Scholarship and Translations
Arsenius devoted his life to making the doctrinal and historical heritage of the Greek-speaking Church available in Georgian. At Mangana he completed a translation of the Chronicle of the Byzantine historian George Hamartolus, a nine-volume historical account running from Adam to the year 842. His most substantial scholarly achievement was the compilation of the Dogmatikon, a large collection of dogmatic and polemical works drawn from sixteen key Byzantine theological authors, assembled in defense of the Orthodox faith.
Later, at the academy of Gelati Monastery, he translated the Nomocanon, a Byzantine collection of ecclesiastical law, from the original Greek into Georgian. Sources describe him broadly as a theologian, philosopher, writer of allegories and verses, poet, and compiler of liturgical typika, reflecting the breadth of learning he brought to the Georgian academies.
Service to the Georgian Church
Around 1114, Arsenius answered the summons of King David IV (David the Builder, called the Restorer) and, with several other Georgian monks returning from abroad, joined the work of rebuilding the Georgian Church. He collaborated with the philosopher Ioane Petritsi (John of Petrizos) in establishing Byzantine philosophical traditions at the newly founded Georgian academies, and founded the academy at Iqalto Monastery.
He took part in the Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi convened by King David, and is thought to have played a role in the 1123 debate the king organized between Armenian and Georgian churchmen in an attempt to reconcile doctrinal differences between the two churches. Arsenius was present at the king's repose and is said to have composed his epitaph.
Repose and Veneration
Saint Arsenius died in 1127. He was buried at Iqalto, next to Saint Zenon, the founder of Iqalto Monastery. He is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his memory is commemorated on February 6.
