The Holy New Martyr Macarius the Bishop.
The Holy New Martyr Macarius the Bishop was the superior of the Hermitage of Saint Macarius the Roman not far from Saint Petersburg. He had joined in 1894 at the age of 23, was tonsured Cyril in 1897 and was made hieromonk by the year 1900. In 1923, by decree of Patriarch Tikhon, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Luban by Bishops Seraphim of Kolpinsk and Micah of Archangel; in the same year, he was arrested. After three years at Solovki he was released and returned to his monastery, where he took the schema with the name Macarius for the monastery’s patron Saint. He celebrated Liturgy daily as a simple priest and was always deeply immersed in prayer. He was arrested again with all his monks on February 5/18, 1932, the “Holy Night” of Russian monasticism, on which nearly all the monks, with the knowledge of Metropolitan Alexis of Moscow, disappeared into the camps in one night, and thousands of clergy and faithful were arrested. After three years he was able to return to his monastery, which now lay in ruins. He served many years secretly as a catacomb bishop and in 1937 was arrested again and sent into Central Asia for a year. Later he escaped to Estonia and lived at the Pskov Caves Monastery. In 1944 the Soviets bombed the area savagely, and shrapnel from one of the bombs came through a window and killed the elderly Bishop immediately. He was buried in the Pskov Caves.
Copyright © 2016, Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, all rights reserved.
All reproduction of texts or icons on this website in any form
without prior written permission is forbidden.