by
Fr. Herbert Nicholls, homily at the Mother of the Light Convent
Macarius was
born in Upper Egypt about the year 305 and spent his youth in tending cattle.
Desirous to serve God with his whole
heart he forsook the world, living in a small desert cave in continual prayer
and the practice of austerities. He spent nearly 60 years in the desert in
penance and contemplation.
There were
at that time 3 deserts nearly adjoining each other. The first and the one
chosen by Macarius was that of Skete on the borders of Libya. The second was
Cells, a name given because of the many hermit-cells with which it abounded.
The third called Nitria, broached in the Western Bank of the Nile River.
The
austerity of these desert monks was extraordinary. But Macarius went far beyond
the rest. God had given him a body capable of bearing the most extreme rigors.
His fervor was so intense that whatever spiritual exercise that he heard or saw
another practice, he would adopt for himself.
Macarius
routinely would eat once a week on Sunday. One day when he was tortured with
thirst, a disciple begged him to drink a little water, but Macarius chose to
content himself with repose in the shade a while. Macarius said, I have never eaten, drunk or slept as much
as nature requires. But to go against his own inclinations he did not
refuse to drink a little wine. But then he would punish himself by abstaining
from drink for two or three days. He used to often say in prayer, O God come to my assistance, O Lord make
haste to help as you know best!
As one can
imagine such intensity of devotion must be met with intensity of temptation.
For Macarius the strongest temptation was to leave the desert and return to the
world. These temptations overcome, became for Macarius the strength to guide
others who sought the rigors of desert living.
One young
man came admitting to the saint that he was routinely molested with temptations
of impurity. Macarius was convinced that the trouble was due to indolence.
Accordingly, he advised the man never to eat before sunset, and to meditate
fervently at his work, to labor vigorously without slackening. The young man
faithfully complied and in a short time was freed of his spiritual struggle.
Certainly we
have mentioned some severe practices which today would no doubt be discouraged
by a spiritual director or psychologist. However, I do think that apart from
the extremes even the psychiatrist today would see the value in these
disciplines as a corrective to physical, emotional compulsions or what we would
call temptations.
In another
instance, a wealthy young man, seeking spiritual advice from Macarius was told
to go to the burial place and “upbraid the dead”! And after a short time to go
back and “flatter them”. When the young man returned Macarius inquiried, What answer did they give you? To which
the young man replied: None. Macarius
replied, Then go and learn neither to be
moved by abuse nor by flattery. For if you die to yourself and to the world,
you will begin to live in Christ. Receive from the hand of God poverty as well
as riches; hunger and want as readily as plenty.
There was
still another grave temptation with which Macarius had to struggle. A woman
falsely accused him that he had threatened her with violence if she did not
submit to him. For this alleged crime, Macarius was dragged through the
streets, beaten and insulted as a “hypocrite hiding under the garb of a monk”.
Macarius suffered these indignities with patience saying, Well Macarius, now you must work the harder for you have another to
provide for…But in turn God revealed his innocence. The woman falling into
labor in extreme anguish was not able to deliver until she named the true
father of the child. The furor of the crowd against Macarius turned to
admiration for his humility and patience.
Macarius
knowing that the end of his life was approaching made a pilgrimage to the
neighboring desert of Nitria and exhorted the monks who were living there.
These young men were so moved that they fell at the knees of the holy man of
God. Macarius advised them, Woe my young
brothers. Let your eyes pour forth floods of tears, lest we fall into that
place where tears will only feed the flames in which we shall burn.
Some
historians style Macarius as one of the disciples of St. Anthony the Great, but
it is more than likely that Macarius was divinely inspired by an early
anchorite monk of the Egyptian desert.
The great
saint of solitude died in the year 395. I could find no formal date of
canonization but his name is commemorated in the anaphoras of both the Coptic
and Armenian rites.