Venerable Macarius (+c. 830)

The Venerable Macarius (+830), abbot of the monastery of Pelecete, was born in Constantinople. He was orphaned early and decided to dedicate himself to the service of God. The Venerable Macarius went to Bithynia, to the monastery of Pelecete. The abbot there was the renowned ascetic, the Venerable Hilarion (+754; commemorated 28 March). After the abbot’s death the brethren unanimously chose the Venerable Macarius in his place. In the reign of the iconoclast emperors Leo V the Armenian (813–820) and Michael II (820–829) the Venerable Macarius was exiled for the veneration of the holy icons to the island of Aphusia, where he died around 830.