Early Life and Monastic Formation
Arsenius was born in Novgorod and worked as a coppersmith before entering monastic life. He received monastic tonsure at the Lisich monastery near Novgorod, where he remained for eleven years in spiritual preparation.
In 1373 he traveled to Mount Athos, where he spent three years in prayer while also crafting copper vessels for the monastic community. He returned to Russia in 1393, bringing with him an icon of the Mother of God that came to be called the Konevits Icon.
Foundation of Konevets Monastery
Arsenius transported the Konevits Icon to Konevets Island on Lake Ladoga, where he spent several years in solitary contemplation. With authorization from Archbishop John of Novgorod, he founded a cenobitic monastery in 1398 dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
He subsequently made a second visit to Mount Athos to seek the prayers and blessings of the holy fathers for his new community. According to accounts of the monastery, his mission included the conversion of the Karelian people, and the island had earlier held spiritual significance for Finnish tribes who venerated a large boulder shaped like a horse's skull, known as the Steed-Stone, from which the name Konevets derives.
A significant flood in 1421 damaged the monastery structures, necessitating relocation to another site on the island.
Legacy
The monastery on Konevets Island, often regarded as a twin foundation with the Valaam Monastery, kept the Konevits Icon as its primary shrine. The image, brought from Mount Athos, depicts the Mother of God with the Christ Child holding a dove.
In later centuries the monastery endured occupation during the Ingrian War, when Swedish forces captured the island and the monks evacuated to Novgorod, returning after Russia's victory in the Great Northern War. The monastery remained dependent on Novgorod until 1760, when it achieved independent status. It was revived by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990 and substantially restored by 2004.
Relics & Shrines
Arsenius was buried in the monastery church after his death in 1447. In November 1991 the brethren announced the discovery of his relics, which had reportedly been hidden during the 16th century to protect them during the Swedish incursions.
Works About the Saint
A biography of Arsenius was composed in the sixteenth century by Igumen Barlaam and published in 1850 alongside liturgical texts.
