De sancto Macario
The Name and Early Trials
The etymology of Macarius is explored alongside his initial encounters with demonic forces in the desert.
The name Macarius comes from "macha," meaning talent, and "ares," meaning virtue. Alternatively, it is derived from 'macha', meaning a striking, and 'rio', meaning a master; for he was talented against the devil's deception, virtuous in his way of life, a striker in the subduing of his body, and a master in the discipline of leadership. Or Macarius, which means blessed. Abbot Macarius once walked through the vast desert and went to sleep in a tomb where pagans were buried, pulling out one of the corpses to use as a pillow. The demons, however, wanting to terrify him, called out as if they were a woman, saying, 'Get up and come with us to the bathhouse,' and another demon, from beneath the corpse he was lying on, said, 'I have a stranger on top of me, and I cannot come.' He wasn't afraid, however, and answered the body, "Get up and go, if you can." And the demons, hearing this, fled, crying out with a loud voice, 'You have conquered us, master!' Once, while Abbot Macarius was passing through the marsh on his way to his cell, the devil met him with a reaping hook and, wanting to strike him with it, could not.
The Power of Humility
The devil confesses that Macarius's humility is the one virtue he cannot overcome.
He said to him, "Macarius, I suffer great violence from you, because I cannot prevail against you." Against you. Look, whatever you do, I do too: you fast, and I don't eat at all; you keep watch, and I don't sleep at all. There is only one thing in which you overcome me. The abbot asked, "What is that?" He replied, "Your humility, through which I cannot prevail against you." When temptations troubled the young man, he would get up, load a large sack of sand onto his shoulders, and walk through the desert like that for many days. Theosebius found him and asked, "Abba, why are you carrying such a burden?"
The Tempter's Failure
Macarius encounters Satan attempting to tempt the brothers and rejoices when the tempter fails.
He said, "I harass the one who harasses me." Abbot Macarius saw Satan passing by disguised as a man, wearing a tattered linen garment with small bottles hanging from every hole, and asked him, "Where are you going?" He replied, "I'm going to give the brothers a drink." Macarius asked him, "Why are you carrying so many bottles?" He answered, "I'm carrying different flavors for the brothers; if one doesn't please someone, I'll offer another or a third, and so on, until something does please them." When he returned, Macarius asked him, "What have you done?" He answered, "Everyone is sanctified, and no one listened to me except for one who is called Theotistus." Macarius then got up and went there, and finding the brother under temptation, he converted him through his exhortation. After this, Macarius found him again and asked, "Where are you going?" He replied, "I'm going to the brothers." When he returned, the old man met him and asked, "How are those brothers doing?" The devil answered, "Badly." He asked, "Why?" He said, "Because they're all holy, and—what's worse—I've lost the one I had, and he's become holier than all of them." Hearing this, the old man gave thanks to God.
The Depth of Judgment
Through a vision of a skull, Macarius learns that false Christians face the deepest judgment.
One day, Saint Macarius found the skull of a dead man and, after praying, asked it whose skull it had been. He replied that he had been a pagan. Macarius asked him, "Where is your soul?" He answered, "In hell." When Macarius asked if he was very deep down, he replied that he was as deep down as the distance between the earth and the sky. Macarius asked him, "Are there any who are deeper than you?" He answered, "Yes, the Jews." Macarius asked him again, "And are there any deeper than the Jews?" He replied, "The deepest of all are false Christians, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ yet hold such a price in low regard."
Steadfastness in the Desert
Macarius concludes his life through acts of endurance, wise counsel to brothers, and profound self-reproach.
As he walked through a deep wilderness, he would plant a reed every mile so he could find his way back. But after he had traveled for nine days and stopped to rest, the devil gathered up all the reeds and placed them by his head, making it a great struggle for him to find his way back. A certain brother was deeply troubled by his thoughts, believing he was living uselessly in his cell and that he could be of more use to others if he lived among people. When he shared these thoughts with Macarius, the elder said, "Son, answer them this way: 'At the very least, I am doing this because I am guarding the walls of this cell for Christ.'" When he had killed a flea that was biting him with his hand and much blood had come from it, he reproached himself for having avenged his own injury; he remained naked in the desert for six months and came out completely torn by wasps, and after this, he rested in peace, famous for many virtues.
