Arsenius the Great was a ninth-century Georgian hierarch who served as Catholicos of Georgia and was a leading figure of the monastic revival associated with Gregory of Khandzta. By tradition he was the youngest son of an aristocrat named Mirian of Meskheti, in southern Georgia, and his mother was named Kravaia. As a young man he was brought to the monastery of Khandzta by Gregory of Khandzta, who became his teacher and spiritual father.
His elevation to the office of Catholicos was unusual: the synaxarion relates that his father Mirian had him enthroned as Catholicos of all Georgia on his own initiative, bypassing the regular procedure of a Church council. A council convened to examine the irregularity, but Gregory of Khandzta intervened on his behalf, and the appointment was confirmed. Arsenius went on to lead the Georgian Church for twenty-seven years.
Arsenius is remembered as a learned writer, hymnographer, and church builder. He composed hymns and Lives of the saints and is credited with the historical and ecclesiological treatise On the Division of the Georgian and Armenian Churches, as well as a Life and Martyrdom of Abibos of Nekresi. He is also remembered as a builder of churches. He reposed in the year 887 and is commemorated on September 25.
