Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt ✝️ Teachings

Greek Orthodox Chant "Dipsai" (in Greek) accompanies the presentation. Icons of Saint Macarius the Great. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT MACARIUS THE GREAT: St. Macarius was born in Upper Egypt. A late tradition places his birthplace in the village of Shabsheer (Shanshour), in Egypt around 300 A.D. At a young age, Macarius was forced to get married against his will. Thus, he pretended to be sick and ask for his parents&permission to go to the wilderness to relax. At his return, he found that his wife had died, and shortly after, his parents departed as well. Macarius subsequently distributed all his money among the poor and needy. Seeing his virtues, the people of his village brought him to the bishop of Ashmoun who ordained him priest. While at the desert, he visited Anthony the Great and learned from him the laws and rules of monasticism. When he returned to the Scetic Desert at the age of forty, he presided over its monastic community for the rest of his life. Ten years after going into the desert, he became a priest. For a brief period of time, Macarius was banished to an island in the Nile by the Emperor Valens, along with Saint Macarius of Alexandria, during a dispute over the doctrine of the Nicene Creed. At their return on 13 Paremhat, they were met by a multitude of monks of the Nitrian Desert, numbered fifty thousand, among whom were Saint Pishoy and Saint John the Dwarf. Saint Macarius of Egypt founded a monastery that bears his name, the Monastery of Saint...