Macarius of the Sinai (a portrait of a melkite intellectual of the 13th century)

Macarius, Archbishop of Mount Sinai (13th century), is one of the little-known Arabic-speaking Orthodox authors. Only one of his full-fl edged works has survived, On Fasting during Cheesefare Week. The historical and canonical signifi cance of this text is due to the fact that it includes the confession of faith of Macarius. Thus, this relatively small text allows us to make a fairly full portrait of its author, to evaluate the Sinai Archbishop both as a church writer in general, and as a dogmatist in particular. The historical and canonical part of the treatise shows that Macarius was a highly educated hierarch. The degree of his acquaintance with the patristic literature, the history of the Ecumenical Councils and the sources of canon law of the Orthodox Church significantly exceeds the average level of Orthodox apologists who wrote in Arabic. The confession of faith of Macarius of Sinai, characterised by both the perfection of form and the accuracy of its dogmatic formulations, can be considered one of the best brief confessions of the Orthodox faith ever composed in Arabic. The treatise of Macarius of Sinai is a vivid testimony to the fact that in the first half of the 13th century, the very small Orthodox community of Egypt and Sinai had highly educated intellectuals deeply rooted in church tradition

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