Macarius of Alexandria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Monk, Ascetic | |
| Born | c. 300 Egypt |
| Died | 395 Egypt |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodoxy |
| Feast | 19 January (Eastern Orthodox andRoman Catholic Church)1 May (=6 Pashons, 111 A.M.) (Coptic Orthodox) |
Saint Macarius of Alexandria (Greek: Μακάριος; died 395)[1] was amonk in theNitrian Desert. He was a slightly younger contemporary ofMacarius of Egypt, and is thus also known asMacarius the Younger.[2]
Macarius was born about the year 300 inAlexandria. He was a merchant selling confections[3] until the age of 40, when he was baptized and went off into the desert. After several years of ascetic life, he was ordained apresbyter and appointed prior of amonastery 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.[4]
About the year 335, Macarius of Alexandria retired to live alone as a recluse in el-Natroun desert.[2] Many miracles were ascribed to him. He presided over five thousandNitric 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 [the 40-day Great Lent] neither ate bread nor drank water.[4] No one saw him eating or sitting down. He was making baskets of palm leaves while he was standing. The monks said toSaint 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.[2] 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 byEmperor Valens, along withMacarius of Egypt to an island,[4] which they subsequentlyChristianized.
According toEastern Orthodox tradition, Macarius of Alexandria died on 2 January 395. According to theCoptic 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 andSozomen also mention a Macarius the Younger ofLower Egypt, who lived in a cell for more than twenty three years to atone for a murder which he had committed.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Macarius the Younger".New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
