Arseny Orthodox saint. The name Arseny in the Orthodox calendar (Saints)

Venerable Arseny the Great born in 354 in Rome, into a pious Christian family, which gave him a good upbringing and education. Having studied secular sciences and being fluent in Latin and Greek languages, the Monk Arseny acquired deep knowledge, combined with a pious and virtuous life. Deep faith prompted the young man to leave his studies in science and prefer serving God. When he joined the ranks of the clergy of one of the Roman churches, he was elevated to the rank of deacon.

Emperor Theodosius (379-395), who ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire, heard about his education and piety and entrusted Arsenius with the education of his sons Arcadius and Honorius. Against his will, obeying only the command of Pope Dimas, the Monk Arseny was forced to part with service to the holy altar; at that time he was 29 years old.

Arriving in Constantinople, Arseny was greeted with great honor by Emperor Theodosius, who gave him orders to raise the princes not only wise, but also pious, protecting them from the hobbies of youth. “Although they are royal sons,” said Theodosius, “they must obey you in everything, as their father and teacher.”

The monk zealously took up the education of young men, but the high honor with which he was surrounded weighed down his spirit, which strived to serve God in the silence of monastic life. In fervent prayers the saint asked the Lord to show him the path of salvation. The Lord heeded his request and one day he heard a Voice saying to him: “Arseny, run away from people and you will be saved.” Then, taking off his luxurious clothes and putting on a wanderer's clothes, he secretly left the palace, boarded a ship and sailed to Alexandria, from where he immediately hurried to the hermitage desert. Arriving at the church, he asked the presbyters to accept him as a monk, calling himself a poor wanderer, but his appearance indicated that he was not a simple man, but a noble man. The brethren took him to the one glorified by his holy life (November 9). He, wanting to test the humility of the newcomer, did not sit Arseny among the monks during the meal, but threw him a cracker, saying: “If you want, eat.” With great humility, the Monk Arseny fell to his knees, crawled to the lying cracker and ate it, moving away to a corner. Seeing this, Elder John said: “He will be a great ascetic!” Having received Arseny with love, he tonsured the novice ascetic into monasticism.

The Monk Arseny began to undergo obedience with zeal and soon surpassed many desert fathers in asceticism. One day, during prayer, the monk again heard a Voice: “Arseny, avoid people and remain in silence - this is the root of sinlessness.” - From then on, the Monk Arseny settled outside the Skete, in a secluded cell, having accepted the feat of silence, rarely leaving the retreat, coming to church only on holidays and Sundays, did not talk to anyone, maintaining complete silence. To the question of one monk - why is he hiding from people like this, the ascetic answered: “God sees that I love everyone, but I cannot be with God and people at the same time. The powers of Heaven all have one will and unanimously glorify God, but on earth every person has its own will and people’s thoughts are different. I cannot, leaving God, live with people.”

Being in constant prayer, the monk, however, did not refuse advice and guidance to the visiting monks, giving short but wise answers to their questions. One day, a monk from the Skete who came to the great elder saw him through the window standing in prayer, surrounded by flames. The handicraft of the Monk Arseny was weaving baskets, for this he soaked the leaves of date palms, from which the baskets were woven, in water. For a whole year, the Monk Arseny did not change the water in the vessel, from which a putrid odor emanated. When asked why he was doing this, the monk answered that by doing this he was humbling himself, since, while living in the world, he was surrounded by fragrant odors, and now he endures the stench so as not to feel the stench of hell after death.

The fame of the great ascetic spread far, many wanted to see him and thereby disturbed the silence of the ascetic, as a result of which the monk was forced to move from place to place. However, those who longed to receive instruction and blessing found him.

The Monk Arseny taught: many take upon themselves great feats of fasting and vigil, but few guard their souls from hatred, anger, remembrance, condemnation and pride, such are like painted coffins filled with stinking bones inside. One monk asked the monk what he should do when, while reading the psalms, he did not understand their meaning. The elder replied that we should continue reading the psalms, since evil forces are fleeing from us, not tolerating the power of the Word of the Divine Scriptures. The monks had to hear how the monk often forced himself to feats with the words: “Work, Arseny, don’t be lazy, you didn’t come for rest, but for work.” The monk also said: “Many times have I repented of my words, but never of my silence.”

