St. Macarius the Great: Cleanse Thou me a sinner

 O God, cleanse Thou me a sinner, inasmuch as I have never done any good thing before Thee. Yea, deliver me from the evil one and let Thy will abide within me, so that I may without condemnation open my unworthy lips and praise Thy Holy name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

+St. Macarius the Great, from The Orthodox Prayer Book

St. Macarius the Great: Three anecdotes from his life

 One day someone asked [St. Macarius] how to make progress on the path to salvation. The saint sent him to the cemetery, first to insult the dead then to praise them, and when he came back, he said: "Look, the corpses said not a word to you in reply. Similarly, if you want to be saved you too must become like a dead man, making as little of the contempt of men as of their praises."

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He acquired expert knowledge of the different kinds of demon. He said that they can be divided into two main categories: one consisting of the spirits which arouse passions such as anger and covetousness; and the other, more dreadful, of the spirits which mislead men by spiritual illusion, blasphemy and heresies.

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His exceeding charity led him to pray with tears even for the damned. One day as he was walking in the desert, he came upon the skull of a pagan priest, which addressed him, saying: "Each time that you have pity on those who are in torments - on us who are plunged into the fire with our faces pressed against the backs of the one's in front - we receive a measure of comfort in being able for a while to see the faces of our fellow sufferers."

+St. Macarius the Great of Egypt, from his life in The Synaxarion Volume 3, entry for January 19.

St. Macarius the Great: Our faith is food and drink

 The Christian religion is a food and drink. The more one eats of it, the more strongly his mind is enticed by its sweetness, so much so that he can never be restrained or satisfied, but insatiably asks for more and continually eats more. If a man has a great thirst and is given a pleasing drink, then, as he begins to taste of it, the more he wants to have it, the more eagerly he drinks of it. So is the taste of the Spirit; it can hardly be stopped or satisfied, just like the above comparison. And these are not idle words, but the working of the Holy Spirit, working in a hidden way in the mind.

+St. Macarius the Great, from Fifty Spiritual Homilies, homily 17, #13

St. Macarius the Great: On longing for God

 Just as one who suffers from a burning fever is sickened by and rejects any food of drink that you may offer him even if it were very delicious, because he is on fire with a fever and is really burning up from it, so those who are burning with  holy and venerable longing for the heavenly Spirit are wounded in their soul with love for the love of God. They burn with a divine and heavenly fire which the Lord came on this earth to enkindle. How He wishes that is be quickly accomplished! They are enflamed with a heavenly longing for Christ so hat everything that is of this world, considered as outstanding and precious, is reputed base and despised on account of the fire of their love for Christ who binds them, burns them, and enflames them with a passion for God and for the heavenly good things that lead to love. From such a love nothing of the earth or underworld will separate them, as the Apostle Paul testified: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom 8:35), and all that follows.

+St. Macarius the Great, from Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily 9

St. Macarius the Great: Prayers for the departed

Abba Macarius said, "Walking in the desert one day, I found the skull of a dead man, lying on the ground. As I was moving it with my stick, the skull spoke to me. I said to it, "Who are you?" The skull replied, "I was a high priest of the idols and of the pagans who dwelt in this place, but you are Macarius,the Spirit-bearer. Whenever you take pity on those who are in torments, and pray for them, they feel a little respite." The old man said to him, "What is the alleviation, and what is this torment?" He said to him, "As far as the sky is removed from the earth, so great is the fire beneath us. We are ourselves standing in the midst of the fire, from the very feet up to the head. It is not possible to see anyone face to face, but the face of one is fixed to the back of another. Yet when you pray for us, each of us can see the other's face a little. Such is our respite." The old man in tears said, "Alas the day when that man was born!" He said to the skull, "Are there any punishments which are more painful than this?" The skull said to him, "There is a more grievous punishment down below us." The old man said, "Who are the people down there?" The skull said to him: "We have received a little mercy since we did not know God, but those who know God and denied Him are down below us." Then, picking up the skull, the old man buried it.
+St. Macarius the Great, from The Desert Christian, the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Translation and foreword by Benedicta Ward, SLG

St. Macarius the Great: Thy will be done...

For why else is it written: "Thy will be done also on earth as in heaven" (Mt 6:10)? It is in order that, as the angels in heaven live together in accord with each other in the greatest unanimity, in peace and love, and there is no pride or envy there but they communicate in mutual love and sincerity, so in the same way the brethren should be among themselves.
+ St. Macarius the Great of Egypt, from The Fifty Spiritual Homilies and the Great Letter, homily 3, #1.