Venerable
Venerable Macarius Of Zhabin
1539 — †22 января 1623
Venerable Macarius of Zhabyn (of Belyov) — founder of the Vvedensky Zhabynsky Hermitage near Belyov (1585), who restored the community after its complete destruction by the Polish-Lithuanian forces of Lisowski in 1615; according to tradition, through prayer he brought forth a healing spring from the ground, giving water from it to a dying enemy soldier.
Venerable Macarius in his youth was tonsured with the name Onuphry (according to a firm church tradition, Elder Onuphry and Venerable Macarius are one and the same person, "Macarius" being his later great-schema name). In 1585 he founded the Vvedensky Zhabynsky Hermitage on the bank of the Oka River, near Belyov.
In 1615 the community was completely destroyed by Polish-Lithuanian forces under the command of Lisowski. Venerable Macarius rebuilt the monastery, gathered the brotherhood again, and replaced the wooden church with a stone one in honor of the Presentation of the Theotokos, with a gate bell tower.
He is known for a miracle: while walking in the forest, the elder found a Polish soldier (an enemy) dying of thirst and, striking his staff on the ground in prayer, brought forth a spring, with which he gave the man water and thereby saved his life — the spring is still venerated at the monastery today. He later took the great schema with the name Macarius and withdrew for solitary struggle further upstream on the Zhabynka River.
He reposed on January 22, 1623. His relics were hidden in 1721 (presumably due to Petrine-era restrictions on relic veneration), found incorrupt in 1816 during church construction; veneration was officially restored in 1888 through the efforts of Abbot Iona (born on the venerable's feast day, January 22), and a new church was begun over his grave that same period (1889). He is included in the Synaxis of Tula Saints (established 1987).
His feast is kept on January 22/February 4 and September 22/October 5.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the impossible life years "c. 300 – c. 391" (contamination from the Macarius the Great entry) have been removed — the correct years, 1539-1623, have been established. The contaminated date "January 19/May 1" has been replaced with the correct dates.