Saint
Arsène
Anachorète dans le désert de Scété
(+449)
Il appartenait à une famille
sénatoriale de Rome. Il fut ordonné diacre par saint Damase,
puis vécut pendant une cinquantaine d'années dans le désert de Scété en Égypte.
Gratifié du don des larmes, on lui attribue les grands principes de la vie
"hésychaste."
Près de Scété, montagne d'Égypte, au IVe ou Ve siècle, saint Arsène. Diacre, dit-on, de l'Église romaine, il se retira dans la solitude au temps de l'empereur Théodose, s'y montra parfait en toutes les vertus et, les yeux baignés de larmes, rendit son âme à Dieu.
Près de Scété, montagne d'Égypte, au IVe ou Ve siècle, saint Arsène. Diacre, dit-on, de l'Église romaine, il se retira dans la solitude au temps de l'empereur Théodose, s'y montra parfait en toutes les vertus et, les yeux baignés de larmes, rendit son âme à Dieu.
Martyrologe romain
ARSÈNE saint (354 env.-env. 455)
Moine d'Égypte né vers 354 à Rome
et mort vers 455 à Toura dans le désert de Scété, saint Arsène aussi appelé
Arsenius le Romain, est réputé pour son ascétisme
parmi les ermites chrétiens du désert de Libye. Ainsi compté au nombre des
fameux Pères du désert, il servit de modèle au
développement de la vie monastique et contemplative dans la chrétienté d'Orient
comme d'Occident. Saint Arsène est honoré par l'Église orthodoxe grecque et
l'Église syro-maronite (une des Églises catholiques d'Orient). Il est fêté le
19 juillet.
Né dans une famille sénatoriale de Rome, Arsène est probablement
ordonné diacre par le pape Damase Ier (366-384). Sur la
recommandation du souverain pontife, il est appelé vers 383 à la cour de
l'empereur Théodose Ier le Grand (379-395), à
Constantinople, pour y devenir le précepteur de ses fils, Arcadius et Honorius.
Onze ans plus tard, Arsène se retire pour mener une vie d'anachorète sur le
mont Scété dans le désert de Libye. Peu de temps après, il est forcé de fuir à
Toura, près de l'ancienne Memphis en Égypte, pour échapper aux incursions
dévastatrices de tribus libyennes barbares, qu'il compare aux Goths et aux Huns
qui ravagèrent Rome. Après une odyssée d'une quinzaine d'années à travers les
étendues sauvages de l'Égypte, il finit sa vie dans le désert de Scété. On dit
que celle-ci dura plus de cent ans. Sa silhouette haute et émaciée,
décrite par son biographe et disciple, Daniel, conforte sa réputation d'ascète.
Les historiens byzantins et les écrits monastiques lui attribuent plusieurs
maximes et sentences, dont une bonne partie se trouve consignée dans l'anthologie
du Ve siècle
des apophtegmes des Pères du désert (Apophthegmata patrum). Parmi ses
œuvres principales, se trouve le Didaskalia kai parainesis (« Enseignement
et sermon »), un guide à l'intention des moines qui atteste, selon les
historiens spécialistes du VIe siècle, de sa condition d'abbé ou de chef spirituel d'une
communauté religieuse. Ses commentaires de l'Évangile selon saint Luc, Eis
ton peirasten nomikon (« De la tentation de la loi »),
constituent de fait un traité sur l'ascétisme et la vie contemplative. Ces
textes sont rassemblés dans la collection patristique Patrologia
Graeca, vol. 65-66 (1857-1866), éditée par l'abbé Migne.
— Universalis
« ARSÈNE saint (354 env.-env. 455) », Encyclopædia Universalis [en ligne], consulté le 9 mai 2020. URL : http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/arsene/
V.
L'HÉSYCHASME
Après avoir expliqué ce qui peut nous étonner dans la lecture des apophtegmes et montré leur pédagogie, il reste à parler d'une chose très importante de la spiritualité des Pères du désert qui a eu une grande influence sur la postérité, surtout dans l'église grecque : l'hésychasme. C'est comme le coeur de la doctrine spirituelle des apophtegmes.
Après avoir expliqué ce qui peut nous étonner dans la lecture des apophtegmes et montré leur pédagogie, il reste à parler d'une chose très importante de la spiritualité des Pères du désert qui a eu une grande influence sur la postérité, surtout dans l'église grecque : l'hésychasme. C'est comme le coeur de la doctrine spirituelle des apophtegmes.
Pour les Pères du désert, la perfection de l'homme se trouve dans la
charité qui s'épanouit dans une prière qui doit tendre à devenir continuelle.
Pour arriver à ce but, ils pensent qu'il faut l'hésychia, la
tranquillité qui vient d'un retrait complet du monde. Cette tranquillité ne
veut pas dire recherche du moindre effort. Au contraire, elle suppose l'ascèse,
elle en est l'aboutissement. L'hésychia n'est pas un but en soi :
le but, c'est la charité : l'hésychia est un moyen d'arriver à ce
but, c'est une disposition qui favorise l'épanouissement de la charité.
L'hésychasme est le mode de vie centré sur la
recherche de l'hésychia. On distinguera deux formes d'hésychasme : l'une
extérieure, l'autre intérieure
1)
Hésychasme extérieur.
On peut être étonné, à la lecture des apophtegmes,
de voir l'importance donnée à l'hésychia extérieure, au détriment parfois de la
charité. Chez certains Pères, on a l'impression que solitude complète et repos
se confondent, comme si l'on n'avait aucun espoir de tranquillité et de prière
en compagnie des autres hommes ; et comme si la solitude procurait par
elle-même cette tranquillité. Les mots hésychia et anachorèse, ou bien hésychia
et désert, sont mis l'un pour l'autre. Ce n'est que progressivement qu'on en
arrivera à distinguer l'hésychia extérieure et l'hésychia intérieure.
C'est cette confusion, ce mélange des deux qu'il faut saisir pour interpréter
certains apophtegmes, ceux d'Arsène en particulier. Arsène est le modèle des
hésychastes. On nous raconte la vocation de ce haut dignitaire de la cour de
Constantinople (Texte 41). "Fuis, tais-toi, demeure en
repos", ce sera la devise des hésychastes, leur programme. Ce programme
Arsène fut le premier à le réaliser. Il habitait une cellule perdue en plein
désert de Scété dont il ne sortait pas souvent. Cette solitude, il la défendait
farouchement Ainsi reçut-il avec tant de rudesse une riche dame venue de Rome
exprès pour le voir, qu'elle en fut malade comme le raconte l'apophtegme 28 de
la série alphabétique. Il défend aussi sa solitude contre les évêques (Texte
42). Il la défend même contre ses frères (Texte 43) Mais
un autre apophtegme d'Arsène nous montre tout de même que cette hésychia
extérieure est orientée vers l'hésychia intérieure (Texte 44).
2) Hésychasme intérieur.
Ce retrait du monde d'Arsène peut à juste titre nous sembler excessif, proche de la vie retirée de certains philosophes païens comme Diogène qui disait à un grand personnage venu le visiter alors qu'il vivait retiré dans un tonneau : "Ote-toi de mon soleil ! ". Pourtant le dernier texte commence à nous montrer qu'il a pour but la paix du coeur. D'autres textes nous prouvent mieux qu'il s'agit d'un retrait du monde pour et dans le Christ. Ainsi cet apophtegme d'Antoine (Texte 45). Ici nous voyons mieux que l'hésychasme extérieur, la cellule, est orienté vers l'hésychasme intérieur. Celui-ci doit déboucher sur l'humilité, la crainte de Dieu, le penthos et une charité sincère envers tous.
A travers les apophtegmes, on peut découvrir trois caractères qui vont
acheminer l'hésychaste vers ce à quoi il tend : la prière continuelle. Ce sont
l'amérimna, c'est-à-dire la fuite du souci, la nepsis, ou
vigilance, la cruptè mélétè c'est-à-dire l'exercice de la
prière. Nous allons voir de quoi il s'agit dans ces quatre termes.
A)
La fuite du souci = "amerimna".
Pour trouver l'hésychia, il faut donc fuir le bruit et l'agitation de la
cité des hommes, mais plus encore la dissipation d'un coeur qui, malgré la
solitude extérieure, reste agité, troublé, tiraillé par ses attachements, ses
préoccupations, ses propres pensées. La première préoccupation de l'hésychaste
est d'être "sans souci" (a privatif + merimna =
"souci") . Qu'est-ce à dire ?
Cela ne veut pas dire qu'on se moque de tout, que l'on se laisse aller à
négliger ce qui a trait à Dieu et à son propre salut. Cela, c'est l'acédie, qui
est à la source de la mauvaise tristesse.
Cela ne veut pas dire qu'on va mener une vie oisive, éliminant tout
travail dans le but de prier. Cela, des moines qu'on appela "priants"
le firent, et l'on verra par la suite abba Lucius leur faire la leçon.
Cela ne veut pas dire ne pas se soucier du bien de ses frères.
Il s'agit au contraire de la vertu de confiance filiale que Jésus nous
recommande dans l'Evangile, qui consiste à éliminer les soucis de la vie
présente, les soucis des choses temporelles concernant notre vie, pour s'en
remettre à notre Père des cieux (Texte 46).
Cette exigence d'être sans souci va se retrouver aussi chez saint
Basile, et plus tard, saint Jean Climaque expliquera que les soucis s'appellent
les uns les autres, et que si on leur laisse la porte ouverte, on perd la paix
de l'âme. Il dira même que l'on ne doit pas seulement ne pas s'occuper des
soucis raisonnables, mais de plus laisser tomber aussi les pensées pour établir
son âme dans le silence intérieur. Pour cela il dira qu'il faut placer ses
pensées à côté de soi, ne pas vouloir les chasser à toute force, ce qui risque
de faire mal à la tête, mais ne pas s'en occuper, les mettre "au
porte-manteau", pour s'établir dans le calme intérieur. Ici on rejoint le
"Tais-toi" que la voix dit à Arsène au texte 41.
B)
La vigilance = Nepsis.
Au texte 45, Antoine recommandait de rester dans sa cellule pour garder
sa "vigilance intérieure". Cela, c'est la nepsis,
attitude d'une âme bien éveillée, présente à elle-même et à Dieu. C'est
l'attention à Dieu, la garde du coeur que nous avons déjà rencontrée chez Origène
à propos du combat spirituel (Texte 47). Un autre apophtegme de
Poemen lie la vigilance et la fuite du souci (Texte 48).
C) L'exercice de la prière = Cruptè Mélétè.
Amérimna et nepsis sont des attitudes plutôt négatives, ayant pour but de protéger l'âme. Voici du plus positif, la mélétè, qui va préparer plus directement l'âme à la prière continuelle.
