Saint Macarius of Alexandria (died 395)
/ref> was a monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
in the Nitrian Desert
The Nitrian Desert is a desert region in northwestern Egypt, lying between Alexandria and Cairo west of the Nile Delta. It is known for its history of Christian monasticism."Nitrian Desert", in F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., ''The Oxford ...
. He was a slightly younger contemporary of Macarius of Egypt, and is thus also known as Macarius the Younger.
Life
Macarius was born about the year 300 in Alexandria. He was a merchant selling confections[Butler, Alban. "St. Macarius, of Alexandria, Anchoret", ''The Lives of the Saints''. 1866]
until the age of 40, when he was baptized and went off into the desert. After several years of ascetic life, he was ordained a presbyter and appointed prior of a monastery known as the "Kellii", or "cells" in the Egyptian desert, between the Nitria mountain and a skete in which monastic hermits lived in silence, each in his own cell.
[ Many miracles were ascribed to him. He presided over five thousand Nitric monks.
Having learned of the extremely strict rule for monastic life observed at the Tabbenesiot Monastery, whose prior was Venerable St. Pachomios the Great (+ 348), St. Macarius disguised himself in secular clothing, and over the course of the entire Quadragesima he 40-day Great Lentneither ate bread nor drank water.][ No one saw him eating or sitting down. He was making baskets of palm leaves while he was standing. The monks said to Saint Pachomius: "Cast out this man from here, for he is not human." A divine inspiration subsequently revealed Macarius' identity to him, and the monks rushed to receive his blessings.][ Having demonstrated humility and taught a lesson to all, St. Macarius returned to his own monastery.
At the age of 73 Macarius of Alexandria was exiled by Emperor Valens, along with Macarius of Egypt to an island,][ which they subsequently ]Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
.
According to Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
tradition, Macarius of Alexandria died on 2 January 395. According to the Coptic Orthodox tradition, he died on 1 May 395. ( 6 Pashons, 111 A.M.)
In addition to a monastic rule and three brief apothegms, a homily "On the End of the Souls of the Righteous and of Sinners" is ascribed to him, although excellent Vienna manuscripts assign the latter to a monk named Alexander. Palladius and Sozomen
Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church.
Family and home
He was born aro ...
also mention a Macarius the Younger of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
, who lived in a cell for more than twenty three years to atone for a murder which he had committed.
References
External links
Healy, Patrick. "Macarius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarius of Alexandria
4th-century births
395 deaths
Egyptian hermits
Saints from Roman Egypt
Egyptian Christian monks
4th-century Christian saints
Desert Fathers