Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/551

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MACRI
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MacSHERRY

out he was the first clergyman at Newark to espouse publicly the cause of the Union; he also volunteered as a chaplain and accompanied the New Jersey Brigade to the seat of war, during which service he was captured by the Confederates. On the creation of the Diocese of Rochester in 1868, Father McQuaid was appointed its first bishop and was consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, 12 July, 1868. He was installed in Rochester, on July 16. A man of strong character and untiring as a worker, he especially devoted himself to the cause of Catholic education. In Rochester within ten years he completely organized a splendid parochial school system, taught by nuns, and affiliated it with the State university. Two years after he took charge of the diocese he opened St. Andrew's Preparatory Seminary, the promising students of which he sent to the Roman and other famous European seminaries. meantime he was constantly extending the parishes throughout the diocese; founding new works of charity, or strengthening those already established; securing freedom of worship and their constitutional rights for the inmates of the state institutions, of which there are four in the diocese. The crowning event of his career was the opening, in 1893, of St. Bernard's Seminary. which he lived to see expanded to an institution patronized by students from twenty-six other dioceses, regarded by the whole country as a model of its kind. Bishop McQuaid attended the Vatican Council in 1870. In 1905 he asked for a coadjutor, and Bishop Thomas F. Hickey was consecrated, 24 May, 1905. (See Rochester, Diocese of.)

The Republic (Boston. 23 January, 1909); Catholic Sun (Syracuse, 22 January 1909); Catholic News (New York, 23 January, 1909); Flynn, Catholic Church in New Jersey (Morristown, 1904); Reuss, Biog. Cyclo. Cath. Hierarchy of U.S. (Milwaukee, 1879); Catholic Directory (1849-1909).

Thomas F. Meehan.


Macri (or Macras?), a titular see in Mauretania Sitifiensis. This town figures only in the "Notitia Africæ" and the "Itinerarium Antonini". It flourished for a long period, and Arabian authors often mention it in eulogistic terms. It was situated on the Oued-Magra which still bears its name, near the Djebel Magra, in the plain of Bou Megueur, south-west of Setif (Algeria). In 411 Macri had a Donatist bishop, Maximus, who attended the Carthage Conference. In 479 Huneric banished a great many Catholics from this town and from many other regions of the desert. In 484 Emeritus, Bishop of Macri, was one of the members present at the Carthage Assembly; like the others, he was banished by Huneric.

Toulotte, Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne: Mauretanie (Montreuil-sur-mer, 1894). p. 212.

S. Pétridès.


Macrina, the name of two saints, grandmother and granddaughter. They belonged to the family of the great Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa.

St. Macrina the Elder.—Our knowledge of the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the above-mentioned Fathers of the Church, her grandchildren (Basil, Ep. cciv, 7; ccxxiii, 3; Gregory of Nyssa, "Vita Macrinæ Junioris"), and the panegyric of the third great Cappadocian, St. Gregory of Nasiansus, on St. Basil (Gregory Nas., Oratio xliii). She was the mother of the elder Basil, the father of Basil, Gregory, and other children whose names are known to us, including Macrina the Younger. Her home was at Neocæsarea in Pontus. In her childhood she was acquainted with St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, first bishop of her native town. As this venerable doctor, who had won Neocæsarea almost completely for Christianity, died between 270 and 275, St. Macrina must have been born before 270. During the Diocletian persecution she fled from her native town with her husband, of whose name we are ignorant, and had to endure many privations. She was thus a confessor of the Faith during the last violent storm that burst over the early Church. On the intellectual and religious training of St. Basil and his elder brothers and sisters, she exercised a great influence, implanting in their minds those seeds of piety and that ardent desire for Christian perfection which were later to attain so glorious a growth. As St. Basil was probably born in 331, St. Macrina must have died early in the fourth decade of the fourth century. Her feast is celebrated on 14 January.

St. Macrina the Younger, b. about 330; d. 379. She was the eldest child of Basil and the Elder Emmelia, the granddaughter of St. Macrina the Elder, and the sister of the Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa. The last-mentioned has left us a biography of his sister in the form of a panegyric ("Vita Macrinæ Junioris" in P. G., XLVI, 960 sq.). She received an excellent intellectual training, though one based more on the study of Holy Writ than on that of profane literature. When she was but twelve years old, her father had already arranged a marriage for her with a young advocate of excellent family. Soon afterwards, however, her affianced husband died suddenly, and Macrina resolved to devote herself to a life of perpetual virginity and the pursuit of Christian perfection. She exercised great influence over the religious training of her younger brothers, especially St. Peter, afterwards Bishop of Sebaste, and through her St. Gregory received the greatest intellectual stimulation. On the death of their father, Basil took her, with their mother, to a family estate on the River Iris, in Pontus. Here, with their servants and other companions, they led a life of retirement, consecrating themselves to God. Strict asceticism, zealous meditation on the truths of Christianity, and prayer were the chief concerns of this community. Not only the brothers of St. Macrina, but also St. Gregory of Nazianzus and Eustathius of Sebaste were associated with this pious circle and were there stimulated to make still further advances towards Christian perfection. After the death of her mother Emmelia, Macrina became the head of this community, in which the truth of the earnest Christian life matured so gloriously. On his return from a synod at Antioch, towards the end of 379, Gregory of Nyasa visited his deeply venerated sister, and found her grievously ill. In pious discourse, the brother and sister spoke of the life beyond and of the meeting in heaven. Soon afterwards Macrina passed blissfully to her reward. Gregory composed a "Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection" (περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ἀναστάσεως), treating of his pious discourse with his dying sister. In this, Macrina appears as teacher, and treats of the soul, death, the resurrection, and the restoration of all things. Hence, the title of the work, τὰ Μακρίνια (P.G., XLVI, 12 sq.). Her feast be celebrated 19 July.

Acta SS., Jan I, 952 sq; July. IV, 589 sq.; Allard, St-Basile (Paris, 1899); Bouty, Sainte Macrine in Revus Augustinienne (July, 1902), 265-88.

J. P. Kirsch.


MacSherry, Hugh. See Good Hope, Eastern Vicariate of the Cape of.