The great ascetic and silent man acquired the gift of blessed tears with which his eyes were constantly filled. He spent 55 years in monastic exploits, earning the title of the Great from his contemporaries, and died at the age of 95 in 449 or 450.

This is how the biography of Arseny the Great is presented in the Fatherland, compiled by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov: “Abba Arseny” (from “Fatherland”)
1. Abba Arseny the Great was brought to monastic life by the wonderful destinies of God. He was the mentor of Arcadius and Honorius, the sons of Theodosius the Great, Byzantine emperor, and was called their father. Due to his importance, due to his personal merits, due to his learning, Arseny enjoyed special honor among the courtiers. According to the state of the world, he belonged to the senators, and together he belonged to the church clergy, having the rank of deacon. From his sayings that have reached us and the events from his life, extraordinary frankness and frankness are visible in his character. He acted in accordance with his goal, his decisive good intentions, not allowing himself any considerations that could distract him from such action. One day he found it necessary to punish Arkady for some youthful hobby, and to punish him so strongly that the pet would not allow himself this hobby again. Anger seized Arkady. He planned to kill Arseny. The prince's intention was revealed to Arseny. Arseny took off his courtier's clothes at night, put on the rags of a beggar, left the palace, and boarded a ship departing from Constantinople for Alexandria. In its vicinity there was a wild desert, Skete, in which thousands of monks spent the most exalted residence: Arseny went there. He was numbered among the numerous ranks of holy ascetics, and soon, under the leadership of St. John Kolov, he achieved special spiritual success.
2. In the character of Arseny the Great, biography writers noted another special feature. When he was at the imperial court, none of the courtiers surrounded themselves with such splendor as Arseny, and in the Skete no one observed monastic poverty so strictly, no one wore such rubbish attire as Arseny; he replaced the abundance of fragrant ointments with stinking water, in which palm branches were soaked for his needlework, and which, constantly unchanged, but only added, was in his cell 2. And at the court, Arseny, shining in appearance with luxury, spent the residence of an ascetic, constantly thinking about monastic life, strove for it with all the desire of his heart.
[A similar trait was seen in the character of Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. This saint, a strict ascetic, was completely non-covetous, non-covetous to the point of complete poverty; but during the service he furnished himself with extraordinary order and extraordinary splendor. What is this phenomenon? Is it a manifestation of vanity and vanity according to the custom and spirit of the world? No! it was a manifestation of disinterested and high sympathy for the graceful. For this reason, splendor stood next to non-covetousness, brilliance covered up strict asceticism, and the Monk Arseny easily abandoned the shadows and images of the elegant, to which his heart was not partial, and rushed entirely to the essentially elegant. The One, the truly graceful – God].
3. Having learned about Arkady’s plan and while still at the royal court, Arseny prayed to God like this: Lord! teach me how to be saved? and a voice came to him: Arseny! run from people and you will be saved 3.
4. In the Skete, Arseny again prayed to God, saying: Lord! teach me how to be saved? And he heard a voice saying to him: Arseny! run away from men, be silent, remain silent: these are the roots of sinlessness 4.
[So God, the knower of the heart, called His chosen vessel to the hermit life, knowing his ability for it].
5. Arriving at the Skete, Saint Arseny explained his intention to take monasticism to the presbyters. They took him to the elder, filled with the Holy Spirit, John Kolov. The elder wanted to put Arseny to the test. When they sat down to eat the bread, the elder did not invite Arseny, but left him standing. He stood with his eyes fixed on the ground and thinking that he was standing in the presence of God before His Angels. When they began to eat food, the elder took a cracker and threw it to Arseny. Arseny, seeing this, discussed the elder’s action like this: the elder, like the Angel of God, knew that I was like a dog, even worse than a dog, and therefore he gave me bread as one gives it to a dog: I will eat the bread as dogs eat it. After this reflection, Arseny stood on his hands and feet, in this position he approached the cracker, took it with his lips, took it to the corner and consumed it there. The elder, seeing his great humility, said to the elders: he will become a skilled monk. After a short time, John gave him a cell near him and taught him to strive for his salvation 5.
6. Abba Arseny once asked one of the Egyptian elders about his thoughts. A certain brother saw this and asked him: Abba Arseny! Why do you, being so knowledgeable in the learning of Greece and Rome, ask about your thoughts this, alien to all learning? Arseny answered: I know the sciences of Greece and Rome, but I have not yet learned the alphabet that is taught by these, who know nothing of the learning of the world.
[The knowledge that the Egyptian imparted was brought to him by fulfilling the Gospel commandments. This knowledge is acquired in the soul itself, in it it has experimental, indisputable proof; they seem astonishing news for a scientist of the elements of the world, who received all his knowledge from the outside, deprived of correct self-view, which is revealed exclusively in the light of the teachings of Christ. Blessed is Abba Arseny, who duly honored the Wisdom that descended to people from above, and humiliated before her the wisdom that arose from the fall of man. Many, very many, preferred the second to the first, ruined themselves and their followers, removing the light of Christ from themselves, remaining with their own light].
7. Once Abba Evagrius said to Abba Arseny: why do we, with all our learning and our development, have nothing, but these rude Egyptians have such sublime spiritual work? Abba Arseny answered: we do not draw anything for spiritual life from the teachings of the world, but they acquired their spiritual life through exploits 6.
[Christian prosperity is achieved by fulfilling the Gospel commandments in self-sacrifice: it is obvious that earthly learning, which has its origin in the fall of humanity, cannot take any part in the renewal of humanity by the Redeemer. It becomes a great obstacle in this matter if it is not resolutely subordinated to the Wisdom of God, if we introduce our corrupting principles, our spirit of pride and enmity against God into the work of saving people, into the work of God].
8. The brother asked Abba Arseny to give him instructions. The elder said: strive with all your might, so that by your inner work according to God, everything external will be conquered.
[Inner activity is also mental activity. It consists of: attentive oral and mental prayer, crying of the heart, remembrance of death, self-reproach, awareness and confession of one’s sinfulness, and similar acts performed by the ascetic within the soul, within himself].
9. Abba Arseny said: if we seek God, He will appear to us, and if we keep Him within ourselves, He will abide with us 8.
[The saying is from the most sublime monastic feat! it signifies that by true deed one must attract the grace of God into oneself, and having received it, retain it in oneself by true deed. Those who gave themselves up to laziness and carelessness after receiving grace lost it].
10. A certain monk said to Abba Arseny: thoughts bother me, saying: you cannot endure either fasting or deeds; At least visit the sick, because it is a matter of love. The elder, realizing that his thoughts were filled with demons, said to him: go, eat, drink, do nothing, just do not leave the cell silence. The elder said this, knowing that cell silence will lead the monk to proper living if the monk remains patiently in silence 9.
11. They told about a certain brother who came to the Skete with the goal of seeing Abba Arseny, the following: this brother came to the skete church and convincingly asked the clergy to give him the opportunity to see the elder. They told him: stay here for a while and you will see him. The brother answered: I will not eat any food before I see him. Then the clergy sent one of the monastery brethren to accompany the strange brother to the elder’s cell, which was located at a very long distance from the monastery church. Having reached the cell and knocking on the door, they entered the cell; Having greeted the elder, they sat down and sat for a long time, remaining in silence. Finally the skete brother said: I’m leaving, pray for me. The strange brother did not dare to start a conversation with the elder and said to the monastery: I too am going with you. They both went out together, and the strange brother of the monastery asked: take me to Abba Moses, who entered into monasticism from the robbers. When they came to the Abba, he received them very warmly, gave them wise and holy instruction, and sent them away, expressing great love. Then the monastery brother said to the wanderer: Behold! I took you to a stranger and to an Egyptian: which of the two did you like more? He answered: however, the Egyptian came to my heart more. - Some of the Fathers, hearing this, prayed to God, saying: Lord! Reveal to me the secret of the matter: one runs away from everyone for the sake of Your name, and the other receives everyone for the sake of Your name. And so! in a vision he saw two great ships on vast waters. In one ship he saw Abba Arseny, silently sailing, and the Spirit of God with him, and in the other, Abba Moses, sailing in the company of Angels, who fed him with honey flowing from the honeycomb.
[This was God’s testimony about the truly silent monk].
12. Abba Mark said to Abba Arseny: For what reason are you avoiding company and conversation with us? Arseny answered: God knows that I love you, but I cannot be together with God and with people. In heaven, thousands and thousands of thousands have one will, but people have diverse wills: and therefore I cannot, leaving God, be with people.
[When a monk has mastered his work and has made it an essential necessity, then he does not have the opportunity to move on to another work, even if this other work has its own spiritual dignity. Abandoning an acquired practice is like abandoning life].
13. One day some Fathers came from Alexandria to Abba Arseny to meet with him. One of them was the uncle of the elder Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria, nicknamed the non-possessor. Abba Arseny was ill at the time and refused to meet, fearing that others would begin to come and bother him; at that time he was in the rocky Troy Mountain. The fathers returned, saddened. This was followed by a barbarian raid; the elder left the mountain and moved to live in Lower Egypt. Hearing this, the fathers came again to meet with him. The elder received them cordially. My brother was with my fathers. This brother said to Abba Arseny: do you know, Abba, that we came to visit you at Troy Mountain? The elder answered him: after I did not accept you, you ate bread and drank water, but I - believe me, my son - did not taste either bread or water, did not even sit down, but remained in a feat of prayer for you until It was not revealed to me that you returned to your place safely. I did this because you worked hard for me. However, forgive me. The visitors left him comforted 10.
