his mother subsequently took monastic vows with the name Euphrosyne. At baptism he was named in the name of Michael, the Archangel of the Heavenly Forces. His distant relative, the brother of his great-grandfather, was the Monk Joseph of Volotsk (+ 1515; memorial September 9). From the funeral Synodic of the Assumption Cathedral we learn that in the family of St. Macarius there were many more persons of monastic and clerical rank. Mikhail's father, apparently, died soon after the birth of his son, but his mother, placing her trust in the upbringing of her son in the Providence of God, took monastic vows in one of the monasteries. Then the future saint decides to leave peaceful life and devote himself to serving God. To do this, he entered the monastery of St. Paphnutius of Borovsky as a novice (+1477; memorial May 1).

This monastery was known for the strict ascetic life of its monks. The great saints of the Russian Church originally labored here: the monks Joseph of Volotsk and Levkiy of Volokolamsk (16th century), Daniil of Pereyaslavl (+1540; commemoration April 7) and David of Serpukhov (+ 1520; commemoration October 18). During his tonsure, the future saint was named in honor of the famous Orthodox ascetic hermit St. Macarius of Egypt (+ 391; memorial Jan. 19). At the monastery, he untiringly went through the school of monastic feats of vigil, humility, prayer and obedience, delved into book wisdom, and comprehended the scriptures of holy icons. The cathedral church of the Borovsk monastery was painted by the famous icon painter Dionysius, and there were also icons of St. Andrei Rublev (15th century; commemorated on July 4). The monk Macarius, the future metropolitan, studied artistic skills with the great masters of antiquity.

On February 15, 1523, during the ritual of Great Lent, the monk Macarius was appointed by Metropolitan Daniel (1522-1539; (1547) as archimandrite of the Luzhetsky Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founded by the Monk Ferapont of Mozhaisk (+ 1426; memorial May 27). Being rector monastery, he starts the monastery Synodik, establishing the commemoration of all the deceased brethren, arranges a chapel in the monastery cathedral in honor of his Heavenly patron - the Venerable Macarius of Egypt.But Archimandrite Macarius's stay in Mozhaisk was short-lived: three years later he was called to archpastoral service.

On March 4, 1526, Archimandrite Macarius was consecrated as archbishop of Veliky Novgorod and Pskov, to the most ancient see of the Moscow Metropolis. The saint's consecration took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, and on July 29 of the same year he arrived at the see, which had been widowed without a bishop, according to the chronicler, for 17 years and 7 weeks. The chronicler says: “The saint sat on the archbishop’s table, and there was great joy among the people, not only in Veliky Novgorod, but also in Pskov and everywhere. And the bread was cheap, and the monastery was blessed with taxes, and there was great intercession for the people, and there was a feeder for the orphans.”

In a new high field, Bishop Macarius takes care of the missionary education of the northern peoples of the vast Novgorod land. He repeatedly sends priests there to preach the Gospel, commanding that pagan temples be destroyed, pagan rituals eradicated, and everything sprinkled with holy water. The blessing for missionary work in the very north of the Novgorod region, as well as the antimension, sacred vessels and books, was received from the saint by the Saint Tryphon of Pechenga (+ 1583; memorial Dec. 15).

In 1528, in the second year of his episcopal service, Saint Macarius, fulfilling the decree of the Moscow Council of 1503, made a decision to introduce a cenobitic charter in all Novgorod monasteries. Having gathered the abbots, he “began to teach them, as from the Life-Giving Trinity, from the highest Wisdom with teaching, so that they can organize a common life.” From that time on, the abbots, having accepted the good advice of the God-loving archbishop, began to introduce communal rules in their monasteries, began to erect stone or wooden churches and introduce common meals. According to the chronicler, the number of monks in the monasteries immediately increased.

The saint showed great concern for the creation and decoration of churches in his diocese and, above all, in Veliky Novgorod. He landscaped the St. Sophia Cathedral; above the entrance to the cohort, with his blessing, images of the Most Holy Trinity and St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, were painted, “for the veneration of all Orthodox Christians.” The lord's craftsmen installed a pulpit in the cathedral and made new royal doors with a richly decorated curtain. In total, under Saint Macarius, in Novgorod alone, about forty churches were built, rebuilt and re-decorated after fires, for which books were written, church utensils and vessels were made in the lord’s workshop.

Having acquired the skill of icon painting in the Pafnutievo-Borovsky Monastery, the saint, as reported in the chronicle of 1529, “renovated” the great shrine of the Novgorod land - the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” which had become very dilapidated by that time. After finishing the work, he himself led the icon with a religious procession to the Spassky Church on the Trade Side, where it was constantly kept for veneration by the pious Novgorodians.

Being the shepherd of the children of the church, Saint Macarius devoted much energy and care to serving his neighbors, treating equally the rich and the poor, the small and the great. O himself buries those who were burned in prison during a fire, collects money throughout the diocese for the ransom of compatriots from Tatar captivity, and sends Grand Duke Vasily III part of the candle that miraculously lit up at the relics of St. Varlaam of Khutyn. During the time of national disasters, pestilence and drought that happened in Veliky Novgorod, the active archpastor convenes the clergy, delivers sermons, performs prayer services with a special rite of washing the holy relics and then orders that everything in the vicinity be sprinkled with this water. Soon the pestilence and epidemic cease. With his arduous work, Archbishop Macarius gained great love from his flock.