Read the original Latin
Macarius dicitur a macha , quod est ingenium, et ares virtus. Vel dicitur a macha, quod est percussio, et rio magister: fuit enim ingeniosus contra daemonis fallaciam , virtuosus quantum ad vitam, percussor in domatione corporis, magister in regimine praelationis. Vel Macarius, id est, beatus. i , Macarius abbas descendit per vastitatem deserti et intravit dormire in monumentum, ubi sepulta erant corpora paganorum et extraxit unum corpus sub caput suum tamquam ) pulvinarium. Daemones autem volentes eum terrere vocabant quasi unam mulierem dicentes: surge et veni nobiscum ad balneum, et alter daemon sub ipso tanquam ex mortuo illo dicebat: peregrinum quemdam habeo super me, non possum venire. Ille autem non expavit, sed ) respondebat corpori illi dicens: surge et vade, si potes. Et audientes daemones fugerunt voce magna clamantes : vicisti nos domine! Dum aliquando abbas Macharius in palude ad cellam suam praeteriret, occurrit ei dyabolus cum falce messoria et volens eum cum falce percutere non potuit.
Et dixit ei: multam violentiam patior a te Macari, quia non possum praevalere ferunt. adversum te. Ecce enim quidquid tu facis et ego facio, jejunas tu et ego penitus non comedo, vigilas tu et ego modo non dormio. Unum est solummodo, iun quo me superas. Et dixit abbas: quid est illud? Cui ille: humilitas tua, per quam non praevaleo adversum te. Dum tentationes ipsum juvenem molestarent, surgens et magnum saccum arenae humeris suis imponens diebus multis sic per desertum ibat. Quem Theosebius inveniens dixit: abba, cur tantum onus portas?
Et ille: vexo vexantem me. Abbas Macarius vidit Satanem transeuntem in habitu hominis et habentem vestimentum lineum laceratum ct per omnia foramina dependebant ampullae, et dixit ei: quo vadis? Et ille: vado potionare fratres. Cui Macarius: quare tot ampullas portas? Respondit: gustum fratribus porto, et si unum alicui non placebit, offeram aliud vel tertium, et sic per ordinem, ut aliquid placeat. Et cum rediret, dixit ei Macarius: quid fecisti? Respondit: omnes sanctificati sunt et nemo mihi acquievit, nisi unus, qui vocatur Theotistus. Saurgens autem Macarius illuc ivit et fratrem tentatum inveniens sua eum exhortatione convertit.
Post haec iterum eum Macarius inveniens dixit: quo vadis? Cui ille: ad fratres vado. Revertenti occurrit senex et dixit: quid faciunt fratres illi? cui dyabolus: male. Et dixit: quare? Quia omnes sancti sunt et, quod est majus malum, unum, quem habebam, amisi et omnibus sanctior factus est. Audiens hoc sénex gratias egit Deo. Quodam die sanctus Macarius caput defuncti reperit et, dum orasset, interrogavit illad, cujus caput fuerit.
Et respondit, se fuisse paganum. Et dixit ei Macarius: ubi est anima tua? Respondit: in inferno. Cumque requireret, si multum in profundo esset, respondit, quod tantum in profundo esset, quantum distaret terra a coelo. Cui Macarius: suntne aliqui te profundiores? respondit: etiam, Judaei. Cui iterum ille: et ultra Judaeos suntne aliqui profundiores? Cui ille: profundiores omnibus sunt falsi christiani, qui Christi sanguine redemti tantum pretium parvi pendunt.
Dum per quandam solitudinem profundissimam pergeret, ad milliare arundinem figebat, ut postmodum redire sciret. Sed dum jam novem diaetas fecisset et in quodam loco quiesceret, dyabolus omnes arundines collegit et ad caput ejus posuit, unde ad redeundum plurimum laborabat. Frater quidam plurimum cogitationibus suis molestabatur, quod scilicet in cella sna inutiliter esset, sed si inter homines habitaret, multis prodesse posset. Qui cum cogitationes suas Macario retulisset, ille ait: fili, sic illis responde, hoc saltem facio, quia propter Christum parietes istius cellae custodio. Dum quendam pulicem se pungentem manu occidisset et multum de illo sanguinis emanasset, reprehendens se, quod propriam vindicasset injuriam, nudus sex mensibus in deserto mansit et inde a scabronibus totus laceratus exivit, Post hoc mullis clarus virtutibus in pace quievit.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks