Venerable
Venerable Maron the Hermit of Syria
IV век — †ок. 410/433
Venerable Maron of Syria — a Syrian hermit of the late 4th-early 5th century who practiced roofless, open-air asceticism on a mountain near Cyrrhus, founder of numerous monasteries and mentor to many disciples, whose followers, calling themselves "servants of St. Maron," gave rise to the Maronite tradition; a contemporary and correspondent of St. John Chrysostom.
Venerable Maron was a Syrian hermit who struggled in the late 4th-early 5th century. He chose the unusual feat of "roofless living" — constant dwelling in the open air, without shelter. He settled on a mountain near the city of Cyrrhus (Kyros), about two days' journey from Antioch, where he found an abandoned pagan temple and consecrated it for Christian worship. He himself scarcely used the small shelter he eventually built, giving it over to sick pilgrims.
He possessed the gift of healing through prayer — curing bodily and spiritual ailments, casting out demons. He founded numerous monasteries and trained many disciples in ascetic life, among them Venerables James the Hermit, Limnaeus, and Domnina. His followers, calling themselves "servants of Venerable Maron," gave rise to the movement from which the Maronite church tradition later developed.
He was a contemporary of St. John Chrysostom, who wrote him a letter (which survives, dated around 405); his life was personally attested by Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, in the "History of the Monks of Syria."
He reposed around 410 (other sources say 433). In Russian folk tradition he was also venerated as a healer of fever.
His feast is kept on February 14/27.