In 1542, by order of St. Macarius, the church of St. Nicholas was built in the lord’s courtyard, whom the archbishop especially honored as the patron saint of travelers. He himself repeatedly made long trips both throughout the diocese and beyond: for example, in 1539 he went to Moscow, where he headed the election and installation of a new All-Russian Metropolitan - St. Joasaph (1539-1542; (1555; memorial July 27 ), chosen from the abbots of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

With the blessing of the saint, lives and services of Russian saints are written in Novgorod. Hieromonk Elijah from the house lord's church compiled the life of the martyr George of Bulgaria (+ 1515; memorial May 26), and also wrote a canon and service to Michael of Klopsky (+ c. 1456; January 11). His life was written by Vasily Mikhailovich Tuchkov, who in 1537 arrived in Novgorod from Moscow on the sovereign’s business. “At that time, the throne was then adorned by the Wisdom of God, truly blessed to the same-named Archbishop Macarius, whose many, for the sake of virtue, throughout all Russia, the glory of him came.” Vladyka Macarius addressed him with the words: “Keep the secret of the king, child, and write clearly the works of God” (Tov. 12, 7) and “spread the life and miracles of the venerable and blessed Michael, called Sallos, who lived a blessed life at the Life-Giving Trinity to Bedbugs." The created lives were edifying reading for pious Novgorodians

In 1542, the Russian Church raised the question of electing a new metropolitan to the Moscow see. By God's providence the choice fell on the ruler of Novgorod. “By the grace of the Holy Spirit, by the holy election and will of the Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Russia, Macarius was named metropolitan archbishop of Great Novagrad and Pskov; On March 16, on the fourth week of Holy Lent, he was elevated to the court of the Metropolitan, and placed on the high throne of the High Priesthood of Great Russia to the Metropolis of the same month of March 19, on the 4th week of Holy Lent,” we read in the Nikon Chronicle. At the time of the election of Saint Macarius to the throne of the Moscow wonderworkers Peter, Alexy and Jonah, he was about 60 years old.

In the 16th century Russia was the only Orthodox country that was not burdened by a foreign yoke. And so in 1547, in Moscow, the stronghold of Orthodoxy, for the first time in history, the royal wedding of the Moscow sovereign took place, which was performed by St. Macarius. This event had special significance, since it took place in Moscow, and not in Constantinople, and was performed by the metropolitan, and not the patriarch. Now Orthodox Christians all over the world looked with hope and hope at the only Orthodox king in the world.

Shortly before the Kazan campaign, the Tsar. Concerned about the disaster that has arisen in the newly founded city of Sviyazhsk, he turns to the Metropolitan with the question of how to help the disaster that has occurred. To which the holy elder boldly replies: “May the relics of all the saints be brought to the cathedral church, may the service be performed over them and the water may be holy from them, may the priest sent by you, the sovereign, with our humility to Sviyaga to the Most Pure Nativity of Her and to all churches prayer services will also be performed and the waters will be sanctified together, and the city will be sanctified with the circus of the cross and with holy waters, and all people will be protected with the cross and sprinkled with water, so that Christ will quench His righteous wrath for the prayers of His saints, and send a teaching to those living in the city, How men have sinned, but little will they come from their evils.” After the prayer service, Metropolitan Macarius wrote a teaching message to the city of Sviyazhsk. In it, he encourages residents to zealously fulfill Christian traditions, remembering the fear of God and avoiding sinful acts. The water blessed at the prayer service, along with the message, was sent in 1552 to Sviyazhsk, where illness and disorder in the garrison soon began to cease through the prayerful intercession of St. Macarius.

In 1552, Metropolitan Macarius blessed the tsar to go to Kazan and predicted his future victory and victory. Later, in memory of this event, the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat was built in Moscow, now known as the Church of St. Basil the Blessed. A chapel was built in it in honor of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The head of the Russian Church himself consecrated this marvelous cathedral, a pearl of Russian architecture. Here, on Red Square, in memory of the Gospel event, the saint made a solemn procession on a donkey on the feast of Palm Resurrection. After the Kazan victory, a new vast diocese was created in the Russian Church, in which missionary activity began with the installation of the first Kazan saint, Archbishop Guria (+ 1563; commemoration Dec. 5).

In 1547 and 1549 The saint convenes Councils in Moscow, which rightfully remain in the history of the Russian Church with the name of the Makarievskys. The issue of glorifying Russian saints was resolved at them. Before this, the glorification of saints was carried out in Rus' with the blessing and authority of the local bishop, so ascetics were revered only in the lands of their labors and exploits. Metropolitan Macarius, whom his contemporaries called a martyr, convened the Councils and took upon himself the great work of establishing church-wide glorification and veneration of the holy saints of God. The Makariev Councils of 1547 revealed an entire era in the history of the Russian Church, “the era of new miracle workers.” This is what all newly canonized Russian saints were called then. These Councils caused a great spiritual upsurge in Russian society.

At the Makaryev Councils, the first autocephalous Metropolitan Jonah, the Novgorod hierarchs John, Jonah, Euthymius, Nikita, Niphon were canonized; noble princes Alexander Nevsky, Vsevolod Pskovsky, Mikhail Tverskoy; the pillars of monasticism are the Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsky, Macarius of Kalyazinsky, Alexander of Svirsky, Nikon of Radonezh, Savva of Storozhevsky and others. The chronology of these names covers almost the entire period of Christianity in Rus' by that time, their liturgical glorification shows the diversity of their saving deeds. The Russian people turned to their prayerful intercession with zeal.

