Saint Arsène : l’homme qui a fui l’Empire pour le silence du désert (19 juillet)

Sanctus - Saint(e) du Jour

Saint Arsène, Arsène du désert, saint du jour, 19 juillet, moine ermite, Pères du désert, silence intérieur, conversion chrétienne, vie contemplative, désert d’Égypte, Église catholique, calendrier liturgique, dévotion quotidienne, père spirituel, ascèse chrétienne, vie monastique, spiritualité chrétienne

Transcript

00:00Today, July 19, the Church invites us to meditate on a radical figure, Saint Arsenius.

00:11He was born around the year 354 in Rome, into a noble and cultured family.

00:17At a very young age, he stood out for his intelligence, his righteousness and his deep faith.

00:24He became a deacon and his qualities attracted attention, even at the imperial court.

00:30Emperor Theodosius summoned him to Constantinople to be tutor to his two sons, including the future Emperor Arcadius.

00:39Arsène accepts.

00:41For years he lived in the refined luxury of the imperial palace, charged with instructing the heirs of the Roman Empire.

00:49He knows honors, wealth, power, but something is missing.

00:55Deep down, Arsène is tormented.

00:59He feels that God is calling him to something else.

01:01One day he prays.

01:03“Lord, teach me how to be saved.”

01:07And the answer he receives in the silence of prayer is simple.

01:10“Run away, be quiet, rest.”

01:14So, without noise, he leaves everything.

01:16He crossed the Mediterranean, settled in Egypt, in the desert of Sété, alongside the fathers of the desert.

01:24There begins a life of silence, beatings, tears and prayers.

01:30Arsène hardly speaks anymore.

01:32He flees the company of men.

01:34He sleeps little, eats little, prays constantly.

01:38To those who come to see him, he sometimes says,

01:41"I have often regretted having spoken, never having remained silent."

01:46He is not seeking to teach, he is seeking to convert.

01:51Not once, but every day.

01:55Paradoxically, his silence attracts.

01:58Many monks come to learn from him.

02:01But Arsène keeps his distance.

02:03His teaching is internal.

02:06He speaks through silence, through example, through humility.

02:10He died around the year 449, after 95 years, in the anonymity of the desert.

02:18But his name, his example, his radicalism spans the centuries.

02:25Saint Arsenius reminds us that silence is not empty.

02:29It is a space where God speaks, where the soul is converted,

02:34where the truth gently descends into the heart.

02:36Saint Arsenius, you who left everything to follow Christ in the desert,

02:44teach us to be silent,

02:47to listen to God in the heart

02:49and to look for what is not happening.

02:53Amen.

03:06Subtitling Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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Transcription

Recommandations