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Our Holy Father Macarius the Great
c. 390
He was born around 300 in Egypt and in his youth was a camel driver. While still living in his village, he withdrew to a small cell to devote himself exclusively to ascesis and prayer. When the people there wanted to make him a priest, he fled to another village. There a young woman who was discovered to be pregnant falsely accused Macarius of being the father. Macarius was seized, reviled and beaten, but made no effort to defend himself; instead he took on more work in order to provide for the mother and her child. When his innocence was finally discovered, the townspeople came to ask his forgiveness; but he fled to the desert of Sketis (now called Wadi Natrun). He was then thirty years old, and for the rest of his life he dwelt in the desert.
His humility and detachment from earthly things were so great that once, when he discovered a thief stealing his few possessions, he helped the man load them onto his camel, even pointing out to him the few things he had missed. Once a demon spoke to him thus: “Everything you do, I do too: you fast, but I never eat; you keep vigil, but I never sleep; you only exceed me in one way: your humility. Because of this I am helpless against you.” The Saint said that the demons could be put in two categories: those who arouse passions such as anger, lust and greed; and others, much more dreadful, who deceive us by spiritual illusion, blasphemy and heresy.
Saint Macarius soon became known throughout Egypt, and many visitors came to his isolated home. He welcomed all with joy, judging no one and providing hospitality for all. His compassion extended to all, and he prayed even for the damned. Once he found the skull of a pagan priest, which addressed him, saying, “Each time you have pity on us who are in torment, immersed in fire and darkness, we receive a measure of comfort and are allowed to see the faces of our fellow sufferers.”
Saint Macarius became a disciple of St Anthony the Great, and in his turn became the spiritual Father of many who came to live near him in the desert. He is considered the founder of the ancient and venerable monastic community at Sketis. At the age of forty he was ordained a priest at the urging of St Anthony, so that he and his brethren would not have to walk the forty miles of desert to Nitria to go to church.
Knowing that he was soon to die, he visited his disciples one last time, saying to them with tears in his eyes, “Let us weep, brethren, so that our eyes flow ceaselessly with tears, before we go to where our tears will scald our bodies.” Soon thereafter he reposed. His relics now rest in the Coptic monastery that bears his name. The collection of fifty Spiritual Homilies attributed to St Macarius is a treasury of Orthodox spirituality.
Saint Mark Evgenikos, Metropolitan of Ephesus
Saint Mark Evgenikos (c. 1392 – 23 June 1444), also known as Mark of Ephesus, was a distinguished metropolitan bishop and one of the most celebrated theological defenders of Orthodox Christianity during the late Byzantine period. Born Manuel Eugenikos around 1392 in Constantinople, he received an excellent classical and theological education, studying philosophy and mathematics under such notable scholars as John Chortasmenos and the renowned mathematician Gemistus Pletho.
Mark rose to prominence as a hesychast theologian—one devoted to the mystical prayer tradition of the Orthodox Church. He was elevated to the position of Metropolitan of Ephesus and became one of the most important ecclesiastical and theological voices of his generation. In 1438, he was chosen as the delegate of the Patriarch of Alexandria at the Council of Ferrara–Florence (1438–1439), which was convened to negotiate a union between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
At the beginning of the council, Mark initially appeared favourable toward accepting union, but as the commission proceeded in its deliberations, he carefully examined the Western teachings. He became increasingly convinced that the theological positions of the Roman Church, particularly regarding the Filioque clause and papal supremacy, were fundamentally incompatible with Orthodox doctrine and the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Consequently, Mark became the sole Eastern bishop to refuse to sign the decrees of union, standing alone and unshaken in his defence of Orthodox faith.
The Orthodox Church reveres Saint Mark as a Pillar of Orthodoxy, placing him alongside Photius the Great and Gregory Palamas as defenders of the faith during times of severe theological challenge. He reposed on 23 June 1444 after a grave illness and was canonised as a saint. In 1456, Patriarch Scholarios established his commemorative feast day on 19 January through a Synodical decree. At a council in Constantinople in 1484, his name was inscribed in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy.
Venerable Macarius the Great of Egypt
Venerable Macarius the Great of Egypt (300 – 390), called the Egyptian to distinguish him from other ascetics named Macarius, was one of the most celebrated and influential monastic fathers of the early Christian Church. Born around 300 in Lower Egypt, Macarius heard of the ascetical life and withdrew to the desert of Scete (Wadi Natrun), where he devoted himself entirely to prayer, fasting, and the struggle against temptation.
Through his intense spiritual labour and extraordinary ascetical practices, Macarius acquired remarkable spiritual gifts, becoming renowned throughout the Christian world as a guide to hesychastic prayer and mystical communion with God. His cell in the desert attracted numerous disciples who sought his spiritual direction. With gentle wisdom and profound understanding of the inner spiritual warfare, Macarius guided them in the apophatic contemplation of God and the deification (theosis) of the soul through grace.