The glorification of the ascetics required the writing of new services for them with liturgical instructions of a typical nature on the order of their performance, as well as the creation again or editing of their previously written lives. All this is done by the High Hierarch Macarius of glory for the sake of God and His holy saints, whom “the Lord God glorified with many miracles and various banners.”

At the beginning of 1551, the Stoglavy Council, convened by Metropolitan Macarius, began work in the royal chambers of Moscow. It examined a variety of issues relating to the appearance of a Christian and his behavior and piety, church deanery and discipline, icon painting and spiritual enlightenment. After the Council, mandate letters were sent to various parts of the Russian metropolis, which were then used as the basis for conciliar decrees in their preparation and editing. The cathedral received in history the name Stoglavy, i.e. its materials are presented in one hundred chapters.

It is known that Saint Macarius made great efforts to eradicate various false teachings. At the Council of 1553, the heresy of Matthew Bashkin and Theodosius Kosoy was condemned, who taught that Christ is not God, they did not venerate icons and rejected the Church Sacraments.

Saint Macarius made a huge contribution to the development of ancient Russian writing. While still in Novgorod, he continued the works of Archbishop Gennady (+ 1505; memorial 4 December). And if Archbishop Gennady collected biblical books, then Bishop Macarius set the goal of collecting all the spiritual literature in Rus'. He began his work on systematizing Russian church literature in 1529. This undertaking received in history the name of the Great Makaryev Chetya Menaion. Their first edition was included in the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral in 1541, the second in the 50s was given as a contribution to the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, and the third was later received by the first Russian Tsar. The Menaions collect and edit various lists of the lives of many saints, the homiletical, theological and patriotic heritage of the Russian Church.

Metropolitan Macarius supervises the work of not only editors and copyists, but also the authors of spiritual works. Thus, he commands the archpriest from the Kremlin Church of the Savior on Bor, Ermolai, to write a book about the Holy Trinity and the life of Bishop Vasily of Ryazan. On the initiative of the saint, the first systematic work on Russian history was created - “The Powerful Book of the Royal Genealogy”, the composition of which was directly worked on by the royal confessor - Archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral Andrei (in monasticism Athanasius), the future metropolitan, successor and continuer of the works of St. Macarius. Particularly close, obviously, to Metropolitan Macarius was the prolific writer of Ancient Rus', Priest Vasily, monastically Varlaam, who glorified the Pskov saints with his hymnographic and hagiographic works.

Saint Macarius became the patron of printing in Rus'; under him, the printing of books began for the first time in the Russian state by the cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas of Gostunsky in the Kremlin, Deacon Ivan Fedorov. In the afterword of the Apostle in 1564, published after the death of the saint, and in two editions of the Book of Hours in 1565, it is said that they were also printed “with the blessing of the Right Reverend Macarius, Metropolitan of All Rus'.” At that time, these books were not only read in churches, they were also used to teach literacy.

Saint Macarius, who devoted so much energy to the glorification of Russian saints, by the grace of God, was honored in his daily activities with constant communication with pious men who were later canonized by the Russian Church. With his blessing, the monastery was founded by the Monk Adrian Poshekhonsky (+1550; commemorated March 5), whom the Metropolitan himself ordained and gave him a charter for the construction of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God.

A contemporary of Saint Macarius was an amazing saint, whom Muscovites called the Nagokhod - Basil the Blessed (mem. August 2). He repeatedly prayed at services in the Assumption Cathedral performed by the Metropolitan. His denunciation of the king is significant when, after the Divine Liturgy in a crowded church, the blessed one surprised the autocrat, who during the service was thinking about building a new palace for himself, noting that “there was no one at the liturgy, but only three: the first metropolitan, the second - the blessed queen, and the third he , sinful Vasily." Later, the saint himself personally performed the funeral service and buried the blessed one.

On February 3, 1555, Saint Macarius appointed Saint Guria (+1563; October 4) to the new Kazan see, and even earlier he ordained another of his contemporary, Venerable Macarius the Roman, of Novgorod (XVI century; commemorated January 19). named after the monastery.

Macarius Moscow

Particular attention should be paid to the relationship between the Metropolitan and the great Russian ascetic of the 16th century. Venerable Alexander of Svir (+1533; memorial Aug. 30). The Monk Alexander, whom the Lord Himself honored with the Trinity condescension - a visit, was known to the metropolitan, who had honored his works and exploits since the Novgorod period. Before his death, the Monk Alexander entrusted Saint Macarius to take care of his brethren and the founded monastery. 12 years after the death of the saint, the Metropolitan commanded the Svir abbot Herodion to write his life, and another 2 years later, that is, only 14 years after his death, at the Council of 1547, the canonization of the saint took place. The Monk Alexander thus belonged simultaneously to the number of those whom Saint Macarius canonized and to the number of those with whom he communicated in his life. In the Intercession Cathedral on Red Square (St. Basil's Cathedral) in 1560, Saint Macarius was consecrated in honor of the Venerable Alexander of Svirsky

In 1555, on the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul, the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Velikoretsky was brought from Vyatka to Moscow. By the providence of God, Metropolitan Macarius and Archpriest Andrei of the Annunciation renovated this great shrine, “for he was accustomed to icon painting.” The saint worked with much desire and faith, fasting and prayer to renew the holy image of the great wonderworker.

