The Martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia suffered for her faith in Christ
under the emperor Diocletian. The Nicomedia governor Alexander gave
orders to arrest the nine-year-old Basilissa and force her to renounce
Christ. But the young maiden displayed unshakable firmness in fidelity
to her Lord, and so she was subjected to protracted and intense torture.
Through
the grace of God, the holy martyr remained alive and unharmed. This was
evident to all those present as a manifestation of the power of God,
and it so upset the governor Alexander, that he also came to believe in
Christ and confessed himself a Christian.
Baptized later by
Bishop Anthimus, he lived for a short while in deep repentance, and then
departed peacefully to the Lord, as did St Basilissa some while after
him. Her death was peaceful and accompanied by miraculous signs of God’s
mercy.
Saint Mammas was from Gangra of Paphlagonia. He was born
in prison, where his parents were suffering for Christ's sake and ended
their lives. He was named Mammas because, after he had long remained
without speaking, he addressed his foster mother Ammia as "mamma." He
contested for Christ about the year 275.
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received
the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal
God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and
wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God,
by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
With the staff bestowed on thee by God, O holy Great Martyr,
shepherd us thy people now in green and life-giving pastures; swiftly
crush with godly power unseen and wild beasts underneath the feet of
them that praise thee with longing; for in dangers we all have thee, O
Mammas, as our fervent protector and help.
Saint Cyprian was born of pagan parents in Carthage of
Roman Africa about the year 190. An eloquent teacher of rhetoric, he was
converted and baptized late in life, and his conversion from a proud
man of learning to a humble servant of Christ was complete; he sold his
great possessions and gave them to the poor, and because of his zeal and
virtue, was ordained presbyter in 247, then Bishop of Carthage in 248.
He was especially steadfast in defending the sanctity and uniqueness of
the Baptism of the Church of Christ against the confusion of those who
would allow some validity to the ministrations of heretics; his writings
continue to guide the Church even in our own day. Having survived the
persecution of Decius about the year 250, he was beheaded in confession
of the Faith during the persecution of Valerian in 258, on September 14;
that day being the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, his feast is
kept today.
Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Guide of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and holiness, luminary of
Carthage, God-inspired adornment of confessors, O wise Cyprian, by thy
teachings thou has enlightened all, O harp of the Spirit. Intercede with
Christ God that our souls be saved.
Kontakion in the First Tone
We honour thee, O Cyprian, as a true shepherd * who with thy
sacred words and divinely-wise doctrines * hast shown us the
bound'ry-stones marking out the one Church of Christ. * Even unto death
didst thou bear witness with courage; * wherefore, we extol thee as a
hierarch and Martyr. * Entreat that we all be saved.
Saint Fantinus the Wonderworker was born in Calabria (Italy) of
parents George and Vriena. He was given over to a monastery, and from
childhood he was accustomed to ascetic deeds. In his youth he wandered
into the wilderness, remaining often without food or clothes for twenty
days. The monk spent 60 years in such exploits.
Before the end of
his life, fleeing before pursuing Saracens, he went with his disciples
Vitalius and Nicephorus to the Peloponnesos (Greece). Preaching the way
of salvation, the monk visited Corinth, Athens, Larissa and
Thessalonica, where he venerated the relics of the Great Martyr
Demetrius (October 26). He died peacefully in extreme old age at the end
of the ninth, and beginning of the tenth century.
The divine Baptist, the Prophet born of a Prophet, the
seal of all the Prophets and beginning of the Apostles, the mediator
between the Old and New Covenants, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, the God-sent Messenger of the incarnate Messiah, the
forerunner of Christ's coming into the world (Esaias 40: 3; Mal. 3: 1);
who by many miracles was both conceived and born; who was filled with
the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb; who came forth like
another Elias the Zealot, whose life in the wilderness and divine zeal
for God's Law he imitated: this divine Prophet, after he had preached
the baptism of repentance according to God's command; had taught men of
low rank and high how they must order their lives; had admonished those
whom he baptized and had filled them with the fear of God, teaching them
that no one is able to escape the wrath to come if he do not works
worthy of repentance; had, through such preaching, prepared their hearts
to receive the evangelical teachings of the Savior; and finally, after
he had pointed out to the people the very Savior, and said, "Behold the
Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world" (Luke 3:2-18; John
1: 29-36), after all this, John sealed with his own blood the truth of
his words and was made a sacred victim for the divine Law at the hands
of a transgressor.
