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Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father : Being the Narratives Compiled by the Servant of God Alexander Concerning His Spiritual Father

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I read Father Arseny aloud to my 13 year old son, and we both agreed it was one of the best books we have ever read. He begged me to get him his own copy! While I am a recent convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, I would've recommended this book to anyone before I knew anything about Orthodoxy.

The chapters all have a ring of truth as they describe the horrible conditions of the prisoners in Stalin's Siberian camps. The stories of how Father Arseny, a former art historian turned Russian Orthodox priest, survived and shared the love of God with his fellow prisoners, including the Communist official who sent him there, are humbling and truly awe inspiring.

The middle section deals with Father Arseny's days following his release from prison, but still during the days of Communist opposition to any underground Christian activity.

The final section introduces the reader to individuals whose lives were incredibly touched by the ministry and faith of Father Arseny.

We in the West need to learn more about what went on behind the Iron Curtain during the Bolshevik years. This book puts a human face on the suffering.

Orthodox Christians like to tell each other that their church is the "best kept secret" in America. That's one way to make sense of the puzzling fact that, though membership estimates range from three to six million (record-keeping is not the faith's strong suit), the church is mostly invisible. Other Americans might recall going to a Greek wedding once, or seeing Russians troop around their church with candles at midnight, but otherwise have little awareness of this non-Protestant, non-Catholic, Christian body.

Thus, when something big happens in the world of Orthodox publishing, it's mostly unknown outside church circles. Something big happened four years ago, with the publication of "Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father."
This was a translation of a book that had already sold 400,000 copies in Russia, the first open publication of a battered manuscript which had previously circulated only in carbon copy, underground.

American Orthodox immediately recognized "Father Arseny" as a spiritual treasure. The book is a collection of memoirs assembled by someone who calls himself "the servant of God Alexander." The essays describe a Russian priest through the eyes of many who knew him, both during his years in a communist
concentration camp, and in the town where he lived till his death in 1975. Father Arseny's radical compassion and humility embody the distinctive flavor of Orthodox spirituality, and as such his story struck an immediate chord.

For example, the book opens with dawn in the sub-freezing gulag, as the feeble, aging priest struggles to light a fire for the barracks. Clergy were despised by everyone, even other prisoners; Christians were believed to be stupid. Yet in the course of this typical day Fr. Arseny endures beatings and
abuse with patience, while caring for two sick prisoners and sharing with them his rations. One invalid is a criminal, and the other a deposed official who had signed Fr. Arseny's own sentence. Through the course of succeeding chapters both become converts, and take the priest as their spiritual father.

The character of this kindly, long-suffering priest contrasts with the American expectation of what a successful Christian leader would be like: glib, brisk, upbeat, forceful. Fr. Arseny represents a different kind of Christian spirituality, one associated more with the Desert Fathers and early Christian spirituality.

Fr. Arseny differs in another way: he has contact with the supernatural. American Christian spokesmen live in an orderly, corporate sort of world, but Fr. Arseny is frequently shown at crux of miraculous events. In one incident, he and a young man are thrown into a punishment cell, a small metal cubicle
exposed to -22 degree temperatures. The guards expected to find both dead when they unlocked the door 48 hours later. Instead, they found the prisoners rested and radiant, with a thick coat of frost on their clothing. As the young man described it later, when he collapsed in despair he saw the dark cell flooded with light, and Fr. Arseny praying in priestly garments. The young man, like most others who knew Fr. Arseny, was transformed by his encounter.

These distinctively Orthodox elements, of humble compassion and spiritual power, are what made the first "Father Arseny" volume so beloved, and why the new volume has been eagerly awaited. "Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses" continues the story with essays by people who knew him in the years after
prison, and like the first includes many tales of personal transformation and miracles.

When asked if other, similar samizdat works are waiting to be published, translator Vera Bouteneff says, "I wish, I wish. Everything I've found so far was much too sweet." Her own parents fled Russia soon after the Revolution;
her father had been sentenced to be shot, but the order was commuted to exile. Her practical turn of mind is evident in the straightforwardness of the translation. Many other holy women and men lived during the communist era, but Bouteneff has found those accounts to be overstated and saccharine. "Fr. Arseny," which was written by many different people of different
educational levels, preserves a winning directness. Those who would like to know more about Orthodox Christian spirituality can see it enacted in these books, worked out in human lives rather than in theory.

