The church remembers St. Macarius of Zhabyn, the wonderworker of Belevsky.

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St. Macarius asceticized at the beginning of the 17th century within the limits of the present Tula province. He is known as the renewer of the ravaged Zhabyn desert, which is why he is called its "protector". Information about him, both written and oral, is very scarce. It is not known where the monk was from or in which monastery he began his ascetic life. Written legends already call the monk a priestly monk, an ascetic of the Zhabyn desert. 
This desert got its start as a cenobitic monastery in 1585, when Elder Onufry was granted a charter by Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, which gave "Elder Anofry the Zhabyn settlement for a monastery in Karmany and arable land... church meadow in the village of Spyhova... he was given a forest for candles and incense, and the black forest of the sich for the monastery building and for firewood for monastic use, and not for sale." Along with the lands, the elder was given several villages. According to the same deed of gift, Onufriy was supposed to "erect a temple of the Introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos and build a monastery on that Zhabynsky hillfort." This obligation was fulfilled by Onufriy, and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected. 
The desert became known and is still called Vvedenskaya – after the main temple, Belevskaya – after the nearby town and Zhabynskaya – after the well of Zhabynets. But the monastery could not flourish for a long time, which was hindered by its very position on the border of the Moscow state. 
Due to the latter circumstance, the monastery had to endure a lot in the XVI century from the dashing raids of the Crimean Tatars, and at the beginning of the XVII century – the so–called Lithuanian ruin - from the frequent raids and robberies of Polish and Lithuanian detachments that devastated this region and Belevsky district under the leadership of Lisovsky. Perhaps, in one of these raids, the Zhabyn desert was also plundered, which therefore temporarily ceased to exist. The plundered, ruined and finally desolate Zhabyn monastery owes its restoration to the labors of St. Macarius, its "protector", who chose it as a place for his monastic exploits and spent most of his hardworking life here. 
Strengthened by prayer, the Monk Macarius spent his days and nights in a continuous struggle against temptations from the devil and the flesh, and in unceasing cares and labors for the restoration of the monastery. The Lord God blessed the great labors and prayerful deeds of His saint, and the monastery flourished again. "Suffering in the monastic patience of the flesh," enduring "darkness, heat, hunger and thirst," the monk again established a monastery and gathered the brethren. With his holy life, the ascetic set an example for the brethren to follow. At the end of his life, having completed the construction of the monastery, he already labored as a schemer in the well of Zhabynets: "Do not leave extreme humility in your life, you have accepted the great Angelic image," as the canon sings to him. Here, in solitude, the elder devoted his life entirely to the service of God, spending his days in intelligent prayer and in spiritual labors. In fervent prayer, filled with fervent faith, and in the feats of exhaustion of the flesh, the monk drew strength to combat the temptations that all ascetics who seek higher degrees of moral perfection inevitably have to endure from the enemy of the salvation of the human race. And "suffering in the flesh," the monk "subdued the enemy, the murderer of the devil, under his nose." The Monk Macarius died at the age of 84 in 1623, on January 22, "on the night of the feast." He was buried by his disciples in the monastery he had recreated, near the monastery church in honor of the Introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The relics of St. Macarius, according to legend, initially rested openly. Due to the desolation of the monastery at the beginning of the XVIII century, they were placed under a bushel, but it is not known exactly where, in which of the temples of the monastery. Tradition says that in 1816, when a new church was being built in place of a dilapidated wooden one and a hole was dug for the butcher, the coffin of St. Macarius was found completely preserved and lowered with appropriate honor under the altar of the newly created temple. Currently, in the church of St. Macarius of Zhabyn, built on the site of the former St. Nicholas Church, between the right aisle of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the right pillar, one can see on an elevation, under a wooden canopy with a gilded canopy, a tomb with the image of St. Macarius, in front of which prayer services are constantly served. According to legend, the relics of the monk rest in this place.
The Lord God, "most glorified by the elder in his life, most glorified" His saint, St. Macarius, "who shines in miracles to this day."
There is the following legend about a miracle that happened through the prayers of St. Macarius during his lifetime. One Polish soldier, who had fallen behind his hordes, met St. Macarius in the forest near the monastery. Dying of thirst, the Pole asked the monk to give him water. The elder replied that there was water, but you had to go to the river to get it. The Pole said he couldn't go that far. Then the monk, saying that it was possible for the Lord to accomplish everything, struck the ground with his staff, and immediately hammered a spring of clear, transparent water. This key was named Zhabynets.
Many miracles were performed and many healings were performed after the death of the ascetic at his "all-bearing tomb," as evidenced by the Synod of the Zhabyn desert. Even in our time, the monk does not leave those who flow to his tomb with faith with his help.
Two cases of miraculous healings of St. Macarius are reported. One woman's boy became dangerously ill. He developed dropsy of the head: the boy's head became huge in size; it became somehow transparent, scary. The mother wept bitterly when the doctors refused to help the patient; on the advice of some pious residents of the city of Belev, she set off on foot to the Zhabyn desert. The unfortunate woman prayed fervently to St. Macarius in the church and in the storehouse where he labored. Hopefully, she returned home after that. She arrived, and suddenly her son met her quite healthy: the dropsy disappeared and his head assumed its usual healthy appearance; he felt better at the very time when his mother was praying for the help of the monk. At first, the mother was startled to the point of fright, then she hurried with the boy to the Zhabyn desert, this time to worship the monk with tears of joy and words of gratitude.
Another woman was healed by her faith through immersion in the well of Zhabynets. She was dangerously ill, so she couldn't even move without help, and doctors refused to treat her. Suddenly, she had a burning desire to go to the Zhabinsk desert. Her husband tried for a long time to persuade her not to do this and not to put herself in danger, but she insisted on her own. And upon arrival in the desert, when she wanted to swim in the well, her husband advised her not to dive into the water, but only to pour herself. But with faith in God and the intercession of St. Macarius, she asked to be immersed in water. The patient was immersed in a sheet several times; immediately she felt better and, getting up, prayed fervently to St. Macarius.
The decline and desolation of the Zhabyn desert at the end of the 18th century caused the sad fact that not only detailed, but more or less reliable information about St. Macarius himself has not been preserved. However, the name of the wonderworker of Zhabyn was not forgotten; and if the distant pilgrims did not completely forget about it during the years of the desolation of the Zhabyn desert, many of the inhabitants closest to it always revered the memory of its venerable patron saint. The pious devotees of the memory of St. Macarius, who had heard from their fathers and grandfathers the tales of the life and miracles of the wonderworker of Zhabyn, were deeply saddened by the fact that the glorification of his memory had been abandoned, that the very tales and memories of him were being erased from memory and forgotten. 
And so, by the will of God, thanks to the zeal of some pious people from the city of Belev, after their careful intercession with the church authorities, the glorification of the memory of St. Macarius has now been restored. In 1902, on January 22, a solemn commemoration of the memory of St. Macarius of Zhabyn took place throughout Tula. Since that time, it has been established in Tula and for the future to celebrate January 22/February 4 as the memorial day of St. Macarius.

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