Ce mot mélétè qui est traduit en latin par meditari, veut
dire plus que le français "méditer". Il a aussi le sens
d'"exercice". Il s'agit dans la mélétè d'une
méditation à haute voix qui a pour but de préparer l'âme à la prière : c'est un
exercice de prière : on répète des paroles brèves que l'on veut faire pénétrer
dans l'âme, de façon à créer des réflexes de prière. Les gens de cette époque
avaient l'habitude de parler à voix haute ou basse avec soi-même. On a vu que
chez les pacômiens, les moines se répétaient à eux-mêmes des versets de la
Bible quand ils allaient au travail, à l'office, au réfectoire, etc . . . Les
anachorètes de Basse-Egypte, eux, étaient seuls et ne risquaient pas de gêner
les autres en parlant à haute voix (Texte 49). On connaît
quelques-unes de ces mélétai. Ainsi l'abbé Sisoès se répète un
texte de son invention (Texte 50). On connaît aussi la prière de
Macaire qui avait commis un crime affreux, avant de venir à Scété : "J'ai
péché comme un homme, Toi aie pitié de moi, comme Dieu ! " Mais en
général, les Pères cachaient leur mélétè par humilité : cruptè
mélétè veut dire "exercice de prière caché".
D'après le peu que nous en savons, ces mélété peuvent
se ramener à deux sortes : la prière "auxiliatrice", où l'on demande
aide ou protection, et la prière "catanyctique" (ce qui veut dire
"qui pique"), qui est de nature à exciter le penthos, les larmes, le
deuil, la sainte tristesse. Un apophtegme de Macaire nous donne un exemple de
ces deux sortes de mélétè (Texte 51) .
Plus tard, on appellera ces prières : "oraisons jaculatoires"
d'un mot latin qui signifie "javelot", d'après une phrase de saint
Augustin dans une de ses lettres : "On dit qu'en Egypte, les frères ont
des prières fréquentes, mais très brèves et comme rapidement lancées comme des
flèches" (Lettre à Proba : L. 130, 10, 20) . En
Orient, on les appellera "prières monologistes", ce qui veut dire
"d'une seule parole" ou "d'une seule pensée". Ce sont des
prières courtes oû une seule parole traduit une seule pensée.
Ceci a donné naissance à la "Prière de Jésus".
D) La prière continuelle.
Amérimna, nepsis, mélétè, doivent conduire à la prière
continuelle. La phrase de saint Paul : "Il faut toujours prier et ne
jamais cesser" a de tout temps interpellé les moines. Ils ont cherché à y
répondre. Si telle a été leur préoccupation, c'est d'abord qu'ils savent par
expérience que la prière n'est pas facile (Texte 52). Ils sont
conscients que c'est un combat. De plus, ils sont réalistes et savent que
l'homme n'est pas un ange, qu'il a un corps, et que ce corps, il faut le
nourrir. L'homme doit travailler pour vivre. Aussi les voit-on faire la leçon à
ceux qui, comme ceux qu'on appelait "euchites", c'est-à-dire
"priants", prennent à la lettre le précepte de l'Apôtre, et
prétendent prier continuellement, ce qui, dans leur idée, les dispensait de
travailler de leurs mains (Textes 53 et 54) .
Par ailleurs, leur expérience leur avait appris l'utilité du travail
manuel :
Il leur assurait d'abord une totale indépendance ; ce qui leur
permettait à l'occasion de dire leurs vérités aux pécheurs, quels qu'ils
soient, et de ne pas flatter les riches.
Il leur permettait aussi de partager avec ceux qui étaient dans le
besoin.
Et surtout, c'était pour eux, avec la prière, le grand remède contre
l'acédie qui pousse à la paresse.
Ainsi, Jean le Petit, à qui on demandait un jour : "Qu'est-ce qu'un
moine ? ", répondit : "Peine, labeur ! " Il entendait par là le
labeur de l'ascèse, mais aussi le travail manuel. En témoigne cet autre
apophtegme : "On demanda un jour à un ancien : 'Que faut-il faire pour
être sauvé ? '. Or le vieillard travaillait à tresser des roseaux. Sans cesser
son travail et sans même lever la tête, il répondit : "Tu le vois !
".
Le problème était alors de concilier ce travail manuel si
important et la prière continuelle à laquelle tendaient ces
ascètes.
Certains petits malins avaient trouvé le truc pour prier sans
cesse (Texte 55). Mais cette solution un peu naïve ne satisfait pas
tout le monde. D'autres apophtegmes nous mettent sur la véritable piste (Textes
56 et 57). Ce qui veut dire qu'à côté des mots, il y a une prière du coeur,
une orientation du coeur vers Dieu, qui peut être sans paroles . En multipliant
les mélétai, exercices de la prière, ces moines arrivent à une
prière simple, à une prière du coeur. Le coeur, alors, veille. Dans le même
sens, saint Basile distinguera "les prières" et "la
prière". Les prières méritent la grâce de la prière. Cette grâce de la
prière continuelle, c'est donc quand la charité est établie à demeure dans le
coeur. C'est en ce sens qu'on doit entendre de petits apophtegmes qui pour être
courts n'en sont pas moins nets (Texte 58) .
Frère Luc Brésard, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Cîteaux. Histoire de la spiritualité
monastique
SOURCE : http://users.skynet.be/am012324/studium/bresard/Apopht06.htm
Dans la spiritualité de l'Église
orthodoxe, l’hésychasme est une méthode ascétique et mystique.
L'ermite grec pratiquant cette méthode était appelé hésychaste ou hésychiaste
du grec hêsuchiastês (qui cherche le repos ; de hèsuchia =
repos, issu de hèsuchos = qui est en repos,
littéralement qui reste assis).
Par moquerie, il était aussi surnommé omphalopsyque (celui qui
a son âme dans le nombril) car il priait la tête penchée sur la poitrine.
L’hésychaste utilise l'invocation répétée du nom de Jésus sur
le rythme de la respiration et, finalement, celui du cœur : « Seigneur
Jésus Christ, Fils de Dieu, aie pitié de moi, pécheur ! ». D'où le nom
de prière de Jésus ou prière du cœur donné à cette méthode, semblable à
certaines méthodes orientales (dhikr musulman, japa-yoga hindou, nembutsu
japonais).
Le chapelet byzantin
(tchotki russe, komboskini grec ou matanii roumain) est utilisé par les
orthodoxes et les catholiques orientaux. Confectionné en laine, il est composé
de 30, 33 ou 100 nœuds sur chacun desquels on récite la prière du nom de Jésus.
Chronologie
historique
L'hésychasme est attesté dès les origines du monachisme (IIIe et IVe siècles),
On attribue à saint Arsène, anachorète
dans le désert de Scété en Egypte (+ 449), les grands principes de la vie
hésychaste.
« Aussi, très pédagogiquement, le Christ dit à Arsène : « Reste
tranquille ! », ce qui en grec se dit hésuchasé ! Cette pratique est à
l'origine de l'hésychasme, courant monastique de solitude qui, en réalité se
confond avec les origines mêmes du monachisme oriental. Ce fondement se
retrouve dans toute vie et recherche authentique de Dieu, en Orient comme en
Occident. Il ne peut y avoir de vie monastique, de vie de solitude ou de vie de
relation authentique à Dieu sans cette ascèse de la disponibilité à son œuvre
créatrice en nous, sans rester tranquille sous sa main puissante » 1.
L'hésychasme s'affirme au Sinaï avec Jean
Climaque (+ 605). A vingt ans, celui-ci se fait ermite près du
monastère de Sainte-Catherine dont il devient le supérieur après quarante ans
de vie érémitique. Son surnom lui vient de la plus célèbre de ses
oeuvres, l'Echelle (Klimax en grec), un traité de
vie spirituelle dans lequel il décrit le cheminement du moine de la
renonciation au monde à la perfection de l'amour, qui se réalise en trente
échelons de cette échelle :
"Le vrai solitaire s'efforce de tenir renfermée et comme en prison dans
son propre corps la substance incorporelle de son âme — suprême paradoxe."
(L'Echelle sainte, degré 27.7)
"Ayez soin de vous tenir sur la partie la plus élevée de vous-même pour
voir comment, quand, et d'où viennent les voleurs qui désirent ravager la vigne
spirituelle de votre âme, et pour connaître combien ils sont nombreux. Une âme
fatiguée des exercices de piété saura bien se rétablir et vaquer à la prière,
et puis après reprendre ses exercices spirituels avec une ardeur toute nouvelle."
(L'Echelle sainte degré 27.23-24)
"Quand tu pries, ne recherche pas de mots compliqués, car le
bégaiement, simple et sans variété, des enfants a souvent touché leur Père des
cieux. Ne cherche pas à beaucoup parler quand tu pries, de peur que ton esprit
ne se distraie à chercher les mots. Un seul mot du publicain apaisa Dieu et un
seul cri de foi sauva le larron." (Jean Climaque, Echelle,
degré 28)
Hésychius (VIIe/VIIIe s), disciple de
Jean Climaque et higoumène du monastère de Batos (au Sinaï), écrit deux
Centuries Sur la sobriété et la vertu.
Les hésychastes se livrent à la vie contemplative, et la gloire céleste est le
sujet de leurs méditations.
Ils font des efforts incroyables pour s'élever au-dessus des impressions des
sens, et ils arrivent, par une tension extrême de toutes leurs facultés, à un
état d'hallucination où ils croient percevoir une lumière céleste, émanation de
la gloire des bienheureux.
Ils s'imaginent recevoir un avant-goût des béatitudes célestes en voyant une
lumière éclatante qui, pour eux, n'est autre qu'une émanation de la substance
divine, une lumière incréée, celle que les apôtres ont vue sur le Thabor, à la
transfiguration de Jésus-Christ.
Comme ils prient en penchant la tête sur leur poitrine pendant un temps
prolongé (d’où leur surnom de contemplateurs du nombril), cet
éblouissement peut être causé par l'afflux du sang vers le cerveau.
L’hésychasme fait grand bruit à Constantinople et excite l'enthousiasme de la
foule ignorante et crédule.
Il cause de nombreuses disputes, donne lieu à des assemblées d'évêques, à des
censures, à des livres qui sont écrits, pour ou contre.
Les hésychastes ont d'abord pour adversaire l'abbé Barlaam, natif de la
Calabre, moine de Saint-Basile et depuis évêque de Gierace.
En visitant les monastères du mont Athos où ces mystiques bizarres sont en fort
grand nombre, il condamne cette folie, traite les moines de fanatiques et les
censure vivement.
Mais Grégoire Palamas (+ 1360),
autre moine et archevêque de Thessalonique, prend leur défense et fait
condamner Barlaam dans un concile de Constantinople en 1341.
Grégoire Palamas compose les Triades pour la défense des saints
hésychastes.
