Linda - November, 2023 - St. Arsenius, who is perhaps my favourite desert father, was born in Rome in the year 350 or 360.  Because his father was a rich senator, he became a well educated man which then drew the attention of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius I who needed a tutor for his two sons. So Arsenius went to Constantinople in 383 and began to educate the two princes while living at court. It was a sumptuous life, but over time, he felt a growing desire to leave this life and renounce the world.

Since his parents had seen to his spiritual formation, Arsenius was a man of prayer.  It was during one of his times of prayer that he asked the Lord, "Teach me how to be saved".  The accounts differ as to what the Lord answered but I prefer