Житие преподобного отца нашего Макария Египетского

The Monk Macarius of Egypt 731 was born in the Egyptian country, in a village called Ptinapor 732. His parents 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. And 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 vigil, 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 for 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 the Angel of the Lord came out of the altar in the church where Abraham served, and, approaching him, said: - Abraham, Abraham! Rise from your bed. “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 the angelic form he will live on earth and will lead many to God. Awakening from 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 a monk. A few days later, one of Macarius’ relatives happened to go to Mount Nitria 733 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 also went with him. Arriving along the road 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, he 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 church 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 came to celebrate the memory of a certain saint, 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 the church service that day, Macarius saw one venerable elder, a monk, enter the church. 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 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,” 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 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 person acts unwisely, but the lazy person earns his wages. The next morning the holy elder told Macarius this vision of his and, dismissing 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 worldly 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. After some time, 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 of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the plague that walks in the darkness” (Ps. 91:5). Then the devil, unable to defeat the invincible, invented a new trick against him. One of the residents 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 this until that time. 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 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 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 “surrounded him like dogs” (Ps. 21:17). And those beating the saint turned around and rushed at this man with abuse and threats. “That’s 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 won’t let him in until he provides us with guarantees that he will feed our daughter, whom he 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: “Now, Macarius, you have a wife and children, and therefore you need to work day and night in order to provide them with the necessary food. When making baskets, he sold them through a 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! 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 husband serving Macarius, 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 a dispassionate, 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 734, for Macarius had long heard about him, even when he lived in the world, and strongly 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 to imitate his father in everything. Then, on the advice of the Monk Anthony, Macarius retired to a solitary life in the hermitage desert, 735 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 “young old man,” since, despite his youth, he 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 assistant and, like David, exclaimed: - “Some with chariots (with weapons), others with 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 fiercely. 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 eternal fire prepared for your father the Devil” (Matthew 25:41) and for you. - 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, O Christ my God, and “surround me with the joys of deliverance, for the dogs have surrounded me and opened their mouths against 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 is this? – 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 his mind to the things above 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). 736 With 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 married beautiful 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 magic 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 persuade 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 in human appearance, but as an animal in 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 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 was praying 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 yourself 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 the wife, and everyone who saw this wonderful miracle, thanked God. Macarius instructed the healed woman to go to the church of God as often as possible and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. “This happened to you,” said the monk, “because five weeks had already passed since you had not received 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 St. 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 stade long, 737 where he hid from those who constantly came to him and disturbed 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 appointed such a test. Then the Monk Macarius prostrated himself in prayer to the Lord and after prolonged prayer he raised his eyes to the mountain and cried out to the Lord: - Lord! 