Dieu, d'après Palamas, habite dans une lumière éternelle distincte de son
essence ; les apôtres virent cette lumière sur le Thabor, et toutes les
créatures qui en sont dignes peuvent en recevoir une portion.
La doctrine palamite, distinguant en Dieu l'essence et le participable (les
énergies), est un point de théologie encore discuté par les Eglises d'Orient et
d'Occident.
Un autre moine, Grégoire
Acyndinus, combat l'opinion de Palamas et vient à l'appui de Barlaam.
Il soutient que les attributs de la divinité n'étant point distincts de son
essence, nulle créature ne peut en recevoir quelque portion sans participer à
l'essence divine. Acyndinus est condamné, aussi bien que Barlaam, par un
nouveau concile, tenu à Constantinople eu 1351. Les hésychastes sont alors
laissés en paix mais ils ne font pas de nombreux prosélytes et restent isolés
dans leurs monastères de l’Athos.
Grégoire le Sinaïte (+ 1346), dont les
écrits spirituels forment une partie fondamentale de la Philocalie,
est considéré comme un des pères du mouvement hésychaste.
Nicolas Cabasilas (+ 1397), qui compose
deux livres majeurs, L’interprétation de la sainte Liturgie et
une Vie de Jésus, rappelle que la déification et l’union au Christ
constitue le but de la vie spirituelle de tout chrétien, transfigurant ainsi la
culture humaniste de son temps pour se faire le docteur de l’hésychasme
sacramentel.
Nil de La Sora ou Nil Sorski (+ 1508)
propage en Russie la grande tradition de l’hésychasme.
Originaire de Moscou, il se fait moine au monastère Saint Cyrille du Lac-Blanc,
puis il part en pèlerinage jusqu’à Constantinople, de monastère en monastère et
vit même au Mont Athos où il apprend le grec et médite en profondeur les écrits
des Pères sur la garde de l’intellect et la prière du coeur.
Il revient au Lac Blanc avec le projet d’y introduire le mode de vie des
skites.
Humble et menant une vie ascétique, il rédige un Typikon sur
les modes de vie des moines, en particulier la suppression de leurs grandes
propriétés, malgré l’opposition de Joseph de Volokolamsk.
Evitant toute querelle, il se retire dans l’hésycha, se réconcilie avec Joseph
et s’endort en paix dans son skite de la Sora. 2
Innocent de Vologda (+ 1521),
originaire de Moscou, est le premier disciple de Nil Sorski et voyage avec lui
à Constantinople et au Mont Athos. Il rédige une Introduction aux
écrits de saint Nil avec cette phrase de bon sens : "La
purification du coeur se réalise plus par la vigilance et la prière intérieure
que par les prescriptions extérieures et l'ascèse corporelle." 3
Nicodème l'Hagiorite (1748-1809) est le
rénovateur de la tradition hésychaste. Né à Naxos, il fait ses études à Smyrne.
Il se lie au métropolite Macaire de
Corinthe qui soutient les moines rénovateurs du mont Athos. Nicodème les
rejoint en 1775 et reçoit le surnom d'Hagiorite (de la sainte
montagne).
Il participe avec Macaire à la mise au point de la Philocalie, une
anthologie de textes sur la prière (1777/1782), et travaille sur l'œuvre de
Grégoire Palamas, chef de file de l'école hésychaste, à l’aide des manuscrits
des monastères de l'Athos.
Il évoque lui-même les principes de la tradition hésychaste dans son
traité La Garde des cinq sens, de l'imagination, de l'esprit et du cœur.
Il meurt le 14 juillet 1809. Le patriarche Athênagoras Ier le canonisera en
1955.
Silouane (+ 1938) est un saint très
moderne, très proche de nous, et essentiel pour connaître la spiritualité
chrétienne orientale. Né en Russie, il est devenu moine au mont Athos et s'est
inscrit dans la tradition des Pères du Désert et de la Philocalie 5.
Avec l’extension de l’orthodoxie, la prière de Jésus se répand
aujourd’hui, en Occident.
A noter qu'en Occident, les Jésuates de Saint Jérôme (Ordre
fondé par Jean Colombino de Sienne et approuvé par Urbain V en
1367) étaient ainsi nommés parce qu'ils répétaient sans cesse le nom de Jésus
et qu'ils avaient pris Jérôme
de Stridon pour leur protecteur. Ils distribuaient gratuitement aux
pauvres malades des médicaments qu'ils préparaient eux-mêmes. Après avoir suivi
une règle particulière, ils furent placés sous celle de Saint-Augustin. L'Ordre
fut supprimé par Clément IX en
1668 ; cependant, les religieuses jésuates, également instituées par Colombino,
ne le furent pas 4.
Citations
Arme-toi de la prière, flagelle tes ennemis (les démons, ndlr)
avec le nom de Jésus.
Dieu donne la prière à celui qui prie.
Quand tu pries, ne recherche pas de mots compliqués, car le bégaiement, simple
et sans variété, des enfants a souvent touché leur Père des cieux. Ne cherche
pas à beaucoup parler quand tu pries, de peur que ton esprit ne se distraie à
chercher les mots. Un seul mot du publicain apaisa Dieu et un seul cri de foi
sauva le larron. (Jean Climaque + 605, Echelle, degré 28)
Reste en faction à la porte de ton coeur (...) Celui qui, par la prière, presse
le Seigneur Jésus sur son coeur, ne peinera pas en le suivant. Il ne sera pas
confondu par ses ennemis, les démons impies, qui rôdent autour de lui. Il
arrêtera les démons à la porte de son coeur. Et, par Jésus, il les fera fuir
(les démons étant les cogitations mauvaises ou celles qui nous dispersent et
nous tiraillent) (...) Que le Nom de Jésus colle à ton souffle ; alors, tu
connaîtras le secours de la paix intérieure qui vient de Dieu (...) Ne cessons
de faire tournoyer le nom de Jésus dans les espaces de notre cœur comme
l'éclair tournoie au firmament quand s'annonce la pluie (...) La prière, c'est
la réflexion qui s'immobilise (...) Le silence, c’est d’avoir surmonté
complètement tous les discours, c’est la liberté par rapport à toutes les
images, sensibles et intellectuelles : l’âme doit être totalement exempte
d’images. (Hésychius de Batos VIIe/VIIIe s.)
Mon Seigneur Jésus Christ, mon Dieu, ne permets pas que je fasse ou dise ou
pense ce que Tu ne veux pas. Tant de fautes passées me suffisent. Mais comme Tu
veux, aie pitié de moi. J'ai péché, comme Tu sais : aie pitié de moi. Je crois,
Seigneur, que Tu entends ma pauvre voix. Aide mon incroyance, Toi qui, avec
l'être, m'as donné d'être chrétien. [Pierre Damascène (Mansour), XIe siècle]
Lorsque l’âme est transportée et comme mise en mouvement par l’amour
irrésistible envers l’Unique Désirable, le cœur se met lui aussi en mouvement,
indiquant par des bonds spirituels qu’il est en communion avec la grâce, comme
s’il s’élançait d’ici-bas pour rencontrer le Seigneur, lorsqu'il viendra avec
son corps, dans les nuages comme il a été promis. Ainsi, dans la prière
continue, lorsqu'apparaît le feu intelligible, lorsque s'allume l'intelligible
flambeau et lorsque par la contemplation spirituelle, l'esprit éveille l'amour
en une flamme aérienne, le corps, lui aussi, d'une manière étrange, devient
léger et chaud. A ceux qui le voient, il paraît sortir du feu d'une fournaise
sensible... (Grégoire Palamas + 1360, Triade I, 3, 32)
Les crocs des loups au milieu desquels le Christ a envoyé
son disciple Démétrios ont, par leur morsures, ouvert en son corps
des sources par lesquelles une grande allégresse s’écoule sur le troupeau du
Christ. (Grégoire Palamas – Eloge de Démétrios)
O grandeur des mystères ! Il est donc possible que l’esprit du Christ se fonde
avec notre esprit et son vouloir avec notre vouloir, que son corps soit mélangé
à notre corps et son sang à notre sang ! Que devient notre esprit quand
l’esprit divin s’en est rendu maître ! Que devient notre vouloir quand le
vouloir bienheureux le subjugue ! [] Le Mauvais a eu le pouvoir, par la main
des tyrans, de déchirer et d’arracher la peau des martyrs du Christ, de hacher
leurs membres, de broyer leurs os, de répandre leurs entrailles. Mais ôter ce
vêtement-là, le Christ revêtu au baptême, et dénuder du Christ les bienheureux,
cela échappa si bien à ses artifices qu’à son insu, il les vêtit bien mieux
qu’auparavant. (Nicolas Cabasilas + 1397, La vie en Christ)
Dieu n’abandonne jamais l’âme qui espère en lui au point qu’elle soit vaincue
par les tentations puisqu’il connaît nos infirmités. Si les hommes ont tant de
prudence, l’infinie prudence de Dieu n’est-elle pas beaucoup plus grande ? (Nil
Sorski + 1508, Règle monastique)
Que vous soyez seul dans votre cellule d’ermite ou au monastère parmi vos
frères, fixez votre attention sur les Saintes Ecritures et marchez sur les pas
des saints Pères… Le regard de Dieu voit tout et remarque tout. Ce qu’il nous
envoie est un effet de sa miséricorde. (Nil Sorski, Lettre III à l’un
de ses frères).
La tristesse qui nous tourne vers Dieu est salutaire. La tristesse qui lui est
contraire nous est suggérée par le démon. Il faut donc la combattre par la
prière, la lecture et au moyen de contacts et d’entretiens avec des hommes
spirituels. Elle devient alors espérance et joie. (Nil Sorski, Testament)
Où es-Tu, ô ma lumière ? Je Te cherche avec des larmes. Tu as eu pitié de moi
et Tu m’as montré ton visage. Maintenant mon âme a soif de Toi, mon Dieu !
Comme un enfant qui a perdu sa maman, elle pleure vers Toi jour et nuit et ne
trouve pas la paix. (Silouane, Ecrits spirituels)
Le Saint Esprit unit tous les hommes, et c'est pourquoi les Saints nous sont
proches. Lorsque nous les prions, alors, par le Saint Esprit, ils entendent nos
prières et nos âmes sentent qu'ils prient pour nous. (Silouane + 1938, Vie
de saint Silouane l'athonite)
Notes
1 L'Hésychia, Chemin de la
tranquillité surnaturelle et de la fécondité ecclésiale, par un frère
Carme, Éditions du Carmel, Toulouse, 2008
2 http://infocatho.cef.fr/
3 http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6219/Saint-Innocent-de-Vologda.html
4 http://www.cosmovisions.com/$JesuatesSaintJerome.htm
5 http://www.mariedenazareth.com/15214.0.html?&L=0
Auteur : Jean-Paul Coudeyrette
Référence publication : Compilhistoire ;
toute reproduction à but non lucratif est autorisée.
