Feast Day: September 7th
& October 11th – Synaxis of the Elders of Optina Monastery
The Life of Saint Macarius: Father Macarius received visitors from morning until night, and also kept up an extensive Spiritual correspondence. Sometimes he was exhausted by the crowds of people, and by the number of letters he had to write. His humility and love for people who were afflicted in body and in spirit would not permit him to curtail his activities…
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Prayers
Saint Macarius Pray to God for us.
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“We always read and talk about humility, but when it comes down to reality we can’t bear either a word or a glance.”
“By the purity of our thoughts we can see everyone as Holy and good. When we see them as fools, this comes from our frame of mind.”
“Pride more than anything else, deprives people of both their good deeds and help from God. Where there is no light, there is darkness. Where there is no humility, pride takes its place.”
“The inexpressible and unaccountable melancholy that oppresses you and prevents you from enjoying anything may be a test, intended to prove the firmness of your decision and the purity of your love of God.”
“None of your suffering has come by chance. Nothing can happen to us without Our Lord’s consent; and His consent is not only wise, but always dictated by His love of us. Carefully examine your conscience and your life, and I am sure you will understand what l mean.”
“Woe to our times: we now depart from the narrow and sorrowful path leading to Eternal Life and we seek a happy and peaceful path. But the Merciful Lord leads many people from this path, against their will, and places them on the sorrowful one. Through unwanted sorrows and illnesses we draw closer to the Lord, for they humble us by constraint, and humility, when we acquire it, can save us even without works, according to Saint Isaac the Syrian.”
“No one can offend us or irritate us if the Lord doesn’t let this happen for our benefit, or as a punishment, or to try us and correct us.”
“You do not just suddenly leap into Heaven, but you enter it with humility. The worst of all sins is when we are overwhelmed by our pride and our own opinion about everything.”
“You are, I am sure, aware that for you penitence is now no longer limited to disclosing your sins to your Confessor, but that you must now bear your sins in mind always, until your heart nearly breaks with their ugly load; and would break, were it not for your firm faith in the Mercy of Our Lord.”
“It is not possible to live our whole lives without temptations and sorrows, and live instead only joyfully and carefree. Know that God is taking care of you when He sends sorrows and grief, and wants through them to teach you and make you wise in Spiritual reason. Without sorrows we can’t be humbled nor come to Spiritual wisdom. And be completely sure that other than by God’s allowance no sorrow befall us, even though it would seem that people are the cause – in fact they are only the instruments that God uses in the work of our Salvation.”
“Holy Scripture strengthens Spiritual warriors with these words: Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy Soul for temptation. Humble thy heart, and endure (Sir. 2:1–2). And we should have this as our first article, keep it in remembrance and follow it. Further: Take all that shall be brought upon thee: and in thy sorrow endure, and in thy humiliation keep patience (Sir. 2:4). With this we must have steadfast faith in God, that “a hair of your head shall not perish, and no bird shall fall on the ground without your Father” (cf. Lk 21:18; Mt 10:29), and even less so can something sorrowful happen to us without God’s Will.”
“When we look at Our Lord Jesus Christ innocently suffering, enduring taunts, attacks, spitting, beatings, dishonour, mockery, Crucifixion, the Crown of Thorns, the piercing of His side, the nailing of His most pure hands and feet, we will see what our own sorrows, caused by insults and disdain, really are. After all, ‘For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps’ (1 Pet. 2:21), and albeit not fully but in small measure we find ourselves partakers of His Passion when we bravely and unmurmuringly endure the sorrows He sends us. You are in a Divine university – He is teaching you, He wants to make something good out of you. Don’t fight against Him!”
“We don’t know why the Lord sends us sorrows, but of course there are three main goals. One of these reasons – and perhaps very often – is that He is beating us with His Fatherly scepter. I suppose that either it is to punish us for our former sins, for in the words of the Holy Apostle, ‘But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world; (1 Cor. 11:32); or to test our faith and hope in the Lord; or, finally, because without sorrows we might fall into some other sins. Furthermore, the way of sorrows is the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Man’s life is filled with sorrows, and we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven through many sorrows. Read the histories of ancient times and you will find that great men and heroes, rulers of kingdoms and commanders of nations were not strangers to sorrows that were sent to each of them by the all-wise Providence of God, either by His Good Will or by His allowance, to test their faith, or to punish them for sins. Even the first-created man witnessed in his children the fratricide of Cain and the death of his firstborn Abel, which added another inexpressible sorrow to his first sorrow. I will pass over the others in silence, recalling only the pious and Holy King and Prophet David, what sorrows he bore through his children. Read his story and imagine that you also are no better than them, and by God’s Judgments, which are unknown to us, such a temptation has befallen you. If you endure it in submission, remembering your sins, then God will send you consolation…”
“Pray that you may be granted the Grace to read the Fathers with the right understanding, the Grace to live up to the standards thy put before you, and the Grace to clearly see your own frailty. You will not be left wanting and waiting. God will give you help.”