|
Icons
of St. Macarius the Roman, Abbot
Feast:
Jan. 19 and Aug. 15
St.
Macarius was born in Rome, into a wealthy and renowned Italian family.
He received a superior education and a brilliant future lay before him.
But this is not what concerned him. This was the time of the
Reformation, a schism which shook Western Christendom; meanwhile, Rome
was drowning in luxury and licentiousness. This situation grieved the
youth who could think of nothing but how to save his soul. He sought
answers to his tormenting perplexities in the Holy Scriptures and
patristic writings. And the Lord indicated to him the way of
salvation--through the Eastern Orthodox Church. So, secretly, one
night, dressed as a pilgrim, a staff in his hand, the youth left his
native land. He gave away his money to the poor and became himself a
poor man, leaving behind his family and close ones.
His
journey to northern Russia, a land altogether foreign to him, was
difficult, but at last he reached Novgorod. The newcomer found the city
very much to his liking, with its numerous churches and monasteries,
the strict life of the monks and the patriarchal way of life. He
visited all its holy shrines and eventually came to the shores of the
river Svir, where St. Alexander had founded the Holy Trinity Monastery.
There he was warmly received. St. Alexander united the newcomer to the
Orthodox Church, accepted him into the brotherhood and, finally,
tonsured him, giving him the name Macarius.
The new
monk, however, longed for the eremitic life. He again made a pilgrimage
to Novgorod and then secluded himself on a small island on the marshy
banks of the river Lezna, an area surrounded by dense forest, located
some 45 miles from Novgorod and 53 miles from Petersburg. There he gave
himself to ceaseless prayer and monastic labors.
Such a
life could not have been easy for the native of sunny Italy: the
winters there were severe, the summers hot and humid, with clouds of
mosquitoes. The hermit nourished himself with forest berries, grasses
and roots. Bears came, and he would feed and pet them. Once there was a
knock on the door of his cell: some exhausted travelers had lost their
way. "If it weren't for your prayers, O man of God, we would never have
found your cell and would have perished in the marshes where we were
hunting!" "It was not my sinful prayers," replied the saint, "but God's
grace that led you here." He gave them to eat of his humble fare and,
after a brief Conversation, prayed with them and showed them a safe
route out of the marsh. The hunters looked upon the holy hermit as an
angel. They were struck by his humility and especially by his patient
endurance of the ascetic life.
In this
way St. Macarius became known. People began coming to him for counsel,
for blessing and prayer. He never denied anyone spiritual aid, but his
solitude was disturbed, and the glory was burdensome. He went deeper
into the forest and, on the banks of the same river, built himself
another cell. Here, however, God's will manifest itself clear ly. Above
his new cell appeared sometimes a fiery pillar, sometimes a fragrant
cloud, rising toward heaven. And people again discovered his
whereabouts. Many began asking his blessing to settle there with him.
"May God's will be done," said the saint. A church was built, dedicated
to the Dormition of the Mother of God, and cells for the brethren.
Archbishop Macarius of
Novgorod ordained the Saint and, about the year 1540, appointed him
abbot of the new monastery. St. Macarius was granted the blessed gifts
of clairvoyance and wonderworking. After his repose he frequently
appeared in visions to sick people, blessed them to drink water from
the spring he had dug, and they were healed.
Before he died, St. Macarius returned to his first skete and there, on
the feast of Dormition, August 15, 1550, he gave his soul to the Lord.
The brethren buried him near the Dormition church and built another,
dedicated to St. Sabbatius of Solovki. In his testament, St. Macarius
enjoined the monks to adhere strictly to the monastic rule, to spread
the Gospel and take care for the spiritual enlightenment and the needs
of the local people. His testament was fulfilled.
St. Macarius' Hermitage was always poor and small in number. Over the
years it suffered many misfortunes and by the mid-19th century there
remained little but ruins. Local inhabitants, however, piously recalled
its holy founder. They continued to take holy water from the spring
and, on the days of his commemoration, gathered by the thousand.
Finally, in 1894, the hermitage was restored by a missionary abbot,
Arsenius, and became a missionary monastery with a strict Athonite
typicon. It belonged to those numerous but little-known, small
monasteries which had such a great influence on their surrounding
populations. (Jordanville, 1984)
Top Icon: 18th century Greek
Icon of St. Macarius the Roman.
Next Icon: 19th c.
Russian.
Last
Icon: Iconic line drawing of St. Macarius. This may be from a St.
Herman Calendar.
|