Macarius is credited with numerous miracles and spiritual insights recorded in the sayings of the desert fathers. His teachings emphasised the necessity of prayer, the struggle against demonic temptation, and the transformative power of God's grace working through human ascetical effort. He lived during an extraordinary period of Christian monasticism in Egypt, when the desert was populated by thousands of monks seeking perfection in solitude.
The Coptic Church claims Macarius as one of its most eminent saints, and many sayings and teachings attributed to him have been preserved in the monastic tradition. His influence extended throughout the Christian world, and numerous monasteries were founded under his name and in honour of his memory.
Venerable Macarius reposed in the Lord in 390 at an advanced age, leaving behind a legacy of profound spiritual wisdom and an example of radical commitment to ascetical practice and union with God. His feast day is celebrated on 19 January in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is venerated as one of the greatest fathers of Egyptian monasticism and a luminous example of the mystical theology at the heart of Orthodox spirituality.
Venerable Macarius the Roman of Novgorod
Venerable Macarius the Roman was born at the end of the fifteenth century into a wealthy and pious family of Rome. His parents raised him with diligence in the Orthodox Christian faith and provided him with an excellent classical and theological education. During his youth in Rome, he witnessed the religious upheaval of the Protestant Reformation, which shook Western Christendom and filled him with spiritual distress.
Whilst his contemporaries pursued worldly pleasures and luxurious living, Macarius devoted himself to the study of Holy Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. He became increasingly troubled by the spiritual darkness and sin he observed around him, as well as by the theological conflicts and rebellions that fractured the Western Church. Through his prayerful study of Christian tradition, he came to the conviction that true Christianity and the fullness of apostolic faith were preserved in the Orthodox Church.
Moved by this realisation, Macarius made the extraordinary decision to abandon his family and wealth and journey to Russia in search of Orthodox salvation. He left Rome secretly, wearing only an old garment and taking no money with him. After enduring many hardships and sufferings during his long pilgrimage, he arrived in Novgorod, where his heart rejoiced at the sight of so many Orthodox churches and monasteries flourishing throughout the city.
Macarius made his way to the monastery of the Holy Trinity on the banks of the River Svir, where he encountered Saint Alexander of Svir, the renowned monastic founder. Saint Alexander received Macarius with warmth and accepted him into the Orthodox Church, tonsuring him as a monk. Macarius then moved to an island on the River Lezna, approximately forty-five miles from Novgorod, where he spent the remainder of his life engaged in intense ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer.
The venerable father reposed peacefully in the Lord on 15 August 1550 at an advanced age. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 19 January, the date of his nameday, as well as on 15 August, the anniversary of his repose.
Our Holy Father Mark Eugenikos, Metropolitan of Ephesus and Confessor of the Orthodox Faith
1443
This holy defender of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church labored in the final days of the Byzantine Empire, when, pressed on all sides by the Turks, the Emperor in desperation sought union with (or rather submission to) the Papacy in hopes of obtaining aid from the West. It was St Mark who stood almost alone to prevent such a disaster to the Faith.
He was born in Constantinople in 1392 to devout parents. He received a thorough education and seemed destined for a secular career, but at the age of twenty- six he abandoned all worldly claims and became a monk in a small monastery in Nicomedia. Soon the Turkish threat forced him to return to Constantinople, where, continuing in the monastic life, he wrote a number of treatises on prayer and the dogmas of the Church. In time he was ordained priest, then, at the insistence of the Emperor John VIII Paleologos was made Metropolitan of Ephesus. The Emperor also prevailed on him to join the delegation which traveled to the Council of Florence to consider the reunion of the Orthodox Church and the churches under the Papacy. (Saint Mark went as exarch of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria, who were unable to attend.)
The Greek delegation included the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople. All, including Metropolitan Mark, began with great hopes that a true union in faith might result from the Council, but as the sessions proceeded, it soon became clear that Pope Eugenius and his theologians were interested only in securing submission of the Eastern Church to the Papacy and its theology. The Metropolitan spoke forcefully against various Latin dogmas such as the filioque and Purgatory, but the Greek delegation, desperate for western aid, bowed to expediency and agreed to sign a document of Union which would have denied the Orthodox Faith itself. Saint Mark was the only member of the delegation who refused to sign. When the Pope heard of this, he said “The bishop of Ephesus has not signed, so we have achieved nothing!”
When the delegation returned to Constantinople, the signers of the false Union were received with universal condemnation by the people, while Metropolitan Mark was hailed as a hero. The churches headed by Unionists were soon almost empty, while the people flocked to the churches headed by those loyal to Orthodoxy. Saint Mark left the City to avoid concelebrating with the Unionist Patriarch. He was exiled by the Emperor to Lemnos, but was freed in 1442. He continued to oppose the Union until his repose in 1444. In 1452 the Union was officially proclaimed in Constantinople, but the hoped-for Western aid was not forthcoming, and the City fell to the Turks in 1453.