[In order to heal the carnal judgment about the action of a spiritual husband, about an action that, in appearance, could seem to be a sharp violation of the commandment of God about love for one’s neighbor, Saint Arseny told the secret of his behavior regarding the visitors who were not accepted by him and the Divine revelation that had been to him about them, from which power was evident his prayers and the fulfillment of the commandment, which only Spirit Bearers are capable of].
14. The brother came to the hut of Abba Arseny - this happened in the Skete - and through the door hole he saw the old man looking like he was on fire. The brother was worthy of the vision. He knocked on the door; the elder came out and, noticing the change in his brother’s face, asked him how long he had been here and whether he had seen anything? The brother said he didn't see anything. The elder, after talking with him, released him 11.
15. Abba Arseny told about a certain skit, great in asceticism and glorious in faith, but who sinned in it out of ignorance, the following: The skip said that in holy communion we accept not the body of Christ, but the image of the body of Christ in the form of bread. Two elders heard about this. Knowing that the speaker was great in residence, they realized that he was saying this not out of malice, but out of ignorance and simplicity. They came to him and said: Father! we heard about a certain brother who expressed an opinion that disagreed with the teachings of the right faith, namely, that in holy communion we do not receive the body of Christ, but the image of the body of Christ in the form of bread. The elder answered: I said it. They began to convince him: do not think so, father, but confess according to the tradition of the holy, conciliar, apostolic Church. We believe that the bread is the very body of Christ, and in the cup is the very blood of Christ - not images at all. Although it is incomprehensible how bread can be a body, but since the Lord said about bread: this is My body, we believe that bread is the true body of Christ. The elder said to this: if I am not confirmed by experience itself, then I will remain in doubt. They suggested to him: we will pray to God throughout the next week, so that He will explain the sacrament to us, and we believe that God will reveal it. The elder gladly accepted the offer; he prayed to God like this: Lord! You know that I do not believe because of malicious stubbornness. Lord Jesus Christ! Reveal this secret to me, so that I will not be in error due to unbelief. Likewise, the elders, having come to their huts, prayed to God throughout the week about this secret, and said: Lord Jesus Christ! Reveal this secret to the elder, so that he does not remain in unbelief and ruin his work. And God listened to them. After a week, they came to church, all three sat down on one mat, and their eyes were opened. When bread was offered at the holy meal, then they, these three elders alone, saw a baby instead of bread. When the hieromonk stretched out his hand to break bread at the holy meal, an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven with a knife in his hand and killed the baby; poured the blood from it into the cup. When the hieromonk broke the bread, the Angel cut the baby into small pieces. When they began to receive the holy mysteries, the unbelieving elder was served bloody meat. Seeing this, the elder was frightened and cried out: Lord! I believe that bread is Your body! and immediately the meat on his hand turned out to be bread, according to the custom of the sacrament. He took communion, praising God. The elders said to him: God knows that people cannot use raw meat, and therefore He covered His body with the appearance of bread, and His blood with the appearance of wine. The two elders thanked God, who did not allow the feat of the third elder to become in vain 12.
16. When the time came for Abba Arseny to die, then the brethren who were with him saw that he was crying. The brothers said to him: Father! Are you really afraid? He answered: I’m afraid! The fear I feel at this hour has been with me since the time I became a monk.
17. They said about Abba Arseny that he constantly had a handkerchief on his lap while he sat at needlework, because of the tears that fell from his eyes.
18. Archbishop Theophilus of blessed memory, before he died, said: blessed, Abba Arseny! you always had this hour 13 before your eyes.
__________________
1 Chetya Menaion, life of St. Arseny the Great, May 8th day.
2 Memorable Tales, chapters 4, 18 and 20.
3 Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Tales.
4 Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Tales.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Alphabetical Patericon.
12 Alphabetical Patericon, Prologue, April 3rd day. - Dmitry Alexandrovich Shepelev, whose body rests in the Church of St. Sergius in the Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg, conveyed the following about himself to the rector of this hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius 1st: he was brought up in the Corps of Pages. Once upon a time in Lent When the pages were fasting and already beginning the holy mysteries, the young man Shepelev expressed to a comrade walking next to him his decisive disbelief that the body and blood of Christ were in the chalice. When the secrets were taught to him, he felt that there was meat in his mouth. Horror seized the young man: he stood beside himself, not feeling the strength to swallow the particle. The priest noticed the change that had taken place in him and ordered him to enter the altar. There, holding a particle in his mouth and confessing his sin, Shepelev came to his senses and used the holy secrets taught to him.
13 Patrolog. pag. 861, cap. 5.

