Venerable (Monastic) 12th century

Venerable Arethas the Recluse of the Kiev Near Caves

12th century; died not later than 1190

Also known as Arethas of the Kiev Caves

A Kiev Caves hermit who repented after grief over stolen possessions revealed his attachment to wealth, remembered for repentance and ascetic life.

Feast Day

October 24

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Arethas the Recluse of the Kiev Near Caves

Life

Arethas was a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery in the 12th century, remembered chiefly for a dramatic conversion from avarice to repentance. By tradition he came from Polotsk and entered the monastery, where for years he secretly hoarded money and possessions in his cell, neither giving alms nor spending on himself nor contributing to the monastery's upkeep.

When thieves stole his hidden wealth, Arethas was thrown into despair and bitterness, complaining against God and accusing the brotherhood, until a grave illness and a vision of angels and demons contending for his soul brought him to repentance. He recovered, renounced his attachment to possessions, and lived out his remaining years as a penitent hermit at the monastery's Near Caves, where he was buried.

His feast is kept on October 24, and he is commemorated collectively with the other fathers of the Near Caves; his memory is invoked in monastic teaching as an example of overcoming the love of money.

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

12th century Origin in Polotsk By tradition Arethas came from Polotsk and entered the Kiev Caves Monastery as a monk.
12th century Years of avarice Though outwardly a renunciate, Arethas secretly hoarded money and possessions in his cell, refusing both almsgiving and his own necessities.
12th century The theft Thieves stole his hidden wealth. Devastated, he complained against God, accused the brotherhood of conspiracy, and grew bitter to the point, by some accounts, of near despair.
12th century Illness and vision A severe sickness brought him near death. In a vision he saw angels and demons disputing his soul; the demons claimed him for his greed and complaint, while the angels said that thanksgiving for the lost goods would have counted to him as alms.
12th century Repentance and reclusion Arethas cried out for mercy, acknowledged the money as God's, and recovered transformed. He lived his remaining years as a penitent recluse, meek and detached from possessions.
not later than 1190 Repose and burial Arethas died not later than 1190 and was buried in the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery.

Contributions & Legacy

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Life and Conversion

Sources agree that Arethas, by tradition a native of Polotsk, was a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery who accumulated wealth in his cell while presenting himself as one who had renounced the world. Accounts describe him as neither giving alms to the poor nor spending on himself nor aiding the monastery, but only hoarding.

When his savings were stolen, his reaction exposed his attachment: he was unable to accept the loss or the counsel of the brethren, became bitter and accusatory, and murmured against God. One account relates that this anguish was so severe that he was nearly driven to take his own life.

During the illness that followed, Arethas experienced a vision in which angelic and demonic powers contended for his soul. The demons pressed their claim on the ground of his avarice and blasphemy; the angels answered that, had he given thanks to God for the property taken from him, the loss would have been reckoned to him as charitable giving, after the manner of Job. Arethas then cried out confessing his sin, declared the money to have been God's own and that he no longer regretted its loss, and recovered. He spent the rest of his life as a recluse, remembered as having grown meek, obedient, and rich in virtue rather than in possessions.

Legacy and Teaching

Arethas is commemorated individually on October 24 and, with the other saints of the Near Caves, on the broader commemorations of the Kiev Caves fathers. His story is preserved chiefly in the synaxarion of the monastery.

His life became a standard homiletic example of avarice as a form of idolatry overcome by grace. Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko's annual cycle of short teachings presents Arethas as one who 'made an idol out of his wealth until the grace of God placed him in the right relationship with earthly acquisitions.'

Relics & Shrines

Arethas was buried in the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery, where his relics remain. By the monastery's tradition his remains are preserved incorrupt.

Monastic iconographic description depicts him stooped, with a beard the length of that of the monk Kozmina, dressed in monastic garb.

Sources and Dating

The principal account follows the OCA synaxarion and the lives of the Kiev Caves fathers, which place his repose not later than 1190. One later source instead gives his death as around 1220; where the sources conflict, the earlier dating is preferred here.

Several accounts emphasize differing details of the same episode — the degree of his bitterness, his accusations against the brethren, and the exact words of the angels — but agree on the core of the theft, the vision, and his subsequent repentance.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints