Synaxarium

On this day in the year 445 AD, the wise ascetic and struggler Saint Arsanius departed. This saint was born in the city of Rome to very wealthy Christian parents who taught him the sciences of the Church and ordained him a deacon. He acquired a large share of Greek culture and attained a perfect degree of Christian virtue. When King Theodosius the Great sought a wise and righteous man to teach his sons Honorius and Arcadius, he found none better than Arsanius. He summoned him to his palace and entrusted him with educating his two sons. Arsanius disciplined and taught them according to his abundant knowledge. It happened that his diligence in teaching led him to strike them once severely. When their father died and Honorius became king of Rome and Arcadius king of Constantinople, Arsanius remembered that he had once struck them and that Honorius intended harm against him. While he was pondering this matter, he heard a voice from the Lord saying: "O Arsanius, depart from the world and you shall be saved." As soon as he heard this voice, he changed his clothes and came to the city of Alexandria, then went to the desert of Saint Macarius, where he exerted himself with much fasting and long vigils.

It happened that at the beginning of his monastic life, he would present his thoughts to a simple monk. The monks were amazed and said to him: "Is it fitting that Arsanius, who has mastered the sciences of the Greeks and Romans, needs the guidance of this simple monk?" He answered them: "Alpha" "Beta" — the Coptic language which this monk mastered, Arsanius had not yet mastered — meaning virtue.

A messenger came to him from Rome carrying the will of one of his deceased relatives who bequeathed to him all he left behind. Arsanius asked the messenger, "When did this man die?" He replied, "A year ago." Arsanius answered, "I died eleven years ago. The dead in the world do not inherit the dead."

Once, a noblewoman from Rome visited him after hearing of his piety. After sitting with him for a while, she asked him to remember her in his prayers. He replied, "I pray to God to erase your memory from my mind." She returned affected and complained to Pope Theophilus about this statement. The pope explained to her Arsanius's intention, which was his fear that her memory might be used by the devil as a means to fight him.

When Arsanius began his monastic life, he used to select white beans for himself during meals. When the abbot noticed this, he gently struck the monk next to Arsanius and said to him: "It is not right for you to distinguish yourself from your brothers by choosing white beans." Arsanius replied, "This is a mark on your cheek, Arsanius."

He mastered the virtue of silence. When asked about the reason, he said: "Many times I regretted what I spoke, but I never regretted silence."

He was very humble and lived by the work of his hands in weaving palm leaves, giving in charity what he had in excess. He set forth useful teachings and whenever he entered the church, he would hide behind a column so that no one would see him.

He had a good appearance, a cheerful face, and was tall, but the many years had bent his back.

He visited Jerusalem at the age of seventy, was blessed by the holy places, then returned to the Scetis. He reached the age of ninety-five years, spending forty years in Rome, forty-one years in the desert of Saint Macarius, three years in the monasteries of Alexandria, then returned to Mount Tura near Egypt and stayed there for two years.

He had instructed his disciples to cast his body on one of the mountains so that wild beasts and birds might feed on it. But fear overcame him at the moment of departing his body. His disciples said to him, "Does Arsanius fear death?" He answered, "Since I entered the monastic life, I have imagined this hour." His courage calmed, his breath quieted, his face was covered with peace, and his tongue silently said, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." He departed in peace in the year 445 AD.

When King Theodosius the Younger, son of Arcadius, learned of his departure, he brought his body to Constantinople. Then he ordered a large monastery to be built at the place where Arsanius departed, known in history as the Monastery of Al-Qusair.

Among the saint's teachings is his saying to his disciples that he saw a vision which he attributed to an elder, saying: An elder was sitting in his cell when he heard a voice saying, "Go out and I will show you the deeds of men." When he went out, he saw a black man cutting a bundle of wood. When he tried to lift it, he could not, and instead of decreasing, it increased. He tried to carry it but could not. He continued in this way, then walked a little and saw another man at a well drawing water and pouring it into a leaking pot that never filled. Then he saw two men riding horses carrying a beam, each holding one end. When they came to a door, pride prevented either from yielding so they could enter the door lengthwise, so they remained outside.

Saint Arsanius then explained this vision, saying: The wood carrier is a man full of sins who, instead of repenting, increases his sins, adding burden upon burden. The water carrier is one who gives gifts but they come from the oppression of people, so his reward is lost. The two carrying the beam are those who bear the yoke of our Lord Jesus Christ without humility, so they remain outside the kingdom.

May the blessing of the prayers of this saint be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever. Amen.