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 brothers 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, “that 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 to your 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 feet 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. Rufinus the Presbyter 738 also tells about the resurrection of the third dead man by the Monk Macarius. Once, he says, an innocent man was accused of a murder that happened in the area where the monk’s cell was located. The accused ran to the home of Macarius, where those who wanted to seize him as a murderer and bring him to legal trial came for him. He swore and swore that he was innocent of the blood of the murdered man, but the prosecutors tried to present him as guilty. When both the accusers and the accused argued with each other for a long time, the Monk Macarius asked: Having learned the place of burial, the monk got up and went there along with those who came to him. After praying for a long time over the grave on his knees, the monk said to the upcoming accusers: “The Lord himself will now reveal whether this person you accuse of murder is really guilty of it.” Then calling out in a loud voice, Macarius called the murdered man by name. And he answered his call from the grave, and the monk asked him: “By the faith of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I command you to answer us whether you were killed by the man who was brought here.” Immediately the dead man answered in a clear voice from the grave that he was not killed by this man, and he was accused of murder in vain. Everyone who came to the grave, amazed by this wondrous miracle, fell to the ground. Having then fallen at the feet of the monk, they began to earnestly ask him to ask the dead man a second time about who killed him. But the Monk Macarius answered them: “I won’t ask about this, because it’s enough for me that I saved an innocent person from death, but I won’t bring a guilty person to justice.” Palladius in Lavsaik 739 also tells the following about the Monk Macarius. Once a young man possessed by a demon was brought to the monk by his mother. He was tied up and held by two strong men. The demon of gluttony possessed him: so, he ate three huge loaves of bread and drank a large vessel of water and threw it all out, turning everything he ate and drank into steam or smoke. And food and drink were consumed in him as if by fire. If the mother of that young man did not allow him to eat and drink so much, then he even ate his own excrement. With tears, she begged the Monk Macarius to have mercy on her son and heal him from such a terrible demon. The monk began to fervently pray to the Lord for the young man, and two days later the young man felt better, and he began to ask less for food and drink. Then the monk asked the young man’s mother: - How much do you want your son to eat? “Ten liters of 740 bread,” answered the woman. But the monk reproachfully said to her: - Why do you want so much, woman? After seven days of fasting and fervent prayer to God, the monk cast out the demon from the young man - and, through the prayers of the monk, the young man began to be satisfied with three liters of bread a day. Having instructed the young man to spend his life not in idleness, but to live by the labor of his hands, the monk, by the grace of God, having completely healed him, handed him over to his mother and sent them both away in peace. The prologue also tells the following about St. Macarius. One day the monk was on the road and, when night overtook him, he entered a pagan cemetery to spend the night there. Finding one old bone of a deceased pagan there, the monk placed 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: This call was answered by a demon who was in a dead bone placed by the Monk Macarius under his head. “I have a stranger above me,” he said, “and therefore I cannot come.” The monk was not afraid of these demonic intrigues, but boldly began to beat the bone he had taken, saying: - Get up and walk if you can. As soon as he uttered these words, the demons cried out in loud voices and shouted to him: “You defeat us in everything, Macarius,” and they retreated from the monk, ashamed. Another time, the Monk Macarius walked through the desert and found a dried human skull lying on the ground. Turning it with his staff, the monk heard as if he had made some kind of sound. Then Macarius asked the skull: “I,” he answered, “was the leader of the pagan priests who lived in this place.” When you, Abba Macarius, filled with the Spirit of God, having mercy on those in torment in hell, pray for us, we then receive some relief. “What kind of relief do you get,” asked Macarius, “and what are your torments, tell me?” “How far the sky is from the earth,” the skull answered with a groan, “so great is the fire among which we are, scorched from everywhere from head to toe.” At the same time, we cannot see each other's faces. When you pray for us, we see a little of each other, and this serves us as some consolation. Hearing this answer, the monk shed tears and said: – Cursed is the day when a person transgressed the Divine commandments. And again he asked the skull: - Are there any other torments that are more severe than yours? “Below, much deeper below us, there are many others,” he answered. – Who are among those fierce torments? – asked Macarius. “We who do not know God,” answered the skull, “although we still feel God’s mercy a little.” Those who knew the name of God, but rejected Him and did not keep His commandments, suffer below us with much more severe and cruel torments. After this, the Monk Macarius took that skull, buried it in the ground and left from there. The Monk Macarius,” Rufinus also tells about him, “lived in the great desert, having a cell there, and his monastery was located lower in another desert; there were many brothers in it. One day Macarius