Date de mise à jour : 07/05/2020
Saint Arsenius the Great
Also known as
- Arsenius
the Roman
- Arsenius
the Deacon
Born to a wealthy
Roman noble family. Deacon. Tutor to the sons of
Emperor Theodosius the Great c.383. About 395 he left to live
with the monks of Alexandria, Egypt. After the
emperor’s death, Arsenius retired to
the wilderness of Scetis, and became a student of Saint John the Short. Hermit, noted for his great austerity
Born
- 354 in the Roman Empire
St. Arsenius
Anchorite; born 354, at Rome; died 450, at Troe, in Egypt. Theodosius the Great having requested the Emperor
Gratian and Pope Damasus to find him in the West a
tutor for his son Arcadius, they made choice of Arsenius, a man well read in
Greek literature, member of a noble Roman family, and said to have been a deacon of the Roman Church. He reached Constantinople in 383,
and continued as tutor in the imperial family for eleven years, during the last
three of which he also had charge of his pupil's brother Honorius. Coming one
day to see his children at their studies, Theodosius found them sitting while
Arsenius talked to them standing. This he would not tolerate, and caused the
teacher to sit and the pupils to stand. On his arrival at court Arsenius had
been given a splendid establishment, and probably because the Emperor so
desired, he lived in great pomp, but all the time felt a growing inclination to
renounce the world. After praying long to be enlightened as to
what he should do, he heard a voice saying "Arsenius, flee the company of
men, and thou shalt be saved." Thereupon he embarked secretly for
Alexandria, and hastening to the desert of Scetis, asked to be
admitted among the solitaries who dwelt there. St. John the Dwarf, to whose
cell he was conducted, though previously warned of the quality of his visitor,
took no notice of him and left him standing by himself while he invited the
rest to sit down at table. When the repast was half finished he threw down some
bread before him, bidding him with an air of indifference eat if he would.
Arsenius meekly picked up the bread and ate, sitting on the ground. Satisfied
with this proof of humility, St. John kept him under his
direction. The new solitary was from the first most exemplary yet unwittingly
retained certain of his old habits, such as sitting cross-legged or laying one
foot over the other. Noticing this, the abbot requested some one to imitate
Arsenius's posture at the next gathering of the brethren, and upon his doing
so, forthwith rebuked him publicly. Arsenius took the hint and corrected
himself. During the fifty-five years of his solitary life he was always the
most meanly clad of all, thus punishing himself for his former seeming vanity
in the world. In like manner, to atone for having used perfumes at court, he
never changed the water in which he moistened the palm leaves of which he made
mats, but only poured in fresh water upon it as it wasted, thus letting it
become stenchy in the extreme. Even while engaged in manual labour he never
relaxed in his application to prayer. At all times copious tears of
devotion fell from his eyes. But what distinguished him most was his
disinclination to all that might interrupt his union with God. When, after long search, his place of retreat
was discovered, he not only refused to return to court and act as adviser to
his former pupil the Emperor Arcadius, but he would not even be his almoner to
the poor and the monasteries of the neighbourhood. He
invariably denied himself to visitors, no matter what their rank and condition
and left to his disciples the care of entertaining them. His contemporaries so
admired him as to surname him "the Great".
Sources
See Acta SS. (19 July) for his life by ST. THEODORE
THE STUDITE (d. 826) and another in META.PHRASTES (apud SURILM. De
probatis Sanctorum vitis IV, 250), the Lives of the Fathers
of the Desert in ROSWEYDE and D'ANDILLY, or P.L., LXXIV; MARIN Vies
des pères des déserts d orient, BUTLER, Lives of the Saints,
19 July.
Vuibert,
Arsenius. "St. Arsenius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1907. 9 May
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01754b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed
for New Advent by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Infant
Jesus, Lufkin, Texas. Dedicated to all monks and nuns.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil
Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
St.
Arsenius, an Anchorite, was born in 354 at Rome and died in 450 at
Troe, in Egypt.
Theodosius the Great,
having requested the Emperor Gratian and Pope Damasus to find him in the West a
tutor for his son Arcadius, decided on Arsenius, a man well read in
Greek literature, a member of a noble Roman family, and said to have been a
deacon of the Roman Church. Upon receving the request to become the tutor of
young Arcadius, he left and reached Constantinople in 383, and continued as
tutor in the imperial family for eleven years, during the last three of which
he also had charge of his pupil's brother Honorius.
Coming one day to see his
children at their studies, Theodosius found them sitting while Arsenius talked
to them standing. This he would not tolerate, and he ordered the teacher
to sit while the pupils to stood.
Upon his arrival at
court, Arsenius had been given a splendid establishment, and probably because
the Emperor so desired, he lived a very great lifestyle, but all the time felt
a growing inclination to renounce the world. After praying for a long
time to be enlightened as to what he should do, he heard a voice saying
"Arsenius, flee the company of men, and thou shalt be saved."
Thereupon he embarked secretly for Alexandria, and hastening to the desert of
Scetis, asked to be admitted among the solitaries who dwelt there.
St. John the Dwarf, to
whose cell he was conducted, though previously warned of the quality of his
visitor, took no notice of him and left him standing by himself while he invited
the rest to sit down at table. When the John was half finished with his
meal, he threw down some bread before Arsenius, bidding him with an air of
indifference to eat if he would. Arsenius meekly picked up the bread and ate,
sitting on the ground. Satisfied with this proof of humility, St. John kept him
under his direction. The new solitary was from the beginning most
exemplary, yet unwittingly retained some of his old habits, such as
sitting cross-legged or laying one foot over the other. Noticing this, the
abbot requested some one to imitate Arsenius's posture at the next gathering of
the brethren, and upon his doing so, forthwith rebuked him publicly. Arsenius
took the hint and corrected himself.
During the fifty-five
years of his solitary life he was always the most meanly clad of all, thus
punishing himself for his former seeming vanity in the world. In like manner,
to atone for having used perfumes at court, he never changed the water in which
he moistened the palm leaves of which he made mats, but only poured in fresh
water upon it as it wasted, thus letting it become stenchy in the extreme. Even
while engaged in manual labour he never relaxed in his application to prayer.
At all times copious tears of devotion fell from his eyes. But what distinguished
him the most was his disinclination to all that might interrupt his union
with God. When, after a long period of searching, his place of retreat was
discovered, he not only refused to return to court and act as adviser to his
former pupil the Emperor Arcadius, but he would not even be his almoner to the
poor and the monasteries of the neighbourhood. He invariably denied himself to
visitors, no matter what their rank and condition and left to his disciples the
care of entertaining them. His contemporaries so greatly admired him because of
this, that they gave him the surname "the Great".
Golden Legend – Saint Arsenius
Article
Here followeth of Saint
Arsenius.
When Arsenius was yet
master in the palace of a prince, he prayed unto God that he would address him
unto the way of health, so that in a time he heard a voice that said to him:
Arsenius, flee the company of men and thou shalt be saved. Then he went and took
upon him the life of a monk, and as he prayed there, he heard a voice saying:
Arsenius, flee hence, speak not and rest thee. It is read in the same place as
to coveting this rest, that there were three monks new made, and the first of
them chose for to bring men that were at debate and in discord to rest and
peace, the second for to visit sick men, and the third for to rest in
wilderness and in desert. The first man, that laboured to set them at accord
that were at debate, could not please all men, and was weary and grieved and
half overcome, and he came to the second and found him all mat and failing for
weariness, and might not perform that he had emprised, and then by assent they
two came to the third that was in desert, and when they had told their tribulations
to him he put water in a cup and said: Look, and behold this water, and they
saw that it was thick and troubled, and soon after he said: See it now, how it
is now fair and clear. And when they looked therein they saw their visages
therein, and then he said: Whosomever dwelleth among the men, he may not, for
the multitude of people see his sins, but when he resteth, then he may see his
sins.
And on a time there was
a man found another in desert eating herbs and grass, all naked as a beast, and
he ran after him, and that other fled, and he that followed said: Abide and
tarry, for I follow thee for the love of God, and that other said: I flee from
thee for God’s sake, and that other cast away his mantle from him, and then he
tarried and said: Because thou hast thrown the matter of the world from thee I
have abiden thee. And then he asked of him: How shall I be saved? And he
answered and said: Flee from the company of men, and say nothing.
There was a noble lady,
which was old, came for to see the abbot Arsenius by devotion, and Theophilus
the archbishop prayed him that he would suffer that she might see him, but he
would not grant him in no wise. And at the last she went into his cell, and found
him without tofore his door, and she fell down to his feet, and he took her up
with great indignation, saying to her: If thou wilt see my face, see, and she
for great shame and confusion considered not his visage. To whom he said: How
durst thou presume upon thee that art a woman to make such a voyage? Thou shalt
now go to Rome and say to other women that thou hast seen Arsenius, and they
shall also come for to see me. And she said to him: If God will that I return
to Rome I shall never stir woman to come to thee, but only I pray thee that
thou pray for me and always remember me. And he said to her: I pray to God that
he put out of my heart the remembrance of thee. And when she heard that, she
was much angry, and came into the city and began to tremble and shake for
sorrow in the fevers or axes; and when the archbishop knew it, he went for to
comfort her, and she said: I die for sorrow and heaviness, and the archbishop
said to her: Knowest thou not that thou art a woman, and the fiend overcometh
holy men ofttimes by women, and therefore the old man said to thee those words,
howbeit he prayed always for thy soul? And then the woman was comforted and was
all whole, and returned home to her own house.
Also it is read of
another old father, that when his disciple said to him: Thou art waxen all old,
father, let us now go dwell near to the world, and he said: Let us go thither
whereas no woman is, and his disciple said: Where is any place but that women
be therein, save in desert? To whom he said: Then bring me into that desert.
There was another brother which, when he bare his mother over the water, he
wound his hands in his mantle, to whom she said: Wherefore hast thou covered
thy hands so, my son? To whom he answered: The body of a woman is as fire that
burneth, and because the mind of other women should not come in my remembrance,
therefore I do it. And Arsenius all the days of his life, when he sat at the
work of his hands, he had a linen cloth in his bosom for to dry the tears with,
that ran fast from his eyes, and all the night he would not sleep, and in the
morning, when he must sleep for weariness of nature, he would say to sleep:
Come, wicked servant, and then would take a little sleep sitting, and would
arise anon, and said: It sufficeth to a monk if he sleep an hour, if he be a
fighter against vices.
