sent to Macarius the Alexandrian (1), concerning the demon inviting the same Macarius to the gathering (2), and finally, concerning the opinion that a true monk should never be moved to anger when reproving another, but should always conquer himself (3), we have learned above (4). The remaining twelve are these: «Abbas Macarius, as often as he refreshed himself in charity with the brethren, had determined in his own heart that, for as many cups of wine as he had drunk when offered, for so many days he would not even taste water at all. When, therefore, the brethren offered him wine, he would take it with joy, so that afterwards he might macerate himself with thirst. When his disciple had learned this, having uncovered the elder's plan, he would entreat them not to offer him wine, making clear that it was more a torment to him than a drink (5).» The same is read in the fifth book (6), and in Greek in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelier, by the compiler of which it is referred to Macarius the Egyptian (7). In place of «as often as he refreshed himself in charity with the brethren,» it is in Greek εὐκαίρησε μετὰ ἀδελφῶν; in the fifth book [it says] «if he had leisure among the brethren,» wherefore do not understand those things wrongly. That the brethren of Scetis 133 were refreshed with wine is abhorrent to probability, so that I believe this occurred on the journeys which Macarius sometimes made to visit the brethren (8).
«While Abbas Macarius remained in that solitude where he was alone, but the lower [desert] was full of many brethren, in the evening he was looking around along the road, and he saw a demon coming in the form of a man, dressed in a tunic perforated with holes, and through individual holes small vessels were hanging. And the elder said to him: Where are you going, malignant one? And he replied to him: I am going to disturb (9) these brethren who are lower down. The elder said to him: And for what reason are you carrying so many vessels with you? And he said: I am carrying tastes for the brethren, and for that reason I carry so many, so that if one displeases, I may show another, and if that does not please, I may offer another; and it cannot be that at least one of these does not please them. And saying these things, he departed. The elder, however, remained looking along the road again, until he returned, and when he returned, he says to him: Are you saved? And he says: How can that word be said to me, since all have become contrary to me, and no one agrees with my plans. And the elder says to him: Therefore do you have no friend? But he replied: I have one friend, and he himself agrees with me, and as often as he sees me, he turns quickly hither and thither. And when he had inquired his name from him, he says that he is called Theopemptus. Upon his departing, abbas Macarius soon arose and descended to the lower desert. When the brethren had heard this, they went out to meet him, and everyone, hoping that he would stay with him, prepared himself. But he, inquiring for the cell of Theopemptus, went to him. And when he had received him with B joy, and both were alone together, the elder said to him: How is it with you, son? But he replied: Through your prayers I am well. And the elder says: Do not thoughts assail you? But he replied: For now I am well. For he was ashamed to say. And the elder said to him: Behold, how many years I am in solitude, and I am honored by all, and at this age, though I am an elder, my 134 thoughts molest me. Theopemptus replied: Believe me, abba, because they do the same to me. Then the elder feigned individual thoughts as if they were assailing him, until Theopemptus confessed everything to him. After this he said to him: C How do you fast? And he says to him: Until the ninth hour. The elder says to him: Fast until the evening, and meditate on the Gospel or other Scriptures without ceasing; and as often as some unclean thought comes upon you, never look down, but upward, and the Lord is soon your helper. And soon thus Abbas Macarius departed into his own solitude. And again looking along the way, he saw the demon returning, and asks him: Where are you going? And he replied: In a similar way to disturb (10) the brethren. When, however, he returned, he asked him how the brethren were acting. And he said: Badly, since they have all become wild, and, what is worse than all, he whom I had as a friend and obedient to me, he himself, I know not how, has changed, and he has seemed to me harsher than everyone. And he swore not to go there again, except after a long D time, and saying this he departed.
A Likewise this same matter is related in the fifth book, and the seventh, and in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelerius, with this distinction, however: that that monk is called Theoctistus in the fifth [book], whereas in the seventh he is called Theopistus (who usually agrees word-for-word with the third book); the *Apophthegmata* alone, along with the third book, call him Theopemptus. Moreover, at the end of the narrative in the fifth book, you read: "But the holy elder entered his cell, adoring and giving thanks to God the Savior," while in the *Apophthegmata*: "Then the saint entered his cell." Yet I hesitate to say which of the Macarii is meant. The compiler of the *Apophthegmata* indeed acknowledged Macarius of Egypt. Nor undeservedly; since Macarius the Egyptian is said to have lived at some considerable distance from the monks over whom he presided. But will the same not apply to Macarius of Alexandria, the priest of the "Cells"? Since you read that he lived in the "Paneremus," it does not prove that it was Macarius the Egyptian, because the "Cells" were also situated in the "Paneremus." And we learned above that Macarius of Alexandria was familiar with a demon. But S. Athanasius, in the *Life of S. Antony*, described in a unique way how a demon tempts men. B "Abbot Macarius, when he was in Egypt and had departed from his cell, returned and found someone stealing what he had in his cell. He stood, therefore, himself like a stranger, and loaded the animal with him with great leisure, and led him away, saying: 'We brought nothing into this world; the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as He himself willed, so it has come to pass; blessed be the Lord in all things.'" You find the same in the fifth book, where that abbot is called "Macarius, situated in Egypt," in the seventh book, and in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelerius. The same matter is explained in the *Apophthegmata* more fully: "They related that, in the absence of Abbot Macarius, a robber entered his cell. When he himself therefore had returned to the cell, he found the robber loading the camel with his belongings. Wherefore, entering into the cell, Macarius also took from the vessels, and together with him loaded the camel. The load having been placed, the thief began to beat the camel so that it might stand. It would not stand, however. When Abbot Macarius saw this, having entered the cell, he found a small spade, which he sent out and placed on the camel, saying: 'Brother, the camel seeks this.' And striking it with his foot, the elder said: 'Get up.' And immediately it stood up and completed a bit of the journey because of his word. But it sat down again, nor did it rise until they had deposited all the belongings. Then at last it went away." That Macarius of Egypt is meant, to whom the compiler of the *Apophthegmata* attributes the matter, the words of the fifth book, "Macarius, situated in Egypt," and the Greek words which are in Cotelerius, Μακάριος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ὤν, sufficiently prove. Macarius the Egyptian also brings forward those words of Job in his homilies. Indeed, robbers were very numerous in the deserts of Egypt at that time. You read in the second book of a robber who rescued a virgin consecrated to God from the hands of his companions who were desiring to defile her. Robbers searched for the cell of S. Hilarion for the entire night, nor could they find it. Robbers frequently carried off bread from S. Ammon, wherefore the saint placed two huge dragons of the desert at the door of his cell, at whose sight the robbers, when they had approached, were half-dead; having been brought into the cell and a table set, they were converted to a better life. A war having arisen between the inhabitants of two villages, the one, trusting in a certain robber as leader, who was most suitable for waging war...
A The misdeeds of robbers, and their return to a better life, occur quite often in the *Vitae Patrum*. We also learn from the beautiful *Life of St. Malchus*, written by St. Jerome, that Bedouins often roamed here and there through the deserts, with no fixed abodes, for the sake of plundering. B "At one time, while the blessed abbot Macarius was praying, a voice sounded to him, saying: 'Macarius, you have not yet reached the measure of two women who dwell nearby in the city.' Having heard this, the elder arose, seized his staff, and arrived at the designated city. And when he knocked on the door of the house he had sought and found, one of them came out and received him with great exultation. The elder called both of them together and addressed them thus: 'For your sake I endure such great labor, coming from a distant wilderness, that I might know your works; tell them to me and relate them.' They said to him: 'Believe us, most holy father, that not even this present night have we been separated from our husbands' beds. What kind of works, then, do you seek from us?' But the elder persisted in his prayers, that they should declare to him the order of their life. Then they, being compelled, said to him: 'We are not joined to each other by any kinship of blood; it happened, however, that we were married to two brothers, and having lived together in one house for fifteen years, neither has one of us spoken a shameful word to the other, nor have we ever engaged in a quarrel, but we have lived in peace until now, and have acted with equal consent, in such a way that we wished to leave our husbands together and depart into a congregation of religious virgins, and with many prayers we could not obtain this from our husbands. Having not achieved this, we placed a testament between ourselves and God, that until the hour of our death we would not speak a worldly word at all.' When the blessed Macarius had heard this, he said: 'In truth, there is neither virgin, nor married woman, nor monk, nor secular, but God alone seeks the intention, and He ministers the spirit of life to all.' The same narrative is in the sixth book, where it begins with the words: 'One time, while the same abbot Macarius was praying...' Since, therefore, it had previously been related about Macarius C of Scetis, it follows that Egyptians are meant. But as for similar things, by which one may demonstrate that a secular life lived with the love of God sometimes pleases God more than the monastic life, we have collected these above from the *Vitae Patrum*. I might believe that from these narrations also the outstanding 138 German poem, which was published not long ago, having been elaborated in the Middle Ages and entitled *Der gute Gerhard*, took its beginnings. And our famous Simrock has recently collected similar stories in his book, which is entitled: *Der gute Gerhard und die dankbaren Todten*.
"The blessed Macarius reported about himself, saying: 'While I was a youth, and yet residing in a cell, they seized me against my will and ordained me a cleric in a village. But since I did not wish to be there, I fled to another village, and a certain religious layman, who sold my work and ministered to me, it happened that a certain virgin conceived the burden of a womb through fornication. When she was questioned by her parents as to by whom she had been ravished, she said: 'That anchorite of yours committed this crime against me.' The parents of the girl went out and, seizing me, hung earthenware vessels from my neck and led me through the individual paths, scourging me with blows, and moreover insulting me with these voices: 'This monk has forced our daughter.' And when they had almost punished me to the point of death with clubs, one of the elders said to them: 'How long will you scourge this stranger monk?' But even with my attendant standing by and blushing, they were inflicting injuries, saying: 'Lo, what this man has done, for whom you were bearing witness?' The parents of the girl, however, said: 'We will not let this man go on any account, unless someone comes forward as a guarantor on his behalf for providing for the girl's needs.' And while I signaled to my attendant to do this, he took me under his own pledge. Therefore, having returned to the cell, I contributed all the baskets I found to him, that by being sold they might provide food for me and my wife. I was saying, however: 'Lo, Macarius, you have found yourself a wife; it is therefore necessary to work more, that you may be able to feed her.' And I worked both days and nights, so that daily I might...
supply her with victuals. But when the wretched time of her delivery arrived, for many days she could not give birth, being racked with pain. When asked what she had done, she replied: 'Because I brought a charge against that anchorite who was innocent of any crime. For it was our young neighbor who defiled me.' When the man who was ministering to me heard this, he came back filled with joy, shouting that the unhappy girl, before she confessed that she had falsely woven a calumny against you, could in no way have given birth; he further shouted that all the neighbors were coming and would beg your pardon for the wrong done to you. Knowing this, and fearing that the very people might annoy me, I departed in haste and arrived at this place, and this is the cause of my coming into these parts.» A The same is handed down in the *Verba Seniorum*, book five, and in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelerius; and in both places, the location to which Macarius fled is called Scete; from which it appears that he was the Egyptian Macarius. Moreover, it is certain from Palladius that he went to Scete in the thirtieth year of his age. Indeed, not a few saints are said to have been falsely accused of the crime of fornication, whose innocence was subsequently discovered. Among their number were the virgins Marina, Eugenia, and Apollinaris, who took on a masculine habit and lived holily; and Eustathius, a lector of the city of Caesarea situated in Palestine, to whom we find happened the very same thing that occurred to Macarius. Even today on the island of Elephantine, upon the commission of a defilement, the relatives of the lapsed virgin are accustomed to kill both her and the man by whom she was defiled.
