Авва Макарий Великий

1. Abba Macarius the Great used to say to the monastery brethren when he dissolved their meeting: “Run away, brothers.” One of the elders told him: “Father! where can we run beyond this desert? Then Macarius put his finger on his lips and said: “Run away from this one.” Having said this, he went into the cell, and, having closed the doors, remained alone 646. 2. He said: “Perfection is achieved when we do not condemn anyone, lower than in the slightest, but condemn only ourselves, and when we endure annoyances (insults).” 3. He said: “If you want to be saved, then be dead, not accepting either human dishonor or honor (that is, not sympathizing with them and not being touched by them) like the dead, and you will be able to be saved” 647. 4. They said about Abba Macarius that he was like the God of the earth: because just as God covers the world, so he covered the shortcomings of the brethren, seeing as if not seeing, and hearing as if not hearing 648. 5. Abba Macarius said: “A true monk is one who conquers himself in everything. If, while correcting your neighbor, you move towards anger, then you are fulfilling your passion. To save one’s neighbor one must not destroy oneself” 649. 6. The fathers of Mount Nitria sent to the great father Macarius in Skete (the desert Skete was adjacent to the deserted mountain of Nitria) with the following invitation: “Instead of all the monastic population of the mountain coming up to you, we beg you to come to us, so that we can see you before you go to the Lord.” When Macarius came to the mountain, the entire large brotherhood flocked to him. The elders asked him to speak an edifying word to the brethren. He shed tears and said to them: “Brothers! Let your eyes shed tears before you depart to where our tears will burn our bodies.” Everyone began to cry and, falling on their faces, said: “Father, pray for us” 650. 7. Abba Macarius the Great found in the deep desert two hermits who had achieved Christian perfection and transcended nature, so that they did not even need clothing. He asked them: “How can I be a true monk?” They answered: “If a person does not renounce everything that belongs to the world, then he cannot be a monk.” Saint Macarius told them: “I am weak, and I cannot live the kind of life that you do.” To this they answered: “If you are weak, then remain silent in your cell, mourning your sins.” 8. One day, when Saint Macarius was sitting in his cell, an Angel sent from God appeared to him and said: “Macarius! do not be afraid of attacks from invisible enemies, because our good Lord will not retreat from you and will not cease to support you. Take courage, strengthen yourself, bravely conquer the enemy and the authorities: but do not be proud of your work, so that Divine help does not leave you, so that you do not fall through a wondrous fall.” Blessed Macarius answered, shedding tears: “Why should I be proud when my soul, like a depraved harlot, feeds on the stench of unclean thoughts brought by demons” 651. The monk was brought into such deep humility by the deep self-conception that his clever work brought him. In himself, he saw the fall of man and his communication with demons. This spiritual vision of him is depicted with extraordinary clarity, fidelity and detail in his conversations. 9. The Divine Macarius, from the labors of fasting, from many and various battles, had his very body changed, which resembled a shadow 652. 10. One day, Abba Macarius, walking through the desert, found a human skull lying on the ground. When Abba touched the skull with the palm stick he had in his hand, the skull gave out a voice. The elder said to him: “Who are you?” The skull answered: “I was the priest of the idolaters who lived in this place, and you are Abba Macarius, who has within you the Holy Spirit of God, when, having mercy on those who are in eternal torment, you pray for them, they receive some consolation.” The elder asked: “What is this consolation?” The skull answered: “As far as the sky is from the earth, so much fire is under our feet and above our heads. We stand in the middle of the fire, and none of us is positioned so that we can see the face of our neighbor. When you pray for us, we begin to see a little of each other.” Then the elder, shedding tears, said: “Woe to the day on which a person was born, if such is the consolation in torment! To this the elder added: is there any torment worse than this? The skull answered: “Below us there is more torment.” The elder said: “Who is in it?” Skull: “We, who did not know God, are shown at least some mercy; but those who knew God and denied Him and did not do His will are below us.” After this conversation, the elder buried the skull 653. Here the rejection of activities according to the commandments of the Gospel is indicated as a renunciation of Christ. 11. The brother asked Abba Macarius to tell him the word of salvation. The elder said: “People must run away, stay in their cells, constantly cry about their sins, restrain their tongue and stomach: this is higher than all virtues” 654. 12. One day, Abba Macarius, going to Mount Nitria, accompanied by his disciple, ordered this disciple to walk slightly ahead of him. The student, having gone some distance ahead, met an idol priest, who was in a hurry somewhere, carrying a large piece of wood. The student exclaimed to him: “Where are you running, demon?” The priest, angry, beat him brutally, left him barely breathing, and again hastily continued on his way. Having walked a little, he met with Blessed Macarius, who greeted him like this: “Hello, hard worker, hello!” The priest, surprised, answered: “What good did you find in me to greet me?” The elder said: “I greeted you because I saw you working and carefully hurrying somewhere.” The priest responded to this: “From your greeting, I came into tenderness and realized that you are a great servant of God, on the contrary, another, I don’t know which, cursed monk, having met me, cursed me; That’s why I killed him.” With these words, he fell at the feet of Macarius, hugged them and exclaimed: “I will not leave you until you make me a monk.” They went together. Having reached the place where the beaten monk lay, they picked him up and carried him in their arms to the church, because he could not walk. The brothers of the mountain, seeing that the idol priest was walking along with blessed Macarius, were very surprised at this. The priest accepted Christianity, and then monasticism; Instructed by his example, many of the idolaters turned to Christianity. On this occasion, Abba Macarius said: “A proud and evil word directs good people to evil, but a humble and good word turns evil people to good” 655. Cassiani collat. XVI, cap. 1. You might be interested in: