Elder Arsenios Spileotis the Cave-Dweller

Elder Arsenios the Cave-Dweller was one of the most revered ascetics of Mount Athos, known for his dedication to the monastic life and his deep spirituality. He was born in 1886 in Corfu and baptized with the name Anastasios. From a young age, he showed a particular interest in spiritual life and prayer.

At the age of 26, in 1912, he decided to join monasticism and went to Mount Athos. There, he practiced asceticism in various places but eventually settled in the skete of Little St. Anne, where he lived until the end of his life. Arsenios received the name Arsenios during his tonsure.

Elder Arsenios was known for his strict asceticism and unceasing prayer. He lived in a small cave, isolated from the rest of the world, devoted to worship and prayer. His contemporaries described him as a man of great humility, love, and discernment.

Despite his rigorous ascetic life, Elder Arsenios was always willing to help his fellow men. Many monks and pilgrims turned to him for spiritual advice and comfort, and his wisdom left a profound impact on those who knew him.

The blessed Elder Arsenios Spileotis was a companion in asceticism for about forty years with Saint Joseph the Hesychast (1897-1959). Describing the life and deeds of such a great ascetic is not an easy task in just a few pages. Elder Arsenios, a Pontian by origin, left Russia at a young age and traveled on foot to Constantinople, from where he took a ship to the Holy Land. There, he served for almost ten years at the Holy Sepulchre and other pilgrimage sites.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Elder Arsenios served, he met the ascetic of Aegina, Hieronymus, from whom he received his first advanced lessons in the ascetic life. Leaving the noise of the world behind, he sought refuge on Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain, where he dedicated himself to the monastic life.

At the Holy Monastery of Stavronikita, he took the monastic vows and the name Arsenios. There, he engaged in rigorous ascetic struggles, but his thirst for higher asceticism led him to seek even more austere ascetics in the wilderness of Mount Athos.

God revealed to him the desired companion: another young man, the future Saint Joseph the Hesychast, with whom he united spiritually, remaining inseparable until death. The two ascetics met and collaborated with other great ascetics of the time, such as Elder Daniel the Katounakiotis and Kallinikos the Hesychast.

Following a strict ascetic life, Elder Arsenios performed 3,000 prostrations each night and lived on minimal sleep and food. He also took care of manual labor, carrying supplies and materials for the maintenance of the buildings.

The two ascetics, tattered and barefoot, were considered "fools" by many, but in reality, they were "fools for Christ." After twenty years in the wilderness of Saint Basil, in 1938, they moved to Little Saint Anne’s Skete and in 1953 to New Skete, where Saint Joseph departed in 1959.

Elder Arsenios passed away full of days on September 2/15, 1983, in the hands of John the Baptist. Eternal be his memory.