Byzantine Saints: Venerable Macarius of Alexandria (19 January)

About this sermon

The Venerable Macarius of Alexandria, commemorated on January 19, was one of the greatest Desert Fathers of Egypt and a contemporary of St. Macarius of Egypt. Born in 295 AD, he lived a life of intense asceticism, fasting, humility, and prayer, becoming a pillar of early Christian monasticism. After years working in trade, St. Macarius was baptized later in life and withdrew into the desert, where he spent over 60 years in solitude and spiritual struggle. He became the head of the monastery known as The Cells, located between Nitria and Scetis, where hermits lived in silence, each in his own cell. St. Macarius practiced extreme ascetic feats—fasting severely, enduring heat and cold under the open sky, conquering bodily desires, and battling pride through humility. Through this life of renunciation, God granted him the gifts of wonderworking, discernment of thoughts, visions, healing the sick, and casting out demons. One of his most striking visions revealed angels giving the Holy Mysteries to worthy monks, while careless brethren received burning coals from demons instead of the Body of Christ—a powerful warning about reverence in Holy Communion. St. Macarius of Alexandria reposed around 394–395 AD at the age of 100. He also authored a discourse on the origin of the soul, preserved in the annotated Psalter. ☦️ May his prayers strengthen us in humility, repentance, and love for God. 00:00 Introduction – Venerable Macarius of Alexandria 00:21 Commemoration on January 19 00:28 Early life and conversion 00:37 Withdrawal into the desert 00:44 The Monastery of the Cells 00:54 The Three Deserts of Northern Egypt 01:10 Ascetic struggles and fasting 01:28 Enduring heat and cold 01:35 The grapes and humility 01:59 Battling pride through asceticism 02:18 Gifts of discernment and visions 02:25 Vision of Holy Communion 02:38 Miracles and healings 02:43 Death and writings https://www.oca.org/saints/lives 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.com for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SensusFidelium.TV - https://sensusfidelium.tv/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium 🔴 Truth Social - @SensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #VenerableMacarius #OrthodoxSaints #DesertFathers #January19 #OrthodoxChristianity #LivesOfTheSaints #Asceticism #MonasticLife #OrthodoxFaith #EarlyChurch #SaintsOfEgypt #HolyCommunion #OrthodoxHistory