Maro

ON ST. MARO, ANCHORITE, NEAR CYRRHUS IN SYRIA.

ABOUT THE YEAR 370.

Maro, Anchorite near Cyrrhus in Syria (St.)

By G. H.

[1] Cyrrhus (in Ptolemy, Kyrrhos), an episcopal city of the province of Euphratensis in Syria, two days' journey from Antioch, once nourished many holy anchorites under its jurisdiction or territory, the Life of St. Maro and had various monasteries established by religious men, concerning which Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, treats in his Philotheus, which is Book 9 of the Lives of the Fathers, published by our Rosweyde, and later reprinted in Greek and Latin by our Sirmond in volume 2 of the Works of Theodoret. sacred veneration The Maro who is mentioned there in chapter 16 is venerated on the 14th of February by the Greeks in the Great Menaia, and by Maximus, Bishop of Cythera, in the Lives of the Saints; his Acts, drawn from the aforementioned Philotheus of Theodoret, are recorded with this distich prefixed:

Memorial of our holy Father Maron. When his frail body withered and dissolved, Maron flourishes, Transplanted to the region of Eden.

[2] Different from this Maro is the one whom the same Theodoret in chapter 4, in the Life of St. Eusebius, he is not the same as the monk Marosas which we published on the 23rd of January, calls the monk Marosas, whom Sozomen (Book 6, chapter 34) and Nicephorus (Book 11, chapter 41) record as having come from Necheli. When Lawrence Barreus in his edition of the Philotheus ascribes the statements of these writers to this Maro, he erroneously confuses the deeds of both, as Rosweyde rightly observed in his Annotations, numbers 27 and 45. Some acts of this Maro are also attributed by Jacopo Jacobilli to St. Marius, Abbot of Bodon; and St. Marius, Abbot of Bodon these we refuted on the 27th of January, before the Life of this one, section 9. Concerning this Maro, Theodoret treats below in chapter 24, in the Life of SS. Zebinas and Polychronius, to whom the 23rd of February is sacred; he acknowledges St. Zebinas as his master where the following is read: "The great Maro too mightily admired Zebinas, and he used to exhort all who came to him to betake themselves to him and enjoy his blessing, calling him Father and Master, and styling him the pattern of all virtues. He also prayed that he might be buried in the same sepulchre. But they did not permit it -- those who seized that sacred body and transported it to the aforementioned place."

[3] Among the disciples of the same Maro is found below St. James the Hypæthrite, also surnamed the Syrian, whom the Greeks venerate on the 26th of November. Concerning him Theodoret writes in chapter 21: he himself had as disciples St. James the Hypæthrite "When James had been received into the company of the renowned Maro and was instructed in his divine teaching, he surpassed his Master in the greatness of his labors. For that one had as ^a wall an ancient temple of error, and ^a tent of goatskins, by the aid of which he warded off all injuries of rain and snow. But this one, bidding farewell to all these things -- tent, hut, and wall -- has heaven for his roof, exposed to all the contrary impressions of the air," etc. Another disciple of his is St. Limnaeus, St. Limnaeus who is venerated together with St. Thalassius on the 22nd of February; Theodoret has the Life of both in chapter 22, in which the following is read: "After Limnaeus had amply received the teaching of the divine old man Thalassius and had expressed the image of his virtue in himself, he betook himself to the great Maro. He arrived, moreover, at the very same time as the divine James. And having gathered much fruit of benefit from him as well, and being held by the desire of emulating the life spent under the open sky, he occupied another summit, overhanging ^a certain village called Targala." Finally, as the same Theodoret attests in chapter 30, and St. Domnina the admirable Domnina emulated the life of the divine Maro; she fixed ^a small hut in the garden of her mother's house, in which, spending whole days in continual tears, she bedewed not only her cheeks but also her garments of haircloth, etc. The feast day of St. Domnina falls on the Kalends of March. Finally, he mentions St. Maro in chapter 6, in the Life of St. Simeon the Elder, which we gave on the 26th of January.

LIFE

From the Philotheus of Theodoret, chapter 16.

Maro, Anchorite near Cyrrhus in Syria (St.)

[1] I shall next commemorate Maro; for he too adorned the divine choir of the Saints. St. Maro lives under the open sky For having resolved to lead his life under the open sky, he occupied the summit of ^a mountain formerly held in honor among the impious, and having consecrated to God ^a temple of the demons, he dwelt there, having constructed ^a small tent, which he rarely used. he builds an oratory He exercised himself not only in the customary labors but devised new ones, accumulating the riches of the ascetic life. The Master of the contest, however, measured out His grace beyond his labors. For the munificent God so abundantly bestowed upon him the gift of healings that his fame pervaded all regions, drew all people from every direction, and experience proved the truth of his fame. For one could see fevers extinguished by the dew of his blessing, tremors calmed, he cures bodily diseases demons put to flight, and diseases of all kinds healed by ^a single remedy. For physicians apply their own remedy to each disease; but the prayer of the Saints is ^a common remedy for all afflictions.

[2] He cured not only the sicknesses of bodies, but also applied the appropriate healing to souls, he removes the vices of the soul curing this person's avarice and that one's irascibility, imparting to this one the teaching of temperance and giving to that one the precepts of justice, correcting this one's incontinence and rousing that one's sloth. Practising this husbandry, he raised many plants of the ascetic life and himself planted for God this garden which now flourishes in the region of Cyrrhus. The work of this planting is the great James, to whom one might rightly apply that prophetic utterance: "The just man shall flourish like ^a palm tree; like the cedar of Lebanon shall he be multiplied" Psalm 91:13; and all the others, of whom, with God's help, I shall make mention individually.

[3] Having thus lent his aid to the divine husbandry and healing souls and bodies alike, he dies he departed this life after ^a brief illness, which demonstrated both the weakness of nature and his own steadfastness. Over his body ^a fierce war arose among the neighbors. But the inhabitants of ^a neighboring and populous village, arriving all together, he is buried in ^a temple built for him drove away the rest and carried off the most desired treasure, and having built ^a very great temple, they derive benefit to this very day, honoring that victorious one with public celebration. We too, though absent, enjoy his blessing; for the memory of him suffices for us in place of his sepulchre.