Troparion, tone 8:

With your tears you cultivated the barren desert, / and you brought forth fruit from the depths with sighs of a hundred labors, / and you were a lamp of the universe, shining miracles, Arseny our Father, / pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

(Minea May. Part 1. - M., Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2002;
Fatherland, compiled by Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov).

Saint Arsenius was born into a noble Roman family at the beginning of the 4th century. Gifted with a lively mind, he received a comprehensive secular education. But having become a deacon, he decided to devote himself exclusively to sacred works. The saint became so famous in the capital that when the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, Theodosius the Great, asked the ruler of its western part, Emperor Gratian, to find a teacher for his sons, Gratian sent Arsenius to him.

Despite the honor at court and the respect shown to him by Theodosius, who looked at him as spiritual father, forty-year-old Arseny did not allow himself to be deceived by the false charms of the world and fervently desired to devote his life only to God. One night he prayed to the Lord, asking him to show him the way to salvation, and heard a voice from heaven: “Arseny, run from people and you will be saved!” He immediately left the palace, walked to the pier, boarded a ship and sailed to Alexandria. He was immediately tonsured a monk in one of the many monasteries that were located around the capital of Egypt. And if at court he wore a rich and expensive dress, here he began to wear only the simplest clothes, in which it was impossible to recognize him. He abandoned the vain worldly science and became a student of the stern Egyptian ascetics, to whom he turned without hesitation regarding any of his thoughts.

After some time, Arseny again asked God in prayer how it was possible to be saved. The same voice told him: “Arseny, hide from people, remain silent, keep a sober mind. These are the roots of excellence." Then he went to the famous monastery of Skete to live as a hermit. There he built himself a cell 47 kilometers from the church. He left his cell very rarely; for 40 years he remained alone with God, courageously rejecting demonic temptations that reminded him of his former life. Every day he asked himself: “Arseny, why did you leave the world?” - and humbly asked God: “Grant me, by Thy mercy, to make a beginning.”

Just like other hermits, Arseny spent his days weaving baskets from palm branches and reading psalms. He never changed the water in which the branches were soaked, and humbly endured the stench, which now replaced for him, as he himself said, the perfumes and incense that he had once used in the world. There were no amenities in his cell, not even a lamp. For food, he was content with one basket of bread a year. Nevertheless, Saint Arseny never turned away from what God had created and during the harvest season he asked to bring him fruits, which he tried, however, only once. He prayed whole nights, refusing sleep, and in the morning, obeying nature, he said to sleep: “Come here, evil slave!” - and indulged in rest for a while. The ascetic believed that for a monk, if he is a real warrior, one hour of sleep is enough. On Saturday evening, this heavenly man began to pray with his back to the setting sun and stood with his arms outstretched to the sky until the sun began to shine on his face.

When visitors, even the most high-ranking ones, came to his cell for instructions, Saint Arsenius refused to accept them. To Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria, who wanted to visit him, he replied: “If you come, I will open it for you, but if I open it for you, I will open it for everyone - and then I will not stay here.” He was asked why he avoided people, and he replied: “God knows that I love you, but I cannot live with both God and you. The myriads of heavenly powers have only one will, but people have many of them. I cannot leave God and go to people.”

