St. Macarius, whose name means "Blessed", was on of the Desert Fathers and a personal student of Saint Antony. He is called The Spirit Bearer because of the great power of the Holy Spirit that was with him to heal and to know the thoughts of men's hearts. He was famed for his holiness. As a young man he had a dream where he met a man "in a garment that cast forth lightning and was multicolored and striped." The man said to him, "Thus says God: 'This land I will give to you. You shall dwell in it and blossom and your fruits shall increase and your seed shall multiply and you shall bear multitudes of spiritual children" (158-159). And so he did. He made the desert into a city of monks. Towards the end of his life he was visited by Saints Antony and Pachomius, the Fathers of Anchoritic and Cenobitic monasticism respectively. Upon his death he passed the monastic habit to Saint Paphnutius who also helped bury him. This book contains three works, The Sayings of St. Macarius of Egypt, The Virtues of Saint Macarius of Egypt, and The Life of Saint Macarius of Egypt. He is one of our heroes and so is rightly often called St. Macarius the Great.