Macarius of Egypt

Saint Macarius of Egypt was born in Lower Egypt around the year 300, later tradition placing his birthplace at Shabsheer. As a boy he tended cattle, and even in youth he felt a strong call to solitude, building a small cell near his home where he prayed continually and wove mats. After a brief marriage and early widowhood, and the death of his parents, he gave his possessions to the poor and placed himself under the guidance of a desert elder, learning watchfulness, fasting, and unceasing prayer. Falsely accused by a pregnant woman, Macarius accepted the shame in silence; when the truth came to light, he fled to the Nitrian Desert to avoid worldly praise. He lived with severe austerity, learned from Saint Anthony the Great, and at about forty became a priest and spiritual father in Scetis, gathering a semi-eremitical community devoted to worship and inner conversion. Banished under Emperor Valens during disputes over the Nicene faith, he witnessed to Christ even in exile through prayer and healing. Venerated across East and West, he is patron of Ghilarza and Pieve di Compresseto. His feast day is January 15.