Metropolitan Macarius constantly cared not only for the entire flock, but also for each person, being merciful towards individual, even lost, children of the Church. So, one day, in the Assumption Cathedral, after an evening service, someone “with the enemy’s teachings intended to commit theft,” but was restrained by an invisible force and could not do this. In the morning he was discovered and when Metropolitan Macarius came, they told him how the thief was found in the church. However, the saint was ordered to release him, but the zemstvo judges wanted to judge the criminal according to the law. Then the Metropolitan strictly forbade this and sent a church watchman to escort “Tatya” to a safe place. Arriving at Kulishki, to the Church of All Saints, he began to walk there with a frantic look and soon died. Some grumbled at the metropolitan for letting the thief go unpunished, but the saint was not annoyed with them, and ordered the body of the deceased to be buried.

The basis of the virtuous life of Metropolitan Macarius was the daily work of asceticism, fasting and prayer. One of his unknown contemporaries wrote: “To Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, who motionlessly lives and rules the true Word of God... from ash abstinence and can barely walk, he is meek and humble, and merciful in everything, and by no means hates pride, but to others cutting off and forbidding, having acquired malice as a child with your mind, you were always perfect.” Cases of insight also testify to the height of his spiritual life. He predicted the capture of Kazan by Russian troops in 1552 and Polotsk in 1563.

It is known that the Metropolitan foresaw the coming disasters of the Russian land, which the oprichnina, established by the Tsar shortly after his blessed death, brought to it. “At some point in the night, the saint stood at his usual prayer and said in a great voice: “Oh, I, a sinner, am more than all men! How can I see this! Wickedness and division of the earth is coming! Lord, have mercy, have mercy! Quench your anger! If you had not had mercy on us for our sins, otherwise it would not be with me, for me! Lord, don’t let me see this!” And shed great tears. And then I heard it from the cell attendant, a certain spiritual person, and was surprised at this, and thought to myself: “Who is he talking to?” And not seeing anyone, you were surprised at this. And he spoke to him spiritually about this: “Wickedness is coming, and hemorrhage, and division of the earth.” This important message from the Piskarev chronicler brings the image of Metropolitan Macarius closer to the ecumenical patriarchs Gennady (458-471; commemorated on August 31) and Thomas (607-610; commemorated on March 21), who earnestly prayed that the Lord would avert the disasters coming for the Church, according to at least during their priesthood.

One day the formidable tsar asked Metropolitan Macarius to send him a helpful book. Having received the Rite of Burial, he became angry with the saint: “You sent me to be buried, but such books cannot be brought into our royal palaces.” And Macarius said to him: “I, your pilgrim, sent simply by your order, that you ordered me to send a book useful for the soul; and she is the most useful of all: if anyone honors her with attention, he will never sin.”

In mid-September 1563, in memory of the martyr Nikita (+372; memorial 5 September), the saint performed a religious procession, during which he caught a severe cold and fell ill. In the evening, he “began to tell his elder that he was exhausted, his body was cold with illness and was possessed by the essence.” He ordered to report his weakness to the place of his tonsure, the Pafnutievo-Borovsky Monastery, and ask the abbot to send him a spiritual elder. Elder Elisha was sent to the saint, who undoubtedly represented the sick hierarch the Venerable Paphnutius himself, who had the custom of spiritually comforting the sick before their death, confessing them and preparing them for departure to another world.

On November 4, the saint prayed for the last time in the Assumption Cathedral and during the prayer service he himself venerated the icons and relics of the great wonderworkers Peter, Jonah and other eminent metropolitans buried in the cathedral, while heartfelt tears flowed from his eyes, and the elder Vladyka sighed prayerfully for a long time before the image of the Most Pure Mother of God of Vladimir, so that all those present marveled at his wonderful prayer. Then the saint humbly asked forgiveness from everyone.

On December 3, the Tsar came to Metropolitan Macarius to ask for a blessing. The saint told him about his intention to retire to the place of his tonsure - the Pafnutievo-Borovsky monastery, but the king persuaded him to remain at the see. Just before his death, the Metropolitan expressed a desire to the Tsar to retire to the monastery, even wrote to him about this in a letter, but by the will of the Tsar he was forced to refuse this again. The feast of the Nativity of Christ arrived, but the life of the saint was already extinguished. He could no longer read the Gospel himself, which he had done all his life, and now the Holy Scriptures were read at his request by clergy close to him.

And so on December 31, 1563, when the bell struck for matins, “the most reverend, wondrous saint and shepherd of the Russian Metropolis of All Russia gave up his soul in the hands of the Living God, Whom you loved from your youth and followed Him with an irrevocable thought.” When his face was revealed before the removal of his body from the metropolitan chambers, it was “like a shining light, for his pure, and immaculate, and spiritual, and merciful life and for other virtues, not like a dead man, but like someone who is sleeping.” Everyone marveled at this wonderful vision, raising glory to God, who glorified His saint.

The funeral service for the saint was performed by 5 bishops in the presence of the king and many people. After this, the high priest's farewell letter was read, which the metropolitan wrote before the end of his life, asking everyone for prayers, forgiveness and granting everyone his last archpastoral blessing.

This is how the great organizer of the Russian Church, Moscow Metropolitan Macarius, ended his wondrous life, whose veneration began immediately after his death. Soon the first icon of the saint appeared on the tomb. It is known that, having returned from the Lithuanian campaign of 1564, the tsar kissed the images of Saints Peter, Jonah and Macarius in the Assumption Cathedral, “kindly kissing them.”

