Saint Macarius

There still exists in the Nitrian desert, in the vicinity of Alexandria, a monastery by the name of Saint Macarius.

This monastery is very ancient and much ruined. Its walls are very high, the church very vast, and although it has suffered much from several successive devastations, it is nevertheless easy to recognize the traces of its former splendor. One can still see there five or six altar tables of a very precious marble.

The body of Saint Mac saint Macaire Founder of the monastery of Nitria and author of spiritual homilies. arius, its founder, rests there in a stone sepulcher, surrounded and enclosed by an iron grille and covered with a reliquary that serves as a canopy. According to the religious, several other Saints are said to be interred in this church. This house, once filled with solitaries, now has only a small number of them, who are called cenob itic monk maronites Group of monks inhabiting the monastery at the time of writing. s or Maronites. What is best preserved in the building that remains of the antique edifice is a square tower which one enters by a drawbridge. It is there that the religious keep their books, their daily provisions, and where they sometimes retreat to take shelter from the cruel persecutions of the Arabs. One also sees similar towers in the three other monasteries that are not far from that one, one of which is under the invocation of Saint George. The doors of these convents, like those of the monastery of Saint Macarius, are covered and protected by thick iron lances.

The convent founded by Saint Macarius enjoyed several privileges, among others this one: The Patriarch of Alexand ria, after Alexandrie Place of refuge and study during the persecution. his ordination, had to go and celebrate the Liturgy, as it was called then, on the altar of Saint Macarius. He would travel there, like the divine Master, on a peaceful mount, on a donkey. Upon his approach, the monks would go out to meet him; the archimandrite of the monastery would lead him, psalms and hymns of joy were sung, and he was solemnly proclaimed as in Alexandria and Cairo. Another privilege of the monastery, and another obligation of the Patriarch of Alexandria, was to go and reside, at least for the greater part of Lent, in the convent with the monks, to dedicate this holy time to fasting and prayer.

The costume of the religious of Saint Macarius consisted of a long blue cloth robe, a hood, and a black scapular. Their heads were covered by a large black skullcap with earflaps. The religious who came to Rome in 1 Rome Birthplace of Maximian. 505 were still dressed in this manner. It even appears that the religious of Saint Anthony were dres religieux de saint Antoine Father of monasticism, consulted by Paphnutius regarding Thais. sed in much the same way, which has often led to them being confused.

It is said that the religious of the great monastery of Saint Macarius are, furthermore, possessors of the sacred house that Jesus Christ, his holy Mother, and Saint Joseph inhabited when they fled from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape the bloodthirsty pursuits of Herod.

See the Histoire des Ordres religieux, Vol. IV, Rétig. de saint Macaire.