St. Arsenii (Matsievich), Metropolitan of Rostov, passed away on this day in 1772. Until the mid-late 18th century (the time of Empress Elsabeth), most Russian bishops came from modern-day Ukraine and Belarus. It was a tough time to be alive. For the Russian reformer Peter the Great, the supreme deity was the Russian state. He would give up everything for its sake and expected no less from others. A Russian holds that monks cut out from the same social fabric as everybody else (kakoi mir takie i monakhi, “such as the world is, so also are the monks”). Therefore, the Synod acted no differently from any other imperial ministry at this time. Throughout the 18th century, the Synod issued only one letter of encouragement. All other decrees dealt with investigation and penance. The future metropolitan Arsenii was born in 1697 in Volhynia. He received a solid theological education in Kiev and went to Siberia as a priestmonk. He was part of an expedition to Alaska led by a Danish captain of the Russian Crown in 1734. From 1736 onward, Arsenii served as an inquisitor (interrogator) at the Moscow branch of the Synod. A certain 85-year-old Abbot Triphon died during one of Arsenii’s interrogations. While he ordered to torture this abbot, Arsenii did not take into account his age. The Synod pointed out that there should not be a “one size fits all torture," but its application should depend on conditions, so that a person remains alive. In 1741, Aresnii was consecrated Metropolitan of Siberia. While serving there, he defended the indigenous people from the abuses of the Russian imperial administration. The following year, he was appointed to Rostov. During his tenure, the translation of St. Dimitry of Rostov’s relics took place. In 1753. Arsenii was visiting churches in his diocese and in one village church noticed dust in the altar; as a result, there was an order: the priest to send to the monastery for an eternal stay, and the person, to whom this village was registered, for his ignorance to beat in the consistory with lashes. Metropolitan Arsenii was both strict to his clergy and in his relationship with the authorities. During the rite of Orthodoxy preformed on the first Sunday of Great Lent, Metropolitan Arsenii added special anathematizations of those who attempted to secularize church property. After ascending to the throne in 1762, Catherine the Great took Arsenii’s attitude toward the Crown as a personal challenge. In 1763, the Synod in St. Petersburg tried him for lèse-majesté. Arsenii was defrocked, but did not change his views on church independence from the state. His fellow bishops participated in the ceremony of stripping off his liturgical vestments, while Arsenii foretold their own fates. Having spent some time in the Russian North Arsenii was sent to the modern day Estonia. He died in the Revel’s fortress. There was graffiti found on the wall of his cell: “Is being being blessed the One Who humbled me” (blagosloven smirivyi mia). All Russian Council of 1917-1918 restored him posthumously in his episcopal office. The 2000 Bishop Council of the Russian Church canonized him. | 
