Macarius of Pelecete, St.
MACARIUS OF PELECETE, ST.
Byzantine monk and defender of the cult of images;b. Constantinople, c. 750; d. "Aphrysia" (unknown island), c. 829. Orphaned at an early age, Macarius was educated by his uncle. He entered the monastery of Pelecete in Bithynia and succeeded St. hilarion as hegumen, or abbot. His reputation as a saint and wonder-worker earned him the title of Thaumaturgus, and he was ordained a priest by the patriarch of Constantinople, Tarasius (784–806). In the iconoclastic controversy, he resisted the policy of Emperor leo v the Armenian, and was imprisoned and tortured. Liberated by Michael II (820–829), he returned to Pelecete but did not take over the direction of the monastery. Although the emperor flattered and menaced him to force him to accept iconoclasm, he steadfastly refused, and was finally exiled to the island where he died, a septuagenarian. His vita was written by his successor, Sabas.
Feast: April 1.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum April 1:31. j. van den gheyn, ed., Analecta Bollandiana 16 (1897) 140–163. c. van de vorst, ibid. 32 (1913) 270–273. h. g. beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (Munich 1959) 210, 558.
[f. chiovaro]