Abbas Macarius, while he was returning to his cell at dawn carrying palm leaves, was met by the devil with a sharpened sickle, who wished to strike him but was unable. Exclaiming, the devil said: "I suffer great force from you, O Macarius; for while I desire to do you harm, I cannot, B since whatever you do, I do even more by my labor. You therefore fast at times, but I am never refreshed by any food. You often keep watch, but sleep never overcomes me. But in one thing you overcome me, I confess it myself." When the blessed Macarius had asked him what that was, he said: "Your humility alone conquers me." As the enemy said this, and as the blessed Macarius stretched out his hands for prayer, the unclean spirit vanished into the air. The same is told word for word in the seventh book; but in the fifth book and in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelerius, they are contained with this distinction, that that ending, concerning the devil having vanished at the prayer of Macarius, is missing. It should be noted that the matter is found twice in the *Apophthegmata*; for there one reads later on: "At another time again, the demon rose up against Abbot Macarius with a little sword, intending to cut off his foot. When he could not, because of his humility, he said to him: 'Whatever you have, we have also; in humility alone do you differ from us and prevail.'" When the writer of the fifth book, who subjoined the following to the narrative about the Egyptian Macarius, seems to agree with the *Apophthegmata* where the entry on Macarius the Egyptian occurs:
"At a certain time, Abbot Macarius, while he was ascending the mountain of Nitria, ordered his disciple to walk a little ahead. As he was walking before him, he encountered a certain priest of idols, running at a rapid pace and carrying a large piece of wood. Calling out to him, he said: 'Where are you running, demon?' The other, in a rage, struck him with such blows that he almost left him for dead; and having left him there, the priest ran on again. Having proceeded a little further, he met the blessed Macarius, who said to him: 'Be saved, laborer, be saved!' Wonderstruck, he answered: 'What good have you seen in me, that you should greet me?' The old man said to him: 'Because I saw you laboring, and you are running in ignorance.' The priest said to him: 'I too, touched by your greeting, have perceived that you are a great servant of God; for another, I know not who, a miserable monk, met me and did me injury, but I also returned blows for his words.' Then, clasping the feet of the blessed Macarius, he cried out, saying: 'Unless you make me a monk, I will not desist.' And as they went on together, they came to the place where D
the blind brother lay. Both of them lifted him up, and since he could not walk, they carried him in their arms into the church. A Now, when the brothers saw the blessed priest accompanying Macarius, struck with wonder, they make that man a monk, and many on his account were converted from paganism to become Christians. Abbot Macarius therefore used to say: 'Because a proud and wicked speech converts even good men to evil, while a humble and good speech changes even the wicked for the better.' These same things are read among the Apophthegmata in Cotelerius, where they begin thus: 'They recount that Abbot Macarius of Egypt once ascended from Scetis to the Mount of Nitria...' and the rest agree accurately with these.
B ...however little we endure; but those who have denied what they had known are tormented beneath us by more severe and ineffable punishments.' Having heard these things, the blessed Macarius departed after having buried the head deeper in the earth. The same is related in the sixth book concerning the Abbot Macarius the Elder, that is, the Egyptian, and in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius, under the entry 'Macarius the Egyptian.' And moreover, John of Damascus reported that he had read the same dialogue—falsely, as it seems—in the Lausiac History, in which it is no longer read today. And furthermore, it is mentioned by Michael Glycas, in the Menaea of the Greeks, by Nicephorus Blemmydes, and in the Encomium of Macarius the Egyptian by John the Hagioelite. The faculties of the scholastic theologians were much exercised by the dogmatic difficulties contained within it. These, indeed, Saint Thomas, having refuted the interpretations of the passage given by other scholastics, strove to resolve in an excellent manner. But who does not think the matter to be a fable? I suspect an Origenist composed it, because Origenists held evil opinions concerning the state of the damned after death. Otherwise, in the Aquicinct manuscript, as Rosweyde testifies, the story was read in such words as to cause the difficulties to cease entirely.
Abbot Macarius, while walking in the desert, found a dry human head upon the ground. After he had turned it over with his staff, it seemed to give forth a voice. The old man asked it who it was. And it replied: 'I was indeed a prince of the priests of the idols who dwelt in this place. You, however, are Abbot Macarius, filled with the divine Spirit. For at whatever hour you have pity on those who are in punishment, and pray for them, they feel some consolation.' The old man said to it: 'And what is your consolation or punishment? Answer.' And it, sighing even more deeply, said: 'As far, he says, as heaven is distant from the earth, so deep is the fire, in the midst of which we are covered from feet to head on all sides, nor is it permitted to anyone to gaze upon the face of another, but our faces are joined to our backs. Therefore, when you pray for us, for a moment we see one another, and this stands for our consolation.' Having heard these things, he shed tears, saying: 'Woe to that day in which man transgressed the commandments of God!' C And again he asked of it if there were any other, greater punishment. To which it replied: 'There are others for us much lower down.' And when he asked who they were, it said: 'We, indeed, who did not know God, [obtain] your mercy.'
D Another passage of the Apophthegmata concerning Macarius the Egyptian § XXXIX; see below in the second Appendix of these Questions under III.
143 A certain brother asked the blessed Macarius to speak to him a word, through which he might be saved. The old man said to him: 'It is necessary to flee from men, and to sit in one's cell, and to lament for one's sins unceasingly, and what is above all virtues, to restrain both the tongue and the belly.' You find the same doctrine of Macarius in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius twice. And once, indeed, it is conceived in these words: 'Abbot Esaias, asking Abbot Macarius, said: "Proffer for me a pronouncement." To which the old man replied: "Flee from men." Abbot Esaias said: "What, he says, is it to flee from men?" The old man answered: "To sit in your cell and to weep for your sins."'
A It differs only in this, that in place of Abbot Esaias, "Abbot Aio" is read. But Abbot Aio lived in Thebaid; in which regions of Egypt Abbot Esaias lived, I do not find. Whether the compiler of the Apophthegmata justly attributed the matter to Macarius of Egypt, is not clear from any other source.
"There once came two young men to the blessed Macarius, one indeed fully learned, but the other still a beginner. And having fallen at his feet, they begged that he would permit them to live with him. When he saw that they were, as it were, delicate in body, he judged them unable to endure the desert. And he said to them: "Here, my brothers, you cannot stay." And they said: "If we cannot live with you, father, what then shall we do?" Having heard this, he began to reason within himself thus: "If I cast them away from here, they will suffer scandal; now I shall say to them: 'Come, build for yourselves a little cell, if you are able.'" And since they asked only that the place be pointed out to them, he led them and showed them B a rock, by cutting which they might prepare a dwelling for themselves, and cover it with wood brought from the swamp. Macarius thought that they would immediately depart, because of the labor enjoined upon them. But they asked him, saying: "What kind of work do you order us to perform, father?" Then he, taking up some leaves, showed them how to weave a rope, which he advised them to sell for their sustenance; and so he went away from them. But they, with the greatest patience, performed whatever had been commanded them. Therefore, seeing them increase daily in good works, and frequently remain in the church in silence for prayers, the old man desired to know their true works. For an entire week, therefore, he fasted and asked the Lord that He would deign to show him their deeds. And after this, he went to them and knocked at the door of their cave. When it was opened, and the man of God was seen, both worshipped on the ground. And after they had prayed according to custom and sat down, the elder signaled to the younger, and he went out. He himself, however, sat weaving a rope, speaking nothing at all. At the ninth hour, the younger brother knocked at the door and entered with food, with which they might be refreshed. By the same gesture C he was ordered to set a small table with three paximatia, and he stood silent.
When they had eaten, they said to the blessed Macarius: "Are you leaving, father, or not?" And he replied that he wished to rest there. Then they placed a mat in one corner for his work, and they themselves rested in the other corner, as though they had cast themselves down to sleep. Again, therefore, Macarius asked the Lord that He would reveal to him their works. And behold, as if the roof were dissolved, a clear light filled that cell as if in the middle of the day, which, however, they did not perceive. But after they thought the old man to be asleep, they gave themselves to prayer, extending their hands to heaven. He, indeed, looked upon what they were doing; but they were unable to see him. Yet the old man, observing more intently, saw as it were flies—the demons—coming to settle upon the mouth and eyes of the younger one D and wishing to stay there, but an angel of the Lord, armed with a fiery sword, surrounded and defended him, driving away and casting out the demons; but they were in no way able to approach the elder. But when they had already drawn near, they threw themselves down in the light upon their same bed. Then Macarius rose as if awakening; similarly, they also rose as if aroused from a long sleep. And the older brother approached the old man and said: "Do you wish, father, that we chant twelve psalms?" And when they chanted, from the mouth of the younger brother, at every verse, a torch of fire went forth and ascended to heaven. Likewise also when the elder sang, as often as he brought his lips to chant, a cord of fire, in like manner, was stretched from his mouth to heaven. But after they had finished the matins, Macarius went out and begged them to deign to pray for him; but they, silent, prostrated themselves at his feet, commending themselves to his prayers. And the old man knew that the elder was indeed perfect in the fear of God, but the younger was still assaulted by demons. After a few days, the elder brother was received in peace; on the third day the younger also followed him." The same Macarius himself is said to have narrated this more fully in the sixth book and in the Apophthegmata brought forth by Cotelerius; for in both places it begins with these words: "Abbot Vindex said..."
A We find in the other books of the same collection of the Lives of the Fathers the same thing which we observe elsewhere. Rosweyd 147 conjectured that Rufinus was the author (or translator) of the third book, both from the style of speaking and certain words of the preface, which agree with the preface of the second book, and from the affinity of the prefaces of the second and third books with the proems of the Lausiac History. For because the preface of the third book certainly rests upon the letter of Palladius to Lausus, prefixed to the Lausiac History, and the preface of the second book—of which Rufinus is the translator—undoubtedly alludes to the proem which is read at the beginning of the Meursian and Rosweydian edition of the Lausiac History, he conjectured, albeit somewhat boldly, that Rufinus was the same author (translator or writer of the prefaces) of both books B (9). Although even by the fact that Rufinus was dead before the Lausiac History appeared (10), he ought to have been recalled from such an error. For that proem of the Meursian and Rosweydian edition (11) of the Lausiac History, with which the preface of the second book is undoubtedly connected, is spurious (12) and older than the Lausiac History, whence you will easily explain its use in the second book, written before the Lausiac History (13). Truly, the preface of the third book relies on the genuine places of the Lausiac History, wherefore it is no less clear that it was written after the death of Rufinus. Thus much is certain: the preface of the third book is compiled from the prefaces of the second book and the Lausiac History, and that book is therefore later in age than these two.