This was Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of
Galilee, the son of Herod the Great. This man had a lawful wife, the
daughter of Arethas (or Aretas), the King of Arabia (that is, Arabia
Petraea, which had the famous Nabatean stone city of Petra as its
capital. This is the Aretas mentioned by Saint Paul in II Cor. 11:32).
Without any cause, and against every commandment of the Law, he put her
away and took to himself Herodias, the wife of his deceased brother
Philip, to whom Herodias had borne a daughter, Salome. He would not
desist from this unlawful union even when John, the preacher of
repentance, the bold and austere accuser of the lawless, censured him
and told him, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife"
(Mark 6: 18). Thus Herod, besides his other unholy acts, added yet this,
that he apprehended John and shut him in prison; and perhaps he would
have killed him straightway, had he not feared the people, who had
extreme reverence for John. Certainly, in the beginning, he himself had
great reverence for this just and holy man. But finally, being pierced
with the sting of a mad lust for the woman Herodias, he laid his defiled
hands on the teacher of purity on the very day he was celebrating his
birthday. When Salome, Herodias' daughter, had danced in order to please
him and those who were supping with him, he promised her -- with an
oath more foolish than any foolishness -- that he would give her
anything she asked, even unto the half of his kingdom. And she,
consulting with her mother, straightway asked for the head of John the
Baptist in a charger. Hence this transgressor of the Law, preferring his
lawless oath above the precepts of the Law, fulfilled this godless
promise and filled his loathsome banquet with the blood of the Prophet.
So it was that that all-venerable head, revered by the Angels, was given
as a prize for an abominable dance, and became the plaything of the
dissolute daughter of a debauched mother. As for the body of the divine
Baptist, it was taken up by his disciples and placed in a tomb (Mark 6:
21 - 29). Concerning the finding of his holy head, see February 24 and
May 25.
Apolytikion in the Second Tone
The memory of the just is celebrated with hymns of praise, but
the Lord's testimony is sufficient for thee, O Forerunner; for thou hast
proved to be truly even more venerable than the Prophets, since thou
was granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed.
Wherefore, having contested for the truth, thou didst rejoice to
announce the good tidings even to those in Hades: that God hath
appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us
great mercy.
Kontakion in the Plagal of the First Tone
The glorious beheading of the Forerunner was a certain divine
dispensation, that the coming of the Saviour might also be preached to
those in Hades. Let Herodias lament, then, that she demanded a wicked
murder; for she loved not the Law of God, nor eternal life, but one
false and fleeting.
Saint Job of Pochaev was born about 1551 in southwest
Galicia of a pious Orthodox family. In his tenth year the Saint departed
for the Ugornitsky Monastery of our Saviour in the Carpathian
Mountains. Tonsured after two years, he was ordained hieromonk about
1580. Renowned for his meekness and humility, Job was invited by the
great zealot for Holy Orthodoxy in the Carpatho-Russia, Prince
Constantine Ostrozhky, to be Abbot of the Monastery of the Cross in
Dubno. In his zeal for the preservation and propagation of the Orthodox
Faith, and to counteract the propaganda of the Uniates, he printed and
widely disseminated Orthodox spiritual and liturgical books. About 1600
he removed to the Mountain of Pochaev where at insistence of the
brethren, he became Abbot of the Monastery of the Dormition of the
Theotokos, which he enlarged and made to flourish. Through his labours, a
large printing works was founded at Pochaev and greatly assisted in the
nurture of the Orthodox faithful in that region. His monastery became
the center of the Orthodox Church in western Ukraine. The Saint reposed,
having taken the schema with the name of John, in 1651, at the advanced
age of one hundred.
