Macarius of Egypt

Macarius of Egypt (c. 300–c. 390), also called Macarius the Great, was one of the founders of desert monasticism. Around the age of thirty he withdrew to the desert of Scetis, west of the Nile delta, where he lived as an ascetic and spiritual father and was ordained priest. Palladius, Rufinus and the sayings of the Desert Fathers describe him as a teacher of discernment and prayer. He is venerated as a saint on 19 January in the East and 15 January in the West.

A large collection of spiritual homilies, letters and treatises has been transmitted under his name. Since the twentieth century many scholars have attributed them to a Syrian monastic writer of the late fourth century, sometimes called Macarius-Symeon or Pseudo-Macarius, but the attribution is contested, and the texts are read in the Eastern Churches as the teaching of Macarius. They describe the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the transformation of the whole person through prayer, and they influenced Greek, Syriac and later Western spirituality.

The library holds the Great Letter, a treatise on the purpose of the monastic life and the work of grace in the soul. It is the most systematic of the writings and a good introduction to the collection.