§ 33. In the fifth book of the Lives of the Fathers of the Rosweydian collection, seventeen histories concerning the Macarii are contained. Eight of these are about: C Macarius the Egyptian drinking wine with the brethren, but afterwards abstaining from water for an entire day for every cup (14); about the saying of the same Macarius on losing oneself when moved to anger to rebuke others (15); about the doctrine of the same concerning accepting injuries from men D 148.
A in remembering these things, it injures the power of memory, yet that the recollection of evils inflicted by demons does not cause injury (1), about the mode of prayer (2), about the pregnant girl who falsely claimed she was corrupted by Macarius the Egyptian (3), about the devil confessing that he is overcome by the humility of Macarius the Egyptian (4), about the thief whom the same Macarius caught in his cell (5), and finally about the demon who, after visiting the brothers, confessed that only the brother Theoctistus in the monastery favored the same Macarius (6), we have discussed above (7). It remains for us to recount the other nine in order.
"Abbot Macarius said to Abbot Zacharias: Tell me, what is the work of a monk? He said to him: Do you ask me, father? And Abbot Macarius said to him: I am certain of you, my son Zacharias; for there is someone who prompts me to ask you. Zacharias said to him: As for me, father, I think this: whoever subjects himself to necessities and constrains himself, he is a monk (8)." You find the same in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier under the entry *Zacharias*, where you are taught that he resided in Scete; from which matter you may conclude not unjustly that Macarius the Egyptian is understood in our passage. However, Zacharias’s response in the Greek text is almost this: "As far as I judge, father, he who constrains himself to everything, he is a monk (9)."
"Some of the fathers asked Abbot Macarius the Egyptian, saying: How is it that your body is dried up, even when you eat and when you fast? And the old man said to them: Just as wood in a man's hand, with which brushwood is turned and returned in the fire, is always being consumed by the fire, so if a man has purified his mind in the fear of God, that fear of God consumes even his bones 149 (10)." The same saying of Macarius the Egyptian is read in the often-praised *Apophthegmata* (11). Likewise, Macarius the Alexandrian was of such dryness B that not even hairs had grown on his chin due to the excessive labors of his exercise and the extreme dryness of his skin (12).
"The elders of Mount Nitria once sent to Abbot Macarius in Scetis, asking that he come to them, otherwise he should know that if he himself did not come to them, the whole multitude would come to him, since they desired to see him before he departed to the Lord. And when he had come to the mountain, the whole multitude of the brothers was gathered to him. The elders asked him to speak a word to the brothers. He, however, weeping, said: Let us weep, brothers, and let our eyes bring forth tears before we depart from here, where our tears may burn up our bodies. And they all wept and fell prostrate on their faces, saying: Father, pray for us (13)." The same exists in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier (14). But who would not easily believe that the words of the old man, who was nearly ninety years old and was visiting Nitria for the last time, moved the spirits of the brothers to tears? From this, it is evident how highly the brothers valued him.
"Abbot Macarius the Elder used to say to the brothers in Scetis after the church services: Flee, brothers. And one of the brothers said to him: Father, where do we have to flee further from this solitude? And he placed his finger in his mouth, saying: This is what I say must be fled; and thus he entered his cell and, closing the door, sat alone (15)." You have the same in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier (16), with this one difference: that instead of "after the church services," in the Greek 150 "after he dismissed the church" is read. Now, silence must be counted among the principal virtues of the monks of Egypt (17).
"Abbot Theodore, surnamed of Pherme, possessed three good codices. And when he had come
to Abbot Macarius, he said to him: "I have three codices, and I make progress from reading them. But the brothers also ask for them to read, and they themselves make progress. Tell me, therefore, what I ought to do?" And the old man answered and said: "Good indeed are these actions, but to possess nothing is better than all." When he heard this, he went away, sold the aforementioned codices, and gave the proceeds to those in need." The same is told in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius: "Abbot Theodore of Pherme, possessing three good books, came to Abbot Macarius and said: 'I have three excellent books, from the reading of which I derive profit; the brothers also use them, and likewise make progress. Tell me, therefore, what I ought to do; should I keep them for my own use and that of the brothers, or sell them and give the proceeds to the poor?' The old man answered: 'These are noble actions indeed, but poverty is better than all.' Having heard this, he went away, sold them, and gave the money to the poor." I infer from this A that he is the Egyptian Macarius, because Pherme was situated near Scete, and Theodore himself lived initially in Scete. Poverty, indeed, was the principal virtue of the Egyptian fathers.
"Abbot Macarius the Great came to Abbot Anthony on the mountain, and when he had knocked at the door, he came out to him and said: 'Who are you?' And he said: 'I am Macarius.' And closing the door, he went inside and left him outside. And when he saw his patience afterward, he opened it to him. And rejoicing for him, he said: 'It is a long time that I have been desiring to see you, having heard of you.' And showing him hospitality, he refreshed him; for he was weary from much labor. Then, when evening came, Abbot Anthony set out a small amount of palm leaves for himself, and Abbot Macarius said to him: 'Give me some, so that I also may weave what I may work on.' But he said: 'I have no more.' And he made a larger bundle and set it out. And sitting from evening (onwards) and conversing about the salvation of souls, they wove rope, and B that rope was being let down through the window into the cave. And going out in the morning, Saint Anthony saw the collection of ropes of Abbot Macarius, and he was amazed, and kissed his hands, saying: 'Great virtue goes out from these.' " The same is related in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius. We find here again that Macarius the Egyptian met with St. Anthony († Jan 17, 356). You can easily see that this story is not to be confused with those related above concerning the abbot of the Pispir monastery.
"Macarius himself once descended from Scete to the place called Terenuthis, and he entered to sleep in a tomb where, of old, the bodies of pagans had been buried. And he pulled one body under his head like a rush pillow. But the demons, seeing his confidence, were invisible, and wishing to terrify him, they called out as if to a certain woman, saying: 'Nonna, come with us to the bath.' And another demon from beneath him, as if from among those dead men, answered, saying: 'I have a stranger on top of me; I cannot come.' But the old man was not afraid, but confidently struck that body, saying: 'Arise, go, if you can.' When the demons heard this, they cried out with a loud voice, saying: 'You have conquered us.' And they fled in confusion." The same event is found in the often-cited Apophthegmata. I have not, however, been able to find where Terenuthis was situated.
"Abbot Peter, who was a disciple of Abbot Lot, narrated, saying: 'I was once in the cell of Abbot Agathon, and a certain brother came to him, saying: "I wish to dwell with the brothers, but tell me how I am to dwell with them." The old man said to him: "Just as on the first day, when you enter among them, so keep your sojourn C all the days of your life, nor take for yourself confidence..." D
A ...and, "If you see the boys, take up your sheepskins and depart." You may find this same prophecy of Macarius of Egypt in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier. Whether this refers to the devastation of Scetis—whether it happened under Lucius, the Arian bishop of Alexandria, while Macarius was still alive, or that of the barbarians who slaughtered Abbot Moses and his companions, or a third instance unknown to us—is difficult to determine. Tillemont conjectured that the invasion of those barbarians, who he thinks (for I know not what reasons) were of the most cruel Mazices tribe, 153 is what was predicted. However, the things that St. Augustine handed down concerning the devastation of the Egyptian monasteries do not seem to refer to this here.
Abbot Macarius says to him: "For what does confidence do?" The elder says to him: "It is like a great heat; when it has flared up, everyone flees from its face, because that heat even corrupts the fruit of the trees." Abbot Macarius said: "Is confidence thus evil?" Abbot Agathon replied: "There is no passion worse than confidence; for it is the mother of all passions. It is appropriate, therefore, for a monk not to assume confidence, even if he should be alone in his cell." B This response of Agathon, given to a brother, is also in the third book and in the seventh book of the *Lex*; but the words of Macarius are added only in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier. Whether these are indeed the words of Macarius of Egypt is not sufficiently clear. For Abbot Agathon does not seem to have lived in Scetis; Abbot Peter, moreover, lived in the Cells, and you would believe that Lot, his master, lived in a small marsh of the Arsinoite region.
Abbot Macarius, wishing to console the brothers, was saying: "A boy who was vexed by a demon came here once with his mother, and was saying to his mother: 'Rise, let us leave from here.' But she was saying: 'I cannot walk on my feet.' And her son was saying to her: 'I will carry you.' And I marveled at the cunning of the demons, in how he wished to drive them from there." The same is held in the *Apophthegmata* edited by Cotelier. The history which follows indicates to which of the Macarii the matter should be attributed.
He was saying again to the brothers concerning the desolation of Scetis: "When you see a cell built next to the marsh, know that the desolation of Scetis is near; but when you see trees, it is already before the door; and when you see..."
It is not sufficiently agreed upon when the fifth book was composed. However, it is praised by Photius, and critics have not rashly conjectured that Pelagius, the interpreter of the books, lived in the sixth century. But let us pass to the sixth book.
§ 34. In the sixth book are included eleven histories about the Macarii, of which seven concern Macarius of Egypt: after he was tired and prayed, being raised up and set across the river; about two young pilgrims approaching the same Macarius and excelling in such virtue; C about the meeting of the Macarii with two tribunes, with that description of Scetis added; about the skull relating the punishments of hell to Macarius of Egypt; about a revelation made to that same Macarius, that he had not yet attained the virtue of two women; about the word of the same Macarius that he said to Evagrius: "Be content with the shade"; about the affirmation of the same, that for twenty years he [had attained] D satiety of water, bread, and sleep...
and I have already reviewed them. The other four are these:
"A certain man had a paralytic son in Egypt, and he brought him to the cell of the blessed Macarius, and having left him at the door weeping, he went away far off. The elder, therefore, looking back, saw the boy weeping and said to him: 'Who brought you here?' He said: 'My father threw me here and went away.' And the elder said to him: 'Arise and get hold of him.' 154 He was immediately made whole, and rising up he grabbed his father, and so they went away to their home." The same is found in the third book of the life of Abba Bessarion who lived in Scete, but in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius it is attributed to Macarius the Egyptian. Regarding the little girl thrown by her parents similarly at the door of Macarius the Egyptian and cured by the saint, we have already heard above.
