Arsenius the Great
Desert Father
Feast: 8 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Arsenius, born at Rome in 354 of a noble family, was chosen by Emperor Gratian and Pope Damasus as tutor to the son of Theodosius the Great, and lived at the court of Constantinople in great state from 383.
Praying to know what to do, he heard a voice: 'Arsenius, flee the company of men, and thou shalt be saved.' He fled secretly to the desert of Scetis in Egypt and lived fifty-five years as a solitary, meanly clad, always at prayer, refusing even to return as adviser to the Emperor Arcadius. He died at Troe in Egypt in 450; his contemporaries called him 'the Great'.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A courtier who left the imperial palace for a life of prayer and penance in the desert.
Connected on this site
- John the Dwarf Saint Teacher
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Arsenius
- Wikidata Q530065 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Arsenius the Great (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.