From prolonged solitude, silence, vigil, and storage of thoughts, tears constantly moistened his eyes. When Arseny was studying manual labor, he kept putting a piece of cloth on his chest to collect the tears that flowed easily and so abundantly that his eyelashes fell out. A stream of tears not only washed his soul from all impure passions, but also transformed his body, making the saint look like an angel: the ascetic had an entirely bright appearance. One day one of the brethren approached the cell and quietly looked inside before knocking. He saw the elder standing as if engulfed in flames, transformed by the light of grace.

Sometimes Saint Arseny came to the church of Skete to receive the Eucharist. He stood behind a pillar so that no one could see his face, and reluctantly answered the brothers’ questions. The ascetic had completely white hair and a long beard down to his waist.

Saint Arseny lived in the Skete desert for approximately 40 years. When the barbarians attacked the monks, the saint passed by them, but they did not see him. However, after the second invasion famous monastery(434) he had to flee to Mount Trogan, where he lived for ten years. Then, after a three-year stay in Kanop, Saint Arsenios returned to Trogan, where he reposed at the age of 95 (449).

Just before his death, the saint ordered his disciples to throw his body on the mountain; He also said: “I have often repented of spoken words, but never of silence.” The brothers, seeing that he was embarrassed and crying, asked if he was really afraid, despite the fact that he had achieved such dispassion? The ascetic replied: “Truly, the fear that I experience now has accompanied me since I became a monk.” Then he went to the Lord.

From the memorable words of Saint Arseny, let us remind our disciples of the following: “As much as you can, try to ensure that your inner activity is in accordance with God - and you will overcome external passions.”

Compiled by Hieromonk Macarius of Simonopetra,
adapted Russian translation - Sretensky Monastery Publishing House

Venerable Arseny the Great

Born in 354 in Rome, into a pious Christian family, which gave him a good upbringing and education. He studied the works of all rhetoricians and philosophers and knew both Greek and Latin languages, however, he abandoned the vain life of the world and neglected Hellenic wisdom, devoting himself to the service of God. When he joined the ranks of the clergy of one of the Roman churches, he was elevated to the rank of deacon.

Emperor Theodosius (379-395), who at that time ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire, was looking for a teacher for his sons Arcadius and Honorius who would teach them both philosophy and Divine wisdom, not only by word, but also by the example of his virtuous life. Hearing about the education and piety of Deacon Arseny, he entrusted him with raising his sons. Against his will, but with zeal, the monk began to educate the young men. However, the high honor with which he was surrounded weighed down his spirit, which strived to serve God in the silence of monastic life. The Monk Arseny began to pray to God with tears that He would direct him on the path of salvation. And one day I heard a voice from above saying: “Arseny! Run away from people and you will be saved." Then, taking off his luxurious clothes and putting on a wanderer's clothes, he secretly left the palace, boarded a ship and sailed to Alexandria, from where he immediately hurried to the hermitage desert.

Pursuing obedience under the guidance of the Venerable Abba John Kolov (November 9/22), the Venerable Arseny soon surpassed many of the desert fathers in asceticism. When he again prayed that the Lord would teach him to be saved, in response to this there was a voice from heaven, saying: “Arseny! Hide from people and remain silent, this is the root of virtue.” From then on, the Monk Arseny settled outside the monastery, in a secluded cell, accepting the feat of silence, coming to church only on holidays and Sundays, did not talk with anyone, observing complete silence. When the monks who labored in the hermitage desert asked him why he was hiding even from them, the saint answered, “God knows how much I love you, but I cannot be with God and with people at the same time, because in heaven, although there are a lot of higher powers - thousands of thousands or tens of thousands, but they all have one will and therefore unanimously glorify God, but on earth there are many human wills, and each person has his own thoughts; Each of us has different intentions and thoughts, and therefore I cannot, leaving God, live with people.” The Monk Arseny said about himself that he did not need anything, because he died for the world; let no one consider him more alive (that is, living for the world).