"Abba Sisoes said: 'When I was in Scetis with Abba Macarius, we went up to reap with him, seven names. And behold, a certain widow was gathering ears of corn after us, and she did not cease weeping. The elder therefore called the master of that field and said to him: 'What is it with this poor old woman, that she is always weeping?' He said to him: 'Because her husband had a deposit of a certain person, and he died without speaking, and did not say where he placed it, and the owner of the deposit wants to take her and her children into servitude.' And the elder said: 'Tell her to come to us where we are resting in the heat.' And when she had come, the elder said to her: 'Why are you always weeping?' She said: 'My husband is dead, having taken a trust of 155 someone, and he did not say, while dying, where he put it.' And the elder said to her: 'Come, and show us the tomb of your husband.' And having taken the brothers with him, he went with her. And when they had arrived at the place where he was laid, the elder said to her: 'Depart from here to your house.' And as they were praying, he called out to him who had died, saying to him: 'Where did you put another’s deposit?' Who, answering, said to him: 'It is hidden in my house under the foot of the bed.' And the elder said to him: 'Sleep again until the day of resurrection.' The brothers meanwhile seeing this fell at his feet; to whom the elder said: 'Not on account of me has this been done; for I am nothing; but on account of that widow and her orphans God has done this thing. For this is a great thing, because God desires the soul to be without sin, and if it has asked for anything, it receives. Coming, therefore, he informed that widow where that trust was. And she, taking it, returned it to its owner and freed her children. And those who heard this glorified God.'" The same is contained in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius. Rosweidus confesses that he does not understand what that "seven names" means. But it is easily explained from the Greek, where you read "ἑπτὰ ὀνόματα", i.e., seven men. Indeed, the word *onomata* is often found for *anthropoi*, whence a manuscript of Bodensis, by the witness of Bollandus, correctly brought forth "seven brothers." Do not, however, marvel that Abba Macarius the Egyptian is read to have gone out to reap. For the custom was not only of the brothers of the priest Serapion, who ruled nearly ten thousand monks in the Arsinoite region, but of almost all the monks of Egypt, that at the time of harvest they would hire themselves out to reap, and when they had each received eighty measures of grain more or less as wages, they would offer a portion to the poor whom they knew, nor would they fail to send ships to Alexandria laden with grain to be distributed to those in need. In like manner also, it is handed down that the daughter of Spiridion, bishop of Cyprus, deceased, answered from the sepulcher where she had placed a deposit.
A "Abba Macarius the Egyptian once came from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria on the day of the oblation to the monastery of Abba Pambo; and the elders of that place said to him, 'Speak a word of edification to the brothers, father.' He said to them, 'I have not yet become a monk, but I have seen monks. For when I was sitting 156 once in my cell in Scetis, my thoughts were pressing me, saying: Rise, go into the desert, and consider what you see there. And my mind remained in struggle of this kind for five years, saying: Lest this suggestion be from the demons. When, therefore, this thought had persevered in me, I went into the desert, and I found there a pool of water, and an island in the midst of it. Various animals of the desert also came and drank from it. Among those I saw two naked men, and my body trembled; for I thought that they were spirits. And when they saw me trembling, they spoke to me, saying: Do not fear; for we also are men. I said therefore to them: Whence are you, and how did you come into this desert? They said: We were from a coenobium, and a consensus was made between us, and we came out here; behold, there are forty years. Now one of them was an Egyptian, but the other a Libyan. They also questioned me, saying: How is the world, and does the water rise according to its season, and does the world also have its abundance? I answered them: Yes. Whom I also questioned: How can I become a monk? They say to me: Unless one renounces everything that is in the world, he cannot become a monk. To whom I said: I am weak and cannot do as you. They answered me: If you cannot do as we, sit in your cell and weep for your sins. I asked them therefore, saying: In winter do you not feel the cold, or in summer is your body not set on fire by the heat? But they said: God has made for us this dispensation, that we feel neither the cold in winter nor the heat in summer. And therefore I said to you, that I have not yet become a monk. Forgive me, brothers." You find the same in the Apophthegms of Cotelerius. That Pambo the abbot lived with his monks on the mountain of Nitria, Palladius is the witness. Those two monks were of the anchorite class, whose life we have described above. 157 We have learned that Macarius himself taught that it is the duty of monks to sit in their cell and weep for their sins.
A "A certain young man came to Abba Macarius, to be healed of a demon. And while he was standing outside, behold, a certain brother from another monastery arrived and committed sin with that young man. But the old man, having gone out, sees that brother sinning with that little one, and he did not rebuke him, saying: If God, who created them, having seen their patience, endured them—He who, if He wished, could burn them—who am I to rebuke them?" The other sources make no mention of this deed. The Latin translator of the sixth book is John the subdeacon, whom they think was the equal of Pelagius, the translator of the fifth book. Photius also praises the Greek text of the sixth book.
§ 35. In the seventh book, six histories concerning the Macarii are contained, from which, however, we learn little that is new, since we have already reviewed all of them except for one alone. For it is told of the devil visiting the brothers and professing that he alone has a "Theopistus" as a friend, of the thief whom the same Macarius caught in his cell, of the devil admitting that he is conquered by his humility alone, of Cronius, who met the minister of Anthony, Macarius, in the Pispir coenobium, and of the exposition of Macarius the Egyptian, as to why we do not harm our memory by the recollection of evils inflicted by the devil. There remains, therefore, only this history:
D "Blessed Macarius said: In truth, if contempt becomes to a monk 158 as praise, poverty as riches, scarcity as a feast, he never dies. It is impossible that a well-believing man who piously worships God falls into passion—
unclean and in the error of demons. The same occurs in the sentences of the Egyptian fathers by Rosweyde, and in the *Apophthegmata* published by Cotelerius.
What is then handed down in the seventh book concerning Macarius the Camel-herd, who is said to have stolen salt, seems to refer not to either of ours, but to Macarius the Younger, who had pastured cattle until the eighteenth year of his age. The Latin translator of the seventh book is Paschasius the Deacon, whom they do not rashly believe to have lived also in the sixth century.
§ 36. From the Rosweyde collection, only the book of the sentences of the Egyptian fathers remains to be examined. Where it is handed down in only four places concerning the Macarii—three of which concern the opinion of the Egyptian, why we do not weaken our memory by the remembrance of evils inflicted by the demon, his doctrine that an angry man harms himself, and that which we have just heard, the statement about the perfect monk—the fourth, however, is this:
« They used to say of the Abbot Macarius the Elder, that just as God protects the whole world and bears the sins of men, so he also was like a certain earthly God among the brothers, covering their faults, and those things which he saw or heard, as if he did not see or hear. » This which is also narrated in the 159 *Apophthegmata* published by Cotelerius, and it fits well with the rest that we read about Macarius the Egyptian.
But now let us examine the *Apophthegmata* published by Possinus and [by] Cotelerius.
CHAPTER VII
APOPHTHEGMATA PUBLISHED BY POSSINUS AND COTELERIUS, UNPUBLISHED [PIECES] OF THE VIENNA CODICES, APPENDIX OF THE APOPHTHEGMATA OF COTELERIUS, LIVES OF THE SAINTS CONCERNING THE HOLY MACARIUS THE EGYPTIAN AND MACARIUS THE ALEXANDRIAN
§ 37. Of the *Apophthegmata* of Macarius which Possinus first published from the codex of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus A, it will suffice to speak very briefly. Since they are clearly of a didactic nature, and B are easily turned over as they have been reprinted by Pritius, and also in Galland’s *Bibliotheca Patrum*, we have not wished to record them in their entirety. But there are read in them sayings of Macarius the "Great," i.e., the Egyptian, on the perfection of the monk, on his consolation, on conversation with the elders, on patience, on true love, on the power of prayer and patience, on taciturnity, on holiness without doctrine and doctrine without holiness, on not desiring the office of superior of monks, on prayer. And the same character is found in them as in the homilies of Macarius the Egyptian. But since the minor works, which Possinus brought forth under the name of Macarius the Egyptian from the same Roman codex, a codex which I myself 160 visited at Vienna, are proven by Simeon Logothetes to have been compiled (from the writings of Macarius the Egyptian), I do not rashly suspect that those *Apophthegmata* were constructed in a similar way. And these *Apophthegmata*, with the version corrected by us, we have reprinted below in the second Appendix of these Questions under II.
§ 38. In the *Apophthegmata* published by Cotelerius, C there is a narrative about Macarius the Egyptian in forty-one chapters, which, however, with the exception of only ten histories, we have already examined. Nor do we find them in Palladius, in the second book, in Cassian, St. Jerome, or Evagrius, but only in the ancient version of the *Lausiac History* and in the books of the *Vitae Patrum*. Whence it is certainly evident that the compiler did not rely in gathering his work on the works of the writers, but only on secondary sources, namely, the books of the *Vitae Patrum*. But these are those ten histories:
« Abbot Peter narrated that the blessed Macarius, when he had at one time found a certain anchorite sick, inquired of him what food he might wish to take. Who, after D he asked for a small loaf, the strong man, when there was nothing in his cell...
did not find it burdensome to go to Alexandria to bring it to the sick man; nor did the wondrous thing become manifest to anyone. A Regarding Abbot Peter in the Cells, a disciple of Abbot Lot, we have spoken above.
"He also related: Someone said to Abbot Macarius, who lived in simplicity before all the brethren: 'Why do you act this way?' He replied: 'For twelve years I have served my Lord so that he might grant me this grace, and you all give me counsel to lay it aside?' These things certainly agree very well with what we have discovered so far regarding Macarius the Egyptian.
"It is reported that two brothers in Scete had sinned. When Abbot Macarius, the 'politikos' [citizen/urban], had separated them, some approached Macarius the Great, the Egyptian abbot, and reported this. He said: 'It is not the brothers who are separated, but Macarius'; for he loved him. But Abbot Macarius, hearing that he was separated by the elder, fled to the marsh; and that man found him pierced by mosquitoes. He said to him: 'You separated the brothers, and behold, they could have withdrawn to the village. But I separated you, and you fled here into an inner chamber like a beautiful virgin. But I, having called the brothers, learned that nothing of these things had happened. Look out, therefore, brother, lest you have been deluded by demons; for you have seen nothing, but perform penance for your crime.' He replied: 'If you wish, give me a penance.' Seeing his humility, therefore, the elder said: 'Go, fast for three weeks, eating only once each week.' For this was his perpetual exercise, to fast by the weeks. We have shown above that Macarius the 'politikos' is the Alexandrian. We know, however, that he sat again in the marsh of Scete for another reason.
"Abbot Macarius, sometimes traveling through Egypt with the brethren, heard a boy saying to his mother: 'Mother, the rich man loves me, and I hate him; but the poor man hates me, and I love him.' Having heard this speech, Abbot Macarius was amazed. Then the brothers asked: 'What is this word, Father, that you wonder at?' The elder replied: 'Truly our Lord is rich, and he loves us, but we ourselves do not wish to obey him; on the contrary, our enemy the devil is poor, and he hates us, and we love his impurity.' A worthy explanation indeed, which should be passed on to posterity.
