COMMENT:
The Macarian Homilies have thus influenced Pietist groups ranging from the Spiritual Franciscans (West) to Eastern Orthodox monastic practice to John Wesley to modern charismatic Christianity.
Night Office. Patristic Lectionary,
15th Week Ord.
Time
TUESDAY
First Reading
2 Samuel 4:2 - 5:7
Responsory Ps 89:20-21.24
I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him. + My hand will be ready to help him, my arm to give him strength.
V.
My faithfulness and love shall be with him. + My hand ...
Second Reading
From
a homily attributed to Saint Macarius of Egypt
Mature Christians who are deemed worthy
to attain perfection, and to come close to the King, are always consecrated to
the cross of Christ. As in prophetic times anointing was regarded as a most honourable
rite, since kings and prophets were anointed, so now spiritual people are
anointed with a heavenly unction and become Christians by grace so that they
too may be kings, and prophets of heavenly mysteries. They are sons and lords
and gods, bound, held captive, overwhelmed, crucified and consecrated.
Anointing with oil from a visible plant,
a tree that could be seen, had such virtue that those anointed received an
undisputed dignity, for this was the recognized way of appointing kings. David,
for example, after his anointing, was immediately exposed to persecutions and
afflictions, and then after seven years he became king. How much more, then, do
those who are anointed in mind and heart with the sanctifying and cheering oil
of gladness, the heavenly and spiritual unction, receive the seal of that
kingdom of incorruptible and eternal power, namely the pledge of the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit? And this Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete because of the encouragement
and grace he gives to those who suffer.
Anointed with ointment from the tree of
life, Jesus Christ, the heavenly plant, these people are counted worthy to attain
perfection, to become kings and adopted children of God, sharing in the secrets
of the heavenly King and enjoying free access to the Almighty. Even while still
in this world they enter his palace, the dwelling-place of the angels and the spirits
of the saints. For although they are not yet in possession of that perfect inheritance
prepared for them in the age to come, they are as fully assured of it through
the pledge they have received here on earth as though they were already crowned,
already reigning.
Christians find nothing strange in the fact
that they are destined to reign in the world to come, since they have known the
mysteries of grace beforehand. When man transgressed the commandment, the devil
shrouded the soul with a covering of darkness. But with the coming of grace the
veil is entirely stripped away, so that with clear eyes the soul, now cleansed
and restored to its true nature, which was created pure and blameless, ever clearly
beholds the glory of the true light, the true Sun of Righteousness, brilliantly
shining in its inmost being.
Responsory JI 2:28-29
I shall pour out my spirit upon all humankind. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy; + your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions.
V.
Even upon
slaves, men and women, in those days, I shall pour out my spirit. + Your old men ...
1995 Augustine Press, Year I,
A WORD IN SEASON,
Readings for the
Liturgy of the Hours
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sent: Tuesday, 14 July 2015, 13:20
Subject: Macarius
Copy from Wiki
Sent from my iPad.
St. Macarius the Great standing next to a Cherub.
Fifty Spiritual Homilies were ascribed to Macarius a few generations after his death, and these texts had a widespread and considerable influence on Eastern monasticism and Protestant pietism. [5] This was particularly in the context of the debate concerning the 'extraordinary giftings' of the Holy Spirit in the post-apostolic age, since the Macarian Homilies could serve as evidence in favour of a post-apostolic attestation of 'miraculous' Pneumatic giftings to include healings, visions, exorcisms, etc. The Macarian Homilies have thus influenced Pietist groups ranging from the Spiritual Franciscans (West) to Eastern Orthodox monastic practice to John Wesley to modern charismatic Christianity.
However, modern patristic scholars have established that it is not likely that Macarius the Egyptian was their author.[6] Exactly who the author of these fifty Spiritual Homilies was has not been definitively established, although it is evident from statements in them that the author was from Upper Mesopotamia, where the Roman Empire bordered the Persian Empire, and that they were not written later than 534.[7]
In addition to the homilies, a number of letters have been ascribed to Macarius. Gennadius(De viris illustribus 10) recognizes only one genuine letter of Macarius, which is addressed to younger monks. The first letter, called "Ad filios Dei," may indeed be the genuine letter by Macarius the Egyptian that is mentioned by Gennadius (Vir. Ill.10), but the other letters are probably not by Macarius. The second letter, the so-called "Great Letter" used the De instituto christiana of Gregory of Nyssa, which was written c. 390; the style and content of the "Great Letter" suggest that its author is the same anonymous Mesopotamian who wrote the fifty Spiritual Homilies.[8]
The seven so-called Opuscula ascetica edited under his name by Petrus Possinus (Paris, 1683) are merely later compilations from the homilies, made by Simeon the Logothete, who is probably identical with Simeon Metaphrastes (d. 950). The teachings of Macarius are characterized by a strong Pneumatic emphasis that closely intertwines the salvific work of Jesus Christ (as the 'Spirit of Christ') with the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit. This 'Pneumatic' thrust in the Spiritual Homilies is often termed 'mystical' and as such is a spiritual mode of thought which has endeared him to Christian mystics of all ages, although, on the other hand, in his anthropology and soteriology he frequently approximates the standpoint of St. Augustine. Certain passages of his homilies assert the entire depravity of man, while others postulate free will, even after the fall of Adam, and presuppose a tendency toward virtue, or, in semi-Pelagian fashion, ascribe to man the power to attain a degree of readiness to receive salvation.
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