Captain Corelli's Mandolin: Father Arsenios -Key Quotes

Captain Corelli's Mandolin: Father Arsenios- Key Quotes

Liam Spence - 2016

Chapter 7: Extreme remedies –

  ‘Father Arsenios ruminated briefly bitterly behind the iconostasis; how was he supposed to go out amongst the people, comforting the sick and the dying, arbitrating disputes, disseminating the word of god, advocating the union of Greece, when it seemed indubitable that he no longer had any respect?’

Page 36

 ‘He could go to Piraeus and work as a clerk, he could become a fisherman; he could go to America and make a new beginning.’

Page 37

‘He entertained the ephemeral image of himself, liberated from his grotesque folds of lard’

‘He envisaged… attaining a splendid sainthood. He thought about the miracles that might be performed in his name.’

‘Gradually the entrance to the building filled up with gifts as the villagers left their tokens of apology.’

Page 38

 ‘He began to notice that a large amount of Robula was accumulating, and he expostulated to himself, “What? Do they all think I am a drunk?”

 ‘This is retribution of god against the bibulous, ‘he thought, I will never touch another drop.’ He prayed to saint Gerasimos for relief.’

 Page 39

'A priest, ‘he thought, cannot be seen to have ****** himself.’

Page 40

‘He envisaged the following scene:

He would say, ‘Patir, I regret deeply the indignity inflicted upon you this morning,’ and he priest would say, ‘ I find this surprising of an irreligious man,’ and he would reply, ‘but I do believe that a priest should be treated with respect.’

‘A village needs a priest as an island needs the sea.’

‘The doctor sent a prayer of penitence up to the God in whom he didn’t believe’

Page 41

 ‘He stooped down and cleaned (his hands) on the priest’s robe’

‘So it was Velisarios’ penance for submitting the priest to the indignity of the morning was that he should be obliged to carry the colossal weight of him to the doctors house. It was probably the most titanic feat of strength and determination that he had ever had to perform.’

‘He found himself waxing unbecomingly censorial with respect for his patient, for he was unravelling in his mind an internal monologue along the lines of : ‘surely a priest should set a better example than this?’

Page 42

Chapter 9: August 15^th 1940

‘You don’t work at all, Patir. You grow fatter every day. Everything is given to you for nothing. You are a parasite.’

 ‘and the doctor said…I am a materialist, but even I can see that priests are the kind of bacteria that enable people to find life digestible.’

Page 52-53

Chapter 39: Arsenios

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