Arsenios the Cappadocian

See also disambiguation of the name Arsenios

Our father among the saints Arsenios the Cappadocian (1840–1924) was the god-father and spiritual father of Elder Paisios. He was recognized as a saint by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1986. His feast day is November 10.

History

St. Arsenios the Cappadocian (1840–1924) was the spiritual father of Elder Paisios’ family. He baptized Elder Paisios as an infant. Throughout his life Elder Paisios had great love and reverence for the memory of St. Arsenios, and it was out of this love that he compiled the book "Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian" which provides us with the details of his life.

St. Arsenios pastored his Greek Orthodox flock amidst extremely difficult conditions. He lived with his people in the village of Farasa in Cappadocia, which after 1453 had fallen into the hands of the Muslim Turks. Under the harsh yoke of the Turks, the Greek people of Farasa formed an oasis of Orthodox Christianity. They sought refuge in holy St. Arsenios, who was their teacher, their spiritual father, and the healer of their souls and bodies. His reputation as a healer was so great that not only Greek Christians but also Turkish Muslims came to him for healing. Many times his village was threatened with violence from marauding Turks, but each time it was preserved in a miraculous way by St. Arsenios. The accounts in this book, which were taken down by Elder Paisios from eyewitnesses, testify to how powerfully God works through His holy ones, and to how lovingly He cares for and protects His children amidst adversity.

Since 1970, many apparitions and miracles have occurred near his holy relics, which reside in the Monastery of Souroti near Thessalonica. He was officially glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1986.

The Psalter

Saint Arsenios used the Psalms for blessings, especially when there was no prescribed blessing for a particular occasion. There exists a list of the correspondence between the psalms and different occasions [1]. The original Greek list can be found in "O Geron Paisios" by the Hieromonk Christodoulos, Agion Oros, 1994.

Quotes

• "Father Arsenios proclaimed true Orthodoxy with his Orthodox life. He mortified his flesh in asceticism from his ardent love of God, and modified souls with the Grace of God. He believed deeply and healed many, believers and non-believers. Few words, many miracles. He experienced much and hid much. Within his hard outer shell, he concealed his sweet, spiritual fruit. A very harsh father to himself, but also a very loving father to his children. He never beat them with the law.… As minister of the Most High, he did not tread the earth, and as co-administrant of the sacraments he shone upon the world." —Elder Paisios
• "In Farasa and in the whole region, there was no doctor to be found, except Fr. Arsenios himself, who was a teacher and a doctor of souls and bodies. He did not, of course, give medical prescriptions to the sick, but read an appropriate prayer over them and they recovered." —Elder Paisios
• "Stella Koglanidou tells how they had brought to her father’s house in Farasa a Turk who could not speak, and her father took him to Fr. Arsenios for him to read a prayer over and make well. While Fr. Arsenios was reading the Gospel over him, even before he had finished, the dumb man started speaking." —Elder Paisios

Source

• Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian by Elder Paisios of Mount Athos. Published in english by the Holy Convent of the Evangelist John the Theologian, Souroti, Thessaloniki, Greece.
• Our Venerable Father Arsenios of Cappadocia, the Wonderworker (1924) at The Orthodox Parish of St. John of Kronstadt, Bath, England.