← All saints
Saint Macarius of Alexandria
Image: Mihai Andrei · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Macarius of Alexandria

Egyptian desert monk, a trader until forty, who headed the settlement of the Cells

Rank
Saint
Kind
Religious, Mystic
Life
d. ~395
Era
4th century
Feast
19 January
Countries
Egypt
Egypt

Life story

The main source is the biography of the Orthodox Church in America, which rests on monastic tradition rather than contemporary records. It says Macarius was born around 295 and worked in trade until about the age of forty. He was then baptized, withdrew into the desert and lived there for more than sixty years. He was a friend and contemporary of Macarius the Great of Egypt, which is why he is sometimes called Macarius the Younger; the two should not be confused.

After several years of ascetic life he was ordained a priest and placed at the head of the Cells (Kellia), where hermits lived separately in the desert between Mount Nitria and Scetis. The stories told about him stress severity. When he heard that a monk ate a pound of bread a day, he ate that much or less; to shorten his sleep he spent twenty days in the open air, enduring heat by day and cold by night. A further tradition says that once, tempted by pride to go to Rome and heal the sick, he overcame the urge by carrying a sack of sand through the desert until he was exhausted.

Tradition also credits him with healings, the casting out of demons and the gift of discerning others' thoughts, but these belong to hagiography and are not verified history. According to the same tradition he died around 394 or 395, at about one hundred years of age. A Discourse on the Origin of the Soul is attributed to him, but the authorship of that text is uncertain.

Works and witness

  • Worked in trade until about forty, then was baptized and went into the desert
  • Ordained a priest and led the hermits of the Cells
  • Lived an ascetic life in the Egyptian desert for more than sixty years
  • Friend of Macarius the Great; the two must not be confused

Saints from the same country

Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Athanasius, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Saint Catherine of Alexandria

References

  • Orthodox Church in America, “Venerable Macarius of Alexandria” (oca.org, 19 January), read in full – birth 295, trade until forty, Cells, bread, sleep, sack of sand, death c. 394–395, Discourse on the Origin of the Soul

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.