Makarios of Vatopedi

Saint Makarios of Vatopedi, venerable martyr, was a monk of the Vatopaidi Monastery and died a martyr at Heraklion in Crete on 22 June 1821, together with the hieromonks Neophytos and Ambrosios. In 1820 Vatopaidi sent to Crete, at the request of the people, a group of brothers with relics to drive away the plague: a portion of the Holy Girdle of the Mother of God, a piece of the wood of the Holy Cross and the skull of Saint Andrew of Crete. Having reached Heraklion, they performed services of the blessing of the water until Easter of 1821.

On 22 June 1821, for fear of the Turks, clergy and laity had gathered at the Metropolis. During the invasion of the building several were killed, among them Neophytos, Ambrosios and Makarios. The remaining brothers, the deacon Parthenios and the monks Dionysios and Dorotheos, took the relics and hid. Dionysios was caught and hanged on Clean Monday of 1822, because he refused to renounce his faith. The relics were brought back to Vatopaidi on 2 May 1831. Makarios is entered in the Orthodox calendars and is remembered on 22 June, together with Neophytos and Ambrosios.