"Abbot Poemen, asking the same man with many tears: 'Tell me,' he said, 'how I may be saved.' To whom the elder replied: 'The thing you seek has already withdrawn from the monks.' Rufinus relates that he saw Abbots Poemen and Joseph in Pispir; but Abbot Poemen also lived in Scete.
"Abbot Macarius once went to Abbot Anthony. Having conversed with him, when he was returning to Scete, C meeting the brethren on the way, he said in the course of conversation: 'I told Abbot Anthony that we do not have an oblation in our place.' But the Fathers began to discourse on other matters, and they did not seek to learn further the answer of the elder, nor did he himself speak further. Therefore, one of the Fathers said this: 'If the fathers see that it has slipped from the memory of the brothers to ask about things useful to them, they compel themselves to bring forth the beginning of the discourse; but if they are not compelled by the brothers, they do not pursue the conversation, so that they might not be caught having spoken without being asked, and the speech might appear to be idle.' We have already discovered above that Macarius the Egyptian went to St. Anthony; whence it seems to us not inappropriately that he is called a disciple of St. Anthony by Rufinus in a broader sense.
"Abbot Paphnutius, a disciple of Abbot Macarius, reported this: 'I asked,' he said, 'my father that he might tell me a word.' He, however, said: 'Do not harm anyone, nor condemn anyone. Observe these things and you will be saved.'
' A Paphnutius, although by the testimony of the disciple of Macarius of Alexandria he is also read to have lived in Scetis, it is nonetheless probable that he first lived in the solitude of the Thebaid.
Abba Macarius said: "Do not sleep in the cell of a brother who has been criticized by a bad reputation."
Once, some brothers came to Abba Macarius in Scetis, and they found nothing in his cell except foul water. And so they said to him: "Abba, go up to the village, and we will refresh you." The old man replied to them: "Do you know, brothers, the mill of that man in the village?" They said: "Yes." Then the old man [added]: "I know it too. Do you also know the estate of that man, where the river flows?" They said: "We know it." The old man said: "And I, too, know it. Therefore, when it pleases [me], I have no need of you; I bring it [to myself] personally." This excellence of discipline agrees perfectly with the other things we have learned about Macarius of Egypt.
Abba Paphnutius, a disciple of Abba Macarius, reported that the old man had said: "When I was a boy, I was grazing calves with other boys, who went off to steal figs. And while they were running, one of them fell down, and I took it and ate it. Therefore, as often as the memory of that act returns, I sit weeping." We have already spoken about Paphnutius, the disciple of Abba Macarius.
These things concerning Macarius of Egypt are contained in the Apophthegmata edited by Cotelerius under the heading "Macarius of Egypt." But as I examine the other chapters of the Apophthegmata, a mention of Macarius of Egypt seems to occur in three other places. These are the passages we have already recognized and reviewed above.
B "That Abba Macarius, the 'city-man' (*politikos*), once went out to cut palm branches, with the brothers accompanying him. On the first day they said to him: 'Come, father, eat with us.' Therefore he approached and ate. On the second day they asked him again to eat. But he, refusing, said: 'You, sons, must take food; for you are still carnal, but I, for my part, do not wish to eat now.'" This story is read—wrongly, as anyone can easily understand—inserted in two Viennese codices of the Apophthegmata under the heading "Macarius of Egypt" after § XXXII. However, we have learned from Palladius how greatly Macarius of Alexandria abstained from food.
Abba Macarius met Abba Pachomius of the Tabennesiotes. Pachomius, questioning him, said: "If, father, the brothers do not observe the order of discipline, is it a good thing to reprove them?" Abba Macarius replied: "Chastise and judge justly those who are subject to you; but judge no one else; for it is written: 'For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God will judge' (1 Cor. 6:12-13)." We have received from Palladius that Macarius of Alexandria had a meeting with Pachomius. Moreover, it is proved again from that conversation that Macarius of Alexandria, already before the year 348, in which year Pachomius died, excelled in no small fame for virtue and asceticism.
Abba Macarius once visited a certain brother daily for four whole months, and he never, not even once, found him free from prayer. Admiring him, therefore, he said: "Behold, a terrestrial angel!"
The monks of the cells, living individually in their cells, were accustomed to gather only on the day of the Sabbath and on Sunday.
A And it was perhaps from their number that there was that brother whom Macarius of Alexandria, the priest of the Cells, found praying every day when he visited him for so many months.
Having therefore set forth those things which are found in those Apophthegmata concerning Macarius of Alexandria, it will be permitted to pass to an unpublished appendix of the Apophthegmata.
§ 40. For in that appendix, the manuscript of which I consulted in the Imperial Library of Vienna, there exist three stories concerning Macarius, the last of which—concerning the dead man raised by Macarius of Egypt to refute the Hieracite heretic—we have C shared with our readers. The remaining ones, of which one is held on folio 148 of the codex, and the other on folio 161, have been rendered into Latin as follows:
"Abbot Macarius said: Why do you judge killers and adulterers and plunderers of tombs, and whoever else is a violator of the law in this way? They have their own judge. Nay, inquire not only into the crimes of others, but also into your own sins, often premeditated, and you will frequently find yourself worse than them. For you, too, have not rarely looked about with lustful eyes; that which, as you yourself know, is already truly adultery. You have also often cursed your brother, nor are you ignorant that the Lord revealed concerning this matter, saying that everyone who says 'fool' to his brother is liable to the fire of Gehenna. And, which is the most atrocious of all, perhaps you even approach his holy and undefiled mysteries unworthily, so that you become guilty of the body and blood of Christ. Therefore, he whom you judge is found to have killed a mere man; but you are found killing Christ Himself and are guilty of His death, since you partake unworthily of the undefiled body and blood. For it is written: 'Whoever eats and drinks unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of Christ, and eats and drinks judgment upon himself'; that is: Just as those Jews killed Him, so also those who receive His body and blood unworthily do the same. For it is most probable that both he who tears the royal purple, and he who stains it, suffer D the same death. Whence also those who once pierced His body, and those who now pollute it, by perceiving it with an impure mind, will undergo the same judgment from the Apostles by those who crucified Christ."
"Abbot Macarius further confessed: When I was younger and was free in my cell, I went into the desert and, reflecting within myself, I said: 'Question whomever you meet for your own benefit.' And I found a little boy herding oxen, to whom I said: 'What shall I do, little boy, because I am hungry?' He said to me: 'Eat, at last.' Then I said: 'I have eaten, but I am hungry again.' And he said to me again: 'Then eat again.' I said similarly: 'I have eaten many times, and yet I am always hungry again.' To this he replied: 'It is not far from you becoming an ass, Abba, since you are one who always wishes to eat.' And so, having found benefit, I departed."
Although these two stories are very beautiful and indeed fit both Macarii well, I would nevertheless attribute them to the Egyptian; the one because of the similarity of doctrine with his homilies, the other because of its link with the story of the dead man B raised to refute the Hieracite, which in the manuscript is placed immediately after and refers to the same Macarius.
§ 41. It remains that we examine the lives of other Saints, in which mention is made of our Macarii. To this end, we have diligently leafed through the individual volumes of the *Acta Sanctorum* of Bollandus, but we have gathered few fruits. Macarius of Alexandria is mentioned at the end of the letter of "Ammon the Bishop to Pope Theophilus of Alexandria concerning the conversation and particular life of S. Pachomius and Theodore," where, along with the blessed Pior, Aelurion, Ammon, and Isidore—the most ancient of all anchorites—the blessed Macarius is also numbered among those whom Bishop Ammon had seen on Mount Nitria and had greatly admired; therefore, it is most probable that Macarius of Alexandria is to be understood. Furthermore, among the relics of the church of Sens are recounted the relics of Abbot Macarius, but you cannot say with certainty whether they belong to one or the other of our Macarii. Again, mention of Macarius is made in the life of Justus, Bishop of Lyons, described by an anonymous author, which appeared in codex XXXIII of the Queen of Sweden. For Justus the bishop had sought Egypt at the end of the 4th century. In whose life the unknown writer [wrote these words]...
A continues: "I myself saw a certain holy presbyter who was already nearly ninety years of age, from whose account I learned these things; for in his speech there was a sense of the credibility of sacred history. He related that he had stayed for a long time in those parts of the desert, and had not only seen Justus of blessed name, but had also enjoyed his familiarity, and that also among those who at that time shone forth in the desert like great luminaries through revelations and virtues, the holy Macarius, Paphnutius, and others, whose reputation for holiness flourished throughout the East." The Bollandists have not incorrectly supposed that Macarius the Egyptian, the abbot of Scetis, where Abbot Paphnutius also resided, is to be understood. The anonymous writer seems to refer to the book of Rufinus with the words, "shone forth like great luminaries." Finally, more is read about Macarius the Egyptian in the life of St. Apollinaris Syncletica, called Dorotheus, which we shall now treat more accurately. The sum of the matters contained in her life comes to this:
Apollinaris, a virgin and daughter of the Emperor Anthemius, driven by a zeal for the monastic life, when she had visited the holy places and sailed to Alexandria, came to the tomb of St. Menas. Intending to go to the fathers of Scetis, she came upon a spring near a marsh—which spring was later wont to be called Apollinaris'—and, while the eunuch who was her litter-bearer and travel companion was sleeping, she changed her clothes and B put on the monastic habit she had hidden with her, and escaped into the marsh. Where, struggling for many years with demons, she wore a body wasted by gnats and resembling tortoise hide. Afterward, instructed by God to say that her name was Dorotheus to those who asked, she emerged from the marsh, taken by all for a eunuch.
"When it was morning, St. Macarius met her and said to her: 'Bless me, father.' They walked together in the wilderness, having given each other charity. But Dorotheus asked, saying: 'Father, who are you?' He said: 'I am Macarius.' And he said: 'Perform a work of charity; let me live with the brothers.' He immediately offered him a cell." So there, praying day and night, she struggled most fiercely. "But one day Abbot Macarius came to his cell, and said to him: 'Perform a work of charity, good brother; offer up prayers for us.' She said: A 'Father, I wish to be blessed by you.' And when they had made their prayers, they sat down. Abbot Macarius asked her, saying: 'Tell me, brother, whence do you come, and what is your name?' She said: 'I am called Dorotheus, and when I had heard of the holy Fathers who are here, I wished to live with them, if I should be worthy.' The elder said to her again: 'What work do you do?' She said: 'I will do whatever you command me.' He showed her that she should make rope. But God, wishing to show her strength of soul, did not reveal to Abbot Macarius that she was a woman, but he thought she was a man, a eunuch. And God performed many healings through her." And there was only one sister of the holy woman, who was seized by a demon, which began to tear at her and say: "Unless you take me into the desert, I will not come out of her." At last, the emperor with a great retinue sent her to the fathers of the desert.