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Having acquired the patience of the long-suffering forefather,
having resembled the Baptist in abstinence, and sharing the divine zeal
of both, thou wast granted to receive their names, and wast a fearless
preacher of the true Faith. In this way thou didst bring a multitude of
monastics to Christ, and thou didst strengthen all the people in
Orthodoxy, O Job, our holy father. Pray that our souls be saved.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Thou wast a pillar of the true Faith, a zealot for the
commandments of the Gospel, a convicter of pride, an intercessor and
teacher of the humble. Wherefore, ask that forgiveness of sins be
granted unto them that bless thee; and do thou keep thy community
unharmed, O Job our Father, who dost resemble the much-suffering
patriarch.
Saint Pimen of Palestine lived during the sixth century in a
cave in the Rouba desert. The holy Fathers Sophronius and John speak of
him in Chapter 167 of THE SPIRITUAL MEADOW (Limonarion).
Once,
during winter the monk Agathonicus came to St Pimen for guidance and
remained to spend the night in an adjoining cave. In the morning, he
said that he had suffered much from the cold. St Pimen answered that he
had been uncovered, but did not feel the cold because a lion came and
lay beside him, warming him.
“But I know,” added the ascetic
“that I shall be devoured by wild beasts, since when I lived in the
world and herded sheep, my dogs attacked a man and tore him apart. I
could have saved him, but I did not. It was later revealed to me that I
would die a similar death.” So it came to pass: three years later, at
the end of the sixth century, St Pimen of Palestine was torn apart by
wild beasts.
The holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalie confessed the
Christian Faith during the reign of Maximian, in Nicomedia, in the year
298. Adrian was a pagan; witnessing the valor of the Martyrs, and the
fervent faith with which they suffered their torments, he also declared
himself a Christian and was imprisoned. When this was told to his wife
Natalie, who was secretly a believer, she visited him in prison and
encouraged him in his sufferings. Saint Adrian's hands and feet were
placed on an anvil and broken off with a hammer; he died in his
torments. His blessed wife recovered part of his holy relics and took it
to Argyropolis near Byzantium, and reposed in peace soon after.
Apolytikion in the Third Tone
Thou didst deem that Faith which hath salvation to be riches
never lost or plundered. Thou forsookest thy fathers' impiety, and thou
didst follow thy Master, becoming rich in His divine gifts, O glorious
Adrian. With the godly-minded Natalie, who emboldened thee, entreat
Christ God, O Martyr, that our souls be saved.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Having wisely laid to heart all the divine words of thy
godly-minded wife, Adrian, Martyr of Christ God, in torments thou
strovest ardently; and with thy yoke-mate thou now hast received thy
crown.
Saint John the Cappadocian, Patriarch of Constantinople,
occupied the patriarchal throne from 518-520. The holy Patriarch Photius
(857-867) termed him “a habitation of virtues.”
The Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor
about the year 120, and in his youth was a disciple of Saint Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna. Saint Irenaeus was sent to Lyons in Gaul, to be a
fellow labourer of Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons (celebrated June 2), who
had also been a disciple Saint Polycarp. After the martyrdom of Saint
Pothinus, Saint Irenaeus succeeded him as Bishop of Lyons. Besides the
assaults of paganism, Irenaeus found himself compelled to do battle with
many Gnostic heresies, against which he wrote his greatest work, A Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called .
He was also a peace-maker within the Church. When Victor, Bishop of
Rome, was prepared to excommunicate the Christians of Asia Minor for
following a different tradition celebrating Pascha, Irenaeus persuaded
him to moderate his zeal, and mediated peace. He made Lyons an
illustrious bastion of Orthodoxy and a school of piety, and sealed his
confession with martyrdom about the year 202, during the reign of
Septimius Severus. He is not to be confused with Saint Irenaeus, Bishop
of Sirmium, also celebrated today, who was beheaded and cast into a
river in 304 under Diocletian.
The Georgian Icon of the mother of God: In 1622 the Persian Shah
Abbas conquered Georgia. Many Christian holy things were stolen, and
many were sold to the Russian merchants in Persia. Thus, the Georgian
Icon of the Mother of God came to a certain merchant named Stephen, who
piously kept it.
In Yaroslavl, the merchant George Lytkin, on
whose business Stephen was in Persia, received a revelation in a dream
about the holy object found by Stephen, and he was commanded to send it
to the Chernogorsk monastery in the Arkhangelsk diocese, founded in
1603.
When Stephen returned home in 1629 and showed the icon to
George Lytkin, he remembered his vision and he set off to the Dvina
outskirts to the Chernogorsk monastery (so called because it was built
on a hilly and somber place. From of old it had been named “Black Hill”,
but afterwards the monastery changed the name to “Pretty Hill”.
The
icon was glorified there by miracles. In 1654, during a pestilential
plague, the icon was transferred to Moscow, and those praying before it
escaped the deadly plague. The numerous copies of the icon testify to
its deep veneration. In 1658, with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon,
there was established an annual feastday of the Georgian Icon of the
Mother of God. The service was written in 1698 under the supervision of
Theodore Polykarpov of the Moscow printing office.
The Apostle Thaddaeus was from Edessa, a Jew by race. When
he came to Jerusalem, he became a disciple of Christ, and after His
Ascension he returned to Edessa. There he catechized and baptized Abgar
(see Aug. 16). Having preached in Mesopotamia, he ended his life in
martyrdom. Though some call him one of the Twelve, whom Matthew calls
"Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus" (Matt. 10:3), Eusebius says that
he is one of the Seventy: "After [Christ's] Resurrection from the dead,
and His ascent into Heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles,
inspired by God, sent Thaddaeus, one of the seventy disciples of Christ,
to Edessa as a preacher and evangelist of Christ's teaching" (Eccl.
Hist. 1: 13).
Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Apostle Thaddeus, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
The Apostle's joyous feast is come with radiant splendour; let us
keep it on this day with jubilation and gladness. For to them who ever
honour him in sincere faith, it doth grant their sins' forgiveness and
true divine health; for he hath great boldness as a divine initiate of
Christ's omnipotent grace.
This most holy man, a Prophet of God from childhood, was
the last judge of the Israelite people, and anointed the first two Kings
of Israel. He was born in the twelfth century before Christ, in the
city of Armathaim Sipha, from the tribe of Levi, the son of Elkanah and
Hannah (Anna). He was the fruit of prayer, for his mother, being barren,
conceived him only after she had supplicated the Lord with many tears;
wherefore she called him Samuel, that is, "heard by God." As soon as
Hannah had weaned him, she brought him to the city of Silom (Shiloh),
where the Ark was kept, and she consecrated him, though yet a babe, to
the service of God, giving thanks to Him with the hymn found in the
Third Ode of the Psalter: "My heart hath been established in the Lord . .
." Samuel remained in Silom under the protection of Eli the priest. He
served in the Tabernacle of God, and through his most venerable way of
life became well-pleasing to God and man (I Kings 2: 26). While yet a
child, sleeping in the tabernacle near the Ark of God, he heard the
voice of God calling his name, and foretelling the downfall of Eli; for
although Eli's two sons, Ophni and Phineas, were most lawless, and
despisers of God, Eli did not correct them. Even after Samuel had told
Eli of the divine warning, Eli did not properly chastise his sons, and
afterwards, through various misfortunes, his whole house was blotted out
in one day.
After these things came to pass, Samuel was chosen to
be the protector of the people, and he judged them with holiness and
righteousness. He became for them an example of all goodness, and their
compassionate intercessor before God: "Far be it from me that I should
sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; yea, I will serve the
Lord, and show you the good and the right way" (ibid. 12:23). When he
asked them -- having God as witness -- if he ever wronged anyone, or
took anyone's possessions, or any gift, even so much as a sandal, they
answered with one voice: "Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us,
nor afflicted us, neither hast thou taken anything from anyone's hand"
(ibid. 12:4). When Samuel was old, the people asked him for a king, but
he was displeased with this, knowing that God Himself was their King.
But when they persisted, the Lord commanded him to anoint them a king,
saying, "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me from
reigning over them" (ibid. 8:7); so Samuel anointed Saul. But Saul
transgressed the command of God repeatedly, so Samuel anointed David.
Yet, since Samuel was a man of God, full of tender mercy, when the Lord
told him that He had rejected Saul, Samuel wept for him the whole night
long (ibid. 15:11); and later, since he continued to grieve, the Lord
said to him, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?" (ibid. 16:1). Having
lived blamelessly some ninety-eight years, and become an example to all
of a God-pleasing life, he reposed in the eleventh century before
Christ. Many ascribe to him the authorship of the Books of judges, and
of Ruth, and of the first twenty-four chapters of the First Book of
Kings (I Samuel).
Apolytikion in the Second Tone
As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Samuel, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.
Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Thy hallowed mother dedicated thee unto the Lord even before she
had conceived thee; and when thou wast born thou didst serve Him from
thine infancy like an Angel. And, O Prophet of the Most High, for thy
fervent faith, thou wast granted to foretell things that should come to
pass. Hence, we cry to thee: Rejoice, O ven'rable Samuel.
Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Great Perm, was chosen and
consecrated to the See of Perm after the suffering and death of St
Gerasimus of Perm (January 24). Before becoming bishop, Archimandrite
Pitirim was head of the Chudov monastery. He later became known as the
composer of the Canon to St Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow (February
12), and also wrote his Life.
As bishop, St Pitirim first
occupied himself with establishing friendly relations between the
Zyryani and Voguli peoples. He circulated admonitory letters and
messages, seeking to defend the Zyryani from pillage. The Voguli leader
Asyka however, taking advantage of princely dissention and the
remoteness of the bishop from the capital, plundered Christian
settlements and killed defenseless people.
Novgorod landowners
held lands at the Rivers Vyg and Dvina, suffering death from the
constant pillaging. In the year 1445, they marched out against the
Voguli and took Asyka captive. The crafty pagan swore friendship to Perm
and vowed to harass Christians no longer. Set free, Asyka waited for a
convenient moment to attack Ust’-Vym with the aim of killing St Pitirim,
to whom he attributed his defeat by the Novgorodians.
During this
time St Pitirim was twice in Moscow: in 1447 to address an encyclical
to Prince Demetrius Shemyaka, having broken a treaty (it is supposed
that the writer was St Pitirim); and again in the year 1448 for the
consecration of St Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow (March 31). Taking
advantage of St Pitirim’s absence, Asyka again made an attack on a
Zyryani settlement near the Pechora, robbing and killing the
inhabitants. Not only the Zyryani, but also the Voguli living their
nomadic life near the Pechora tributary, had become convinced of the
truth of the preachings of St Pitirim, and they had begun to accept
Baptism.
Embittered by this, Asyka committed a new crime. On
August 19, 1456 he murdered St Pitirim, when he was out blessing the
waters at the point of land formed by the confluence of the Rivers Vaga
and Vychegda. The body of the saint remained for 40 days in a grave at
the place of his death (since they awaited an answer to the sad news of
his death). In spite of the hot weather, decay did not touch him. The
saint was buried in the Ust’-Vym cathedral church of the Annunciation
next to his predecessor St Gerasimus. The memory of his repose was
already entered into a typikon in the year 1522. In the year 1607 the
joint commemoration of the three Great Perm holy Hierarchs: Gerasimus,
Pitirim and Jonah, was established (January 29). They succeeded one
another at the Ust’-Vym cathedral.
Saints Emilian the Bishop, and with him Hilarion, Dionysius,
and Hermippus were born and lived in Armenia. After the death of their
parents, the hieromartyrs Emilian, Dionysius, and Hermippus (they were
brothers), and their teacher Hilarion left their native land and arrived
in Italy, in the city of Spoleto.