When the father of Saint
Arsenius, which was a great senator and a right noble man, should finish his
life, he left to Arsenius by his testament much heritage, and one,
Magistrianus, brought unto him the said testament, and when he had received it
he would have broken it. Then Magistrianus fell down at his feet praying him
that he would not do so, for his head then should he lose, for it should be
smitten off. To whom Arsenius said: I was dead tofore him, he therefore that is
but now dead, how may he make me his heir? And sent again the testament, and
would nothing have. On a time there was a voice came to him and said: Come, and
I shall show to thee the works of the men, and led him into a certain place and
showed to him a man of Ethiopia, that is a black man, that hewed wood and made
a great fardel, so great that he might not bear it, and always he hewed and put
to the fardel, and thus he did long, and after he showed to him a man that drew
water out of a lake and cast it into a cistern pierced, by which the water ran
again into the lake, and he would fill the cistern and might not. And after, he
showed to him a temple and a man on horseback which bare a long tree athwart,
and would enter into the temple, and he might not because the tree lay athwart.
Then he expounded him this thing, and said: He that beareth the tree is like
the burden of justice with pride, and will not meek him, therefore he abideth
without the realm of heaven. And he that heweth the wood is like a man that is
in sin, and putteth none away by penance, but putteth always wickedness to
wickedness. And he that draweth the water is a man that doeth good works here
in this present world, but because that his evil works be meddled with them, he
loseth his good works. And when the evensong time of the Saturday came, on the
Sunday, he left all his works behind him, and held up his hands to heaven till
the sun arose in the morning of the Sunday tofore his face, and so abode all
the night in prayers and in orisons. And hæc in Vitis Patrum.
Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Arsenius, Anchoret of Sceté
Article
He was a Roman by birth,
and was related to senators. He had been trained up in learning and piety, was
sincerely virtuous, and well skilled, not only in the holy scriptures, but also
in the profane sciences, and in the Latin and Greek languages and literature.
He was in deacon’s orders, and led a retired life at home with his sister in
Rome, when the emperor Theodosius the Great wanted a person to whom he might
intrust the care of his children, and desired the emperor Gratian to apply for
that purpose to the bishop of Rome, who recommended Arsenius. Gratian sent him
to Constantinople, where he was kindly received by Theodosius, who advanced him
to the rank of a senator, with orders that he should be respected as the father
of his children, whose tutor and preceptor he appointed him. No one in the
court at the time wore richer apparel, had more sumptuous furniture, or was
attended by a more numerous train of servants than Arsenius; he was attended by
no fewer than a thousand, all richly clad. Theodosius coming one day to see his
children at their studies, found them sitting, whilst Arsenius talked to them
standing. Being displeased thereat, he took from them for some time the marks
of their dignity, and caused Arsenius to sit, and them to listen to him standing.
Arsenius had always a
great inclination to a retired life, which the care of his employment and the
incumbrances of a great fortune made him desire the more ardently; for titles
and honours were burthensome to him. At length, about the year 390, an opportunity
offered itself. Arcadius having committed a considerable fault, Arsenius
whipped him for it. The young prince, resenting the chastisement, grew the more
obstinate. Arsenius laid hold of this occasion to execute the project he had
long before formed of forsaking the world. The Lives of the Fathers, both in
Rosweide and Cotelier, make no mention of this resentment of Arcadius, which
circumstance is only related by Metaphrastes; on which account it is omitted by
Tillemont and others. It is most certain that retirement had long been the
object of the saint’s most earnest wishes and desires; but before he left the
court, he for a long time begged by earnest prayer to know the will of God; and
one day making this request with great fervour, he heard a voice saying:
“Arsenius, flee the company of men, and thou shalt be saved.” He obeyed the
call of heaven without delay, and going on board a vessel, sailed to
Alexandria, and thence proceeded to the desert of Sceté, where he embraced an
anchoretical life. This happened about the year 394, he being in the fortieth
year of his age, and having lived eleven years at the court. There he renewed
his prayers to God, begging to be instructed in the way of salvation, having no
other desire than to make it his only study to please God in all things. Whilst
he prayed thus he again heard a voice which said: “Arsenius, flee, hold thy
peace, and be quiet; these are the principles of salvation,” that is, the main
things to be observed in order to be saved. Pursuant to the repeated advice or
injunction of fleeing and avoiding human conversation, he made choice of a very
remote cell, and admitted very few visits even from his own brethren. When he
went to the church, upwards of thirty miles distance from his habitation, he would
place himself behind one of the pillars, the better to prevent his seeing or
being seen by any one. Theodosius in great affliction for the loss of him,
caused search to be made for him both by sea and land; but being soon after
called into the West to revenge the death of Valentinian II and to extinguish
the rebellion of Arbogastus his murderer, and Eugenius, he died of a dropsy at
Milan in 395. Arcadius being left emperor of the East, advanced Rufin, who was
the præfectus-prætorio, and had been his flattering governor, to the rank of
prime minister, committing to him the direction not only of his armies but also
of the whole empire. He at the same time earnestly desired to call back to
court his holy master Arsenius, that he might be assisted by his wise and
faithful counsels. Being informed that he was in the desert of Sceté, he wrote
to him, recommending himself to his prayers, begging his forgiveness, and
offering him the disposal of all the tribute of Egypt, that he might make a
provision for the monasteries and the poor at his discretion; but the saint had
no other ambition on earth than to be allowed the liberty of enjoying his
solitude, that he might employ his time in bewailing his sins, and in preparing
his soul for eternity. He therefore answered the emperor’s message only by word
of mouth, saying, “God grant us all the pardon of our sins; as to the
distribution of the money, I am not capable of such a charge, being already
dead to the world.” When he first presented himself to the ancients or superiors
of the monks of Sceté, and begged to be allowed to serve God under their
direction, they recommended him to the care of Saint John the Dwarf, who when
the rest in the evening sat down to take their repast, took his place among
them, and left Arsenius standing in the middle without taking notice of him.
Such a reception was a severe trial to a courtier; but was followed by another
much rougher; for, in the middle of the repast, Saint John took a loaf or
portion of bread, and threw it on the ground before him, bidding him with an
air of indifference to eat if he would. Arsenius cheerfully fell on the ground,
and in that posture took his meal. Saint John was so satisfied with his
behaviour in this single instance, that he required no further trial for his
admission, and said to his brethren: “Return to your cells with the blessing of
the Lord. Pray for us. This person is fit for a religious life.”
Arsenius after his
retreat only distinguished himself among the anchorets by his greater humility
and fervour. At first he used, without perceiving it, to do certain things
which he had practised in the world, which seemed to savour of levity or
immortification, as, for instance, to sit cross-legged, or laying one knee over
another. The seniors were unwilling, through the great respect they bore him,
to tell him of this in a public assembly in which they were met to hold a
spiritual conference together; but abbot Pemen or Pastor made use of this
stratagem: He agreed with another that he should put himself in that posture;
and then he rebuked him for his immodesty; nor did the other offer any excuse.
Arsenius perceived that the reproof was meant for him, and corrected himself of
that custom. In other respects he appeared from the beginning an accomplished
master in every exercise of virtue in that venerable company of saints. To
punish himself for his seeming vanity at court, because he had there gone more
richly habited than others, his garments were always the meanest of all the
monks in Sceté. He employed himself on working-days till noon in making mats of
palm-tree leaves; and he always worked with a handkerchief in his bosom, to
wipe off the tears which continually fell from his eyes. He never changed the
water in which he moistened his palm-tree leaves, but only poured in fresh
water upon it as it wasted. When some asked him one day why he did not cast
away the corrupted water, he answered: “I ought to be punished by this ill
smell for the sensuality with which I formerly used perfumes when I lived in
the world.” To satisfy for former superfluities he lived in the most universal
poverty, so that in a violent fit of illness having occasion for a small sum to
procure him some little necessaries, he was obliged to receive it in alms,
whereupon he gave God thanks for being made worthy to be thus reduced to the
necessity of asking alms in his name. The distemper continued so long upon him
that the priest of this desert of Sceté caused him to be carried to his
apartment contiguous to the church, and laid him on a little bed made of the
skins of beasts, with a pillow under his head. One of the monks coming to see
him, was much scandalized at his lying so easy, and said: “Is this the abbot
Arsenius?” The priest took him aside, and asked him what his employment had
been in the village before he was a monk? The old man answered, “I was a
shepherd, and lived with much pains and difficulty.” Then the priest said: “Do
you see this abbot Arsenius? when he was in the world he was the father of the
emperors; he had a thousand slaves clothed in silk, with bracelets and girdles
of gold, and he slept on the softest and richest beds. You who were a shepherd,
did not find in the world the ease which you now enjoy.” The old man, moved by
these words, fell down, and said: “Pardon me, father, I have sinned; he is in
the true way of humiliation;” and he went away exceedingly edified. Arsenius in
his sickness wanting a linen garment, accepted something given him in charity
to buy one, saying: “I return thanks to thee, O Lord, for thy grace and mercy
in permitting me to receive alms in thy name. One of the emperor’s officers, at
another time, brought him the will of a senator, his relation, who was lately
dead and had left him his heir. The saint took the will, and would have torn it
to pieces, but the officer threw himself at his feet, and begged him not to
tear it, saying such an accident would expose him to be tried for his life.
Saint Arsenius, however, refused the estate, saying, “I died before him, and
cannot be made his heir.”
Though no one knew the
saint’s fasts, they must have been excessive, as the measure of corn, called
thallin, 2 sent him for the year, was exceedingly small; this, however, he
managed so well as not only to make it suffice for himself, but also to impart
some of it to his disciples when they came to visit him. When new fruit was
brought him he just tasted it, and gave thanks to God; but he took so little as
to show he did it only to avoid the vanity of singularity. Great abstinence
makes little sleep to suffice nature. Accordingly, Saint Arsenius often passed
the whole night in watching and prayer, as we learn from his disciple Daniel.
At other times, having watched a considerable part of the night, when nature
could hold out no longer, he would allow himself a short repose, which he took
sitting, after which he resumed his wonted exercises. On Saturday evenings, as
the same disciple relates, it was his custom to go to prayers at sun-set, and
continue in that exercise with his hands lifted up to heaven till the sun beat on
his face the next morning. His affection for the holy exercise of prayer, and
his dread of the danger of vain-glory, gave him the strongest love of
retirement. He had two disciples who lived near him, and did all his necessary
business abroad. Their names were Alexander and Zoilus; he afterwards admitted
a third called Daniel. All three were famous for their sanctity and discretion,
and frequent mention is made of them in the histories of the fathers of the
deserts of Egypt. Saint Arsenius would seldom see strangers who came to visit
him, saying, he would only use his eyes to behold the heavens.