"And when they had come to Scetis, St. Macarius knew the reason why they were present in that place, and going out to meet them, he received them and said: 'Why do you come here, O children?' They said: 'First of all, our pious Emperor Anthemius has sent his daughter, so that she might be cured by God and by your prayers.' When he had received her C from the chamberlain, he brought her to Abbot Dorotheus, and said to him: 'Perform a work of charity, since she is the daughter of the emperor, and has need of the prayers of the fathers and of your own. Pray for her, that she may be cured. For this is your reward.' When he heard this, he began to weep and say: 'Who am I, a sinner, that you have conceived such an opinion of me?' And with bended knees he said: 'Grant me, father, that I may weep for my sins; for they are many. For I am weak, and entirely rude and ignorant in this matter.' Abbot Macarius said to him: 'Are there not also other fathers who perform signs through God? But nevertheless, this reward remains.' She said: 'The will of God be done.' And moved to penance, he received her into his cell, and knew her to be his sister, and weeping he found rest. Embracing her, he said: 'You have come well, sister.' But by the work of God, the mouth of the demon was obstructed, so that it might not reveal that the handmaid of God was a woman. But when the demon had afflicted her for a long time, he vanquished it through his prayers." The daughter, finally healed, returned home with great joy for the city. But afterwards D
until the devil possessed her again so that she appeared pregnant. When the emperor, at the devil’s instigation, examined her about these things, she replied that the sexual defilement had been brought upon her by the monk Dorotheus. Soldiers of the irate prince were therefore sent to Scetis, and Dorotheus himself surrendered; the whole community, afflicted with sorrow as he departed, followed him with their prayers. “For Abbot Macarius knew that there was no evil in him.” When she had been led to the palace and the emperor and his wife had received her, and had promised that they would release her once the truth of the matter was discovered, she revealed herself to them as their daughter. Once the sister was healed, she returned after a few days to Scetis, where, knowing that she was soon to depart from the world, she said to Abbot Macarius: “Perform,” she said, “an office of charity. If I happen to pass away from this life, do not let the monks prepare my body.” But he said to her: “How can this be done?” Yet when she had finished her course, the holy fathers came to wash her holy body. They saw that she was female in sex, and exclaimed, saying: “Glory to you, Christ, who have many hidden saints.” Abbot Macarius was amazed that this had not been revealed to him. One night, however, he saw a vision which said to him: “Do not be anxious on account of this. For it is necessary that you be crowned with the holy fathers who have existed from the ages.” Then he recounted the life and name of the blessed one to him. And when her holy relics had been brought, they placed them to the East of the holy church in the cave of Abbot Macarius with joy and glory, up to the present day, through God and the holy fathers; and after her holy falling asleep, healings are performed by the grace and clemency of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever A (1). That this Macarius was not, as Bollandus incorrectly decided, the Alexandrian, but the Egyptian who lived in Scetis and excelled in the spirit of prophecy or foresight, is easily evident. As for how much value you place in the history which is said to have been written by a contemporary, look to that yourself. I have not found more in the compiled works of the Bollandists concerning our Macarii.
CAPUT VIII. THE EXILE OF THE HOLY MACARII, THE EGYPTIAN AND THE ALEXANDRIAN, UNDER LUCIUS, THE ARIAN BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. SOCRATES, SOZOMEN, AND OTHER WRITERS OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY ON THE SAME. WHEN THE MEMORY OF THE HOLY MACARII, THE EGYPTIAN AND THE ALEXANDRIAN, IS CELEBRATED.
§ 42. We have often spoken of the persecution of the elders of Egypt, set in motion by Lucius, the Arian bishop of Alexandria (2), in which, since besides other abbots our Macarii were also sent into exile, it must be narrated how this was done. The witnesses of the event are Rufinus, who was himself sought out by these persecutions, and then Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, who rely upon the account of Rufinus.
When Athanasius died in the year 373, Peter was substituted into his place by the bishops of the province and the monks. But the prefect of the city, an impious man, having gathered a company of heathens and Jews, occupied the church to cast out Peter—a place which the soldiers basely B profaned; they also raped many virgins and beat others with clubs, and did not even allow them to be buried. A few days later, Lucius the Arian, surrounded by soldiers, was thrust into the bishopric of Alexandria by Euzoius, the primate of Antioch and then the leader of the Arians. He immediately endeavored to draw others away from the Nicene faith by threats, chains, and torments, and others by promises; and those who resisted he ordered to be deported to Heliopolis in Phoenicia, where everyone worshipped idols. Those who murmured were led away to the mines of Phaeno and Proconnesus; among whom were not a few monks (3). Alexandria having thus been subdued, and the bishops of the province having been sent into exile to Neocaesarea—a city which Jews inhabited—soldiers were directed to the monasteries of the wilderness, an expedition in which Lucius himself took part. For Sozomen rightly says: “A multitude of the common people,” he says, “devoted themselves to the faith of the elders, inasmuch as they believed that those who professed virtue by their very deeds were adhering to the truth,” and: “Whence Lucius, when he understood well that it was impossible for the Arians to defeat the Catholics unless he had brought those monks over to the side of the Arians, attempted to force them by violence, those whom he could not persuade with words (4).” And in the desert to which the soldiers came, according to the testimony of Rufinus, “Macarius and Isidorus and another Macarius and Heraclides and Pambus, disciples of Antonius, C sat throughout Egypt and especially in the parts of the desert of Nitria” (5), and three thousand D
A men or more were being harassed through the scattered solitude. Regarding which matter Rufinus writes thus: “I speak of things which I saw present, and I recount their deeds, of whose sufferings I have deserved to be a companion. These men led the army of the Lord, armed not with mortal weapons, but with the faith of religion, an army conquering by dying, and one which, by the profusion of its own blood, followed Christ the victor to heaven. And while they were placed in their tents and were praying, awaiting their killers, a man was brought to them who had long been withered in all his limbs, and especially in his feet. B 172 But when he had been anointed by them with oil in the name of the Lord, his soles were immediately strengthened. And as they said to him: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, whom Lucius persecutes, arise and stand upon your feet, and return to your home,’ he immediately rose and leaped up and blessed God, showing that God was truly in them.” Having then narrated the healings of that blind man and the lion cubs, which we have already related as having been done by the virtue of Macarius of Alexandria, Rufinus continues thus: “But in all these things Lucius did not blush, nor did he offer any reverence to the miracles of their virtues; nay, rather, he orders the fathers themselves to be taken away from their flock, or rather, snatched away secretly, and deported to a certain island in the marshes of Egypt, in which he had learned there was absolutely no Christian, so that by this means they might live either without solace or without their accustomed activities. The elders, therefore, with only two attendants, are led by night to the island, in which there was a temple held in the highest veneration by the inhabitants of the place. And as soon as the elders’ little boat touched the shore of that land, behold, suddenly the virgin daughter of the priest of that temple, seized by a spirit, with huge shouting and clamor given up to heaven, began to be driven through the midst of the people, and leading frequent rotations, hissing, she began to twist her rabid face hither and thither. And when the people had gathered at the spectacle of such a huge monster, especially because it was the daughter of the priest, who was in particular honor among them, they followed her as she was snatched through the air and arrived at the elders’ boat. And there, thrown down at their feet and prostrate, she began to cry out: ‘Why have you come here, O servants of the highest God, C to drive us from our ancient and long-held dwellings? In this place, we were hidden from all sides. How could we in no way remain hidden from you? We yield our ancient seats; receive your peoples and lands.’ When she said this, having been rebuked by them, the spirit of error was cast out, and the girl, healthy, lay together with her parents at the feet of the apostles of our time. They, preaching the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ to them with such beginnings, led them suddenly into such a great conversion that immediately, on that very day, they destroyed with their own hands 173 their most ancient temple—which was held in such high veneration—and immediately built a church. Nor did they need a space of time for deliberation, for whom not words, but virtue, had made the faith of the facts. But when this had been reported to Alexandria, Lucius, fearing that perhaps just hatreds of his own people might arise against him—who was now openly declaring war not on men, but on God—orders them to be D secretly recalled and sent back into the desert.” Thus far Rufinus on the exile of the elders. Socrates did not set out the healing of that lame man, but wrote only these things which follow: “And when they had arrived at the place itself, they found the men occupied with their accustomed studies and exercises, praying, that is, healing diseases, casting out demons.” Concerning the elders driven into exile, Socrates says: “‘Since, therefore,’ he says, ‘those admirable men were superior to all the violence which was being brought upon them, Lucius, finally despondent, commanded the general of the army to send the fathers of the monks into exile. They were, however, the two Macarii, the Egyptian and the Alexandrian. Those men, therefore, were deported to an island in which there was no Christian.’” Why Socrates names only the Macarii, unless he considered them the leaders of the elders, you will not understand. Furthermore, in recounting the history of the exile of the elders itself, he openly follows the footsteps of Rufinus, whom he praises as a witness of this persecution. Sozomen attributes that healing of the lame man to them with these words: “‘At that very time, when the soldiers were about to make an attack upon them, it is said that a certain man was delivered to them, whose limbs had long since been so withered and emaciated that he could not stand on his feet...’” (7). By the word “λἐγεται,” i.e., “it is said,” perhaps he is signifying Rufinus, from whom he had received it. Concerning the elders by Lucius
Sozomen reports these things: “We have learned that at that time the leaders of the monks were the two Marcariuses, of whom we have spoken before, and Pambo and Heraclides and the other disciples of Antony.” But he as well agrees with Rufinus, with this only discrepancy, that in Sozomen’s history regarding that priest’s daughter, “Macarius and his companions” rebuke the demon, and in the end Lucius secretly commands “that those who were with Macarius should return to their seats and into the wilderness.” Finally, Theodoret, when he had moved from the cruelties perpetrated in that persecution to the letters of bishop Peter, records these words about the exile of the elders: “There are men in Egypt who, emulating the life of the angels, have withdrawn themselves from the tumults of cities and have preferred to pass their life in B solitude. Where, rendering the sandy and barren soil fertile, they bring forth the most sweet and beautiful fruit of virtue, which they have imposed upon themselves like a law. Of this discipline, while there have existed many other leaders, the best teacher of the religious orders was that most celebrated Antony, who raised the monks to the arena of virtue. Disciples of this man—for he had brought them to tranquil harbors with the greatest and most beautiful burdens—that wretched and most miserable [Lucius] persecuted; and having abducted the leaders of those divine assemblies, that celebrated Macarius and the other of the same name, as well as Isidore and others, from their caves, he relegated them to a certain island, which, being inhabited by impious men, had never had a teacher of piety. And when the vessel had approached the shores of the island, the demon who was worshiped there, abandoning the image consecrated to him, which had been his ancient dwelling, incited the priest’s daughter to madness and led her, raving, to the shore C where the rowers had brought the ship.” The rest, which follows, returns clearly to that which we learned from Rufinus. At the end, Theodoret says: “These things,” he says, “when they became known in the city, there was immediately a concourse of all, rebuking Lucius and saying that they must be punished by divine wrath unless that divine holy chorus of citizens were released. Thus fear-stricken by the tumult, Lucius conceded to the holy men that they might return to their caves.”
These things concerning the exile of the elders were to be presented by us. Indeed, Lucius, the prefect of the city, and his satellites seem to have carried out this persecution of the monks not so much by his own will as by relying upon the law of the Emperor Valens. For Socrates speaks of a certain law by which Valens commanded “that [the orthodox], who were at Alexandria and in the rest of Egypt, should be banished.” Moreover, Valens in the year 373, on the first day of January, enacted a law, whose tenor is this: “Certain followers of sloth, having deserted the duties of the cities, seek out solitudes and secret places, and they gather under the pretense of religion with the assemblies of the Monazontes. These, therefore, and those of this kind caught within Egypt, we have commanded by a decreed order to be dug out from their hiding places by the Count of the Orient, and to be recalled to undertake the duties of their homelands, or, according to the tenor of our sanction, to lack the enticements of domestic affairs, which we have deemed should be claimed by those who are to undergo the tasks of public functions. Given at Berytus, Kalends of January, under the consulship of Valentinian and Valens Augusti.” In which decree, therefore, they are called followers of sloth, not because of the monastic life which they lead, but because they were thought to wish to flee civil and curial duties. For a similar reason, other emperors also, among whom was Constantine, had forbidden curials to become priests. Nor indeed does that law speak of just any monk, nor by name of military service, but of men who, having deserted public duties, live with monks under the pretense of religion; for he ordered them either to be pulled back to fulfill the duties of their homeland or to be stripped of their private property. Everyone understands, of course, that the enemies of the Catholics could have easily abused the law shamefully. Prosper Aquitanus indeed handed down that the law was given by Valens: “that monks should perform military service, or, if they refused, be killed with clubs.” This, even if it is not expressed in the law, that it was certainly a great and cruel persecution of the monks, incited by Valens, is proved by the books of St. Chrysostom against the opponents of the monastic life, which D clearly describe those things that...
we learn concerning the virtues of the Macarii.
It remains for us briefly to subjoin here the mention of the Macarii, which Rufinus made when providing an occasion to narrate the history of that persecution. For when he had described the history of those times, he says: "Egypt therefore was flourishing at that time, not only with men learned in Christian philosophy, but also with those who, dwelling throughout the vast desert, performed signs and prodigies by the simplicity of their life and the sincerity of their heart. Among whom, in the meantime, those whom we ourselves saw, and whose hands we deserved to be blessed by, are these: Macarius of the upper desert, another Macarius of the lower, Isidore in Scetis, Pambus in the Cells, Moses and Benjamin in Nitria, Scyrion and Elias and Paul in Apeliote, another Paul in the Foci, Poemen and Joseph in Pispir, which was called the mountain of Anthony. But we also discovered by faithful report that very many other men of this kind were living in the parts of Egypt." If one distinguishes between Upper and Lower Egypt, I should believe that the Macarius of the upper desert was the Egyptian Macarius who dwelt at Scetis, and that the one of the lower was the Alexandrian, the presbyter of the Cells.
B § 43. We previously considered it superfluous to bring forward in their entirety the passages and accounts concerning the Macarii that Socrates, Sozomen, Suidas, Nicephorus Callistus, and other ecclesiastical writers—who rely not so much on their own skill as on those primary sources which we have examined thus far—have handed down. Nevertheless, it will not be out of place to review them briefly. And indeed, the whole account of the Macarii by Socrates rests upon the books of Evagrius, with the exception of a few sentences. Among the number of these are those which we have taught to refer back to the second book above; but the last of those words which we brought from Socrates are these: "The Egyptian [Macarius] healed so many sick, and freed so many obsessed by demons, that the things which he performed by the grace of God require a separate work." These, it seems, allude to that which Rufinus had written in his *Continuation of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius*. Finally, from unknown sources, Socrates added these new details: "Furthermore, [the Egyptian Macarius] was as reverend as he was severe toward those who approached him. But Macarius the Alexandrian, while he was in every way similar to the Egyptian, differed only in this, that he was cheerful toward those who had come to him, and by a certain urbanity he enticed the younger men to monastic discipline." The rest, therefore, taken from Evagrius, return to the two histories of Macarius the Egyptian—the reason why we should corrupt the power of memory by the recollection of injuries inflicted by men, but should not be harmed by remembering those received from demons; and the account of the abstinence by which he had commanded Evagrius, who was oppressed by thirst, to be content with shadow. C Sozomen reported a few things about the Macarii from the *Lausiac History*, with this preamble: "I shall start from Egypt, and from the two Macarii, most celebrated leaders, who presided in Scetis and on the mountain of that region. Of whom one was indeed Egyptian, the other was called *urbicus* [of the city], i.e., of the city. For he was born in the city of Alexandria. Moreover, each was admirable for divine foreknowledge and philosophy, and formidable to demons, and performed many miracles and stupendous healings." That, too, which we noted above, Sozomen alone teaches us: that Macarius the Alexandrian was made a presbyter later than the Egyptian. Moreover, from the *Lausiac History* he handed down the report concerning the dead man raised by Macarius the Egyptian to refute the Hieracite, concerning the age of Macarius the Egyptian, and why the name "child-old-man" was given to him, and finally the singular continence of Macarius the Alexandrian. Furthermore, Sozomen again praises Macarius the Alexandrian as "the presbyter of the Cells," who D did not present to himself, but always presented to the angel, the things "which it is right and lawful for a priest to offer for the faithful at the altar."
A As we have learned from Palladius. Beyond what we have heard, I have found nothing concerning our Macarii in Theodoret. Nor is anything read anywhere in Orosius concerning the same; and those things which exist in the Tripartite History of Cassiodorus concerning Macarius of Egypt and Macarius of Alexandria were taken from Socrates and Theodoret. Similarly, Suidas writes what he does s.v. *Macarius*, compiled from Socrates, and what Nicephorus Callistus has is compiled from Sozomen and Socrates.
Fabricius in his *Bibliotheca Graeca* frequently names a certain John Hagiocelita or Hagiopolita, i.e., Hierosolymitanus, who, he says, on the testimony of Leo Allatius, elaborated an *Encomium of Macarius of Egypt* which lies hidden in manuscript codices. Leo Allatius brought forth two small fragments of this work on a given occasion, one in his book on purgatory, the other in the second dissertation which he wrote on the ecclesiastical books of the Greeks. The first fragment, therefore, translated into Latin, is this: "It was necessary for him, as a man, to pay the common debt and to pass over to that rest; for he is summoned by God, the ruler of all, to blessed rest; he is truly blessed, and he stands by the Lord's throne, having been advanced to the choirs of angels." The other, however, which concerns the fable of the head of the pagan priest discoursing to Macarius of Egypt about the pains of hell, is conceived in these words: "Whose prayers and the skull of a certain pagan priest lying in the desert he miraculously proclaimed, and he showed them B to grant relief to those who were in torments, when their prayers were offered up for them." From which you might conjecture that that encomium, as far as I know, is until now an unpublished panegyrical sermon by which Macarius of Egypt is extolled with praises. Moreover, Assemani also praises the same encomium in his *Calendars*, and calls the life of Macarius of Egypt written by John Hagiopolita or Hierosolymitanus. Furthermore, Leo Allatius elsewhere commemorates this same John Hagiocelita or Hagiopolita after John Damascene in such a way that it seems probable that he lived not much later than him. C Again, in Leo Allatius' book inscribed *Συμμικτά* [Miscellanea], there is the *Narratio* [account] of Epiphanius Hagiopolita concerning Syria, the holy city, and the sacred places there, where, after the sepulchers of St. Menas and St. Theodora, "who for a changed name was called Theodore and accused," have been mentioned, these things are read concerning Macarius: "Hence, at a distance of six days' journey south of Alexandria, is St. Macarius the Great, who drew near to paradise. His monastery contains a thousand abbots and a thousand cells; it is, moreover, fortified like a castle. And four days' journey from St. Macarius are the thirty-six storehouses of Joseph, and from those places you can pass over the river Pishon to a bridge which is supported by eighty boats, and from there you enter [the] great Babylon, the royal palace of Pharaoh." There is barely a doubt that he speaks of the monastery of Macarius of Egypt.
Theodora, or that Pseudo-Theodorus, is without doubt A Dorotheus or Apollinaris, the consecrated virgin, whose meeting with Macarius of Egypt we have explained.
We come now to Macrizius, a fifteenth-century historian of the Copts, from the Arab people. Although he wrote excellently, he mixed in many falsehoods regarding the Macarii because of his ignorance. But since his book is rarely found, it seems that a complete passage should be set forth for us, which in the Latin language is as follows: "As concerns Wadi Habib," he says, "which is also called Wadi-l-Natrun or the plain of Schihat or the plain of Asquit or Mizân-el-Colub [the balance of hearts], once one hundred monasteries were built there, of which seven remain, situated toward the West at the side of the plain, in the regions between el-Buheira and el-Fejjûm, where sandy fields full only of salt and lands lacking water meet with jagged rocks. The inhabitants drew water for drinking from wells, and Christians offered them goods and alms. Now, indeed, they are utterly destroyed. And Christian historians have handed down that from those monasteries, seventy thousand monks came to meet Amr Ben-el-’Asi, each of whom carried a staff. To these men, when they surrendered to him, he gave a letter that is found among them to this day. To these monasteries, therefore, belongs the monastery of Abu Macâr the elder, celebrated above the others, in whose sight many ruined monasteries lie. It was once a monastery of monks, and the patriarch, even if placed in the cathedra of Alexandria, was not recognized by them before they had permitted him to occupy the seat of their monastery. And fifteen hundred monks are said to have once inhabited it; now only very few dwell there. Three Macarii are distinguished: the elder, whose monastery that was; Abu Macâr the Alexandrian; and Abu Macâr the bishop. Their bones, stored in three separate wooden boxes B are frequented by Christians; and there, too, a letter is stored, written by the monks of Wadi Habib to 'Amr Ben-el-’Asi concerning the collection of [tithes] in the regions of the western side, which a certain man recounted to me, who had received it from another to whose eyes it had been presented.
