It is not easy to describe in a few words the life and works of a great ascetic Elder Arsenios. He was born in Pontos in 1886. While still young, he was burning with Holy zeal. He decided to leave his country and walk from Russia to Constantinople and from there to the Holy Land, where he served at the Holy Sepulcher and at other Holy places for almost ten years.
In the Church of the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem, blessed Elder Arsenios served for more than ten years. There, it was God’s will to meet with the well-known great ascetic of Egina, Ieronymos, from whom he received the higher teachings of monastic life. His soul, thirsty and burning with Holy adoration, was calling together with David: “Truly my soul waits upon God, from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, He is my fortress, I shall never be shaken”. He then left the wiles of the world and ascended to Mount Athos, the Holy garden of our Lady.
While totally submitting himself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, initially he stayed for a few years at the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita. There he received the holy schema of the monk and was renamed Arsenios from Anatolios, which was the name he received during his tonsure in Jerusalem. Father Arsenios took advantage of the unruly state of the monastery back then and began practicing tougher and higher struggles by himself. However, he wished for more struggles that he decided to reach deeper into the slopes of the Holy Mountain. He wanted to look for ascetics, who would be able to not only teach but also show him the road to perfection.
The Lord saw his genuine desire, and did not take long to reveal to him what he most wanted. And what he wanted was another young man, who was also looking for the same thing with the same fervor. These two young people met for the first time on the summit of Mount Athos. As the magnet captures the iron, likewise the Holy Spirit drew them together. They then remained together in Spirit as companions and never parted from one another in accordance with the promise they made, until death separated them.
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The other young man was the later renowned great ascetic of the 20th Century, Joseph the Hesychast, who was then called by his Christian name, Francis Kottis. The blessed elders Arsenios and Joseph remained together for 40 years. These two young people became like bees and collected whatever exceptional they could find in the desert of the Holy Mountain in order to harvest the sweetest fruits of the Holy Spirit. They first met with the well-known elder Daniel Katounakioti, with Kallinikos the Hesychast, with Yerasimos, Ignat and others in the desert. Finally, they encountered the most special rose of the desert, Father Daniel the Hesychast, who was living high in St. Peter’s cave.
Father Daniel was holding the Divine Liturgy every midnight, lasting 3-4 hours. It was taking this long because he was feeling great reverence and was taking small breaks, while the earth was getting muddy from his constant tears. This elder had many virtues among them the charisma of foreseeing. For the whole year, he was eating uncooked food once a day only. This was a practice, inherited to elders Joseph and Arsenios, as well as the all night vigils, which they performed every night for the rest of their lives.
During the all-night vigil, Father Arsenios was kneeling three thousand times every night. For the rest of the evening he was standing up. Neither of them ever rested on a bed. However, after the end of the vigil, they would only allow themselves to sit at a small bench to rest. Their food usually consisted of some dried bread, most of the time stale and molded. They only ate once a day. During the weekend, they would eat whatever was available, except meat and even that, only once a day.
The chapel of St John the Baptist, Prodromos, at the Skete of Saint Basil
Father Arsenios was also undertaking all the manual work. During their first years, at Saint Basil cave, Father Arsenios was going up and down the mountain, which meant 1-2 hours steep climb, ferrying supplies not only for themselves but also for all the other ascetics. He was also carrying on his shoulders stones and other building materials to repair and conserve the stone fences and huts.
As for their clothing, the two ascetics were dressed in rugs, both winter or summer and were without shoes, so that many times they were regarded as “crazy”. They were not crazy in the common meaning of the word but “crazy” in Christ.
The chapel of Saint John the Baptist, Prodromos, in the cave of Saint Anne
In 1938, these two great ascetics having lived for twenty years high in the Skete of Saint Basil, decided to descend to the Little Saint Anne together with their small brotherhood, which had already been assembled. They stayed there until 1953. Afterwards they descended even lower towards the New Skete. The great ascetic Joseph had already gone to Heaven in 1959.
Saint John the Baptist was the patron Saint of Fr Arsenios. In that place, Fr Arsenios had a blessed end to his full life and handed his soul to the hands of Saint John the Baptist, on the 2/15 September 1983. May his memory live forever.
Let us have his prayers.
Joseph Monk, D.
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