Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ὅσιος Ἀρσένιος ὁ Καππαδόκης; April 7, 1840 – November 10, 1924), born in Kephalochori,

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

( el, Κεφαλοχώρι) was a

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and the spiritual father of Elder Paisios of Mount Athos. He had a brother named Vlasios.

Life

Arsenios's birth name was Theodorus Annitsalichos ( el, Θεόδωρος Αννητσαλήχος) and he was born in Kephalochori one of the six Christian villages of the region of Pharasa in Cappadocia and an early center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. His father was a teacher. Both parents died when he was very young, and he and his brother were raised by a maternal aunt. He was sent to be educated in Niğde, where he stayed with a paternal aunt who was a teacher. She, in turn, arranged for him to stay with relatives in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, while he continued his education. Besides Greek and Church Studies, he learned

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, Turkish and some French."The life of Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian", Pemptousia, November 10, 2017
/ref> When he was about 26 years old he went to the Monastery of the Holy Forerunner of Phlavianai in Caesarea. Later he was tonsured a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and took the name Arsenios. Metropolitan Paisios II sent him to Pharasa and the neighbouring villages as a priest, while he was also secretly teaching the

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), southe ...

to the children of the region, at that time belonging to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1870, when he was thirty years old, he was consecrated an

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

. After ordination, he went on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to the Holy Land. Upon his return to Pharasa, the villagers called him Hadjiephentis. He was the respected spiritual guide of the villagers and helped the people a lot together with the mayor of Pharasa, at that time the father of Saint

Paisios of Mount Athos Saint Paisios of Mount Athos ( el, Ὅσιος Παΐσιος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης, ; secular name: Arsenios Eznepidis ( el, Αρσένιος Εζνεπίδης); 1924–1994), was a well-known Greek Eastern Orthodox ascetic from Mount A ...

. He was claimed to have healed sick people who came to him,

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. He gave Paisios his own name at

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

despite the parents' wish to name the child after a grandfather. Later he became the spiritual father of Elder Paisios of Mount Athos.Paisios of Mount Athos. ''Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian'', Thessaloniki 2007 After leading his parish to Corfu at the time of the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

, he died after three months. Both Father Arsenios as well Elder Paisios were recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as Orthodox Saints, Arsenios by the Ecumenical Patriarch

Demetrios I of Constantinople Demetrios I also Dimitrios I or Demetrius I, born Demetrios Papadopoulos ( el, Δημήτριος Αʹ, Δημήτριος Παπαδόπουλος; September 8, 1914 – October 2, 1991) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from ...

in 1986 and Paisios by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in 2015.

Works by and about Saint Arsenios

A collection of Psalms as has been given by the Saint ordered after the type of their specific use
(Greek) * «Λόγοι και Νουθεσίες», Κελεκίδης, Λ., Ιερά Μητρόπολις Ξάνθης/Μαΐστρος, 2015. (Teachings of the Saint brought to Greece as a manuscript written in the books of the mother church in Pharasa. Translated from the

Cappadocian Greek Cappadocian Greek ( cpg, Καππαδοκικά, Καππαδοκική Διάλεκτος), also known as Cappadocian or Asia Minor Greek, is a dialect of modern Greek heavily influenced by Turkish, originally spoken in Cappadocia (modern-day ...

into Standard Modern Greek and published.The author passed over the prophecies of the saint and did not insert them into this specific publication
Article at Xanthi News
/ref> * Γέροντος Παϊσίου (Εζνεπίδη), «Ο Πατήρ Αρσένιος ο Καππαδόκης», εκδ. Ι. Ησυχαστηρίου «ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΗΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ Ο ΘΕΟΛΟΓΟΣ», Σουρωτή, 1979. *

References

External links

About the Saint on the website of the Monastery of Ypseni

{{Authority control 1840 births 1924 deaths 19th-century apocalypticists 20th-century apocalypticists 20th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Christian saints Christian ascetics Cappadocian Greeks Clairvoyants Eastern Orthodox monks Eastern Orthodox mystics Greek Christian mystics Greek saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church People from Cappadocia Saints of modern Greece Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece People from Yahyalı