Macaria

“ Hierom's minde, and therefore with alacrity let us pursue our good intentions, and bee good instruments in this worke of Reformation.
Trav. There be naturall causes also to further it; for the Art of Printing will so spread knowledge, that the common people, knowing their own rights and liberties, will not be governed by way of oppression; and so, by little and little, all Kingdomes will be like to Macaria. ”

“ But you spoke of great honour which the Governours have in the Kingdome of Macaria.
Trav. They must needs receive great honour of the people, by reason that there is no injustice done, or very seldome, perhaps once in an age.
Sch. But how come they by their great riches which you speak of?
Trav. It is holden a principall policie in State to allow to the ministers of State, Judges, and chiefe Officers, great revenues; for that, in case they doe not their dutie, in looking to the Kingdomes safety, for conscience sake, yet they may doe it for feare of loosing their owne great Estates. ”

“ Lydian name of Mother of Gods, ii. 40 Macaria or Blessedness, member of Valentinian Decad, ii. 101 Macariotes, member of Valentinian Dodecad, ii. 101 Macaulay, Lord, his simile as to religions borrowing from their rivals, i. 84 Macedonia, its distance from Karachi, i. 4; temples to Alexandrian gods in, i. 53 Macedonians, inhabitants of Thrace called, i. 136; term used for subjects of Syrian Empire, i. 177 Macrinus, the Emperor, buys off Persians, ii. 226 Macrobius, quoted, i. 48 n. 1, 49 n. 1, 52, 55 n. 1, 118 Macrocosm and Microcosm, possible origin of theory, ii. 51 n. 1 ”

“ Whence it is quite clear, since it is your custom to excite greater odium against us on account of Macarius, insomuch that you call us not Ursacians but Macarians, that you would have been sure to say by far the most concerning him, had you been able to say anything of the sort about his death. Of these two, therefore, when you used the plural number, if you take away Macarius, there remains Ursacius alone, a proper name of the singular number. Where is therefore the fulfilment of your threatening and tremendous promise of so many who should support your argument? ”

“ To these things I would add that law among the Macarians—a people that live not far from Utopia—by which their king, on the day on which he began to reign, is tied by an oath, confirmed by solemn sacrifices, never to have at once above a thousand pounds of gold in his treasures, or so much silver as is equal to that in value. This law, they tell us, was made by an excellent king who had more regard to the riches of his country than to his own wealth, and therefore provided against the heaping up of so much treasure as might impoverish the people. ”

“ But Macer stood firm, nothing daunted by the uproar. One, who signalized himself by the loudness and fierceness of his cries, exclaimed, 'that he was nothing else than an atheist like all the rest of the Christians; they have no gods; they deny the gods of Rome, and they give us nothing in their stead.'
'We deny the gods of Rome, I know,' replied Macer, 'and who would not, who had come to years of discretion? ”

“ My soul is full of bitterness which would move you, if one trait of your girlish nature remained. But you are not my Irene! The world's queen, the dazzling idol of the ball-room, is not my blue-eyed, angelic Irene of old! I will intrude upon you no longer. Try at least not to despise me for my folly; I will crush it; and if you deign to remember me at all in future, think of a man who laughs at his own idiocy, and strives to forget that he ever believed there lived one woman who would be true to her own heart, even though the heavens fell and the world passed away! ”

“ Her eyes were strangely, marvellously beautiful; they were larger than usual, and of that rare shade of purplish blue which borders the white velvet petals of a clematis. When the eyes were uplifted, as on this occasion, long, curling lashes of the bronze hue of her hair rested against her brow. Save the scarlet lines which marked her lips, her face was of that clear colourlessness which can be likened only to the purest ivory. Though there was an utter absence of the rosy hue of health, the transparency of the complexion seemed characteristic of her type, and precluded all thought of disease. ”

