Arsenius of Paros

Arsenius of Paros, called Arsenius the New, was a Greek teacher, spiritual father, and wonderworker of the nineteenth century. He is commemorated on January 31.

By the accounts he was born on January 31, 1800, at Ioannina in Epirus, and received the name Athanasius at his baptism. Orphaned of his parents while still young, at the age of nine he went to Kydoniai in Asia Minor, where he was received by the hieromonk Gregory and began his formation in learning and the spiritual life.

He afterward took up the monastic life and settled in time on the island of Paros, where he labored as a teacher and a spiritual father, guiding many souls. Renowned for his asceticism and for his gifts of grace, he is venerated as a wonderworker. He reposed in 1877 and was numbered among the saints in 1967.