Theophilus, the
patriarch of Alexandria, came one day in company with a certain great officer
and others to visit him, and begged he would entertain them on some spiritual
subject for the good of their souls. The saint asked them whether they were
disposed to comply with his directions; and being answered in the affirmative,
he replied: “I entreat you, then, that wherever you are informed of Arsenius’s
abode you would leave him to himself, and spare yourselves the trouble of
coming after him.” On another occasion, when the same patriarch sent to know if
he would open his door to him if he came? Saint Arsenius returned for answer,
that if he came alone he would; but that if he brought others with him he would
seek out some other place, and would stay there no longer. Melania, a noble
Roman lady, travelled as far as Egypt only to see Arsenius, and by means of
Theophilus contrived to meet him as he was coming out of his cell. She threw
herself at his feet. The saint said to her: “A woman ought not to leave her
house. You have crossed these great seas that you may be able to say at Rome
that you have seen Arsenius, and raise in others a curiosity to come and see
me.” Not daring to lift up her eyes, as she lay on the ground, she begged he
would always remember her and pray for her. He answered: “I pray that the
remembrance of you may be blotted out of my mind.” Melania returned to
Alexandria in great grief at this answer; but Theophilus comforted her, saying:
“He only prayed that he might forget your person on account of your sex; but as
for your soul, doubt not but he will pray for you.”
The saint never visited
his brethren, contenting himself with meeting them at spiritual conferences.
The abbot Mark asked him one day, in the name of the hermits, why he so much
shunned their conversation? The saint answered: “God knoweth how dearly I love
you all; but I find I cannot be both with God and with men at the same time;
nor can I think of leaving God to converse with men.” This disposition,
however, did not hinder him from giving short lessons of virtue to his
brethren, and several of his apophthegms are recorded among those of the
ancient fathers. He said often: “I have always something to repent of after
having conversed with men; but have never been sorry for having been silent,”
He had frequently in his mouth those words which Saint Euthymius and Saint
Bernard used also to repeat to themselves, to renew their fervour in the discharge
of the obligations of their profession: “Arsenius, why hast thou forsaken the
world, and wherefore art thou come hither?” Being asked one day why he, being
so well versed in the sciences, sought the instruction and advice of a certain
monk who was an utter stranger to all human literature? he replied: “I am not
unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and Romans; but I have not yet
learned the alphabet of the science of the saints, whereof this seemingly
ignorant person is master.”
Though the saint was
excellently versed in sacred learning, and in the maxims and practice of
perfect Christian virtue, he never would discourse on any point of scripture,
and chose rather to hear than to instruct or speak, making it the first part of
his study to divest his mind of all secret opinion of himself, or confidence in
his own abilities or learning; and this he justly called the foundation of
humility and all Christian virtue. Evagrius of Pontus, who had distinguished
himself at Constantinople by his learning, and had retired to Jerusalem, and
thence into the deserts of Nitria, in 385, expressed his surprise to our saint,
that many very learned men made no progress in virtue, whilst many Egyptians
who knew not the very letters of the alphabet, arrived at a high degree of
sublime contemplation. To whom Arsenius made this answer: “We make no progress
in virtue, because we dwell on that exterior learning which puffs up the mind;
but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense of their own weakness,
blindness, and insufficiency; by which they are qualified to labour
successfully in the pursuit of virtue.” This saint used often to cry out to God
with tears, in the most profound sentiment of humility: “O Lord, forsake me
not; I have done nothing that can be acceptable in thy sight; but for the sake
of thy infinite mercy enable and assist me that I may now begin to serve thee
faithfully.”
Nothing is so remarkable
or so much spoken of by the ancients concerning our saint, as the perpetual
tears which flowed from his eyes almost without intermission. The source from
which they sprung was the ardour with which he sighed after the glorious light
of eternity, and the spirit of compunction with which he never ceased to bewail
the sins of his life past, and the daily imperfections into which he fell. But
nothing was more amiable or sweet than these tears of devotion, as appeared in
the venerable and majestic serenity of his countenance. His example was a proof
of what the saints assure us concerning the sweetness of the tears of divine
love. “When you hear tears named,” says Saint Chrysostom, “do not represent to
yourselves any thing grievous or terrible. They are sweeter than any carnal
delights which the world can enjoy.” Saint Austin says to the same purpose:
“The tears of devotion are sweeter than the joys of theatres.” Saint John
Climacus unfolds to us at large the incomparable advantages and holy pleasure
of pious tears, and among other things writes thus: “I am astonished when I
consider the happiness of holy compunction; and I wonder how carnal men can
think it affliction. It contains in it a pleasure and spiritual joy as wax does
honey. God in an invisible manner visits and comforts the heart that is broken
with this holy sorrow.” Saint Arsenius being asked by a certain person what he
must do to deliver himself from a troublesome temptation of impure thoughts?
the saint gave him this answer: “What did the Midianites do? They decked and
adorned their daughters, and led them to the Israelites, though they used no
violence upon them. Those among the servants of God who treated them with
severity, and revenged their treachery and criminal designs with their blood,
put a stop to their lewdness. Behave in the same manner with regard to your
evil thoughts. Repulse them vigorously, and punish yourself for this attempt
made in yourself towards a revolt.”
This great saint lived
in a continual remembrance and apprehension of death and the divine judgment.
This made Theophilus, the busy patriarch of Alexandria, cry out when he lay on
his death-bed in 312: “Happy Arsenius! who has had this moment always before
his eyes.” His tears did not disfigure his countenance, which, from the inward
peace and joy of his soul, mixed with sweet compunction; and from his assiduous
conversation with God, appeared to have something angelical or heavenly; being
equally venerable for a certain shining beauty, and an inexpressible air of
majesty and meekness, in a fair and vigorous old age. The great and experienced
master in a contemplative life, Saint John Climacus, proposes Saint Arsenius as
an accomplished model, and calls him a man equal to the angels, saying that he
shunned so rigorously the conversation of men, only that he might not lose
something more precious, which was God, who always filled his soul. Our saint
called it a capital and indispensable duty of a monk never to intermeddle in
any temporal concerns, and never to listen to any news of the world. He was
tall and comely, but stooped a little in his old age; had a graceful mien, his
hair was all white, and his beard reached down to his girdle; but the tears
which he shed continually had worn away his eye-lashes. He was forty years old
when he quitted the court, and he lived in the same austere manner from that
time to the age of ninety-five; he spent forty years in the desert of Sceté,
except that about the year 395 he was obliged to leave it for a short time, on
account of an irruption of the Mazici, a barbarous people of Lybia; but the
plunderers were no sooner returned home but he hastened back to his former
solitude, where he remained till a second inroad of the same barbarians, in
which they massacred several hermits, compelled him entirely to forsake this
abode about the year 434. He retired weeping to the rock of Troë, called also
Petra, over against Memphis, and ten years after to Canopus, near Alexandria;
but not being able to bear the neighbourhood of that great city, he staid here
only three years; then returned to Troë, where he died two years after. Knowing
that his end was drawing near, he said to his disciples: “One only thing I beg
of your charity, that when I am dead I may be remembered in the holy sacrifice.
If in my life I have done any thing that is accepted by God, through his mercy,
that I shall now find again.” They were much grieved to hear him speak as if
they were going soon to lose him. Upon which he said: “My hour is not yet come.
I will acquaint you of it; but you shall answer it at the tribunal of Christ,
if you suffer any thing belonging to me to be kept as a relic.” They said, with
tears, (being solicitous for a funeral procession,) “What shall we do alone,
father? for we know not how to bury the dead.” The saint answered: “Tie a cord
to my feet, and drag my carcass to the top of the mountain, and there leave
it.” His brethren seeing him weep in his agony, said to him: “Father, why do
you weep? are you, like others, afraid to die?” The saint answered: “I am
seized with great fear; nor has this dread ever forsaken me from the time I
first came into these deserts.” The saints all serve God in fear and trembling,
in the constant remembrance of his judgment; but this is always accompanied
with a sweet confidence in his infinite love and mercies. The Holy Ghost,
indeed, so diversifies his gifts and graces as to make these dispositions more
sensible in some than in others. Notwithstanding this fear, Saint Arsenius
expired in great peace, full of faith, and of that humble confidence which
perfect charity inspires, about the year 449. He was ninety-five years old, of
which he had spent fifty-five in the desert. Abbot Pemen having seen him
expire, said, with tears: “Happy Arsenius! who have wept for yourself so much
here on earth! Those who weep not here shall weep eternally hereafter.” This
saint was looked upon by the most eminent monks of succeeding ages as a most
illustrious pattern of their state. The great Saint Euthymius endeavoured in
all his exercises to form himself upon the model of his life, and to copy in
himself his humility, his meekness, and constant evenness of mind, his
abstinences and watching, his compunction and tears, his love of retirement,
his charity, discretion, fervour, assiduous application to prayer, and that
greatness of soul which appeared with so much lustre in all his actions. The
name of Saint Arsenius occurs in the Roman martyrology on the 19th of July.
MLA Citation
- Father Alban Butler.
“Saint Arsenius, Anchoret of Sceté”. Lives of
the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 May 2017. Web. 9 May 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-arsenius-anchoret-of-scete/>
Weninger’s Lives of the Saints – Saint Arsenius, Hermit and Abbot
Article
Arsenius, one of the
most celebrated Hermits, was born at Rome, of Christian parents, who, from his
earliest childhood, reared him in the fear of the Lord. When more advanced in
years, he became so proficient in Greek and Latin, in profane and sacred sciences,
that he was considered the first among the learned men of Rome. The holy Pope
Damasus ordained him Deacon, and soon after sent him to the Court of
Constantinople, as the Emperor Theodosius had requested a learned man as tutor
for his two sons. Arsenius employed all his talents to instruct these princes
thoroughly in virtue and knowledge. One day, when the Emperor came into the
apartment where Arsenius taught his sons, he saw that the former was standing
while the latter received their instructions seated. He immediately made
Arsenius sit down and ordered the princes to stand during the time of
instruction; “for,” said he, “a teacher deserves more esteem than a father; the
latter gives only temporal, but the former spiritual life, by teaching virtue
and piety, which is far more valuable.” But, notwithstanding these lessons of
the Emperor to his sons, Arcadius, on one occasion, was so embittered against
his holy teacher, when he had been reproved on account of a great fault, that
he hired one of his servants to put him secretly to death. The servant, fearing
God more than Arcadius, informed Arsenius of the prince’s criminal design, and
the man, who had long since grown tired of life at court, and in prayer had
heard a voice, saying: “Flee the society of men, and you shalt save thy soul
immediately resolved to quit Constantinople secretly. He therefore left during
the night, and finding a ship ready to sail, he went on board and proceeded to
Egypt. He then repaired to the desert of Scete. already famous for the many
holy hermits who dwelt in it. He was already more than 65 years old; still he
desired to receive the habit, as the mode of life of these hermits was very
austere. As soon as they had appointed him a cell, he prayed to God on bended
knees and with streaming eyes, to impart to him the grace to learn what he most
needed to save his soul; and he again heard a voice saying: “Flee; be silent;
be at rest.” To these three principles of salvation the former tutor, now a
pious hermit, endeavored to conform the remainder of his life. He fled all
company of men, allowed none to enter his cell, strictly kept silence, never
spoke of the great knowledge he possessed, nor of the high position he had once
held. When asked the reason for which he observed so strict a silence, he
replied: “I have never regretted my silence, but often the words I had spoken.”