“ Now it is probable that God permitted this thing to happen for His own glory and for the triumph of His servant, so that Macarius might not put his confidence in reeds, but upon God, Who by means of a pillar of cloud led the children of Israel in the desert for forty years. And Macarius told us, saying, “Seventy devils came forth against me from that garden, and they flew about before my face like ravens, and they were crying out and groaning, and saying, ‘What seekest thou here, O Macarius? What seekest thou, O monk? Why hast thou come hither? ”

“ In her you will see an almost too favorable specimen of Roman women.
Several days have elapsed since I wrote to you, giving an account of the sufferings and death of the Christian Macer—as I learned them from those who were present—for a breach of the late edicts, and for sacrile [Pg 392] giously, as the laws term it, tearing down the parchment containing them from one of the columns of the capitol. During this period other horrors of the same kind have been enacted in different parts of the city. Macer is not the only one who has already paid for his faith with his life. ”

“ To the amazement of all, Macer stepped back and flung down his sword. The spectators stared and wondered. Still more amazed were they when Macer turned toward the emperor and stretched out his hands.
"August Emperor," he cried, "I am a Christian. I will fight wild beasts, but I will not raise my hand against a fellow-man. I can die, but I will not kill."
Whereupon a mighty murmur arose.
"What does he say?" cried Marcellus. "A Christian! when did that happen?"
"I heard," said Lucullus, "that he was visited in his cell by some of these wretched Christians, and joined their contemptible sect. ”

“ If thou wouldest be saved, become thou dead like them. Reck nothing of the wrongs done by men, nor of their praise, any more than the dead do; and thou mayest be saved.’ ”
“Once as the abbot Macarius was passing through Egypt with some brethren, he heard a child say to his mother, ‘Amma, a rich man loves me, and I hate him; and a poor man hates me, and I love him.’ The abbot Macarius wondered when he heard it. The brethren said to him, ‘What was there to wonder at in the saying, father?’ The old man said to them, ‘Truly, our Lord is rich and loves us, and we will not listen to Him ”

“ And Saint Macarius answered and said unto him, “Behold, God hath already told thee and shown thee what hath happened to me.” And when Abba Anthony had instructed him and strengthened him, he said unto him, “Be strong and fear not. It is desirable that it should be thus with us, so that we may endure patiently all those temptation which our enemies can bring against us. ”

“ The History of Macarius the Alexandrian, the Glorious
AS for the other Macarius, the Alexandrian, I did see him, for he was an elder in the place which is called the “Cells,” wherein I myself lived for nine years, and he lived for three years after I entered therein; some of [his] wonderful acts I myself have seen, and some of them I have learned from others, and [of others] I have also heard rumours. Now his sad, stern life of self-denial was as follows: Whensoever he heard of any beautiful deed being done by any man whatsoever, he must straightway carry it into practice in a fuller form. ”

“ We certainly know this to be the case with Macer. An apostle was never more conscientious nor more pure. Yet would he, had he power equal to his will, drive from the church all who bowed not the knee to his idol Novatian.'
'But how,' asked Julia, 'would that agree with the offence he justly took at those who quarreled with Probus and Felix on account of their doctrine?'
'There certainly would be in such conduct no agreement nor consistency. It only shows how easy it is to see a fault in another, to which we are stone-blind in ourselves. ”

“ Now when the fathers saw the heathen priest with him, they marvelled that he had been converted from the error which he had held; and Macarius took him and made him a monk, and through him many of the heathen became Christians. And Abbâ Macarius said, “ ‘An evil word maketh wicked even those who are good, and a good word maketh good even those who are wicked,’ as it is written.”
187. On one occasion thieves came to the cell of an old man, and said unto him, “We have come to take away everything which thou hast in thy cell” ”

“ Then Macarius anointed him with the oil of the martyrs, and commanded his father that he was not to taste flesh or wine for forty days, until he was thoroughly healed.
And again on a certain occasion certain thoughts of vainglory vexed him, and urged him to go forth from his cell and to depart and heal the multitudes in Rome and to give assistance unto those who were lying [there] sick, for the grace and might of God were inciting him greatly to heal those who were possessed of devils and to make whole those who were diseased ”

