St. Macrina the Younger and the Robot Uprising
What if I were to tell you that robots are a concept that goes back as far as the 4th century?
Art by Andy Shaggy Korty, M.I. and Anna Korty
Article by Andy Shaggy Korty, M.I.
When I was a boy in the early 1980’s, it was not uncommon for me to dream about a robotic or android friend. I lived in a world of Masters of the Universe, Go-Bots (yes I was more a Go-Bot kid than a Transformers kid but I like them both), Star Wars, Teddy Ruxbin, Voltron, Knight Rider, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to name just a few of my fandoms; it is not hard to see why I might have had the seeds of a chrome-plated companion.
It would not be long after that when humans would invent bomb retrieval robots for the military. Soldiers would become so attached to the remote-controlled object–which held no form of intelligence beyond the operator and were not much better than a glorified claw machine game–that they would not only name them but bring them in to be repaired while in tears when the robot sacrificed its artificial “life” in the line of duty to save the human lives of countless civilians and soldiers.
Now, robotics has become strangely advanced. I watched a video earlier this week of a liquid robot that can pass through all kinds of different shapes and obstructions, picking up objects and reuniting with itself. That sounds a lot like the T-1000 from the Terminator franchise. On the humane side of this device, doctors hope to be able to use this advanced form of robotics for cancer research so that it can be sent into the human body to seek out and surgically remove cancerous cells without the need for radiation treatment.
The term “robot” first came about in Karel Capek’s play, R.U.R. ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots,’ from the Czech word “robota,” meaning “forced labor.” The word did not make its way into English until 1922 when the play was translated. In the play, the Rossum company manufactures humanoid machines to do work for people, and eventually the machines grow tired of doing the dirty jobs and rise up against their creators. Hardly a new concept, since it was slave laborers that frequently rose up throughout history to topple oppressive governments.
Between 1768 and 1774, Pier Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis, and Jean-Frédéric Leschot crafted four “automata.” Three of the automata were lifelike dolls that could play piano by actually striking the keys, draw four different pictures by putting actual graphite to paper, and write a letter by dipping a quilled pen in an ink well and putting ink on paper. The fourth was called “the cave” but has been lost to time.
In 1770, a false automaton dubbed “The Mechanical Turk” was “invented” by Wolfgang von Kempelen that was supposedly capable of playing a long form of chess and able to beat some of the greatest minds of the times including Ben Franklin. This turned out to be a hoax after a fire in 1854 when von Kempelen’s son revealed its true nature by emerging from the machine.
There is also another mechanical man from 1800, but sadly its original history is lost to a totally separate fire. What we do know about this creation is that Henri Maillardet was the inventor. Most of the machine has been restored and it currently resides in the Franklin Institute.
Once again, we are still not far enough back in time. Let’s get to the point–you’re here because you want to know about the strange intersection of faith and robots.
The woman who would someday be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church, Macrina was born in what is now modern day Kayseri, Turkey to Emmelia of Caesarea and Basil the Elder circa 327 AD. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder. Macrina (the Younger) had nine siblings and was the older sister to St. Basil the Great, St. Naucratius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste. Her father had arranged a marriage for her when she was still very young, but her fiancé had died before their marriage so she remained single and celibate as a proto-nun. It is said she was an active deaconess, but sources are sketchy at best on the validity of that claim. A deaconess in the days of proto-nuns was much closer to an anchoress, but with a specific ministry, and no religious vows or sworn obedience to their bishop like what a deacon proper takes.
In his book Life of Macrina, St. Gregory notes that Macrina had a devotion to education, especially studying the scriptures. She placed emphasis on ethics and moral theology. Macrina put this study of scripture into practice by helping with the spiritual education of her younger brother Peter, who was no less intelligent than the rest of his family, but whose gifts were more practical than literary.
