Arsenius the Great
Arsenius the Deacon (c. 354 – 450), sometimes known as Arsenius of Scetis and Turah, Arsenius the Roman or Arsenius the Great, was a Roman imperial tutor who became an anchorite in Egypt, one of the most highly regarded of the Desert Fathers, whose teachings were greatly influential on the development of asceticism and the contemplative life.
His contemporaries so admired him as to surname him "the Great". His feast day is celebrated on May 8 in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Roman Catholic Church, though Roman Catholics kept his date on July 19 prior to the revision of the Roman Martyrology after the Second Vatican Council. He is celebrated on 13 Pashons in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
In the Martyrology
- May 8 Saint Arsenius, hermit