“You will be with the monk, and with the innocent man you will be innocent. And you will be chosen with the chosen (Ps. 17:26-27),” says the psalmist and prophet David. Constantly communicating with holy ascetics, Metropolitan Macarius set an example of faith and the height of archpastoral service. He cared about the spiritual enlightenment of his flock. Having glorified so many Russian saints, he himself now stands before the throne of the Life-Giving Trinity.

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 Macarius' mother bore the name Sarah. Since the marriage of Macarius’s parents was barren, they decided to lead a chaste life, however, not being separated from each other, but living together. So, for many years Macarius’s parents lived, united by spiritual cohabitation, and not carnal. They decorated their lives with abstinence and fasting, frequent prayers, unflagging vigils, generous giving of alms, hospitality and many other virtues. At that time, by Divine will, barbarians attacked Egypt and plundered all the property of the inhabitants of Egypt. Together with others, Macarius’s parents lost all their property, which is why they even wanted to leave their fatherland to some other country.

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

Abraham, Abraham! arise from your bed.

Abraham answered the angel:

I'm sick, sir, and that's why I can't get up.

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

God has had mercy on you, Abraham: He heals you from your illness and gives you His favor, for your wife Sarah will give birth to a son, the same as blessedness. He will be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, for in angelic form he will live on earth and will lead many to God.

Having awakened after this vision, Abraham felt completely healthy; filled with fear and joy, he immediately told his wife Sarah everything 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, thanked the most merciful Lord God. Soon after this, Sarah conceived in old age, and, after a certain time, she gave birth to a male child, who was named Macarius, which means “blessed,” and was enlightened with holy baptism.

When the youth Macarius reached adulthood and learned to understand the Holy Scriptures, his parents, as if forgetting what was predicted about him by the angel who appeared in a vision to Abraham, wished for 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, wanting to become engaged to a single incorruptible bride - a pure and immaculate virgin life. However, submitting to 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 wedding room, Macarius pretended to be sick and did not touch his bride, praying from the depths of his heart to the one true God and placing his trust in Him, so that the Lord would soon grant him to leave worldly life and become monk A few days later, one of Macarius’s relatives happened to go to Mount Nitria to bring from there saltpeter, which was there in huge quantities, which is why the mountain itself was called “Nitria.” At the request of his parents, Macarius went with him. Having arrived, on the way there, to Lake Nitria, Macarius moved away from his companions, wanting to take a little rest from the journey, and fell asleep. And so, in a dream vision, a certain wondrous man appeared before him, shining with light, who said to Macarius:

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

Waking up from sleep, Macarius began to reflect on 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 Anthony. When, after a three-day journey to Mount Nitria, Macarius and his companions returned home, they found his wife suffering from such a severe fever that she was already dying. Soon she died before the eyes of Macarius, passing into eternal life as an immaculate virgin. Macarius thanked God that He had vouchsafed him to see the death of his wife and, for his edification, he reflected on his own death:

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 began to care about anything earthly, constantly remaining in the temple of the Lord and reading the Holy Scriptures. Macarius's parents, seeing the kind of life he led, did not dare to even mention a woman's name in his presence, but they were very happy about his chaste life. Meanwhile, Abraham, the father of Macarius, had already entered old age and became very ill, so that he lost his sight from old age and illness. Blessed Macarius cared for his elderly and sick father with love and zeal. Soon the elder departed 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 in an ordinary Christian burial, and became completely free from the bonds of the flesh, distributing all his property to the poor after their burial to commemorate the souls of the deceased. There was great sadness in Macarius’s 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 to send him a good mentor who would guide him on the path to salvation.

After some time, the Day of celebration of the memory of a certain saint arrived, in whose honor, according to the custom of his parents, Macarius wished to organize a holiday. In view of this, he prepared dinner, intending it not so much for his neighbors as for the poor and wretched. While attending a church service on this day, Macarius saw one venerable elder, a monk, enter the temple. This monk had long gray hair and a beard that reached almost to his waist; his face was pale from prolonged fasting; His whole appearance was splendid, for his inner spiritual image was adorned with the beauty of his 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 any people, and only on this day, according to Divine dispensation, he came to the church located in the village to partake of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Macarius begged this monk to come to his house for a common meal. After the meal, when everyone 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, because I want to ask your experienced advice regarding the future of my life!

Come, child,” the elder answered, “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 with all his might for the Lord, and together he earnestly asked the elder to teach him what he should do to save his soul. With soulful conversations, the elder kept Macarius with him for the whole day, and when the sun set, they ate a little bread and salt, and the elder ordered Macarius to go to bed. The elder himself began to pray, fixing his mind on grief; when deep night came, he came into an ecstatic state and saw a cathedral of monks dressed in white robes and having wings. They walked around the sleeping Macarius and said:

Arise, Macarius, and begin the service indicated to you by God; do not put it off until another time, for the lazy man acts unwisely, but the lazy man earns his wages.

The holy elder told Macarius this vision in the morning and, releasing him from him, 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 deeds pleasing to God!

Having taught Macarius instructions regarding prayer, vigil and fasting, the elder sent him away 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 freed himself from all everyday worries and having become like a beggar himself, Macarius again came to the elder in order to completely devote himself to the service of the Lord that he had long desired. The elder lovingly received the humble young man, showed him the beginnings of silent monastic life and taught him the usual monastic handicraft - basket weaving. At the same time, the elder arranged a separate cell for Macarius, not far from his own, for he himself loved to serve the Lord in solitude. He took his new student to the newly built cell, again teaching him the necessary instructions about prayer, food and handicrafts. So blessed Macarius, with the help of God, began to undergo 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 he, having learned from the inhabitants of the village about the exploits of blessed Macarius, called him to himself and, against his wishes, made him a clergyman of the local church, although Macarius was still young. But Saint Macarius, burdened by the position of cleric, which disrupted his silent life, ran away from there a few days later and settled in a deserted place near another village. One reverent man of simple rank came here to him, who began to serve Macarius, selling his handicrafts and buying him food with the proceeds. The hater of all good - the devil, seeing how he was defeated by the young monk, planned a battle against him and began to fight intensely with him, building various intrigues against him, sometimes instilling in him sinful thoughts, sometimes attacking him in the form of various monsters. When Macarius was awake at night, standing in prayer, the devil shook his cell to the very foundation, and sometimes, turning into a snake, crawled along the ground and furiously rushed at the saint. But blessed Macarius, protecting himself with prayer and the sign of the cross, never considered the machinations of the devil, exclaiming, as David once did:

- "You will not be afraid of the terrors in the night, the arrows that fly by day, the plagues that walk in the darkness."(Ps.90:5).

Then the devil, unable 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 girl, whom one young man, who also lived in this village, asked to give as his wife. But since the young man was very poor and, moreover, of 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 evil - the devil, told her:

Tell me that the hermit who lives near us did this to you.

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

Your hermit, whom you consider a saint, is to blame for this. 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 did not tell anyone about it until now.

Stung by these words, the girls, as if by arrows, her parents and relatives all rushed to the saint’s dwelling with loud screams and swear words. Having pulled 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 him around the saint’s neck and in this form led him around the entire village, abusing him without mercy, beating him, pushing him, torturing him by the hair and kicking him. At the same time they exclaimed:

This monk has defiled our maiden, beat him everyone!

It happened at this time that a prudent person passed by. Seeing what was happening, he said to those beating the saint:

How long will you beat an innocent wandering monk without knowing for sure whether the accusation against him is true? 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 served Macarius for God's sake, selling his handicrafts, walked at a distance from the saint and wept bitterly, not being able to prevent him from beating the saint and freeing Macarius from the hands of those who " how the dogs surrounded him" (Ps. 21:17). And those beating the saint turned around and rushed with abuse and threats at this man.

This is what the hermit you serve did, they shouted! - 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 now, but said:

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

Barely catching his 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 took him to his cell. Having somewhat recovered from his wounds, Macarius began to work harder on his needlework, saying to himself:

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 befell her for slandering an innocent saint. For a long time she could not be relieved of her burden and suffered for many days and nights, crying bitterly from very severe pain. At the sight of her such torment, her parents suffered along 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, damned one! I deserve terrible punishment for slandering the righteous, saying that he is the culprit of my fall. He is not the culprit of this, but the young man who wanted to marry me.

Hearing the girl’s screams, her parents and relatives who were near her were greatly amazed by her words; and strong fear fell upon them, and they were very ashamed that they dared to insult an innocent monk, a 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, young and old, flocked to the house where the girl lived. Hearing the cries of the maiden there that the hermit was innocent of her shame, the inhabitants greatly reproached themselves and were very sad that they all beat the saint without mercy. After consulting with the girl’s parents, they all decided to go to the Monk Macarius and fall weeping at his feet, asking for forgiveness, so that the wrath of God would not befall them for offending an innocent person. Having learned this 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! - this day is happy and joyful 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, who was innocent. She cannot be relieved of her burden, and admitted that it was not you who was responsible for her fall, but one young man. Now all the inhabitants of the village, from young to old, want to come to you with repentance, in order to glorify God for your chastity and patience and to ask for your forgiveness, so that no punishment from the Lord befalls them for unjustly offending you.

The humble Macarius listened with regret 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, when night fell, he got up and left those places, going first of all to Mount Nitria, where he had 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 Paranian desert, for Macarius had long heard about him, even when he lived in the world, and strongly wanted 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 to imitate his father in everything. Then, on the advice of the Monk Anthony, Macarius retired to a solitary life in the hermitage desert, where he so shone with his exploits and was so successful in monastic life that he surpassed many of the brethren and received from them the name “elder youth,” since, despite his youth, discovered a completely senile life. Here Macarius had to fight demons day and night. Sometimes the demons clearly turned into various monsters and rushed with fury at the saint, 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 intending to kill him. Sometimes demons raised an invisible war against the saint, instilling in him various passionate and unclean thoughts, trying in various cunning ways to shake this solid wall built by Christ and destroy it. However, they were in no way able to overcome this courageous fighter for the truth, who had God as his assistants and, like David, exclaimed:

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

One night, 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 to you.

But they said:

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

“Is it possible,” the monk objected, “that one of the demons awakens someone to prayer and praise of God or instructs 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 disdain from Macarius, they rushed at him in large numbers 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, they have opened their mouths on me"(Ps.31:7; 21:14,17-18).

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

Another time it happened that Macarius collected 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 unable to overcome you. Here I am, doing everything you do. You fast, I don’t eat anything 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 monk asked him.

