Hierarch
Hierarch Macarius of Serbia
патр. 1557 — †сентябрь 1574
Hierarch Macarius (Sokolović), Patriarch of Peć — restorer of the Serbian Patriarchate in 1557 after nearly a 90-year gap, a relative of the Grand Vizier Mehmed-paša Sokolović, whose kinship made possible the restoration of the Patriarchate under Ottoman rule; he unified about 40 dioceses, founded 8 new ones, and restored the monasteries of Peć, Gračanica, Studenica, and Mileševa.
Hierarch Macarius, surnamed Sokolović, was a relative (according to some accounts, the brother) of Mehmed-paša Sokolović — an ethnic Serb who had once been a reader at Mileševa Monastery, taken through the devşirme system and converted to Islam, later becoming Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. This kinship proved decisive in obtaining Ottoman permission to restore the Serbian church hierarchy.
In 1557 he restored the Patriarchate of Peć, ending a nearly 90-year period without independent Serbian church governance following the fall of Serbian statehood — a period historians call "the darkest" in the history of the Serbian Church.
During his patriarchate (1557 – c. 1570/1571): he united about 40 dioceses under his authority; founded 8 new dioceses north of the Danube and Sava rivers; restored and renovated churches and monasteries, including Peć Monastery itself, Gračanica, Studenica, Mileševa, and Budisavci; promoted spiritual education and distributed liturgical books and vessels; secured patriarchal rights comparable to those of Constantinople; and effectively served as ethnarch — not only the spiritual but also the civil head of the Serbian Orthodox population under Ottoman rule.
He relinquished the patriarchal throne around 1570-1571, likely due to illness. He reposed in early September 1574.
His feast is kept on August 30/September 12.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the contaminated date "January 19/May 1" (shared by a 9-way cluster of entries named Macarius) has been replaced with the correct date, August 30/September 12.