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His years in the seminary and thereafter are only vaguely known. He apparently married while in the seminary and was assigned as a priest to a village church in Kharkov. There is a question as to whether he had a son, but soon his wife died, probably about 1890, of an unknown cause. At some point later he was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]] with the name Arseny, in honor of St. Arsenius of Konevits. But, his journey from his wife's death to his tonsure was a time of great anguish as he related in his elevation speech as [[Bishop]] of Winnipeg. In 1900, he was appointed [[Igumen]] (Abbot) of Kuriansk Monastery. Two years later he joined [[Tikhon of Moscow|Bp. Tikhon]] in America as he was a natural preacher with fluency in many Russian dialects, and thus, well suited to the American missionary scene. He was active among those returning from the Unia and served many communities after his arrival, including Troy, New York, and Mayfield and Simpson, Pennsylvania.
While he was active among the people, a dream of his came true when with the blessing of the then Abp. Tikhon, [[Hieromonk]] Arseny founded the St. Tikhon's Monastery and orphanage in the rural countryside near Carbondale and [[St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Mayfield, Pennsylvania )|Mayfield, Pennsylvania]] at South Canaan. The Wagner farm was purchased for $2580 during the summer of 1905. On the day of its dedication, [[July 31]], 1905, a crowd on foot formed a [[pilgrimage]] walk of the ten miles through the mountains from Mayfield to the site of the new monastery. On the following [[May 30]], 1906, at the dedication of the [[chapel]] at the partially finished monastery building with Abp. Tikhon present, [[Raphael of Brooklyn|Bp. Raphael]] spoke of the hard work by Fr. Igumen Arseny for the realization of the monastery. When Fr. Arseny was named the superior of the monastery, the crowd answered loudly, "He is worthy." The anniversary of this dedication has become an annual Memorial Day pilgrimage to the monastery.
Then, in 1908, Fr. Arseny was appointed by then Abp. Platon to the position of dean and administrator of the Canadian parishes. With his knowledge of the many dialects of the Carpatho-Russian/Galician area and his ability to preach in them, the Canadian faithful (who mainly hailed from those areas) almost immediately fell in love with him. With these rare missionary talents, he had great success with receiving back [[Uniats]] as well as welcoming many Galicians and Bukovinians who were arriving in numbers to Canada. His preaching produced for him the affectionate title "The Canadian Chrysostom." After only two years, however, he returned to Russia in 1910.
Little is known for certain of why he returned to Russia or his activities while there. In his request to the Synod, he wrote:
: In January of this year, I completed seven years of service in the American Orthodox Mission. I worked, by the mercy of God, as I could, attempting not to be lazy, to carry on the high calling of a missionary, to make a steady effort, not operating solely from rationality/intellect. In the last two years of my service, heavy afflictions and laborious work in the Canadian wilds had taken their toll on my health, and material lack have repeatedly brought my spirit to full despondency. In the last while I have been fully invalided with a terrible hernia, which from the constant journeying creates horrible pain; doctors are trying to force me towards a surgery, but I am afraid to lie beneath a knife, lest I die in this foreign land. {{citation}}<ref>''Прошение Архимандрита Арсения от 20 Января 1910 года'', No 25. Petition of Archimandrite Arseny, January 20, 1910 (No. 25). Translated and quoted in [http://www.cjoc.ca/pdf/Timeline.pdf Detailed Timeline Vita of Archbishop Arseny] by The Canonization Committee of the Orthodox Church in Canada, section 35, pp. 20-21.</ref>
Upon his return to Russia, there are some reports are that he was involved in the training of missionary-priests and that he headed a monastery in the Crimea. After the October Revolution, he served with the White Army to comfort the soldiers. In 1920, he was able to get to Yugoslavia and entered a monastery. Some of his old Canadian flock learned that he was still alive and petitioned Metr. Platon to return him to Canada as a bishop.
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{{succession|
before=[[Apollinary (Koshevoy)of San Francisco|Apollinary (Koshevoy)]]|title=Bishop of Winnipeg<br>([[OCA|Metropolia]])|
years=1926-1936|
after=?|}}
{{succession|
before=?[[Jeronim (Chernov) of Detroit|Jeronim (Chernov)]]|title= Bishop of Detroit and Cleveland<br>([[OCA|Metropolia]])|
years=1936-1936|
after= ?[[John (Garklavs) of Chicago|John (Garklavs)]]|}}
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== SourcesReference==<references /> ==Source==* ''Orthodox America 1794-1976 Development of the Orthodox Church in America'', C. J. Tarasar, Gen. Ed. 1975, The Orthodox Church in America, Syosett, New York
==External links==
* [http://www.archdiocese.ca/arseny.pdf Archbishop Arseny: A Vita in Process]* [http://www.saintarseny.ca Saint Arseny Orthodox Canadian Theological Institute]
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Bishops of Detroit]]
[[Category:Missionaries]]