was sitting on the road leading to the monastery. Suddenly he sees the devil walking in human form, dressed in furry clothes and covered in pumpkins. Macarius asked him: -Where are you going, breathing malice? “I’m going to tempt the brethren,” he answered. - Why are you carrying these pumpkins you are wearing? – asked Macarius. “I am bringing,” answered the devil, “food for the brethren.” – Do all pumpkins contain food? - asked the reverend. “In all,” answered the devil, “if someone doesn’t like one, I will offer another, a third, etc., so that everyone can try at least one.” Having said this, the devil left. The monk remained on the road, wanting to see the return of the devil. Seeing him returning, Macarius asked: – Did you have a good time going to the monastery? “It’s bad,” answered the devil, “and how could I achieve success?” - Why? - asked the reverend. “Because all the monks took up arms against me,” answered the devil, “and no one accepted me.” - Do you really not have a single monk who would obey you? – Macarius asked again. “I have only one,” answered the devil, “who obeys me.” When I come to him, he spins around me like a top. -What is his name? - asked the reverend. - Theopempt! - answered the devil; and having said this, he left. Then Abba Macarius got up and went into the distant desert to the named monastery. The brethren, hearing that the monk was coming to 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 asked the monks: -Which of you is called Theopemptus? When Theopemptos was shown to him, he entered his cell. He received the saint with great joy. Left alone with Theopemptus, the Monk Macarius asked him: - How are you doing, brother? “Okay,” he answered, “according to your prayers, father!” “Are you not tempted,” asked the monk, “by any sinful thoughts?” Ashamed to reveal his sinful thoughts, the monk replied: - No! Now nothing tempts me. Then the Monk Macarius said with a sigh: “For many years now I have been asceticizing in fasting and prayer, so that everyone reveres me, but still, despite my old years, I am greatly tempted by the demon of fornication. “Indeed, father, I too am greatly seized by the spirit of fornication.” The monk in the same way asked the monk about other sins that troubled his soul, until he confessed all his sins to him. After this, the monk asked the monk: – How long do you fast? “Until the ninth hour,” he answered. “Fast until evening,” said the monk, “and study from the Holy Gospel and from other holy books, so as to always exercise your thoughts on God.” If any sinful thoughts attack you, fight them and never give up your mind, but always direct your mind towards grief, and the Lord will help you. Having thus confirmed Theopemptus, the monk returned to his desert. There, sitting by the road, he again saw the devil going to the monastery. The monk asked him: “I’m going to tempt the brethren,” answered the devil. And having said this, he moved on. When he returned, the monk asked him: “Now everyone has taken up arms against me,” answered the devil, “even the one who was previously my friend and always obeyed me, and now, I don’t understand, he has been corrupted by someone and does not listen to me at all.” On the contrary, he now takes up arms against me more than all the other monks. And now I vowed not to come to that monastery again, unless after a long time. Having said this, the devil left. And the Monk Macarius returned to his cell. One day, two wanderers came to the skete to the Monk Macarius - one had a beard, the other was younger - he had only a mustache. Those who came asked the monk: – Where is the cell of Abba Macarius? -What do you want from him? – the monk asked them. “We heard a lot about him and his life from the monastery fathers and came to see him. Then the monk said to them: They bowed to him to the ground and said: - We would like to settle here. The monk, seeing that they were still young and wealthy people, answered them: -You won't be able to live here. To this the younger objected to him: “If you don’t let us stay here, we’ll go somewhere else.” The Monk Macarius then thought: “Why should I drive them away, and they will be tempted? It’s better that I accept them, and they themselves will run away from here from the great desert labors.” Turning to them, he said: - Settle here and, if you can, build yourself a cell. And he gave them an axe, a basket of bread and salt, and, leading them deep into the desert, he showed them a rocky place and said: “Build yourself a cell here, bringing trees from the meadow for this, and live here.” At the same time, the monk thought that they would not endure the difficulties of desert life and would run away from there. The young men asked Macarius: – What kind of handicraft do monks do? “They weave baskets,” answered the monk. And taking date branches, he began to weave a rope, saying: “This is what baskets are made from.” Do the same and give them to the church guards when they are ready. They will bring you bread and salt for this. And the monk left them alone. The young men began to patiently fulfill everything that the Monk Macarius commanded them, and did not come to him for three years. Remembering them, the monk thought: “What are these two young men doing and why don’t they come to me to reveal their thoughts? Many come from far away, and these live close, but do not come to me.” This also happened because those young men did not go anywhere, only to church (where they stood in silence) to partake of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ. The monk prayed to God for a whole week, without eating food at all; he asked the Lord to reveal to him the exploits of the two brothers. After a week, the Monk Macarius went to them, wanting to see how they lived. When he arrived and knocked on the door of their cell, they opened it for him and, seeing the monk, bowed to him to the ground. And the monk, having prayed, sat down. The elder gave a sign to the younger, and he left the cell, and he himself sat down and began to weave a basket, without uttering a word. At nine o'clock in the afternoon, the younger one came knocking and, having prepared some boiled food, offered a meal, putting three slices of bread, and he himself stood silently. “Come,” said the monk, “and let us taste the bread.” And they ate, thanking the Lord. Then the younger one brought water and they drank. When evening came, the monks asked the monk: - Father! Will you leave here? Then they laid matting for the monk in one corner of the cell, and in the other they also lay down on matting. Night has fallen. The Monk Macarius stood up and began to pray to God that He would reveal to him the virtue of the young men. At midnight, the roof of the cell suddenly opened and a strong light shone. But those two brothers did not see the world; Thinking that the monk was sleeping, the elder pushed the younger, and, getting up, they both girded themselves and, raising their hands to heaven, secretly prayed. The monk saw many demons who, like flies, surrounded his younger brother, and some of the demons wanted to sit on his lips, others on his eyes. But the Angel of the Lord appeared with a fiery sword in his hands, with which he protected him, driving away the demons from him. The demons did not even dare to approach their elder brother. By morning both brothers lay down and fell asleep again. The next morning the Monk Macarius pretended as if he had just woken up. And they all stood up. The elder brother asked the monk: - Father! Do you want us to start reading the twelve psalms? “I wish,” answered the monk. First, the younger brother began to sing, and after each verse, a kind of fiery candle came out of his mouth and rose into the sky. Then the eldest began to sing; Fire came out of his mouth like a long rope and reached to the sky. After finishing the morning rule, the monk wished to retire to his home. When he left, he said to the brothers: – Pray for me, brothers. In response to his words, they bowed to him to the ground in silence; and the monk left them. Thus, the Monk Macarius learned that the elder brother had already achieved complete perfection in virtues, and that the enemy, the devil, was still fighting with the younger brother. A short time after the visit of the brothers by the Monk Macarius, the elder brother reposed in the Lord, and three days after his death the younger brother also reposed. When later any of the honest fathers came to the monk, he brought them to the cell of those two brothers and said: “Let’s go, let’s look at the place where the great servants of Christ labored.” Once, when the Monk Macarius was praying, there was a voice to him that said: - Macarius! You have not yet achieved such perfection in a virtuous life as two women living together in the nearest city. Having received such a revelation, the monk took his staff and went to that city. Having found the house where the said women lived, Macarius knocked on the door. Immediately one of those women came out to answer the knock and, seeing the monk, with great joy received him into her home. Calling both women to him, the monk said to them: “For your sake, I took upon myself such a great feat, coming here from the distant desert, for I want to know your good deeds, which I ask you to tell me about, without hiding anything. “Believe us, honest father,” the women answered, “that last night we shared our bed with our husbands: what virtues do you want to find in us?” But the monk insisted that they tell him their way of life. Then, convinced by him, the women said: “We weren’t related to each other before, but then we married two brothers, and for fifteen years now we’ve all been living together, in the same house; throughout our life together we did not say a single malicious or bad word to each other and never quarreled with each other. But until now they have lived in peace and harmony among themselves and recently unanimously decided to leave their carnal spouses and retire to the host of holy virgins serving God. But we cannot beg our husbands to let us go, although we begged them about it with great persistence and many tears. Having not received the desired permission, 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, nor a married woman, nor a monk, nor a layman, but a free intention, accepting it as the very thing, and gives the voluntary will of every person the grace of the Holy Spirit, acting in a person and governing the life of everyone who wants to be saved. In the days of the life of this venerable Macarius of Egypt, another saint, Macarius of Alexandria, shone with a virtuous life in the same deserted places where Macarius of Egypt lived. He was a presbyter in a monastery called Cell 741. This area was located in the desert between Nitria and the monastery. This blessed Macarius of Alexandria often came to the Monk Macarius of Egypt, and many times they walked together through the desert, for they had great love for each other. When the wicked emperor Valens the Arian 742 reigned, he initiated a very cruel persecution of the Orthodox. By royal order, Lucius, the Arian bishop 743, arrived in Alexandria with a large army, who overthrew the Orthodox bishop, Blessed Peter, successor of St. Athanasius the Great, from the episcopal see. In addition, Bishop Lucius sent soldiers into the desert to capture and send into exile all the holy desert fathers. Both Saint Macarius were among the first to be captured. The soldiers took them at night and, putting them on a ship, took them to one remote island, the inhabitants of which did not know the true God, but worshiped idols. One of the idol priests who were on that island had a daughter possessed by a demon. Sensing the arrival of the saints along with other fathers on the island, this girl ran towards them, loudly calling: – Why did you come here? After all, this island is our long-time home. The monks, having prayed, cast out the demon from the girl, and she became completely healthy. Seeing this, her father, the idol priest, immediately believed in Christ and received holy baptism. Also, all the inhabitants of that island turned to Christ and converted their pagan temple into a Christian church. Having learned about what had happened, the wicked Bishop Lucius was greatly ashamed that he had expelled such great fathers from their monasteries. Therefore, he secretly sent for the blessed Macarii and all the holy fathers who were with them to be returned to their former habitats. Thus, the Monk Macarius of Egypt returned again to the monastery desert, and the Monk Macarius of Alexandria to the above-mentioned place of Cells; also other honest fathers returned to their monasteries. Meanwhile, many people came to the Monk Macarius of Egypt from everywhere: some for spiritual benefit, to receive instructions from him, others for healing from their ailments, and a great multitude of such sick people flocked to him. Therefore, there was a need to build a hotel where wanderers and the sick could find shelter. This is what St. Macarius arranged. Every day he had the custom of healing one sick person, anointing him with holy oil and sending him home completely healthy. This is what the monk did, having the wise goal that other sick people, who were not immediately healed by him, would live with him for some time and thereby receive healing not only of the body, but also of the soul, listening at that time to his divinely inspired teachings. The monk appointed one of the monks to serve at the hotel. This monk, troubled by the demon, gave in to the passion of covetousness, to satisfy which he began to withhold little of what was allocated to support the poor. The Monk Macarius found out about this and, calling the monk to him, gave him instructions, saying: - Brother John! Listen to me and accept my instruction, which may serve you well. Now you are being tempted by the spirit of love of money - for this has been revealed to me - and I know that if you accept my instruction and stop acting sinfully, you will end your days in the fear of God, and you will succeed in good deeds, and in this place you will be glorified, “and no plague will come near your dwelling” (Ps. 90:10). If you do not listen to me and do not stop sinning, then you will suffer the fate of Gehazi, whose passion you suffer (2 Kings 6:15-16, 20-27). But John did not listen to the monk and did not stop doing his evil deed. Fifteen or twenty years after the blessed death of the Monk Macarius, during which the said monk continued to work for Judas, who had imposed the noose of love of money on him, appropriating for himself part of the allowance assigned for the poor, suddenly his whole body was struck by leprosy, and he died, not only destroying the property he had sinfully collected, but also his soul. One day the Monk Macarius went from the monastery to Mount Nitria with one of his disciples. When they were already approaching the mountain, the monk said to his disciple: - Walk a little ahead of me. The disciple went ahead of the monk and met a pagan priest hastily walking towards him and carrying a large log. Seeing him, the monk shouted: – Do you hear, do you hear, you demon! Where are you going? The priest stopped and severely beat the monk, so that he barely survived. Grabbing the thrown log, the priest ran away. A little later he met the Monk Macarius, who said to him: - Save yourself, hard worker, save yourself. Surprised by these words of the monk, the priest stopped and asked him: “What good have you seen in me that you greet me with such words?” “I see that you are working,” answered the monk. “I was touched, Father, by your words, for through this I see that you are a man of God.” Here in front of 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, hugging 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 lay beaten by the priest and found him barely alive. Taking it, they brought it to the church located on Mount Nitria. The fathers living there, seeing the pagan priest together with the Monk Macarius, were very amazed. Then, having baptized him, they made him a monk, and for his sake many pagans converted to Christianity. Abba Macarius gave the following instruction on this occasion: “An evil word,” he said, “makes the good evil, but a good word makes the evil good.” One day the Monk Macarius came to the monastery of Abba Pamva. Here the elders asked the monk: - Say, father, a word for the edification of the brethren. Agreeing to their request, Macarius began to say this: - Forgive me, for I am a bad monk; but I saw monks. So, one day I was sitting in the monastery in my cell, and the thought came to me to go into the inner desert to see what was there. For five years I struggled with this thought, thinking that it was demons tempting me. But when, after five years, the same thought haunted me, I decided to go into the inner desert. Arriving there, I found a huge swamp, in the middle of which I saw an island. At this time, the desert animals came to drink water. Among the animals I saw two naked people, and my whole body trembled, for I thought that I was seeing disembodied spirits. Seeing that I was very frightened, these people said to me: – Don’t be afraid, for we are people just like you. -Where did you come to this desert from? “We are from Kinovia,” they answered, “after consulting with each other, we decided to come here.” And now it’s been thirty years since we left the monastery. One of us is Egyptian, the other is Libyan. Then they asked me: – What situation is the world in now? Are the rivers still filling their streams? Does the earth abound in its usual fruits? I answered them: “Yes.” Then he asked them again: - How can I become a monk? – If a person does not renounce everything that is in the world, he cannot be a monk. - I am weak, and therefore I cannot be like you. “If you cannot be like us,” they said, “then sit in your cell and lament your sins.” – When winter comes, do you suffer from severe cold? Likewise, when a very hot summer comes, are your bodies not scorched by the heat? “The Lord God has given us such bodies that we do not suffer from frost in winter, nor from heat in summer. “That’s why I told you, brothers,” the Monk Macarius finished his speech, “that I have not yet become a monk, but I have seen monks.” Once the monk Macarius was asked by the monastery fathers how he achieved the fact that his body always remained thin? For not only when he fasts, but even when he eats food, his body always remains thin. The Monk Macarius gave the following answer to those who questioned him: “Just as a poker, which is used to turn burning wood and brushwood in a stove, is always scorched by fire, so in a person who always directs his mind to the Lord and always remembers the terrible torment in the fire of Gehenna, this fear not only consumes the body, but also dries up the bones. Then the brethren asked the monk again: - Tell us, father, how should we pray? The monk gave them the following instruction: – Prayer does not require a lot of verbiage, but you need to raise your hands to the mountain and say: “Lord! As You wish and as You Yourself know, have mercy on me.” If the enemy raises a sinful war in the soul, one should only 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 benefit of the soul. “Run away from people,” the Monk Macarius answered him. – What does it mean to run from people? - Abba Isaiah asked then. - Sit in your cell and lament your sins. The monk said to his disciple Paphnutius 744: “Don’t offend anyone, don’t slander anyone, by doing this you will be saved.” In addition, the monk also gave the following instruction: – Do not spend the night in the cell of a brother who has a bad reputation. Another monk also came to the monk and asked him: “Abba, what should I do to save myself?” “Go to the cemetery and curse the dead,” the monk answered him. The monk went to the cemetery and, as the monk told him, scolded the dead there, broke their tombs with stones and, returning, told the monk about everything. The monk asked him: – Did the dead tell you anything? “No, they didn’t say anything,” answered the monk. Then the monk said: - Go again, and now praise them. The monk went and began to please the dead with various praises: “Apostles, saints and righteous people,” he said. Then, coming to the monk again, he told him that he had praised the dead. “And now the dead didn’t answer you?” - asked the reverend. “No, they didn’t answer,” he said. Then the monk gave him the following instruction: “You see,” he said, “that neither when you scolded the dead did they answer you anything, and not when you pleased them with praise did they answer you anything.” So you, if you want to be saved, be like a dead man: do not be angry when you are dishonored, do not be arrogant when you are praised. By acting like these dead men, you will be saved. The brethren also told the following about the Monk Macarius. If anyone from the brethren came to him, as to a holy and great man, the monk did not say anything to him. If some monk, not at all respecting the monk, said to him: - Ava! When you were a camel driver and took saltpeter without permission and sold it, did your elders not beat you then? And when someone talked to the monk in this way, he happily talked with him and willingly answered all his questions. One day, the elders who lived on Mount Nitria sent the monk Macarius to the monastery with the following request: - Father! In order not to bother the whole multitude of brothers by coming to you, you yourself, before you go to the Lord, come to us. The monk fulfilled their request and came to Mount Nitria. Having learned about his coming, all the monks living there gathered to him, and the elders earnestly asked him to say something for the edification of the brethren. The monk, tearing up, began to say this: - Brothers! Let us cry and let tears flow from our eyes, cleansing us before we cross over to where the tears will burn our bodies in agony. Listening to the saint’s instructions, everyone shed tears and, falling on their faces, asked him: - Father! Pray to the Lord for us. One day, the Monk Macarius, while he was still living in Egypt, found a thief in his cell, stealing the things that were in it. Outside, near the cell, a donkey was tied, onto which the thief was placing stolen things. The monk, seeing this, did not let the thief know that he was a householder, but seemed to be a stranger. And not only did he not prevent the thief, but he even began to help him take things and put them on the donkey. Then he let him go in peace, thinking to himself: “We didn’t bring anything with us into this world, so it’s clear that 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! The