Venerable Arsenius of Novgorod the Fool-for-Christ

Life

According to the Russian-tradition vita, Arsenius was born in the city of Rzhev and at first bore the name Ambrose. By trade he was engaged in leather dressing.

His mother pressed him to marry; after a time, however, he left his home and his wife and went to Novgorod. There he took monastic vows and is said to have founded a monastery.

The same accounts describe his ascetic life: he mortified his body in every way he could, wearing chains and heavy iron fetters beneath shabby clothing, and prayed with tears. By these labors, the tradition relates, he received from God the gift of clairvoyance. He is remembered above all as a fool for Christ's sake.

Sources and uncertainty

The defining facts of his life rest on the Russian hagiographical tradition rather than on detailed contemporary record. The widely circulated English synaxarion entry (Orthodox Church in America) supplies only his name, epithet, and feast, noting that no further information is available.

Some Russian accounts place his repose in the sixteenth century, but the sources consulted for this profile did not confirm a precise year, and no details of his relics could be verified. These points are therefore left open.