“ Macaire is the product of the fusion of two legends: that of the unjustly repudiated wife and that of the dog who detects the murderer of his master. For the former motive see Geneviève of Brabant. The second is found in Plutarch, Script. moral., ed. Didot ii. (1186) , where a dog, like Aubri’s hound, stayed three days without food by the body of its master, and subsequently attacked the murderers, thus leading to their discovery. The duel between Macaire and the dog is paralleled by an interpolation by Giraldus Cambrensis in a MS. of the Hexameron of Saint Ambrose. ”

“ Macarius, one of the priests of the idols, laid hold of Basil as he was publicly denouncing heathen worship, and drew him before the magistrate, Saturninus, on the charge of stirring up the people against the established religion. "What409 meanest thou," cried Macarius, "going to and fro in the city, agitating the people against the religion established by the emperor?" "God break thy jaws, thou bondslave of Satan!" answered Basil. "It is not I who ruin thy religion, but He who is in Heaven who confounds thy counsel and dissipates thy lies." ”

“ Be strong, and take good heed that thou dost not grieve that cherub whom God hath appointed to help thee, and to be with thee, until the end of thy days, and [then] he will protect thee, even as the Lord thy God hath commanded him.” And Abba Anthony gave him his staff, and embraced him with a holy embrace, and he died, and Macarius buried him in a hidden place, the site whereof no man knoweth. And Saint Abba Macarius returned to the desert of Scete, and he dwelt in his cell, and the report of him was heard in all the ends of the earth. ”

“ And Macarius, in order that he might not be troubled by them, rose up straightway, and fled, and departed to the place wherein he had his abode at that time, and this is the reason why he came to Scete; and he said, “I hate the love of praise of young men who toil, and who have no reward, because they expect the adulation of the children of men.” ”

“ First of all I will tell the story of the ascetic excellences of Macarius the Egyptian, the whole of whose years were ninety; he was thirty years old when he went up to the desert, and [he] lived therein for sixty years. And he was given the gift of [performing] mighty deeds in such a remarkable manner that he was called by the fathers “the aged youth,” because straightway and quickly he ascended to the highest grade of ascetic excellence and gifts, and to the power of interpreting the Scriptures, and to spiritual foresight. ”

“ Palladius then tells a curious story of a man whose wife had been bewitched and turned to all appearance into a mare. The man bridled her and took her to Macarius. The brethren standing near the cell rebuked him for bringing the animal; but Macarius said to them, “Horses you are, and have horses’ eyes. It is a woman, and only transformed to the eyes of those who are deceived.” ”

“ Macerata is about forty miles distant from Ancona, on the high-road to Rome, finely situated on the loftiest point of a ridge of hills running midway between the sea and the grand chain of Apennines which form the noble background to most Italian scenery. Even at that early period of the year the country through which we passed was remarkable for its beauty and fertility; but the marchesa talked too much and too energetically to permit me to observe anything in detail ”

“ Caird, that new truths affecting old clerical dogmas are generally offensive to old church members. Many good men live by serving the altar. They must be considered, and your brother and I, and every minister, knows that our people judge for themselves and only accept what they desire to accept. Is not that so, Macrae?" And Macrae, as he looked at his watch, answered indifferently, "You are right, Doctor. It is now time we took the carriage if we intend to catch our train." ”

“ Macarius, in the seventeenth century, after describing its wealth and splendor, its buildings and churches, dwells on the extent and strength of its walls and bastions, on its armory "furnished with cannon without number," "with arms and accoutrements for more than thirty thousand men," and "its guns in numberless quantities." ”

“ When the emperor heard this, he rose up in wrath, and he sent and had Saint Abba Macarius beaten on his members secretly, and straightway Abba Macarius died, and received the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of heaven. And believers carried away the saint’s body, and they placed it with the bodies of Saint John the Baptist and Elisa the prophet. Now Saint Abba Macarius had seen vision wherein these saints, John and Elisa, had said unto him, “Thy body shall be with ours.” ”