fathers said about this Venerable Macarius that he became, as it were, an earthly god, for, just as God, although he sees the whole world, does not punish sinners, so the Monk Macarius covered the human infirmities that he saw. And he was the one who saw, as if they did not see, and he who heard, as if they did not hear. It happened that one of the disciples of the Monk Macarius went to the city to sell handicrafts: baskets and matting. A harlot met him in the city, who, seeing a handsome young man, was seduced and called him to her, as if wanting to buy the baskets he was selling. The monk, not understanding her crafty plan, entered her house. Taking one of the baskets, the woman began to ask the monk at what price he wanted to sell it. But soon she began to tell him adulterous speeches, trying to seduce him into sin, just as in ancient times the Egyptian woman tried to seduce the chaste Joseph. The monk, seeing himself in great trouble, for he was already close to sin, fixed his mind on grief and began to pray: - Christ the King! Thou who delivered Thy prophet from the belly of the whale, deliver me also from this sin and spiritual death through the prayers of Thy saint, my father Macarius. He was immediately caught up by an invisible hand, like the prophet Habakkuk once was by an angel, and was placed in the middle of his cell. There he saw the Monk Macarius, who diligently prayed to God for him, so that He would deliver his disciple from the misfortune that had come upon him, for the monk found out what had happened to the monk. With his mental eyes he saw distant things as clearly as close ones. Seeing his disciple, the monk said: - Child! Let us give thanks to God the Lover of Mankind for the fact that He delivered you from the mouth of the serpent and from the gates of hell, snatching you with His Divine power from the fall and bringing you to your cell, just as He once brought His apostle Philip to Azoth (Acts 8:39). The prayer of St. Macarius had such power with God. Another time, the monk himself was caught up in the air and was transported across a great distance to where he needed to go. He was carrying baskets from the monastery and, tired from the long journey, sat down to rest. At the same time, he prayed to the Lord: - God! You know that I am exhausted. Immediately the monk found himself near the river where he needed to go. It is now time to tell about the blessed death of this reverend father, about which Serapion, the writer of his life, narrates this way. Finally, it was necessary for the Monk Macarius, as a mortal man, to pay tribute to death, for he had already reached old age, being ninety-seven years old. The time of death did not remain unknown to the monk. Shortly before his death, two handsome men appeared to him in a vision and said: One of those who appeared was the Monk Anthony, the mentor and leader of the desert dwellers, and the other was the Monk Pachomius, the founder of the common monastic life. Then those who appeared said to Macarius: “The Lord Jesus Christ sent us to announce to you your joyful death.” On the ninth day after this day you will depart into eternal life. On that day, we will come to you again and joyfully take you with us, so that together with us you may appear before the Sovereign Throne and enjoy immortal life. Having then said: “Peace be with you,” the saints became invisible to Macarius. Then the Divine Macarius called his disciples and told them: - Children! Now the time has come for my departure from here, and I hand you over to the goodness of God. So, preserve the fatherly statutes and traditions of the fasters. In addition, to some of whom the monk knew that they were more perfect than others in a virtuous life, he entrusted the care of those newly entering monasticism, who were infants in their spiritual age. Having then laid his hands on his disciples, having sufficiently taught them and prayed for them, the monk began to prepare for his death. When the ninth day came from the time of the appearance of the Monks Anthony and Pachomius, a Cherub with many Angels appeared to the Monk Macarius and said to him: - Arise, follower of the Lord, and move with us into eternal life. Lift your eyes around and see how many disembodied faces of saints have been sent by the Almighty to lead you to Him. Look: here is the apostolic council, here is a host of prophets, here are many martyrs, the face of saints, fasters, saints and righteous people. Now give me your soul, which I was commanded by God to protect during its earthly life; freed from the bonds of the flesh, like some great treasure, I will accept her with honor and, having gone through opposing forces, I will present her to the Divine Sovereign Throne, so that she will eternally rejoice with all the saints who have stood before the throne of God from the beginning of the world. After these words from Cherubim, blessed Macarius said goodbye to everyone who was with him and prayed to God for them; then lifting up his eyes and stretching out his hands to the mountain, he said: – Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit! And with these words he gave up his blessed soul to the Lord, leaving his disciples in deep sorrow for him. The description of the life of the Monk Serapion 745 adds the following that he heard from the Monk Paphnutius, one of the disciples of the Monk Macarius. When the holy soul of Macarius was taken by the Cherub and ascended into heaven, some of the fathers saw with their mental eyes that the air demons stood in the distance and screamed: - What glory have you been awarded, Macarius! “I’m afraid, because I don’t know anything good that I would do.” Then those of the demons who were even higher along the path of the following soul of Macarius screamed: “You really escaped our hands, Macarius!” - No, but we still need to avoid it. And when the monk was already at the gates of heaven, the demons shouted with a strong cry: Then Macarius answered the demons in a loud voice: - Yes! Protected by the power of my Christ, I escaped your wiles. Such is the life, death and transition to eternal life of our venerable father Macarius 746. 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. In the house of the Lord of abstinence, truly place you, like a charmless star, guiding the ends, Father of fathers, Reverend Macarius. Having ended your blessed life with the faces of martyrdom, you worthily settled in the land of the meek, God-bearing Macarius, and having inhabited the desert like a city, you received grace from the God of miracles: in the same way we honor you. The Monk Macarius is called “Egyptian” in contrast to another ascetic of the same name and contemporary to him, who was born and spent most of his life in the city of Alexandria, and is therefore called “Alexandrian” or “urban”. For his holiness and wisdom, Macarius of Egypt is called “The Great.” He was born around 301. Ptinapor or Pezhizhvir is a village located on the western bank of the Nile, within the current Egyptian province of Menuf or Menufie, in the southern part of the Nile Valley, in the so-called Lower Egypt. Currently, only ruins remain of it. The Nitrian Desert, which Blessed Jerome calls “the city of God” because of the holiness of the desert dwellers who lived in it, was a vast desert bordering Libya and Ethiopia. It got its name from the neighboring mountain, where there was a lot of nitrate or saltpeter in the lakes. Paran is an empty and mountainous country between Palestine, Egypt, Idumia and the Sinai Peninsula. The hermitage desert was located 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 for Egyptian hermits, famous for the ascetic exploits of the monks who took refuge in it. As this is expressed in the service to St. Macarius (see Menaion of the Month - Ikos according to the 6th song of the canon). The stage is equal to 87 1/2 our fathoms. Rufinus - presbyter of Aquileia - born around 345, died in 410 - church writer. From his works the following are known: “History of Monasticism”, “History of the Church”, “Apologies of St. Jerome” (2 books). Palladius of Elenopolis (368–430), a disciple of the Monk Dorotheus, a native of Gaul, arrived in Alexandria in 388, from where he later retired to the nearby desert, where the venerable ascetic labored. Dorofei, and then moved to Bethlehem. In 390 he was elected bishop of Elenopolis, in Bithynia, in Asia Minor. After that, Emperor Arcadius exiled him as a supporter of St. John Chrysostom to Upper Egypt, from where in 408 he was moved to Antinous, and in 412 he was returned to his see in Elenopolis. At the request of the Cappadocian prefect Laus, in 420 he compiled a collection of biographies of saints and legends about them, which he named “Lavsaik” in his honor. In view of the edifying and instructive nature of this collection, the church charter requires readings from it at the matins of the Holy Pentecost. Liter – pound, Byzantine unit of weight equal to 72 spools. Here, of course, is the Kelii desert, which is located about 7 versts to the southeast from Mount Nitria. It was a vast desert in which the hermits' cells were scattered, at such a distance that it was impossible to see or hear each other. Lovers of solitude from Mount Nitria usually retired to the desert of Kelia after they had already established themselves in monastic life. Here they spent a more silent life, and their cells were so far from each other that neither the eyes nor the ears entertained the close cohabitation of the other brethren. It was a rule among the monks not to go alone into another’s cell, so as not to disturb the silence. Only on Saturdays and Sundays did they gather in church for general worship. The Hermitage of Cells was ruled by presbyters, among whom the Monk Macarius of Alexandria was especially famous. Emperor Valens reigned from 364 to 378. The Arian Lucius took the patriarchal see of Alexandria after Saint Athanasius the Great. Paphnutius presbyter; he shared with the Monk Macarius the burden of managing the skete monks. Serapion is the Bishop of Tmuite (in Lower Egypt), one of the remarkable church figures of the early 4th century. He compiled the “Monastic Rules”. Also known are his “letters to the monks”, “the life of St. Macarius of Egypt” (in Coptic) and some. Friend. Serapion was a zealous fighter for Orthodoxy, as a result of which he was even subjected to exile. The Monk Macarius died around 391. The place of the exploits of the Monk Macarius is still called the Macarius desert and there is a monastery named after him in it. The relics of the saint are located in the city of Amalfi in Italy. – Fifty words, seven instructions and two epistles are the precious inheritance of the experienced wisdom of the Monk Macarius. The subject of the conversations and instructions of the Monk Macarius is the inner spiritual life and mainly in the form in which it is accomplished on the path of contemplative solitude. Despite the deep and obscure subject, the conversations and instructions of the experienced teacher are clear and intelligible: the spiritual, so little known to some of us, in the mouth of Saint Macarius is close to the heart and mind. What would be dark in spiritual sublimity, the Monk Macarius approaches understanding with comparisons and images, which are always simple and all the more amazing. You might be interested in: