- 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 -
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at
home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by
sight.
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at
home with the Lord.
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Paul was not afraid to die because he was confident of spending eternity
with Christ. Of course, facing the unknown may cause us anxiety and
leaving
loved ones hurts deeply, but if we believe in Jesus Christ, we can share
Paul's hope and confidence of eternal life in Christ.
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January 14th - St. Macarius the Elder of Alexandria, Hermit (RM)
(also known as Makarios the Great)
Born in Upper Egypt c. 300; died 390.
Saint Macarius was a cattle herder in his youth but early became a hermit
who
was known for his great austerities. In his childhood he stole a few figs
and
ate one of them, and from his conversion to his death he never ceased to
weep
bitterly for this sin. He retired to a solitary hut, where he combined
assiduous
prayer with the tending of sheep and the plaiting of baskets. He was
accused
of
assaulting a woman but proved his innocence and became somewhat of a hero
for
his patience and humility during the ordeal. He even provided for her with
his
paltry earnings. She went into labor and could not be delivered until she
named
the true father of her child. To escape the adulation of those whose rage
was
turned to admiration, he retired to the desert of Skete (Scetis) when he
was
30.
Macarius knew and followed the teachings of Saint Antony. Like Antony,
Macarius
attracted many others, because of his spiritual wisdom, who became
anchorites
under his rule. The bishop compelled him to receive ordination to the
priesthood
about 340, so that he could say daily Mass for the several thousand
members
of
the monastic colony.
Macarius's austerities, like those of so many of the desert fathers, were
excessive. He generally ate but once a week. To deny his own will, he did
not
refuse a little wine when others desired him to drink, but then he would
punish
himself by abstaining several days from drinking anything, even under the
intense sun of the desert.
During his lifetime, he was highly esteemed in monastic circles, and his
counsel
was sought out by such as Saint Evagrius. He delivered his instructions in
few
words and generally stressed silence, humility, mortification, retirement,
and
continual prayer. He taught, "In prayer you need not use many or lofty
words.
You can often repeat with a sincere heart, Lord, show me mercy as You know
best!
or, Assist me, O God!"
The devil told him once, "I can surpass you in watching, fasting, and many
other
things, but humility conquers and disarms me!"
Like so many who practice extreme austerity, God humbled Macarius by
showing
him
that he had not attained the perfection of two married women in the nearby
town.
In visiting them he learned that they sanctified themselves by carefully
guarding their tongues and living in the constant practice of humility,
patience, meekness, charity, resignation, mortification of their own will,
and
conformity to the moods of the husbands and family, where God's law didn't
contradict. In a spirit of recollection, they sanctified all their actions
by
ardent ejaculations praising God, and most fervently consecrating their
entire
beings to the divine glory.
A young man seeking spiritual direction from Macarius was told to go to
the
cemetery and upbraid the dead. Then to return and flatter them. Of course,
he
re****ted to Macarius that they were unmoved by either injuries or praise.
Macarius then told him, "Then go, and learn neither to be moved with
injuries or
flatteries. If you die to the world and to yourself, you will begin to
live
in
Christ."
In order to counter the Hieracite heresy denying the Resurrection,
Macarius
raised a dead man to life.
He was exiled for a time on a small island in the Nile with Macarius the
Younger, Isidore, and other monks when the Arian Lucius of Alexandria
tried
to
drive out the desert monks. Later, Macarius was allowed to return. During
their
exile, they converted all the inhabitants of the island. He died after
living in
Skete for 60 years and is believed to have been the first hermit to live
there.
It appears that Macarius may have experienced a stigmatization similar to
that
of Saint Francis of Assisi 900 years later. A considerable number of
writings
have been attributed to him, most probably erroneously. Various anecdotes
about
Macarius can be found in the Apothegmata Patrum and in the Lausiac
History,
but
not all of this is necessarily historically true (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art Saint Macarius is ****trayed as an old hermit with long, white hair
wearing a girdle of leaves with two lions near him (he could be confused
with
Saint Onuphrius). At times he may be shown dispelling the devil with a
cross
(Roeder).
From an early Coptic text, we have the colorful story of Saint Macarius
and
the
grateful hyena (paraphrased).
One day a hyena came to the door of Macarius's cell with her whelp in her
mouth.
She knocked on his door with her head. Macarius came out thinking one of
his
brother monks had come to visit. Seeing the hyena, he mused, "What does
she
want
here?"
The hyena filled her mouth with the whelp, and weeping, held it out to the
old
man. The old man took the animal in his steady hands and examined it for
the
problem. Then he saw that it was blind in both eyes. He took it, groaned,
spat
on its face, signed it upon the eyes with his finger and immediately the
whelp
saw, went to its mother, and began to suckle. The animals then made their
way
into the marsh.
Once annually the Libyans bring their sheep to the marsh of Skete to eat
the
shoushet, as the herdsmen of Pernouj bring their oxen. The day following
the
cure, the hyena came to the old man with a sheepskin in her mouth, thick
with
wool and freshly killed. Once again she struck the door with her head.
When
Macarius saw it was the hyena with a sheepskin over her head, he asked,
"Where
have you been? Where did you find this, if you have not eaten a sheep? As
that
which you've brought me comes of violence, I will not take it."
The hyena struck her head upon the ground. She bent her paws. And on her
knees
she prayed him, as if she had been a man, to take it. He said to her, "I
have
but now told you that I will not take it, unless you make me this promise:
I
will not vex the poor by eating their sheep."
She made many movements of her head, up and down, as if she were promising
him.
Again he repeated it to her, "Unless you promise me, saying, 'I will not
kill a
creature alive'; from today you will eat your prey when it is dead. If you
are
distressed, seeking and finding none, come here, and I will give you
bread.
From
this hour, do hurt to no creature."
And the hyena bowed her head to the ground, and dropped to her knees,
bending
her paws, moving her head up and down, looking at his face as if she were
promising him. And the old man perceived in his heart that it was the
purpose of
God Who gives understanding to the beasts for a reproach to us, and he
gave
glory to God, Who lives for ever, for the soul has honor. He said, "I give
glory
to You, O God, Who was with Daniel in the lion's den, Who gave
understanding
to
beasts. Also You have given understanding to this hyena and have not
forgotten
me: but You have made me perceive that it is Your ordering."
And the old man took the skin from the hyena, and she went away. From time
to
time she would come to seek the old man; if she had not been able to find
food,
she would come to him and he would throw her a loaf. She did this many
times.
And the old man slept on the skin until he died. "And I have seen it with
my
own
eyes" (Amelineau).
Saint Quote:
"Receive from the hand of God poverty as cheerfully as riches, hunger and
want
as plenty, and you will conquer the devil and subdue all your passions."
-Saint Macarius.
Bible Quote
Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory
of
the
Lord is risen upon thee.
For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the
Lord
shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isaias
60:1-2)
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A prayer of St. Augustine to the Holy Spirit:
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.
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