One wandering monk, having visited the monk, did not hear a single word from him, and when he came to the Monk Moses (August 28/September 10), he received him with joy, offered him to rest and refresh himself with food, and the monk recognized the Monk Moses as the best, who showed him great love. Another monk, having learned about this, began to pray to God, saying: “Lord! Tell me which of them is more perfect and deserves more of Your grace: the one who hides from people for Your sake, or the one who accepts everyone also for Your sake?” And in answer to his prayer, this wise monk had the following vision. He imagined two ships sailing along some very large river, in one ship was the Monk Arseny, and the Spirit of God controlled his ship, keeping it in great silence, in the other was the Monk Moses, and his ship was controlled by the Angels of God, who put honey in mouth of Moses. The monk told about this vision to other, more experienced ascetics, and everyone found that the Monk Arseny, who remained in silence, was more perfect than the Monk Moses, who received strangers, because God Himself was with the first, and with the second there were only holy Angels.

The Monk Arseny continued to remain in silence, delving deeper and deeper into the thought of God. He glowed so much strong love to God, who was constantly, as it were, on fire because of his fiery prayers. The monk did not always asceticize in the same place, but sometimes he moved from the hermitage desert to more secluded and silent places, moving away from people who came for conversation, since they disturbed his peace of mind.

The Monk Arseny taught: “There are many people who try in every possible way to maintain bodily purity and for this they mortify their bodies with fasting, vigil and many labors; but there are few who jealously protect their souls from the sins of vanity, pride, love of money, envy, brotherly hatred, anger, resentment, and condemnation. Such people are clean on the outside in body, but their soul is dirty; they are like coffins, decorated on the outside but full of stinking bones on the inside. Blessed is the one who tries to preserve both his body and soul from defilement; truly blessed are the pure in heart (and not just in body), because they will see God.”

The great Abba often said the following words about himself: “Arseny! Why did you come here? You came here not for rest but for work, not for laziness, but for achievement. Strive, work and don’t be lazy.” The monk also often spoke the following words: “Many times I regretted the words that my lips uttered, but I never regretted silence.” Blessed Arseny also acquired the gift of blessed tears.

The great ascetic and silent man spent 50 years in monastic labors and exploits, pleasing God with fasting and prayer. He stayed in the monastery for forty years, lived for ten years in a place called Trogin, near Babylon, opposite the city of Memphis; then the monk spent three years in Kanop, near Alexandria and in some other desert places, so that no one knew his way of life, then he returned to Trogin again, lived there for two years and there he rested in the Lord at the age of 95 in 449. or at the beginning of 450, earning the name Great from his contemporaries.

Born in 354 in Rome, into a pious Christian family, which gave him a good upbringing and education. He studied the works of all rhetoricians and philosophers and knew both Greek and Latin well, but left the vain worldly life and neglected Hellenic wisdom, devoting himself to the service of God. When he joined the ranks of the clergy of one of the Roman churches, he was elevated to the rank of deacon.

Emperor Theodosius (379–395), who at that time ruled the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, was looking for a teacher for his sons Arcadius and Honorius who would teach them both philosophy and divine wisdom, not only by word, but also by the example of his virtuous life. Hearing about the education and piety of Deacon Arseny, he entrusted him with raising his sons. Against his will, but with zeal, the monk began to educate the young men. However, the high honor with which he was surrounded weighed down his spirit, which strived to serve God in the silence of monastic life. The Monk Arseny began to pray to God with tears that He would direct him on the path of salvation. And one day I heard a voice from above saying: “Arseny! Run away from people and you will be saved." Then, taking off his luxurious clothes and putting on a wanderer's clothes, he secretly left the palace, boarded a ship and sailed to Alexandria, from where he immediately hurried to the hermitage desert.

Pursuing obedience under the guidance of the Venerable Abba John Kolov (November 9/22), the Venerable Arseny soon surpassed many of the desert fathers in asceticism. When he again prayed that the Lord would teach him to be saved, in response to this there was a voice from heaven, saying: “Arseny! Hide from people and remain silent, this is the root of virtue.” From then on, the Monk Arseny settled outside the monastery, in a secluded cell, accepting the feat of silence, coming to church only on holidays and Sundays, did not talk with anyone, observing complete silence. When the monks who labored in the hermitage desert asked him why he was hiding even from them, the saint answered, “God knows how much I love you, but I cannot be with God and with people at the same time, because in heaven, although there are a lot of higher powers - thousands of thousands or tens of thousands, but they all have one will and therefore unanimously glorify God, but on earth there are many human wills, and each person has his own thoughts; each of us has different intentions and thoughts, and therefore I cannot, leaving God, live with people.” The Monk Arseny said about himself that he needed nothing, because he died for the world; let no one consider him more alive (that is, living for the world).

