Our Venerable Mother Macrina, Sister of Saint Basil the Great; Our Venerable Father Dios.
Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 9:18-26.
Read Matthew 9:18-26
Our Venerable Mother Macrina, though often overshadowed by her more widely known brother, St. Basil the Great, was a spiritual giant in her own right. She lived a life of deep asceticism, wisdom, and unwavering faith in the face of suffering. In today’s Gospel lesson, we see how Christ responds to a woman who quietly reaches out to him with a confident faith, desiring healing. Jesus says, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Mt 9:22). Macrina’s entire life reflects that same interior trust in Christ’s power to transform pain and difficulty into grace.
After the death of her fiancé Macrina chose not to marry again, but instead devoted herself fully to God. She believed deeply in the resurrection and eternal life and that she would be reunited with her fiancé again. She also understood that no one except Christ alone could fulfill her. In this, she demonstrated a firm trust, which allowed her to acquire a spiritual wholeness. Like the woman in the Gospel, she reached out, not with her hand, but with her life and was made whole through her faith.
Before her death when Macrina suffered from a painful illness, she refused human comfort nor did she complain; instead, she spent her final hours in prayer, speaking with her brother St. Gregory of Nyssa about the resurrection and eternal life. She said, “You have loosed my bonds, O Lord” as her final breath, quoting Psalm 115 with deep peace in her heart. Just as Jesus raised the ruler’s daughter in the Gospel reading, so Macrina’s death was a living testimony to the power of faith to overcome even death itself. St. Macrina Pray for us!