Saint Macarius the Great Did Not Believe Himself Even After Death

From the life of Saint Macarius the Great.

Saint Macarius the Great (300 - 390)

The writer of the life of Saint Serapion adds the following, which he heard from Saint Paphnutius, one of Saint Macarius’ disciples. When the holy soul of Macarius was taken by the Cherubim and was ascending to heaven, some of the fathers saw with their mental eyes that the demons of the air stood in the distance and cried out:

– What glory have you been granted, Macarius!

The saint answered the demons:

– I am afraid, for I do not know of anything good that I have done.

Then those of the demons who were still higher up on the path of Macarius' ascending soul cried out:

- You have truly escaped our hands, Macarius!

But he said:

- No, but I should escape even more.

And when the saint was already at the gates of paradise, the demons cried out with a loud cry:

- You have escaped us, you have escaped.

Then Macarius answered the demons with a loud voice:

- Yes! Protected by the power of my Christ, I have escaped your wiles.

Such is the life, death, and passage into eternal life of our venerable father Macarius.

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Should Complete Obedience Be Only in Relation to the Elder?

From an interview with Archpriest Vladimir Volgin

Archpriest Vladimir Volgin

– Father Vladimir, in your opinion, should we have impeccable obedience only to the elder or to the spiritual father – a simple priest – too?

– Now, I think, yes – we should have impeccable obedience only to the elder. It is good to have a desire to obey the spiritual father too. But spiritual fathers, who are as blind as I am, should not demand this obedience from their spiritual children. How can I, a blind person, demand obedience that can ultimately lead a person into a pit? Where will the blind lead the blind? Into a pit. Both will definitely fall. Therefore, I show the most reasonable, in my opinion, condescension to my spiritual children and do not demand obedience from them. I demand obedience to the commandments of God, obedience in relation to the established rhythm of Confession and Communion.

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