Story
Saint Maron shone forth in the land of Syria in the fourth century, in the region of Cyrrhus near Antioch, a man wholly given over to the love of God. Forsaking the comforts of the world, he chose for himself the narrow path of the desert-dwellers, that he might serve the Lord without distraction.
He took up his abode upon a high and lonely hill, where he lived beneath the open sky with no roof to shelter him. Wind and rain, the heat of summer and the cold of winter, he endured as gifts from the hand of God. He passed his days and nights in unceasing prayer, in vigil, in fasting, and in the labors of the ascetic life, mortifying the flesh that his soul might be made bright. Finding a temple that had once been given over to idols, he cleansed it and consecrated it to the worship of the living God, and there he poured out his prayers.
The Lord, who glorifies those who glorify Him, granted to His servant Maron the grace of healing. To him were brought the sick in body and the troubled in soul, and he cured them by the power of Christ; he drove out unclean spirits, and loosed many from the bonds of their passions. Yet he labored not only for the body but above all for the soul, restoring the sinner to repentance and kindling in the lukewarm the fire of divine love.
Many came to sit at his feet and to learn from him the way of holiness, and he counseled them to live in temperance, to keep watch over their salvation, and to guard their hearts against avarice and anger. From his hands and by his example there sprang up monasteries throughout that land, and a great company of disciples followed his manner of life. Among them were the holy ascetics James the Hermit, Limnius, and the blessed Domnina, who became luminaries in their own right.
So great was the renown of his sanctity that Saint John Chrysostom, that golden voice of the Church, wrote to him from his exile in deep love and reverence, commending himself to the prayers of the holy hermit.
Having labored long in the vineyard of the Lord and reached a venerable old age, Saint Maron departed to the eternal rest he had so ardently sought, and his soul was received into the dwellings of the righteous. The faithful gathered his precious relics with great honor, and over his tomb a monastery arose that became a beacon for all that country, where his memory was kept and his intercessions sought.
The holy Church celebrates the memory of our righteous father Maron the Hermit on the fourteenth of February. By his prayers may the Lord have mercy upon us and grant us a portion in His kingdom. Amen.