He found peace in prayer, and in communing with God. His austerity was so
great, that it astonished the oldest hermits. He fasted daily and much more
strictly than the others; he slept at night upon the. bare ground, or a stone,
and never longer than two hours, employing the remaining time in prayer. He
observed most faithfully, the regulations and pious customs of the hermits,
and, in one word, he lived, from the beginning, so perfect a life, that he was
a model to all others, although they were much more accustomed to the
austerities than he.
Meanwhile, the Emperor
had employed people to search everywhere for Arsenius; and the hermits, with
whom he dwelt, began. to think that he was the man for whom the Emperor
manifested such solicitude. They interrogated him; but not until they had
placed him under obedience, could he be persuaded to answer. When Arcadius,
who, on his father’s death, succeeded to the throne, was informed of the abode
of Arsenius, he immediately wrote to him, requesting forgiveness for past
offences, begging him to return to court, and assuring him of his favor. The
holy hermit, however, who had long tasted the sweetness of a solitary life,
only answered, that he would pray daily for the Emperor, but would never leave
the service of the Almighty. Solitude was much more agreeable to him than the
tumult of the world, and to serve God was more glorious than to be. the
courtier of a mortal monarch. Hence he desired to remain free from all temporal
cares and from all society of men. A nobleman came from Rome, and brought him
the will of a near relative, who had died, leaving him great possessions.
“How could he make me
his heir, when I died long before him?” said the holy hermit. By this he
intended to intimate, that he had died to the world and felt no longer any
interest in temporal affairs. Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, visited the
holy man, accompanied by the Governor, and desired, on leaving, to receive an
instruction from him. Arsenius said: “I beg you to leave Arsenius in peace, and
when they inform you of his abode, do not again take the trouble to visit him.”
Still more severely did he treat a lady, who had travelled from Rome to Egypt,
for the sole purpose of seeing this extraordinary man. Returning from a
conference with the hermits, he met her on the way to his cell, w’here she,
having waited for him, fell on her knees, saying that she had come only to see
him and to recommend herself to his prayers. The holy man was almost angry, and
without raising his eyes to her, he said, sternly: “Dost thou not know, that it
ill becomes a woman to travel about the world alone? Thou wouldst have acted
more wisely by remaining at home and superintending thy household, which work
was given to thee by God, than by coming here and disturbing the hermits.”
After saying these words, he entered his cell; but the woman cried after him:
“Promise, at least, that you wilt pray to God for me.” “Yes,” replied he, “I will
immediately pray to God to efface from my memory every recollection of thee.”
By this the Saint showed his desire to be separated from the world and belong
only to God. Sometimes, however, a feeling of weariness with his religious life
would steal over him; but no sooner did he become aware of it, than he would
say to himself:
“Arsenius, why hast you
left the world and clothed thyself in the habit of a religious? Why hast you
chosen this desert as a dwelling-place? Was it not in order to serve the Almighty?
Endeavor then to follow in the steps of Him for whom you have come. If you do
not wish to live like a hermit, you must to have remained in the world.” In
this manner the holy man comforted himself, and freed himself from all
indolence and weariness in the service of God. The temptations of Evil spirits,
who sometimes appeared visibly to him, he conquered by meditation on death, by
fervent prayers, and trust in God; frequently also, by the protection of the
angels, who appeared to him during the contest. These instructed him also in
many things, by means of visions, at the time of prayer. Thus he once saw a
Moor, who cut wood and bound the pieces together to carry them home. Finding
that the load was too heavy for him, he added still more wood, and then made an
effort to carry the burden. At another time Arsenius saw a man, who stood by a
river, and with great pains poured water into a barrel, which being full of
holes, retained nothing, and thus all his efforts were in vain. When the holy
man professed his surprise at both these performances, the angel explained them
to him. “The first,” said he, “represents a sinner, who, already guilty of one
or more mortal sins, still commits others, thinking that one confession will
suffice for all. The second represents a man who performs a great deal of work,
but without a good intention. The first renders his conversion very difficult,
and the burden of his sins will eventually drag him down and precipitate him
into hell. The second has no merit for his good works.” These, and other
similar instructions Saint Arsenius received from the angels, and he made use
of them for his own perfection and that of others.
When Arsenius had thus
lived a most austere life for more than fifty years, God revealed to him his
approaching end. Although the Saint fervently desired to see the Almighty face
to face, those around him in his last moments, after he had received the Holy
Sacraments, observed that he, who had lived so holy a life, feared death, and
trembled at its approach. “Can it be, some one asked him, “dear father, that
you should fear death? “Yes, truly,” answered he, “I fear death, and .have
feared it ever since I began to lead a religious life.” But this fear did not
last long; and soon peace and joy, such as trust in the Divine mercy imparts,
beamed from his countenance. Comforted and happy, he ended his admirable life,
in the 115th year of his life, or as others say, the 120th.
Practical Considerations
1. “Flee, be silent, be
at rest:” three short but comprehensive lessons which heaven gave to Saint
Arsenius, and by which he regulated his holy life. May you also conform your
life to them! Flee all occasions and dangers of sin. Flee those who, by word or
action, incite you to do wrong, or prevent your doing good. “Be silent.”
Indulge not in useless, frivolous and sinful discourses. You have, in regard to
this, already too much to answer for. “Be at rest.” Let not cares for the goods
of this world so engross you that you cannot give sufficient time to the
welfare of your soul. Occupy a portion of each day in prayer and other
spiritual exercises. On Sundays and holy days do more. Read a devout book, and
besides attending at mass, hear a sermon, and assist at other public devotions.
At the end of each month, meditate on the state of your soul, and consider what
you must do and what you must avoid in order to save your soul. This is to rest
from all other labors, and to attend to what is the most important of all, the
salvation of your soul. Consider the words of Saint Paul, which I have already
given you elsewhere: “We entreat you, brethren, that you use your endeavor to
be quiet, and that you do your own business;” that is, the one most needful and
most important, that of your eternal salvation. (1st
Thessalonians 4)
2. Saint Arsenius feared
death, although he had lived during many years so holy a life. How happens it
that you, leading so different and perhaps so sinful a life, do not fear death?
Oh! you most probably think too little of death. You do not earnestly consider
death and the life that follows it, or you think that your last hour is far
off, and hence, that you have plenty of time left to be concerned about it. But
perhaps you may belong to these who purposely avoid meditating on their last
hour, that they may not be disturbed in their sinful career. They do not desire
to hear anything about death, in order that no fear, no trepidation, no
melancholy thoughts may take possession of their hearts. How devoid of sense is
this! Does death put off his coming, or does he not make his appearance at all,
if we do not think of him? Will he appear less awful, when we do not wish to
hear and know anything about him? Experience teaches that death appears much
more terrible to those who seldom or never think of him, than to those who have
often meditated upon their last hour. He fills the soul of the former with much
greater dread. If you wish your last hour to be free from fear, fear now, but
let your fear be reasonable. Unreasonable is the fear of death, when we tremble
at the thought of it, but do nothing further. Such fear I do not wish you to
feel; for it is senseless and hurtful. Reasonable should your fear be: that is,
it should incite you to avoid everything that is able to make your death
unhappy, and to endeavor to do all that can be done to make your last hour one
of happy trust in God’s infinite mercy. To become the possessor of this
wholesome fear, it is necessary that you frequently think of death, not as far
off, but as quite near. “Remember that death is not slow,” says the Holy Ghost,
(Ecc. 24) “Behold the days of thy death are nigh.” (Deuteronomy 31) 44 Death
stands before the doors of the aged, but he comes unawares to the young.” (Saint Bernard)
MLA Citation
- Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Arsenius, Hermit and Abbot”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info. 15 March
2018. Web. 9 May 2020. <https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-arsenius-hermit-and-abbot/>
St
Arsenius
Monk. Born in Rome, in 354, Arsenius is said to have
been a deacon, and later a tutor to the Emperor Theodosius' children in
Constantinople.
He was rewarded with money, servants and possessions and
lived a luxurious life. But after ten years he felt God calling him, gave
everything away to join a group of desert monks near Wadi Narun in Egypt.
According to ancient accounts, when he arrived in the community, Saint John the
Dwarf, to whose cell he was led, took no notice of him and left him standing by
himself while he invited the rest to sit down at table. When the meal was half
finished he threw down some bread before him, bidding him with an air of
indifference eat if he would. Arsenius meekly picked up the bread and ate,
sitting on the ground. Satisfied with this proof of humility, St John kept him
under his direction.
In 434 he was forced to leave due to raids on the monasteries
and hermitages there by the Mazici tribesmen from Libya. He relocated to Troe,
near Memphis, and also spent some time on the island of Canopus near
Alexandria. He spent the next 15 years wandering the desert wilderness before
returning to Troe where he died in 445 at the age of around 100.
A biography of Arsenius was written by Theodore the Studite.
Saint Arsenius was a very quiet man. He once said: "Many
times I spoke, and as a result felt sorry, but I never regretted my silence."
Saint Arsenius the Great
The
Teacher of the Kings (A.D. 445)
His Early
Life
Arsenius was
born to two rich parents in A.D. 350 in Rome. His father was a senator and
judge. His parents were very righteous and honorable people. They sent Arsenius
to the teachers of the Church and was raised in the fear of God. He was eager
to read the Scriptures and the holy books, and was ordained a deacon then an
arch-deacon by Saint Damasus the Bishop of Rome.
After his
parents died, his sister Afrositty and he gave all their riches to the poor,
and lived an ascetic life. Arsenius became famous for his righteousness and
wisdom. He was a disciple of Rophenius the monastic historian from whom he
admired the Egyptian monastic life and its fathers, and he wished to meet them.
When the
Emperor Theodosius the Great wanted a man to whom he might entrust the
education of his children, Saint Damasus recommended Arsenius, a man of
senatorial rank learned in both sacred and worldly knowledge. Arsenius
accordingly went to Constantinople in 383 A.D. and was appointed to the post by
Theodosius who, coming once to see Arcadius and Honorius at their studies,
found them sitting whilst Arsenius talked to them standing: at once he caused
Arsenius to sit and ordered them to listen to him standing. But neither then
nor in after-life were the two augusti any credit to such a father or such a
tutor; added to this Arsenius had always a tendency to a retired life.