“Your humility,” answered the devil, “that’s 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 abbot (abba) of the monks living in the monastery. There is no need to say much about his food and drink, that is, about how he fasted, because even the weakest of the brethren of his monastery could not be reproached either for overeating or for eating any refined food. Although this happened partly due to the lack of any refined food in those places, but mainly because of the competition of the monks staying there, who tried not only to imitate each other in fasting, but also to surpass each other. Various legends circulate among the fathers about other exploits of Macarius, this heavenly man. They say that the monk constantly ascended with his mind to the heights 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, conducting spiritual conversations with him. Together with two other disciples of the Monk Anthony, Macarius was honored to be present at his blessed death and, as some kind of rich inheritance, received Anthony’s staff, with which he supported his weak body on the road, dejected by old age and fasting exploits. Together with this staff of Anthony, the Monk Macarius received the spirit of Anthony the Great, as the prophet Elisha once received such after Elijah the prophet (2 Kings 2:9). By the power of this spirit, Macarius performed many wondrous miracles, to the narration of which we now move on.

One wicked Egyptian was inflamed with unclean love for a beautiful married woman, but could not persuade her to cheat on her husband, for she was chaste, virtuous and loved her husband. Strongly wanting to take possession of her, this Egyptian went to a certain sorcerer with a request that he, through his magical spells, arrange so that this woman would fall in love with him, or so that her husband would hate her and drive her away from him. The sorcerer, having received rich gifts from that Egyptian, used his usual magic, trying to use the power of magic spells to seduce the chaste woman into an evil act. Not being able to incline the woman’s unshakable soul to sin, the sorcerer charmed the eyes of everyone who looked at the woman, making her appear to everyone not as a woman with a human appearance, but as an animal with the appearance of a horse. The woman’s husband, coming home, was horrified to see a horse instead of his wife and was greatly surprised that an animal was lying on his bed. He addressed words to her, but received no response, only noticed that she was becoming furious. Knowing that it had to be his wife, he realized that this was done out of someone’s malice; Therefore, he was very upset and shed tears. Then he called the elders into his house and showed them his wife. But they could not understand that it was a man and not an animal, since their eyes were fascinated and they saw the animal. Three days have already passed since this woman began to seem like a horse to everyone. During this time she did not take food, because she could not eat either 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. Having put a bridle on her, as if on an animal, he went to the dwelling of Macarius, leading behind him his wife, who had the appearance of a horse. When he approached the monk’s cell, the monks standing 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 happened to her? - asked the monks.

This animal that you see,” the man answered them, “is my wife.” How she turned into a horse, I don’t know. But three days have already passed since this happened, and all this time she has not eaten any food.

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

You yourselves are like animals, since your eyes see a bestial image. She, just as she was created by a woman, remains one, and has not changed her human nature, but only appears animalistic to your eyes, seduced by magical spells.

Then the monk blessed the water and poured it with prayer on the brought woman, and immediately she took on her usual human appearance, so that everyone, looking at her, saw a woman with the face of a man. Having ordered to give her food, the Saint made her completely healthy. Then both the husband and wife and everyone 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 received communion of the Divine Mysteries.”

Having given instructions to the husband and wife, the Saint sent them away in peace.

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

Quite 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. Due to such a large number of people coming to him, Macarius had little time to devote himself to the thought of God in solitude. Therefore, the monk dug a deep cave under his cell, about half a furlong in length, where he hid from those who constantly came to him and violated his contemplation and prayer.

The Monk Macarius received such blessed power from God that he could even resurrect the dead. And so, one heretic named Jerakit, who taught that there would be no resurrection of the dead, came from Egypt into the desert 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 faith. Being himself skilled in words, he mocked the simplicity of the speeches of the monk. The Monk Macarius, noticing that the brethren were beginning to waver in faith from the speeches of this heretic, said to him:

What good is it for us to argue with words, more for the hesitation of those listening to our dispute than for confirmation in the faith? Let us go to the graves of our brothers who have died in the Lord, and whoever among 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 of these words of the monk, and everyone went to the cemetery. There the Monk Macarius told Hierakitus to call from the grave some deceased member of the brethren. But Jerakitus said to Macarius:

Do it first, because you yourself have appointed such a test.

Then the Monk Macarius prostrated himself in prayer to the Lord and, after prolonged prayer, raised his eyes to the mountain and cried out to the Lord:

God! You Yourself now reveal which of the two of us believes more correctly (in You), reveal this by arranging it in such a way that one of the dead lying here will rise from the grave.

Having prayed like this, the monk called one recently buried monk by name, and the dead man immediately answered his voice from the grave. Then the monks hastily dug up the grave and found their brother resurrected in it. Having untied the bandages that were on him, they brought him out of the grave alive. At the sight of such a wondrous miracle, Jerakit was so horrified that he fled. All the monks chased him away, as they drive away enemies, and drove him far beyond the borders of that land.

Another time, the Monk Macarius also resurrected another deceased person, as Abba Sisoes narrates.

“I was,” he says, “with the Monk Macarius in the monastery. At this time it was time for the grain harvest. Seven of the brethren were hired to do the harvest. During it, one widow picked up ears of corn after us and cried all the time. The Monk Macarius, calling the owner of the field, asked him:

What happened to this woman, and why does she cry 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. That is why the lender wants to take this woman and her children into slavery. Then Macarius said to him:

Tell the woman to come to 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 constantly crying, 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,” said Macarius.

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 man answered from the grave:

I hid it in my house at the foot of my bed.