St. Emilian began to preach the
Gospel to the pagans. He won the deep respect of the Christian
community because of his strict and virtuous life, and he was chosen
bishop of the city of Trebium. He was consecrated by Marcellinus, the
Bishop of Rome). After moving to Trebium, St. Emilian converted many
pagans to Christ, for which he was brought to trial before the emperor
Maximian (284-305).
The saint suggested that the emperor see for
himself the power of prayer to Christ. A man who had been crippled for a
long time was brought before him. However much the pagan priests tried
to heal him by appealing to the idols, they accomplished nothing. Then
St. Emilian prayed to the Lord and commanded the crippled man, in the
name of Jesus Christ, to get up. The man stood up healthy and went home
rejoicing.
This miracle was so convincing that the emperor was
inclined to admit the truth about Christ, but the pagan priests told him
that the saint had worked magic. He was subjected to fierce tortures,
in which the Lord encouraged him, saying: “Fear not, Emilian, I am with
you.”
They tied him to a wheel, threw him on hot tin, dunked him
in a river, and put him in the arena to be eaten by wild beasts, but he
remained unharmed. In view of all these miracles the people began to
shout: “Great is the Christian God! Free His servant!” On this day 1000
men believed in Christ, and all received the crown of martyrdom.
In
a rage, the governor ordered that the beasts be killed since they did
not attack the saint. The martyr gave thanks to the Lord because even
the wild beasts accepted death for Christ. They locked St. Emilian in
prison together with his brothers and teacher, and after fierce tortures
the hieromartyrs Hilarion, Dionysius, and Hermippus were beheaded with
the sword.
St. Emilian was executed outside the city. When the
executioner struck the martyr on the neck with a sword, it became soft
like wax, and did not wound the saint. Soldiers fell on their knees to
him asking forgiveness and confessing Christ as the True God. The saint
prayed on his knees for them and asked the Lord to grant him a martyr’s
death. His prayer was heard, and another executioner cut off the saint’s
head. Seeing a milky liquid flowing from his wounds, many of the pagans
believed in Christ and they buried the martyr’s body with honor.
Saint Myron was a priest during the reign of Decius, when
Antipater was ruler of Achaia. On the day of our Lord's Nativity,
Antipater entered the church to seize the Christians and punish them.
Saint Myron, kindled with holy zeal, roundly insulted Antipater, for
which he was hung up and scraped, then cast into a raging furnace, but
was preserved unharmed. When Myron refused to worship the idols,
Antipater commanded that strips be cut in the Saint's flesh from his
shoulders to his feet; the Saint took one of the strips of his flesh and
flung it in the tyrant's face. He was beaten, and scraped again upon
his beaten flesh; then he was thrown to wild beasts, but when Antipater
saw them leaving off their fierce nature and protecting the Saint from
harm, he was overcome with unbearable shame and slew himself. The Saint
was then sent to Cyzicus, where the proconsul had him beheaded, about
the year 250.
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received
the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal
God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and
wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God,
by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
Since thou didst love Christ from childhood, O all-lauded one,
and strictly didst keep His precepts and divine commands, thou didst run
whole-heartedly unto Him, O Myron, and foundest rest and with Angels
glorifiest Him, while asking divine forgiveness for us all.
In birth, you preserved your virginity; in death, you did not
abandon the world, O Theotokos. As mother of life, you departed to the
source of life, delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.
Saint Macarius the Roman was born at the end of the fifteenth
century into a wealthy family of Rome. His parents raised him in piety
and gave him an excellent education. He might have expected a successful
career in public service, but he did not desire honors or earthly
glory. Instead, he focused on how to save his soul.
He lived in an
age when the Christian West was shaken by the Protestant Reformation.
While others around him were pursuing luxury and lascivious pleasures,
he studied the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers. St
Macarius was grieved to see so many darkened by sin and worldly vanity,
and was disturbed by the rebellions and conflicts within the Western
Church. With tears, he asked God to show him the path of salvation, and
his prayer did not go unanswered. He came to realize that he would find
the safe harbor of salvation in the Orthodox Church.