One wandering monk, having visited the monk, did not hear a single word from him, and when he came to the Monk Moses (August 28/September 10), he received him with joy, offered him to rest and refresh himself with food, and the monk recognized the Monk Moses as the best, who showed him great love. Another monk, having learned about this, began to pray to God, saying: “Lord! Tell me which of them is more perfect and deserves more of Your grace: the one who hides from people for Your sake, or the one who accepts everyone also for Your sake?” And in answer to his prayer, this wise monk had the following vision. He imagined two ships sailing along some very large river, in one ship was the Monk Arseny, and the Spirit of God controlled his ship, keeping it in great silence, in the other was the Monk Moses, and his ship was controlled by the Angels of God, who put honey in mouth of Moses. The monk told about this vision to other, more experienced ascetics, and everyone found that the Monk Arseny, who remained in silence, was more perfect than the Monk Moses, who received strangers, because God Himself was with the first, and with the second there were only holy Angels.

The Monk Arseny continued to remain in silence, delving deeper and deeper into the thought of God. He burned with such strong love for God that he was constantly, as it were, on fire because of his fiery prayers. The monk did not always asceticize in the same place, but sometimes he moved from the hermitage desert to more secluded and silent places, moving away from people who came for conversation, since they disturbed his peace of mind.

The Monk Arseny taught: “There are many people who try in every possible way to maintain bodily purity and for this they mortify their bodies with fasting, vigil and many labors; but there are few who jealously protect their souls from the sins of vanity, pride, love of money, envy, brotherly hatred, anger, resentment, and condemnation. Such people are clean on the outside in body, but their soul is dirty; they are like coffins, decorated on the outside but full of stinking bones on the inside. Blessed is the one who tries to preserve both his body and soul from defilement; truly blessed are the pure in heart (and not just in body), because they will see God.”

The great Abba often said the following words about himself: “Arseny! Why did you come here? You came here not for rest but for work, not for laziness, but for achievement. Strive, work and don’t be lazy.” The monk also often spoke the following words: “Many times I regretted the words that my lips uttered, but I never regretted silence.” Blessed Arseny also acquired the gift of blessed tears.

The great ascetic and silent man spent 50 years in monastic labors and exploits, pleasing God with fasting and prayer. He stayed in the monastery for forty years, lived for ten years in a place called Trogin, near Babylon, opposite the city of Memphis; then the monk spent three years in Kanop, near Alexandria and in some other desert places, so that no one knew his way of life, then he returned to Trogin again, lived there for two years and there he rested in the Lord at the age of 95 in 449. or at the beginning of 450, earning the name Great from his contemporaries.

See also: " Life of our Venerable Father Arseny the Great"as presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov.

Troparion of St. Arseny

With the flows of your tears you cultivated the barren land, / and those from the depths of sighs with a hundred labors brought forth fruit, / and you were a lamp of the universe, shining miracles, Arseny our Father, // pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion of St. Arseny

From Rome you shone like a great sun, / and you reached the Royal City, most blessed, / enlightening this with your words and deeds, / driving away all folly and darkness. / For this reason we honor you, / Glory to the fathers, Reverend Arsenius.

Prayer to St. Arseny the Great

Oh, sacred head, earthly angel, heavenly man, silence to the zealot, silence to the lover, venerable and God-bearing Father Arseny. We fall down and pray: pray to the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, that He may grant to us, His sinful and unworthy servants, all His good gifts for spiritual salvation: rightful faith, good hope, unfeigned love, unshakable piety, Christ-consistent wisdom and all the virtues , in the Holy Gospel, commanded by Him, may we be imitators of your pleasing life and, together with you, may we be worthy to receive eternal salvation and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Hey, servant of God! Do not despise us, but help us, through your heavenly intercession, to end our temporary life in a pious manner, to achieve a good, peaceful and shameless end in order to acquire and enjoy the bliss of heaven, so that we may glorify the love of mankind and generosity in the Trinity of the glorified and worshiped God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and your sacred intercession, forever and ever. Amen.