Soon after the publication of the first volume a story went around the internet: an Orthodox nun who had been reading the book one night turned out her light to go to sleep, looked back toward the book "and it was glowing. Though she hadn't heard the story, "I won't deny it," says Bouteneff. "I believe in miracles."

Father Arseny's life and teachings are truly remarkable in their depth of love, humility and wisdom. Born out of deep physical and spiritual suffering, Father Arseny's life is presented to the reader in vivid accounts by some of those who knew him best (spiritual children and fellow prisoners in the "corrective" prisons). This book is one of the few books that I would say actually changed me deeply with each reading. It sounds ridiculous, but even now, if I only look at it there on my shelf I am edified. It as if Fr. Arseny is here with me, praying for me. Perhaps some of you understand what I mean. That just one person such as himself exists in a decade is enough to witness to the power of Christ in the world.

This books is highly recommended for spiritual edification and growth.

I am wary of those who write about a book that it "changed their lives" or that "it is a book every person should have to read." In most cases, these are heavy exaggerations and over-dramatic praises. However, I must admit that this book falls into both of these categories. "Father Arseny" is not a perfect book; the translation (from Russian) is imperfect and the chapters are mostly very scattered, not having anything to do with one another. I was hoping for a chronological biography; instead I got many stories broken into 3 sections, the last with some stories which don't even make note of Father Arseny except when mentioning the fact that the people in the story later met Father Arseny or were his spiritual children. However, the impact some of the chapters have - both of the priest and of his spiritual children - is so deep, one does not want the book to end.

The first part of the book describes Father Arseny's time in a Soviet gulag and the many miracles which were performed through him. One of these stories in particular - that of Fr. Arseny and the prisoner Alexei in a cell for three days in -22 degree weather - is so miraculous, it alone makes the book worth picking up. Another - that of the woman being saved by the Mother of God from being raped - also has a profound affect on the reader. These are just two of the many stories which I will never forget, and which I will return to to read again many times in my life.

Mainly, this book taught me two things: First, I find that I see faith in everyone now. The Light of faith exists in all people, even if only a spark. The other main thing this book gave me was a much deeper and poignant respect, love, and trust in the Theotokos; some of the stories are as much or more about her than they are about Father Arseny.

Orthodox or not, I would recommend this book to anyone. Without a doubt, it will make that aforementioned spark of faith grow, and keep it burning for years to come.

(be sure to pick up the second Father Arseny book as well, "Father Arseny: A Cloud of Witnesses")

I just completed reading Fr. Arseny Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father. And I wanted to share with anyone who whould listen that this book was one that I could hardly put down. It reads simply, easily, yet truthfully. It is not spiced up with pietism nor does it try to make something out of the man that he was not,yet who he was in Christ was nothing short of ingodded, (an Orhodox Christian Phrase used to describe someone who has given his life so totally unto God that he or she has become by Grace everything that God is by nature. In otherwords: Christlike. I found myself, a grown man, weeping at times; laughing in the spirit in others. But always deeply moved and contemplative. I now ask Fr. Arseny to Pray for me a sinner. I have been an Orthodox Christian for 25 years and rarely have I found a book that touched my soul as deeply as this book. Whether you are Orthodox, Catholic, Or Protestant, if you want to read about a REAl MODERN DAY SAINT read this. It contains no tampering to make him sound better than he is, with all accounts checked with witnesses from the Russian Gulog where he spent over 20 years in prison simply for being a Christian Priest, to His Spiritual Children. This Book is a MUST READ!

Rarely do I find a book that is compelling from start to finish. A book that through which the Holy Spirit reaches into my very depths calling me to lay down my self-centeredness, my pride and my love of the world, to reach to something and someone so much greater. The stories of how Fr. Arseny took incredible abuse and won over the tormentors with the great love of Christ flowing through his life. A non-stop book of God's loves and miracles fully active in todays world, even at the worlds worst. Rare will be the person who can read this without having a sense of a deep inner goodness wanting to come to the surface and reach out to others. This is truly a call to all of us to allow God to bring us to His best and highest in our lives.

Having stumbled across this book during travels in the Caucuses I found I had come across a book which describes one of the most remarkable men of Soviet Russia.