St Macarius
left Rome secretly, and set out for Russia without money, and wearing an
old garment. After many sufferings on his journey, he arrived in
Novgorod, where he rejoiced to see so many churches and monasteries. One
of these monasteries had been founded three centuries before by his
fellow countryman, St Anthony the Roman (August 3).
St Macarius
came to the banks of the River Svir, where St Alexander of Svir (April
17 and August 30) had founded the monastery of the Holy Trinity. St
Alexander received Macarius into the Orthodox Church and tonsured him as
a monk. Macarius, however longed for the solitary life. He moved to an
island on the River Lezna, forty-five miles from Novgorod, where he
engaged in ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer.
The winters
were very cold, and the summers were hot and humid. The marshy area was
also a breeding ground for mosquitos, which tormented the saint. St
Macarius survived on berries, roots, and herbs. Sometimes bears would
come to him for food, and they allowed him to pet them.
Such a
great lamp of the spiritual life could not remain hidden for long. One
rainy night someone knocked on his door and asked him to open it.
Several people, who seemed to be hunters, entered his cell. Astonished
by his appearance, and the divine light shining from his face, the men
asked for his blessing. They told him they had come to the forest to
hunt, and only by the prayers of the saint did God permit them to find
him.
“It is not my sinful prayers,” he told them, “but the grace of God which led you here.”
After
feeding them, he spoke and prayed with them, then showed them the way
out of the marsh. St Macarius was concerned that his peace would be
disturbed, now that his dwelling place was known. His fears were
justified, because many people sought him out to ask for his advice and
prayers.
The holy ascetic decided to move even farther into the
wilderness, choosing an elevated place on the left bank of the Lezna.
Even here, however, he was not able to conceal himself for very long.
Sometimes a pillar of fire would rise up into the sky at night above his
place of refuge. During the day, the grace of God was made manifest by a
fragrant cloud of smoke. Drawn by these signs, the local inhabitants of
the region were able to find him once more.
Some of his visitors
begged St Macarius to permit them to live near him and to be guided by
his counsels. Seeing that this was the Lord’s will, he did not refuse
them. He blessed them to build cells, and this was the foundation of his
monastery.
In 1540, they built a wooden church dedicated to the
Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. St Macarius was ordained to the
holy priesthood by Bishop Macarius of Novgorod, who later became
Metropolitan of All Russia. The hierarch also appointed St Macarius as
igumen of the monastery.
St Macarius was an example to the others,
and was given the gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking from God. He
wore himself out with his labors and vigils, encouraging others not to
become faint-hearted in their own struggles.
After several years,
he entrusted the monastery to one of his disciples, and returned to the
island where he had first lived. There he fell asleep in the Lord on
August 15, 1550. His disciples buried him outside on the left side of
the Dormition church which he had founded.
The Hermitage of St
Macarius was never a prosperous monastery with many monks, but it was
distinguished by the high level of spiritual life. In the seventeenth
century, many of the monasteries near Novgorod were plundered by Swedish
invaders. The Hermitage of St Macarius was also burned in 1615, and
some of the monks were put to the sword.
By the eighteenth
century, the monastery had become a dependency of the St Alexander
Nevsky Lavra in St Petersburg. The Empress Catherine closed it in 1764,
just as she had closed other monasteries, and it was designated as a
parish church. Although pilgrims still came to venerate the saint’s
relics and to celebrate his Feast Day, the buildings soon fell into
ruin.
In the mid-nineteenth century, some benefactors restored the
two churches and the miraculous healing spring which the saint himself
had dug. About this time an old priest was living there, and he
celebrated the church services until his death. In 1894, the monastery
began to function once more under the noted missionary Hieromonk
Arsenius, who introduced the Athonite Typikon. The monastery was
destroyed by the Soviets in 1932.
St Macarius the Roman is commemorated on August 15 (the date of his repose), and also on January 19 (his nameday).
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