Macarius of Unzha - Holy Relics

Holy Relics

The Holy Relics of Venerable Macarius were discovered in 1671, during a burial in the church where his body had been buried. After several years of disagreements as to whether the relics were genuine, and some minor miracles that convinced disbelievers that they were, they were put to rest in a reliquary in Unzhensky Makaryev Monastery. In 1929, Soviet authorities closed the monastery, and most of the relics ended up in the local history museum at Yuryevets, Ivanovo Oblast, where they were kept in storage until 1990, when they were return to Kostroma Eparchy (diocese). In 1995, these relics (bones and vestments) were brought back to Unzhensky Makaryev Monastery.

The head of Macarius, however, was missing. It was not until 2005 that the Eparchy (Archdiocese) of Nizhny Novgorod was contacted by a priest who had inherited the Head (or most of it, at any rate) from his brother, also a priest, who in his turn had saved it from the Bolsheviks some time after the closing of the Unzhensky Makaryev Monastery in 1929. The priests had reverently kept the relics in their homes for many years, until they felt secure that the Russian Church is reborn and is restoring Macarius' monasteries. After the special commission of the archdiocese, with the forensic experts' help, established genuineness of the relics, their return was celebrated at a special service in the Holy Saviour Cathedral in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin on March 23, 2006. Since then, the Head was kept in a special portable reliquary in Pechersky Ascension Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod, which the clerics can reverently take with them on a visit to a nursing home or to celebrate Feast of Venerable Macarius at his other, Zheltovodsky Monastery.

On the occasion of Macarius' feast in 2007, the Honorable Head of Venerable Macarius was permanently transferred from Nizhny Novgorod to Makaryev Zheltovodsky Monastery (Convent). The transfer took place during August 3–7, 2007. The prized relic, accompanied by Archbishop Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and other ecclesiastical officials of Nizhny Novgorod Eparchy, was transported down the Volga by the boat "Alexander Peresvet" during August 3–7, 2007, with stopovers in Bor, Kstovo and Lyskovo. Religious processions were organized in the cities visited, to carry Macarius' head from the Volga docksides to local churches for appropriate celebrations.

Macarius is considered the patron saint of craftsmen, merchants, and travellers, as well as of Makariev Fair. He is especially venerated in the Archdioceses (Eparchies) of Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo, and Kostroma—the lands where he performed his earthly works.

In some monasteries, such as Pechersky Ascension Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod, one can request a prayer to Venerable Macarius for success in business or "getting out of poverty" (избавление от нищеты).