Flight to
the Desert of Egypt
When
therefore after over ten years at the court he seemed clearly to hear the voice
of God through the Gospel, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). He left
Constantinople and came by sea to Alexandria and fled into the wilderness. When
he first presented himself to Abba Macarius the Great, the father of the monks
of Skete, he recommended him to the care of Saint John the Dwarf to try him. In
the evening, when the rest of the monks sat down to take their meal, Saint John
left Arsenius standing in the middle without inviting him. Such a reception was
a severe trial to an ex- courtier; but was followed by another much rougher,
for Saint John took a loaf of bread and threw it on the ground before him,
biding him with an air of indifference to eat it if he would. Arsenius
cheerfully sat on the ground and took his meal. Saint John was so satisfied
with his behavior that he required no further trial for his admission, and
said, "This man will make a monk".
Arsenius at
first used thoughtlessly to do certain things which he had done in the world,
which seemed inappropriate to his new companions, for instance, to sit
cross-legged. The seniors were unwilling through the respect they bore him to
tell him of this in public, so one agreed with another that he should put
himself in that posture and then be rebuked for his immodesty. Arsenius saw
that the reproof was meant for him, and corrected himself of that trick.
His
Spiritual Strife
Being asked
one day why he, being so well educated, sought the instruction and advice of a
certain monk who was an utter stranger to all literature, he replied, "I
am not unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and the Romans; but I have
not yet learned the alphabet of the science of the saints, whereof this
seemingly ignorant Egyptian is master". Evagrius of Pontus who, after he
had distinguished himself at Constantinople by his learning, had retired into
the desert of Nitria in 385, expressed surprise that many learned men made no
progress in virtue, whilst many Egyptians, who did not even know the letters of
the alphabet, arrived at a high degree of contemplation. Arsenius answered,
"We make no progress because we dwell in that exterior learning which
puffs up the mind; but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense of their
own weakness, blindness, and insufficiency; and by that very thing they are
qualified to labor successfully in the pursuit of virtue".
Arsenius
often passed the whole night in watching and prayer, ad on Saturdays it was his
custom to go to prayers turning his back to the evening sun, and continue with
his hands lifted up to Heaven till the sun shone on his face the next morning.
His
Self-Imposed Poverty
One of the
emperor's officers brought him the will of a senator, his relation, who was
lately dead, and had left him his heir. The saint took the will and would have
torn it to pieces, but the officer begged him not to, saying such an accident
would get him in trouble. Arsenius, however, refused the estate, saying "I
died eleven years ago and cannot be his heir".
He employed
himself in making mats of palm-tree leaves; and he never changed the water in
which he moistened the leaves, but only poured in fresh water upon it as it
wasted. When some asked him why he did not cast away the filthy water, he
answered, "I ought to be punished by this smell for the self-indulgence
with which I formerly used perfumes". He lived in the most utter poverty,
so that in an illness, having need for a small sum to procure him some little
necessities, he was obliged to beg for it.
His
Solitude and Tears
Due to his
desire for quiet and solitude, Saint John allowed Saint Arsenius to live alone
in a hidden cave in the desert 32 miles away. He would seldom see strangers who
came to visit him, but Theophilus, Pope of Alexandria, came one day in company
with others to visit him, and begged he would speak on some subject for the
good of their souls. The saint asked them whether they were disposed to comply
with his directions; and being answered in the affirmative, he replied, "I
entreat you then that, whenever you are informed of Arsenius' abode, you would
leave him to himself and spare yourselves the trouble of coming after him".
He never visited his brethren, contenting himself with meeting them at
spiritual conferences. The abbot Mark asked him one day why he so much shunned
their company. The saint answered, "God knows how dearly I love you all;
but I find I cannot be both with God and with men at the same time; nor can I
think of leaving God to converse with men".
This
disposition, however, did not hinder him from giving spiritual instruction to
his brethren, and several of his sayings are recorded. He said often, "I
have always something to repent for after having talked, but have never been
sorry for having been silent".
Nothing is so
much spoken of about Arsenius as his gift of tears, weeping both over his own
shortcomings and those of the world, particularly the feebleness of Arcadius
and the foolishness of Honorius.
His
Departure
Saint
Arsenius was tall and comely but stooped a little in his old age; he had
graceful carriage and a certain shining beauty and air of both majesty and
meekness; his hair was all white, and his beard reached down to his girdle, but
the tears which he shed continually had worn away his eye-lashes. He lived in
the same austere manner till the age of about ninety-five; he spent forty years
in the desert of Skete, till a raid of barbarians compelled him to forsake this
abode about the year 434. He retired to the rock of Troe, over against Memphis,
and ten years after to the island of Canopus, near Alexandria; but not being
able to bear the neighborhood of that city, he returned to Troe, where he died.
His brethren,
seeing him weep in his last hours, said to him, "Father, why do you weep?
Are you, like others, afraid to die?" The saint answered, "I am very
afraid - nor has this dread ever forsaken me from the time I first came into
these deserts". Notwithstanding his fear, Saint Arsenius died in great
peace, full of faith and of that humble confidence which perfect charity
inspires, in the year 445.
May the
prayers of this great Saint Arsenius, the teacher of the king's children, be
with us all. Amen.
Conclusion
Parents'
responsibility in educating their children. "For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?". "I have
always something to repent for after having talked, but have never been sorry
for having been silent". Virtues that allowed him to decide to change
albeit at old age. Saint Arsenius before and after joining the fathers of the
desert.
Venerable Arsenius the Great
Saint Arsenius the Great
was born in the year 354 at Rome into a pious Christian family, which provided
him a fine education and upbringing. He studied rhetoric and philosophy, and
mastered the Latin and Greek languages. Saint Arsenius gave up philosophy and
the vanity of worldly life, seeking instead the true wisdom praised by Saint
James “pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and
good fruits” (Jas. 3:17). He entered the ranks of the clergy as a deacon in one
of the Roman churches, dedicating himself to the service of God.
The emperor Theodosius
(379-395), who ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire, heard about his
erudition and piety, and he wished to entrust Arsenius with the education of
his sons Arcadius and Honorius. Arsenius, however, protested that he had given
up secular studies in order to serve God. Against his will, but in obedience to
the will of Pope Damasus (December 11), Saint Arsenius agreed to teach the
imperial children, hoping to teach them Christian piety as well.
When he arrived at
Constantinople, Arsenius was received with great honor by the emperor
Theodosius, who charged him to educate his sons not only in wisdom, but also in
piety, guarding them from the temptations of youth. “Forget that they are the
emperor’s sons,” said Theodosius, “for I want them to submit to you in all
things, as to their father and teacher.”
With fervor the saint
devoted himself to the education of the youths, but the high esteem in which he
was held troubled his spirit, which yearned for the quietude of monastic life.
Saint Arsenius entreated the Lord to show him the way to salvation. The Lord
heard his prayer and one time he heard a voice telling him, “Arsenius, flee
from men, and you shall be saved.” And then, removing his rich clothing and
replacing it with old and tattered garments, he secretly left the palace,
boarded a ship for Alexandria, and he made his way to Sketis, a monastery in
the midst of the desert.
Arriving at the church, he
asked the priests to accept him into the monastic brotherhood, calling himself
a wretched wanderer, though his very manner betrayed him as a cultivated man.
The brethren led him to Abba John the Dwarf (November 9), famed for his
holiness of life. He, wishing to test the newcomer’s humility, did not seat
Arsenius with the monks for the trapeza meal. He threw him a piece of dry bread
saying, “Eat if you wish.” Saint Arsenius got down on his hands and knees, and
picked up the bread with his mouth. Then he crawled off into a corner and ate
it. Seeing this, Elder John said, “He will be a great ascetic!” Then accepting
Arsenius with love, he tonsured him into monasticism.
Saint Arsenius zealously
passed through his obediences and soon he surpassed many of the desert Fathers
in asceticism. The saint again heard the Voice while he was praying, “Arsenius,
hide from people and dwell in silence, this is the root of virtue.” From that
moment Saint Arsenius settled in a solitary cell deep in the desert.
Having taken on the
struggle of silence he seldom left his seclusion. He came to church only on
Sundays and Feast days, observing complete silence and conversing with no one.
When Abba Moses asked him why he hid himself from people, Saint Arsenius
replied, “God knows that I love you, but I cannot remain with God and with men
at the same time. The Heavenly Powers all have one will and praise God
together. On earth, however, there are many human wills, and each man has his
own thoughts. I cannot leave God in order to live with people.”
Though absorbed in constant
prayer, the saint did not refuse visiting monks with his counsel and guidance,
giving short, but perceptive answers to their questions. Once, a monk from
Sketis saw the great Elder through a window standing at prayer, surrounded by a
flame.
The handicraft of Saint
Arsenius was to weave baskets, for which he used the fronds of date palms
soaked in water. For a whole year Saint Arsenius did not change the water in
the container, but merely added a little water to it from time to time. This
caused his cell to be permeated with a foul stench. When asked why he did this,
the saint replied that it was fitting for him to humble himself in this way, because
in the world he had used incense and fragrant oils. He prayed that after death
he would not experience the stench of hell.
The fame of the great
ascetic spread far, and many wanted to see him, and they disturbed his
tranquility. As a result, the saint was forced to move around from place to
place. But those thirsting to receive his guidance and blessing still found
him.
Saint Arsenius taught that
many take upon themselves great deeds of repentance, fasting, and vigil, but it
is rare for someone to guard his soul from pride, greed, jealousy, hatred of
one’s brother, remembrance of wrongs, and judgment. In this they resemble graves
which are decorated outwardly, but filled with stinking bones.
A certain monk once asked
Saint Arsenius what he should do when he read the Holy Scriptures and did not
comprehend their meaning. The Elder answered, “My child, you must study and
learn the Holy Scriptures constantly, even if you do not understand their
power... For when we have the words of the Holy Scriptures on our lips, the
demons hear them and are terrified. Then they flee from us, unable to bear the
words of the Holy Spirit Who speaks through His apostles and prophets.”
The monks heard how the
saint often urged himself on in his efforts with the words, “Rouse yourself,
Arsenius, work! Do not remain idle! You have not come here to rest, but to
labor.” He also said, “I have often regretted the words I have spoken, but I
have never regretted my silence.”
The great ascetic and
keeper of silence was given the gift of tears with which his eyes were
constantly filled. He spent fifty-five years at monastic labors and struggles.
He spent forty years at Sketis, and ten years on the mountain of Troe near
Memphis. Then he spent three years at Canopus, and two more years at Troe,
where he fell asleep in the Lord.
Our holy, God-bearing
Father Arsenius reposed when he was nearly one hundred years old, in the year
449 or 450.
His only disciples seem to
have been Alexander, Zoilos, and Daniel (June 7).