The book was initially published in the west and smuggled into the Soviet Union due to the state repression of religion and its belief that the late father and his followers were members of a fanatical religious group (a term used often during the Soviet era to describe anyone remotely religious) It was also privately published and distributed amongst his followers and like minded individuals.

The late father was a scholar in art who had been ordained a priest. He was imprisoned during Stalin's most ruthless suppression of religion and transported to a gulag in Siberia where he was to spend 20 years of his life.

The book begins describing the late fathers life at the Gulag. Here it seems there were two main groups, criminals who were sent there for crimes ranging from petty crime to the most dangerous crimes of murder and robbery. Some of the men the father met where without doubt by our standards psychotic, they had raped, murdered and killed many without conscience. The second group were intellectuals, men who had fallen out of favour with the Stalinist regime, usually men who had rubbed party officials the wrong way or who had been condemned with trumped up charges put together by political rivals. These included, doctors, scholars, politicians, artists. There were a smaller group of men who had fought along side Germany in the second world war but they were featured later on in the book.

The first half of the book narrates stories recounted by former inmates at the Gulag who later on became the fathers spiritual childern examples of his generosity, his compassion to others and even of miracles that were performed. The stories give life to the every day life in the gulag, the punishments, the daily toil, how death was an every day event. There are stories such as when the father stood up for a young intellectual who had fallen foul of the criminals and they both ended up serving 3 days in a punishment cell, a punishment in the freezing conditions of Siberia that usually meant certain death. The father prayed and instructed the young man to do likewise and both were saved by the grace of God. The young man was later to become a follower of the father.

The second part of the book narrates the life of the father on his release from the gulag where he lived in a small town and his students who would visit him, some reaching important positions in the Soviet government others becoming men of the cloth themselves. Each story narrates the lives and struggles of the individual and how through prayer and belief in God they were able to overcome the trials they faced.

I found the book a fascinating one (In fact I read it in just over a day) and was personally moved by several of the stories (The husband devoted to his wife, the young man who became a priest in a small town after being a war hero in WW2, how the father reformed a known criminal and prayed for the dying monk) I would recommend reading this book to not only those interested in religion but also who would like to know something of the life of those who lived in the Soviet Union.

This book is an incredible description of a holy follower of Christ as he is subjected to the inhumane conditions of Soviet concentration camps. In spite of his total innocence, he endures all physical and emotional tortures as if out of his body and his love and compassion for his fellow prisoners are a marvel to experience. Any one who is struggling with the attempt to follow a Christ-like way of life will find a most incredible role model in Father Arseny.

This book is not for sensitive nerves, but even if one enters in ones mind into the horrors of Stalin's "special camps" - camps no less cruel than Hitler's, at times worse - one cannot really grasp the pain and suffering of all the prisoners; and especially Prisoner No. 18376, better known as Father Arseny. But to many he was like Christ on earth, a true Christian in all meanings of the word. The interesting thing about this book, a zamisdat from the Soviet era, is it's two layers. On the surface the incrediable stories about the camps, the Soviet-Communist Holocaust, and beneath the Message of God and His Will. Among all these horrors the faith in God survived and persisted - The Cross' victory over indifference and atheism. Fr. Arseny didn't preach sermons on the Faith, no, he lived it and suffered it as Jesus Christ did. He lived like all true Christians should. Seing the Faith lived in the person of "a little priest", a man willing to sacrifice himself for his neighbour and seing the suffering Christ in even the worst criminals in the camps, is what gives the strongest impression and it's dimension! This impression overshadows the horrors of the Siberian camps. The last part of the book, called "Spiritual Children", can perhaps at first look dull and insignificant after the stories told earlier in the book, but don't be fooled. That's really an example of how a true saint influence both the believer, the lukewarm believer, and the unbeliever. In short, how Christian virtues by example not by words only, lead man towards salvation!

This wonderful treasure of Russian spirituality chronicles the life of a holy man, a priest living in Communist Russia as told through the people who knew him best: his friends and spiritual children. Through all the trials and oppression Father Arseny faces under the Communist government, he perseveres like a true Christian warrior. Readers should find his life an encouragement in pursuing their spiritual lives and not despairing when confronted with various trials.