Elder Arsenios Spileotis (1886-1983), fellow struggler for more than 40 years with Saint Elder Joseph the Hesychast ( 1897-1959)
It is not easy to describe in a few
pages the life and works of a great ascetic of the might of blessed
Elder Arsenios. He was born in Pontos. 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 Sepulchre and at other Holy places for almost ten years.
The Church
of the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem, where blessed Elder Arsenios
served for more than ten years (among other Holy places)
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.
The blessed Elder Ieronymos of Egina, who was the first teacher in Christ of blessed Elder Arsenios Spileotis and Hesychast.
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 where 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.
Fr Arsenios took advantage of the then
unruly state of the monastery and began practicing tougher and higher
struggles by himself.
However, he was so keen for more
difficult struggles that he decided to reach deeper into the slopes of
the Holy Mountain, to look for ascetics who would be able not only to
teach but also show him the road to perfection.
The Lord saw his genuine desire, and did
not take long to reveal to him that which 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 high
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.
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.
These two young people became like bees
and collected whatever exceptional goodness 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 Kantounakioti, with Kallinikos the Hesychast, with Yerasimos,
Ignat and other sweet smelling flowers of the desert.
The blessed, wise and perceptive Elder Daniel Kantounakiotis ( 1846-1929) of Ayio Oros
In one of his letters, Father Joseph
writes:”I counted the caves of the entire Mount Athos step by step,
looking for a spiritual father who was going to teach me the spiritual
theory and practice”.
Finally they encountered the most
special rose of the desert, Fr Daniel the Hesychast, who was living high
in the cave of St Peter’s.
This ascetic 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 copied by 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, Fr Arsenios
confided in me that he 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 and was eaten only 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
Fr Arsenios was also undertaking all the
manual work. During their first years high at Saint Basil cave, Fr
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.
Since this hard work was beyond human
ability, I once asked him how did he do it and he confided that as soon
as he would ask for his elder’s blessing, the load would get lighter and
a mighty force would push him so that he would easily ascend the steep
mountain; even more so during the mighty heat of the summer. At the same
time he would whisper the Jesus prayer nonstop.
As for their clothing, the two ascetics
were dressed in rugs come winter or summer and were without shoes, so
that many were regarding them as “crazy”. They were not crazy in the
common meaning of the word but”crazy” in Christ.
In the words of St Paul: “They went
about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill
treated- the world was not worthy of them”. (Heb.11.37-38)
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
who 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. I never had the blessing to
meet him. But in 1964 I was blessed in getting to meet Fr Arsenios.
Both Fr Arsenios’ and Fr Charalambos’
virtues wiled me into staying with them until their repose. Fr
Charalambos was the nephew and godson of Fr Arsenios and was staying
with Fr Joseph and Fr Arsenios.
A view of New Skete which constitutionally belongs to the Holy Monastery of Saint Paul
I lived with Fr Arsenios for eighteen
years. I got to be acquainted with his virtues, the rich fruits of the
Holy Spirit: love, happiness, peacefulness etc but especially his
blessed simplemindedness and lack of animosity, his straightforwardness,
sincerity and great humility, his enormous love for discipline and many
others.
I will be left with no time if I was to
describe the incredible life of this great ascetic. But the limited
space will not allow me to do this. As a conclusion, however, I will
recite instead some pages from the book: “Elder Arsenios Spileotis”
written by another special member of their group, blessed Elder Joseph
of Vatopedi:
“One could apply to Elder Arsenios what
the Scriptures said “here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing
false”. He was by nature direct, simple, harmless, meek, obedient and an
extraordinary, hard working spiritual fighter, who had not a single
material possession. One could say that he was simply a “Yes” or a “No”
man.
He never held grudge with anyone whatever one would do to him, he would never get angry and he would never hurt anyone.
He was meticulous in his obedience and
because of this and his absolute faith in his Elder, he lived his days
beyond the laws of nature.
When he was holding an all night vigil,
he would start in the early evening and wear himself out kneeling
thousands of times with the face down and standing up all night until
the morning.
He was concentrating on saying Jesus
prayer so intensely that on several occasions it was time to start work
and he would not let go of the prayer. Then we had to call him tapping
on his window and we would see that he was standing up and elevated.
-Yeronda, it is time to start work. And father Arsenios coming to himself would curiously ask:
-Is it morning already?”
The brotherhood of Fr Arsenios the
Hesychast near Karyes, at the Holy Hilandarino chapel of Saint Nicholas,
Mpoyrazeri, during 1967-1979
I lived three years with this holy
grandpa in New Skete; twelve years at the Hilandarino house
“Mpourazeri” and during the last three years of his life at the
charitable monastery of Dionysiou, whereby my blessed father Charalambos
was invited to be in charge and become the Abbot because of its lack of
monks. This monastery is named after Saint John the Baptist.
The Holy Monastery of Saint Dionysos, Mount Athos
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
The Most Holy Archmandrite
Charalambos ( then Abbot) of the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou gives the
last embrace to the late, blessed elder Arsenios.
The End
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