The life of St Macedonian
Despite his hidden life, his reputation for holiness spread, and he became known to many of the leading Christians of Antioch.
In 387, when riots broke out in Antioch over harsh new taxes and the crowd tore down and defaced statues of the imperial family, Macedonius was among the monks who came down from the hills to intercede with the emperor's officers on the terrified city's behalf, pleading for mercy toward its people. He is also remembered by the historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus, whose own long childless mother he blessed with the promise of a son, a promise Theodoret believed was fulfilled in his own birth and reflected in his very name. Macedonius reposed around the year 420, in great old age, having spent most of his long life as a solitary in the wilderness near Antioch.
