19-го числа

Venerable Macarius of Egypt St. Rev. Macarius of Egypt The Monk Macarius, an Egyptian by birth, was a villager in the world, a shepherd in childhood and youth, and for the rest of his life, for about 60 years, he labored in the desert and laid the foundation for monasticism in the Skete desert 205 . The place of his exploits is still called the Makaria desert, and in it there is a monastery named after him. In the very first years of his life in the desert, St. Macarius already became famous for his strict exploits, which attracted many pious people to him, who sought to imitate his example. Serving them as a wonderful leader, he was, in the 40th year of his life, ordained to the rank of presbyter in order to perform Divine service for his many disciples, for whom he arranged a monastic life and built a holy church. churches. Soon he was awarded by God various revelations and the gift of great miracles. Among the revelations that were to him, what was remarkable was the one that pointed him to two women living in the world as his most perfect in virtue. Macarius deliberately went to the city to learn from these women, and learned that they were saved not through some extraordinary feats, but in the simplest and most accessible way. These were two women, the wives of two siblings, who always lived together in peace and harmony and diligently fulfilled all their family responsibilities. They had a disposition towards monastic life, but they preferred to live at home at the will of their husbands. They never uttered not only idle, but even simply superfluous words and strictly observed themselves in fulfilling all the commandments of God. Another time the great desert dweller had to leave his desert. This was during the reign of Valens, when Bishop Lucius, installed by the Arians in place of Peter, the successor of Athanasius of Alexandria, forced the hermits to accept Arianism by armed force. Many of them then died as martyrs, and Macarius and some others were imprisoned on one of the Egyptian islands. Here he appeared as an educator of the pagans, and soon all the pagans living on the island accepted the Christian faith. Then Bishop Lucius freed him from captivity, and Macarius returned to his beloved desert, where he died peacefully around 391, in the 90th year of his life. His remains are located in Amalfi, Italy. From the biography of St. Macarius is not seen to have received an education, however, after him there remained 50 words, 7 instructions and 2 messages in Greek. languages, existing in translations in Syriac and Arabic. They do not contain learned debates about dogmas, but wise and at the same time simple conversations about the inner spiritual life, serving as an intelligible solution to the questions necessary for every soul. “The Lord knows your mind,” writes Macarius, “your thoughts and movements of thoughts; watches how you seek Him, whether with all your soul, or with laziness, or with negligence; and when he sees your zeal for seeking Him, then He will appear and reveal Himself to you and give His help.” “Woe to the soul if it remains only to itself, trusts only in its own works and has no communion with the Spirit of God. She dies without being granted eternal, Divine life.” “Human nature, being unable on its own to produce the perfect fruits of virtue, has a need for the spiritual agent of our souls - the Spirit of Christ.” “Although the baby cannot do anything and cannot come to his mother on his own, he moves and cries, looking for his mother. His mother takes pity on him and is glad that he is looking for her with effort; she herself comes up to him, prompted by love for the child, takes him in her arms, presses him to her chest and feeds him with great tenderness. This is what the loving God does with those who come to Him and seek His soul.” Question: How should we pray? - Rev. Macarius allows this: “Say: Lord, as You please and as You know, have mercy on me! “And the Lord, knowing what you need, will help you.” St. Macarius also composed many prayers; among other things, a prayer to the Guardian Angel: “Holy Angel, stand before my accursed soul...”. Venerable Macarius of Alexandria (Roman) St. Rev. Macarius of Alexandria Near the Skete hermitage, where St. Macarius of Egypt asceticised, lived his friend and associate, also Macarius, at his birthplace of Alexandria. Until the age of 40, he was a pagan, but after that he accepted Christ. faith, St. baptism and retired to the Kelii desert (between Skete and Nitria). Appointed presbyter, he became the leader of the hermits who labored here in silence, each separately in his own cell. He also had his cell in different places, but none of them had any windows or doors, and they were so cramped that it was impossible to stretch one’s legs in them, with the exception of the spacious cell where he received visitors. He led the monks with wisdom and meekness, reinforcing the instructions with the example of his own high life. He became famous for his miraculous power and died a hundred years old, 5 years after the repose of St. Macarius of Egypt. Macarius of Alexandria was a disciple of St. Anthony the Great, and of his students, St. Paphnutius became famous for the holiness of his life. Rev. Arseny of Kerkyra (Kortsirsky) Arsenius, Archbishop of Cortsira (now the island of Corfu), originally from Bithynia, lived at the end of the 9th and in the first half of the 10th century; He was famous for his wisdom, teaching and repeated intercession for