Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia: Prophet, Healer, and Spiritual Father of Saint Paisios

The post commemorates Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia on November 10. It recounts his birth in Pharasa, Cappadocia, and his childhood rescue from drowning by Saint George, which led him to dedicate his life to God. At age 26 he was tonsured a monk at the Monastery of the Flavians in Caesarea and later ordained a priest to serve his home village.

Known as Hadjiephentis, he lived ascetically, sleeping on a dirt floor and fasting strictly, yet showed boundless love and secretly taught Greek children reading and writing under Ottoman rule. He became a renowned wonderworker, healing both Christians and Muslims through prayers and the Psalms without accepting payment. He possessed the gift of prophecy, notably foretelling the forced expulsion of Greeks from Asia Minor.

Before the exile, he baptized the infant son of the village president, naming him Arsenios and prophesying he would become a great monk; that child grew up to be Saint Paisios of Mount Athos. In 1924, at age 83, Saint Arsenius led his community on a 400-mile foot journey across Turkey during the population exchange, refusing assistance and hiding sacred vessels.

He had predicted he would live only forty days after reaching Greece, and he died exactly forty days after arriving on the island of Corfu on November 10, 1924. His spiritual child, Saint Paisios, later transferred his relics to the Monastery of Saint John the Evangelist in Souroti, Greece, where they remain a pilgrimage site. The post also includes a series of images with Greek captions illustrating episodes from his life, his childhood rescue, his teaching of children, his meeting with Saint Paisios, and the inscription on his tomb in Corfu dated November 10, 1924, as well as a quotation from Saint Paisios stating that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.