Saint Macarius of Unzha

Macarius of the Yellow Water Lake and the Unzha, the Miracle Worker (Russian: Преподобный Макарий Унженский Желтоводский Чудотворец, romanized: Prepodobny Makariy Unzhenskiy Zheltovodskiy Chudotvorets; 1349–1444) was a Russian Orthodox monk and saint. He is credited with the founding of four monasteries in the Middle and Upper Volga regions of Russia. The story of Macarius is based on Chet’yi-Minei (the standard Russian Orthodox Lives of the Saints) as well as to other old manuscripts. One of them, kept in Makaryev Unzhensky Monastery, was first inventoried in 1835. The other is kept in Makaryev Zheltovodsky Convent, and is written in the 17th century hand. Church scholars believe that he was most likely born in 1349. His home town, Nizhny Novgorod, was the capital of the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal, ruled by Prince Konstantine Vasilyevich. As most other Russian principalities of the time, his land was dominated by the Golden Horde overlords. Macarius was baptised in his parents' parish church, Church of Holy Myrrhbearers (Russian: церковь Святых Жен Мироносиц). His baptismal name is not known. According to the Life of St. Macarius, when he was still a baby, he would start crying every time he heard the ringing of the bells of the nearby church. There was no way to console the child. The parents would not want to bring the baby boy to the church, afraid that he would disturb the service with his crying; but eventually they decided to try. To their surprise, as soon as they brought the child to the church, he became quiet, smiling joyfully. From this time on, the parents had to attend every service at the parish church, and to take the child with them, because if they stayed at home during the service, the baby would again start crying. Macarius grew as a pious boy, especially interested in the lives of the Orthodox hermits of the past ages, living in the wilderness alone or in small lavra communities.