The Monk Makarii asceticized at the beginning of the XVII century within the limits of the present Tula province. He is known as the renewer of the devastated Jabyn desert, which is why he is called its "protector". Information about him, both written and oral, is very scarce. It is unknown where the monk was from and in which monastery he began his ascetic life. Written legends already call the monk a hierophant, an ascetic of the Jabyn desert. This desert got its start as a cenobitic monastery in 1585, when the elder Onufry was granted a charter by Tsar Theodore Ioannovich.
Together with the lands, the elder was given several villages. According to the same deed of gift, Onufriy had to "erect a temple on that Zhabyn settlement of the Introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos and build a monastery." This obligation was fulfilled by Onufriy, and the Church of the Introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos was erected. The desert became known and is still called Vvedenskaya – after the main temple, Belevskaya – after the nearby city and Zhabynskaya – after the well of Zhabynets. But the monastery could not flourish for a long time, which was prevented 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 county under the leadership of Lisovsky. Perhaps, in one of these raids, the Zhabyn desert was also plundered, which therefore ceased to exist for a while. 
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. Strengthening himself 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. 
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 was already a schemer at the Zhabynets well. Here, in solitude, the elder devoted his life entirely to the service of God, spending his days in intelligent prayer and in spiritual feats. In fervent prayer, filled with fervent faith, and in the feats of emaciation of the flesh, the monk drew strength to combat the temptations that all ascetics who seek the highest degrees of moral perfection inevitably have to endure from the enemy of the salvation of the human race. 
The Monk Makarii died at the age of 84 in 1623, on January 22, "at night, on the feast day." He was buried by his disciples in the monastery he 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 put under a bushel, but exactly where, in which of the temples of the monastery, is unknown. Legend says that in 1816, when a new church was built in place of a dilapidated wooden one and a pit was dug for a booth, the coffin of St. Macarius was found completely preserved and lowered with due honor under the altar of the newly created temple. Currently, in the church in the name of St. Macarius of Jabyn, built on the site of the former St. Nicholas Church, between the right side chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the right pillar, one can see on a raised platform, 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 at this place.
The Lord God, "glorified by the elder in his life, glorified" His saint, St. Macarius, "shining in miracles to this day."
There is the following legend about a miracle performed by the prayers of St. Macarius during his lifetime. One Polish soldier, who had lagged 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 everything was possible for the Lord to accomplish, struck the ground with his staff, and immediately hammered a spring of clean, transparent water. This key was named Zhabynets.
Many miracles were performed and many healings were performed after the death of the ascetic at his "holy sepulchre", as evidenced by the synodic of the Jabyn desert. And in our time, the monk does not leave with his help those who flow to his tomb with faith.
Two cases of miraculous healings of St. Macarius are reported. One woman's boy became dangerously ill. He developed a 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 came – and suddenly her son met her quite healthy: the dropsy disappeared and the head took on 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 fright, then she hurried with the boy to the Zhabyn desert, this time to bow to the monk with tears of joy and words of gratitude.
Another woman was healed by her faith through immersion in the well of Zhabynce. 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 Zhabyn 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 storehouse, her husband advised her not to dive into the water, but only to pour herself over. But she, with faith in God and the intercession of St. Macarius, asked to be immersed in water. The patient was immersed several times on a sheet; 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 XVIII century was the reason for the sad circumstance 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 reverently honored the memory of its venerable patron. The pious devotees of the memory of St. Macarius, who from their fathers and grandfathers heard tales about the life and miracles of the wonderworker of Zhabyn, were deeply saddened by the fact that the glorification of his memory was abandoned, that the very legends and memories of him, erasing from memory, were forgotten. And so, by the will of God, thanks to the zeal of some pious people from the city of Belev, after their caring intercessions to the church authorities, the glorification of the memory of St. Macarius has now been restored. In 1902, on January 22, there was a solemn commemoration of the memory of St. Makariy Zhabynsky and throughout Tula. Since that time, it has been established in Tula and for the future to celebrate January 22 / February 4 as the day of memory of St. Macarius.