Abu Macâr the elder, i.e., Macarius, learned monastic life from Anthony, who was the first of them to wear a cowl and an *aschkim*, that is, a belt made of leather, from which hangs the image of Christ affixed to the cross, which indeed monks are accustomed to wear. He found Anthony on the eastern mountain, where the monastery of el-Araba is, and when he had remained there for some time, having been clothed by him in the vestments of monks, he was ordered to reside in Wadi-l-Natrun, where a great number of monks flocked to follow him. Many things, and those most excellent, are recounted, among which is also this worthy of memory: that for fifty whole days he fasted and took neither food nor drink, and furthermore kept vigil through the nights. Moreover, he sought his sustenance from palm leaves which he had prepared for himself, and he never ate fresh bread, but he himself with the monks ate vegetables softened by water poured over palm leaves, as long as they lived, without any addition. This, therefore, was their food for the whole span of their lives C until they returned to their homeland. Abu Macâr the Alexandrian came from Alexandria to the aforementioned Macarius, into whose hands he made his monastic vows. The third was Abu Macâr, who was made bishop. But we have shown above that it is false to say that the monastic habit was given to Macarius of Egypt by St. Anthony, with whom he lived for some time; and as to those things which he wrote concerning the virtues of Macarius, that he confuses the Egyptian with the Alexandrian, of whom Palladius handed down the same things, no one fails to see. But who that bishop Macarius was, unless perhaps the bishop of Jerusalem, I do not know.
Finally, as regards more recent writers of ecclesiastical history, Baronius D and Macrizius are fully in the open.
Bollandus, Dupin, Fleury, Oudin, Cave, and others have indeed written words regarding the Macarii, the Egyptian and the Alexandrian, but Tillemont alone examined the matter critically, whose expositions far excel all that the others possess, even though he himself wrongly understood some things, 183 which he who reads our inquiries will find for himself. Why Bollandus did not bring forward better things is easily explained by the fact that the matter of the Macarii had to be discussed in the first volume of his distinguished work, and therefore that literary apparatus, in which the later volumes excel, was not yet present. Finally, Semler, in the dissertations which he wrote concerning the Macarii, examined not their life, but their writings.
§ 44. It remains that we briefly inquire about the day on which the memory of both Macarii is celebrated in the Church. For the ancient Latin martyrologies assign the fifteenth of January to Macarius the Egyptian, and the second of January to the Alexandrian. Among them are Bede, Usuardus, Ado, Notker, the Roman martyrology, and others. By the Greeks, however, each Macarius is honored on the nineteenth of January, as is evident from the Menaea and the Menologium. Whence this diversity has arisen, unless perhaps it is because of the great number of men of that name who were honored by the Church, I would not venture to say.
But that Macarius whose feast the Romans celebrate on the fifteenth of January—that is, the Egyptian—is not rarely called in Latin martyrologies the disciple of St. Anthony, which is something that Bollandus thought he had observed, should not greatly disturb one, since in a wider sense Macarius the Egyptian can also be called a disciple of Anthony. Moreover, whoever desires to learn more about the days on which they are rightly honored, according to the testimony of the calendars, should consult the book of Assemani and Bollandus, where suitable apparatus is found.
CAPUT IX.
THAT MACARIUS THE SERVANT OF ST. ANTHONY AND OTHER MEN OF THE SAME NAME ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE HOLY MACARII, THE EGYPTIAN AND THE ALEXANDRIAN.§ 45. We have often taught that Macarius, the disciple of St. Anthony, to whom he ministered for fifteen years and whose body he buried, must be strictly distinguished from the Macarii, the Egyptian and the Alexandrian. For Macarius, the disciple of St. Anthony, lived in the cenobium of Pispir near the Red Sea, while our Macarii dwelt in the deserts of Libya. But one scruple could remain. What if one or the other of our Macarii were first the disciple of St. Anthony for fifteen years,
or perhaps sought the deserts of Libya after his death? This doubt is clearly resolved by the life of Posthumius, in which we are taught that Macarius, the minister of St. Anthony, died in the monastery of Pispir; whereas we know from Palladius that the Egyptian Macarius fell asleep in Scete, and it is most likely from the same source that the Alexandrian fell asleep in the Cellia. For in that life the following is read: Thus the manner of life of Posthumius became known to holy Macarius, that is, to the disciple of blessed Anthony, and his name became famous, and it seemed good to him to depart into the desert to visit him. For the same Macarius had received from the illustrious man Anthony nearly fifty thousand monks to govern. The end of this same Macarius’s life in this world was drawing near, and it was being sought who should be put forward in his place in the title of master for the Lord's flock. And so, when holy Macarius had come to holy Posthumius, he received him gladly, especially since he had already heard of his reputation from an angel. He had not come, therefore, as a guest, but to explore his purpose with subtlety. Moreover, the conversation of Posthumius pleased Macarius’s view, and he began to persuade him not to be unwilling to visit the relics of St. Anthony, B the prince of the anchorites. But since he resisted with all his might and absolutely refused to go, Posthumius was ordered in a dream to go without any hesitation, for he could not contradict the divine majesty. And so he undertook the journey with Macarius, entering the multitude of the congregation of monks, which was governed by Macarius alone, of whom we have often spoken as having buried the master’s body when his spirit was called from this world. Who, when he saw himself at the end of this temporal life, summoned holy Posthumius to him and began to say to him: "Behold, brother, the time of my departure is at hand; therefore, having heard good testimony of you, I have subjected the end of my weakened old age to your steps to reach even unto you. Now, therefore, you have done well to come with me. Accept, therefore, with fatherly love, the flock of God to rule. Do not seek what is useful to yourself, but what is for the many, that they may be saved; therefore, do not refuse the grace of the honor to be received, that you may receive the reward from the Lord C at an opportune time." 186 Then holy Posthumius, cast down at his feet, said: "Dearest father, how do you impose upon me the care of such a great multitude, a rustic man, and one who knows no letters? Provide, therefore, from among these a man of merit who can rule with care such great souls of the people." Then Macarius said to Posthumius: "I do not listen to excuses, nor do I accept reasons; for all these will remain under your authority, and there is no other man of such abstinence who can govern the souls of this people and carefully administer them; and to speak more certainly, my dearest brother, the Lord has designated you by His election to receive this place of ministry; you will by no means, therefore, be able to contradict the heavenly command." Posthumius spoke nothing more to Macarius about this, but while he was turning his words over in his mind, Macarius gave up his spirit, and immediately a great crowd of the people ran intently to the funeral. There the multitude of those chanting sang praises to God with diverse voices of hymns, as if with one mouth, until the body was led to the tomb to be buried; yet no one grieved deeply, because the Lord had provided for His flock as a teacher for them a Macarius similar to him. Whatever, therefore, you determine about this life, even if it seems quite old, it appears, however, that the Macarius whom the writer of the life calls the disciple and minister of St. Anthony, who buried his body and governed the monks after the death of St. Anthony, is different from our Macarii. Wherefore I would believe that those two stories about Macarius as the heir of the graces of St. Anthony, which we have shown above to be spurious from the Meursian edition of the Lausiac History, to be referred to the Pispiritan.
§ 46. As regards, then, the other Macarii of this time, our own certainly, those of Macarius the Younger, who, when he was pasturing oxen, committed an unpremeditated murder and practiced repentance as a monk in the wilderness, and 187 those of Macarius the presbyter of Alexandria and prefect of the Alexandrian poorhouse, as well as those of
Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem A, and others [(1)], he is very easily distinguished. But one difficulty remains, which is presented by a fragment from the twenty-fourth sermon of Philip of Side, printed in Gallandi's *Bibliotheca Patrum*, in which the heads of the Alexandrian school are enumerated. Starting from Athenagoras, who flourished in the times of Hadrian and Antoninus, and having listed some others, he passes to Serapion, "whom," he says, "the great Peter, bishop and glorious martyr, succeeded. After Peter came Macarius, who was nicknamed the *politikos* [the statesman] by his fellow countrymen. After him, Didymus, and after Didymus, Rhodon, who also, as Philip himself is witness, transferred the school to that same city of Side during the reign of Theodosius the Great. Philip says that he was a disciple of this Rhodon..." [(2)]. What, then? Was Macarius the Alexandrian, who by Palladius and other witnesses is called B *politikos* by his contemporaries [(3)], ever the head of the Alexandrian school before Didymus? Everything that Palladius and others have handed down concerning Macarius the Alexandrian contradicts this. Furthermore, Palladius, who lived for three years with Macarius the Alexandrian [(4)], and Rufinus, who, having heard Didymus for six years, set out into the desert to Macarius [(5)], do not make even the slightest mention of that fact. From these things I for my part conjecture that Macarius, that *politikos*, who was once head of the Alexandrian school 188, was distinct from our Macariuses. As to whether this Macarius the Alexandrian presbyter should be established as head of that school, I would dare neither to deny nor to affirm.
Thus we have finished the questions concerning the lives of the Egyptian and Alexandrian Macariuses. As regards their writings, they are indeed most worthy, and should be inquired into more accurately in a similar manner. But since such an investigation is foreign to our present purpose, we shall forgo it for the time being.
APPENDIX PRIOR CONTAINING THE ACTS OF THE HOLY MACARII OF EGYPT AND OF ALEXANDRIA Partly revised according to the authority of manuscript codices, partly edited for the first time, with the Editor's translation. INDEX.
I. Life of Saint Macarius of Egypt, edited from the Lausiac History of Palladius according to the authority of two Vindobonensian codices. II. Life of Saint Macarius the Alexandrian, edited from the Lausiac History of Palladius according to the authority of two Vindobonensian codices. III. Other remaining parts of the Lausiac History, in which St. Macarius of Egypt and the Alexandrian, as well as Macarius the minister of St. Anthony, are mentioned, edited according to the authority of two Vindobonensian codices. IV. History of Saint Mark the Abbot, edited from a Vindobonensian codex. V. Histories of Saint Macarius, edited from a Vindobonensian codex. VI. A specimen of the ancient German translation of the histories concerning the holy Macarii of Egypt and Alexandria, taken from a codex of the Jesuit library of Cologne. VII. Visions of a certain Abbot Macarius concerning the holy angels, edited for the first time from a Vindobonensian codex.
247 I. VITA SANCTI MACARII AEGYPTII (LIFE OF SAINT MACARIUS OF EGYPT) Edited from the Lausiac History of Palladius according to the authority of two Vindobonensian codices.
In two manuscript codices of the Imperial Library of Vienna, we have already pointed out above (p. 12 ff.) that the genuine text of the Lausiac History written by Palladius is contained. From these codices, therefore, which we described above (p. 14, n. 5 [Cf. Lambecius, Comment. Vindob., 1782, Vol. VIII, pp. 664–840; de Nessel, Catal., P. V, p. 143, 31]), we have edited the Life of Saint Macarius of Egypt, to be found in chapter xv of the Lausiac History, ignoring the corrupt readings of the Meursian edition of the text.
Concerning the Holy Macarius of Egypt.
A Regarding the holy and immortal fathers, Macarius of Egypt and Macarius of Alexandria, those noble men and invincible athletes, I hesitate to speak and write of the many great struggles of their virtuous life, lest I seem a liar to those who care little for such things, on account of the immense magnitude of their feats, which exceed the powers of nature. Yet, for the sake of those who have experienced the divine gifts distributed to the worthy, adorned by the virtues of the Spirit, I shall recount the virtues of the holy Macarii, who also possessed names worthy of their holy struggles of asceticism. B And first, indeed, I shall recount [the life] of Macarius the Egyptian, who lived entire