At some point (the year is not noted anywhere that I was able to find), Macrina convinced her family to move to one of their rural homes where they lived a more ascetic lifestyle. Over the next several years, the family would begin to collect others–mostly women and elderly people–who desired to live the same monastic lifestyle. They were from all walks of life, slaves to aristocrats, and everyone was treated and lived equally. It was during this timeframe (circa 357) that her hermetic brother, Naucratius and his servant Chrysapius, passed away unexpectedly in a hunting accident. The event sent the whole family, especially their mother Emmelia, into a state of shock. Macrina took over duties as the primary caregiver and provider for the family. Eventually, Macrina and her brother Peter shifted the community that had gathered around them at Pontus to being only that of consecrated virgins; harkening back to the proto-nun life that was so ingrained in her.
In 379, Macrina was lying on the ground dying, as she had refused a bed for herself. During this time, she had a deep philosophical discussion with her brother Gregory, one that he later recounted in his book On the Soul and Resurrection. It is one of the very few literary dialogues from the time where a woman is the main character. It is in this conversation with her brother that Macrina waxes about the use of technology to advance human society and ease the burdens of life.
This may seem a far jump for championing her as patron saint of robotics, but there are much bigger jumps in the Martyrology–such as St. Barbara, patron saint of canons and tanks because her father had her beheaded for being Christian and he was struck down by a bolt of lightning while returning home. The connection is that canons are loud like thunder. Insert Tony Stark eye roll gif. No one ever said the Catholic Church gave good reasons for the saints’ patronages, but they always give a reason.
Clearly there are deep philosophical thinkers in the robotics community, and not just because they happened to remember a passage from St. Macrina the Younger from a Scientific Ethics class that they had in undergrad. Robotics is more than just machines doing a job to help better life for ourselves and especially others. In many cases they help us to just function in our day-to-day lives.
Do we say thank you to the automatic doors at the grocery store for opening so we are not trying to push a cart through while keeping our kids from opening the bag of apples and crushing the eggs? No, because it is that small piece of technological advancement that was made to help everyone. Are those doors robots? Yes they are, just perhaps not the kind that you typically think about. They pursue an enslaved function just like the original Czech meaning.
Should we be telling the doorbot thank you every time we walk in and out? Maybe, so that the robots do not decide to lock us in or out like HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But more importantly we should be thanking God for the advancements in robotic technology and human intelligence as just a small exercise in prayer each time we walk through an automated door, because soon we will have automated doors that will scan your cart and will not open if you have not paid for all of your items.
Some other saints that are probably hanging out having in-depth philosophical conversations with St. Macrina while building an angelic robot to open and close the pearly gates for St. Peter are: St. Isidore of Seville (patron saint of the internet); St. Maximilian Kolbe (patron of modern technologies); St. Clare of Assisi (patron saint of television); St. Gabriel the Archangel (patron of telephones and broadcasters); St. Veronica (patron saint of cameras); and Bl. (soon to be canonized) Carlos Acutis (patron of computer programming). There are dozens of other saints you could cram into this think tank like St. Lucy (patron of sight); Ven. Fulton Sheen and Ven. Patrick Peyton for their work in broadcasting; St. Eligius (patron of mechanical engineering); and St. Patrick (patron of engineering in general), to name just a few.
St. Macrina the Younger’s feast day is July 19th.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you gave St. Macrina the Younger a pursuit of ethics and morals through wisdom and piety. Please grant us the same desires for ethics, morality, and wisdom in the field of robotics, that we may grow deeper in a pious love for You and all those around us. Amen.
Andy Shaggy Korty is better known for his creative work in comics books and comic strips or traditional art than he is for writing articles. He co-illistrated the accompanying artwork with his oldest daughter, who did the watercolors. Other notable items in his portfolio also include the logo design for The Pillar News Agency. Andy is a Knight of the Immaculata, sits on the local perpetual adoration board, and is currently working on a cyberpunk book called Neon Dysphoria.
Copyright © 2025 Andrew Korty & Incensepunk Magazine
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.