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

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

All this did not happen for my sake, for I am nothing, but for the sake of this widow and her children, God created this miracle. Know that God wills for a sinless soul, and whatever it asks of Him, it 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 saint, let us glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God, glorified in His saints forever. Amen.

Macarius the Great was born around 300 in Lower Egypt in the village of Ptinapor. At an early age, at the request of his parents, he got married, but was widowed early. After the death of his wife, Macarius delved into the study of the Holy Scriptures. Having buried his parents, Macarius retired to the desert closest to the village and became a novice under the elder hermit who lived there. A local bishop passing through Ptinapor ordained Macarius as one of the junior clergy of the local church, but Macarius, burdened by the rank he had received, left the village and retired completely alone into the desert.

After living alone for several years in the Paran desert, Macarius went to Anthony the Great and became his disciple, living for a long time in the monastery he founded in the Thebad desert. On the advice of Anthony, Macarius retired to the Skete desert.

At the age of 40, Macarius was ordained to the priesthood and made abbot of the monks living in the Skete desert. At the same age, according to church tradition, he received the gift of miracles and became famous for many miracles, including the resurrection of the dead. So, according to legend, the saint raised the dead in order to convince the heretic who denied the possibility of resurrection. From later evidence about the life of Macarius, it is known that he could appeal to the dead in such a way that they could speak out loud. There is a known case when a dead person testified to justify an innocent person; another deceased person told where things were hidden, which saved his family from slavery.

Around 360, Macarius founded a monastery in the Nitrian desert, which later received the name - Monastery of Macarius the Great.

Coptic monastery of St. Macarius the Great

Macarius the Great, together with Macarius of Alexandria, suffered during the reign of the Arian emperor Valens. They were exiled to a deserted island inhabited by pagans, but, according to legend, through the healing of the priest’s daughter, Macarius converted the inhabitants of the island to Christianity. After the Arian bishop, who sent Macarius into exile, became aware of this, he allowed both elders to return to their deserts.

The monk lived to be 97 years old; shortly before his death, the Monks Anthony and Pachomius appeared to him, conveying the joyful news of his imminent transition to the blessed Heavenly abodes. Having given instructions to his disciples and blessed them, the Monk Macarius said goodbye to everyone and rested with the words: “ Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit". Macarius died in 391, in the monastery he founded.

Monastery of St. Macarius the Great

Relics of three Macarii in the Egyptian monastery of Macarius the Great: Macarius the Great, Macarius of Alexandria and Macarius the Bishop

The relics of Macarius the Great are located in Italy, in the city of Amalfi and in Egypt in the monastery of Macarius the Great.

Literary heritage

The theological heritage of Macarius the Great consists of fifty words (conversations), seven instructions and two epistles. The main theme of the works is the spiritual life of a Christian in the form of ascetic solitude. In a number of his works, Macarius interprets the Bible allegorically (for example, Discourse on the Vision of Ezekiel).

The idea that the highest good and goal of man is the unity of the soul with God is fundamental in the works of St. Macarius. Talking about ways to achieve sacred unity, the monk was based on the experience of the great teachers of Egyptian monasticism and on his own. The path to God and the experience of communion with God among holy ascetics is open to every believing heart. That is why the Holy Church included the ascetic prayers of St. Macarius the Great in the commonly used evening and morning prayers.

Earthly life, according to the teachings of the Monk Macarius, with all its labors, has only a relative meaning: to prepare the soul, to make it capable of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven, to cultivate in the soul an affinity with the Heavenly Fatherland. " The soul that truly believes in Christ must shift and change from the present vicious state to another state, good, and from the present humiliated nature to another, Divine nature, and be remade into a new one - through the power of the Holy Spirit". This can be achieved if “we truly believe and love God and follow all His holy commandments.” If the soul, betrothed to Christ in holy Baptism, does not itself contribute to the grace of the Holy Spirit given to it, then it will be subject to “excommunication from life”, as having been found to be indecent and incapable of communion with Christ. In the teaching of St. Macarius, the question of the unity of God’s Love and God’s Truth is experimentally resolved. The inner feat of a Christian determines the measure of his perception of this unity. Each of us acquires salvation by grace and the Divine gift of the Holy Spirit, but achieving the perfect measure of virtue necessary for the soul to assimilate this Divine gift is possible only “by faith and love with the effort of free will.” Then “as much as by grace, so much by righteousness,” the Christian will inherit eternal life. Salvation is a divine-human work: we achieve complete spiritual success “not by Divine power and grace alone, but also by bringing our own labors,” on the other hand, we arrive at “the measure of freedom and purity” not only through our own diligence, but not without “assistance from above the hand of God.” " A person’s fate is determined by the actual state of his soul, his self-determination towards good or evil. " If the soul in this still world does not receive into itself the shrine of the Spirit for much faith and prayer, and does not become a participant in the Divine nature, then it is unsuitable for the Kingdom of Heaven«.

Troparion to St. Macarius the Great, tone 1
Desert dweller, and an angel in the flesh, / and a miracle worker appeared, our God-bearing Father Macarius, / by fasting, vigil, and prayer, we received heavenly gifts, / healing the sick and the souls of those who come to you by faith. / Glory to Him who gave you strength, / glory to Him who crowned you, // glory to Him who heals you all.

Kontakion to St. Macarius the Great, tone 1
Having passed away your blessed life in the life of martyrdom, / you worthily settled in the land of the meek, God-bearing Macarius, / and having populated the desert like a city, you received grace from the God of miracles, // in the same way we honor you.