Saint of the Day |
St. Macarius of Jerusalem |
St. Macarius of Jerusalem (4th c.) was the Bishop of Jerusalem from
312-335 A.D. Little is known of his life before this time. He took part
in the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and vigorously opposed the Arian
heresy, which greatly threatened the early Church. It is believed that
he was one of the bishops who helped draft the Nicene Creed. St.
Athanasius, his contemporary, refers to Macarius as an example of "the
honest and simple style of apostolical men." After the council, St.
Macarius accompanied St. Helen, the queen mother of the Roman Emperor
Constantine, in her successful search for the True Cross that Jesus
was crucified upon. It was he who suggested to St. Helen that she would
identify the real Cross by touching all three of those she found to a
seriously ill woman, and observe which one brought immediate healing.
Following the discovery of the True Cross in this miraculous manner,
Constantine wrote to Bishop Macarius requesting that he oversee the
construction of a magnificent church in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the
Holy Sepulchre, to commemorate the sites of the Crucifixion and Burial
of Christ, which still exists today as one of the most important
Christian pilgrimage sites in the world. His feast day is March 10th.
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Friday, March 10, 2017
Saint of the Day
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