Arsenius

Holy Hierarch and Hieromartyr Arsenius was bishop of Veria in Macedonia in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He died for his flock during the siege of the city.

During the siege he was seized while celebrating the Liturgy in the Old Metropolis, which still survives today, and was stabbed or hanged. His memory fell into oblivion in the hard years of Turkish rule, until the historian of Veria, George Chionidis, found at Meteora a booklet with his service. Until then the saint was venerated without a name or, by courtesy, under the name Kallinikos, at the wish of Metropolitan Kallinikos Charalambakis of Veria. The service shows that he was buried in the church of the Great Martyr, and it is supposed that his relics lie in the church of the Great Martyr Saint Demetrius in the area of the new metropolitan cathedral. He is commemorated on 28 May, at the metropolitan cathedral of Veria, according to the calendar of the Church of Greece (new style). His veneration is local.