the innocent before the authorities. Died in 959; His incorruptible relics rest in the cathedral church, where is the Gospel written by his hand. He brought the “rite of the sacrament of Anointing” into its current composition. The Holy Martyr Euphrasia the Virgin, who suffered cruelly for her profession of faith in Nicomedia, during the Maximian persecution, in 303, and was finally betrayed into the power of a pagan, resorted to honest deception in order to get rid of his wild tyranny: she called herself a sorceress, possessing a spell (in the form of some kind of plant), against which all weapons were supposedly powerless, and as proof of her words she offered a superstitious pagan to strike her on the neck, surrounded by a mysterious plant... Not comprehending such fearlessness before the death of a young Christian woman and hastening with curiosity to test the effect of such an important potion, the pagan struck Euphrasia with a sword, and thus the pure virgin freed herself from the shameful power of a rude barbarian over her... Memory of Rev. Macarius of Pechersk St. Rev. Macarius Pechersky The relics of St. Macarius rests in Anthony's Cave. But his exploits are unknown; it is not shown in Kalnofoisky 206 either † Repose of Blessed Theodore the Fool-for-Christ Blessed Theodore 207 was born in Novgorod and in his youth was taught to read books. He began to love piety early - he ate nothing on Wednesdays and Fridays, and constantly visited the church of God. Following the example of the great holy fools of the East, he chose the path of foolishness for his salvation. Having no permanent home for himself anywhere, he walked barefoot and half-naked in the cold; everything that he received from those who loved God was distributed to the poor, and he himself suffered need of everything; the flighty youth laughed at him, insulting him with words and beatings; but he bore everything cheerfully. When others fell into deep sleep, Theodore walked around the churches of the city and prayed. This is how his life went! His contemporary was Blessed Nikolai Kachanov, who lived on the Sofia side, while Theodore walked on the Torgovaya. When Blessed Theodore happened to cross the Volkhov Bridge to the Sofia side, Blessed Nicholas drove him to Torgovaya; Theodore did the same when he found Nicholas on the Trade Side. The blessed ones, understanding each other and themselves, with their visible enmity reminded the Novgorodians of their civil strife, which was so often bloody and for the most empty pretexts. It happened that blessed Theodore said out loud: “Take care of the bread,” and famine set in. At other times he said: “It will be clean here, it will be good to sow turnips,” and the fire devastated the streets of the Trade Side. Before his death, he said to those who met him: “farewell; I'm going far." He asked to be buried near the market place and died on January 19, 1392. Subsequently, a chapel was built over his tomb, and here the sick received healings. In the new, stone chapel, at the Church of the Victorious George on Lubyanitsa, built back in 1181, and now the relics of the blessed one. There is a special (printed) service for him, according to which his memory is honored on January 19 and a prayer service is performed at his relics 208. In our time, the path is blessed. Theodora is a path overgrown with grass. But let this path, the path of complete renunciation of earthly things, be too high. Let the merchant remain a merchant, the official an official, the farmer a farmer, as long as they live without forgetting the Lord, without offending His holy commandments. What is our age busy with? They only worry about how to find new means of subsistence, and when they find them, they squander them madly; people are in a frenzy of greed for the comforts of earthly life. “By the sweat of your face you will eat your bread,” this is God’s definition of sinful man. But it is necessary that your work for the earth is not lost or to the detriment of your eternity. Is it possible that for you, as for the pagan, both gods and life are only on earth? Work, work, but always before the eyes of God, the omniscient and strict Judge in truth. Do not work for the land and take away neither your time nor your soul from the work of serving the Lord. Deal with earthly needs, but not otherwise than for the glory of God. Otherwise, what awaits you if you neglect the Lord of heaven and earth? "God! who can dwell in Your tabernacle? who can dwell on Your holy mountain? He who walks uprightly does what is right and speaks the truth from his heart; - whoever does not slander with his tongue does not harm another; - who swears to his neighbor and does not change; who does not give his money at interest and does not accept gifts against the innocent” (Ps. 14:1-5). “Riches are useless in the day of wrath, but righteousness saves from death” (Proverbs 11:4). “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age” (Titus 2:11-12). “The skete desert is part of the Nitrian desert, now called the Nitrova valley. This is a sandy sea, where you can walk only as directed by the stars. It is located on the borders of Libya and Egypt, at a five-hour distance from Mount Nitria, 13 hours southwest of Alexandria” (Putesh. Norova, 1, 84, 85). Shrines of Kyiv, 55. Description. laurel 110, 292, 290. RKP. tales of blessed Theodora. Information about the monastery and churches, p. 415. M. 1853. Dictionary of Saints of St. Petersburg. 1836 Macarius of Antiquity 1, 200, 388.