The 76 years of Isidore's life were a time of conflict and growth for
the Church in Spain. The Visigoths had invaded the land a century and a
half earlier and shortly before Isidore's birth they set up their own
capital. They were Arians—Christians who said Christ was not God. Thus
Spain was split in two: One people (Catholic Romans) struggled with
another (Arian Goths).
Isidore
reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning, a teacher
and guide for other European countries whose culture was also
threatened by barbarian invaders.
Born in Cartagena of a family
that included three other saints, he was educated (severely) by his
elder brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville.
An
amazingly learned man, he was sometimes called "The Schoolmaster of the
Middle Ages" because the encyclopedia he wrote was used as a textbook
for nine centuries. He required seminaries to be built in every
diocese, wrote a Rule for religious orders and founded schools that
taught every branch of learning. Isidore wrote numerous books,
including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths and a
history of the world—beginning with creation! He completed the
Mozarabic liturgy, which is still in use in Toledo, Spain. For all
these reasons Isidore (as well as several other saints) has been
suggested as patron of the Internet.
He continued his austerities
even as he approached 80. During the last six months of his life, he
increased his charities so much that his house was crowded from morning
till night with the poor of the countryside.
Comment:
Our
country can well use Isidore's spirit of combining learning and
holiness. Loving, understanding knowledge can heal and bring a broken
people back together. We are not barbarians like the invaders of
Isidore's Spain. But people who are swamped by riches and overwhelmed
by scientific and technological advances can lose much of their
understanding love for one another. So vast was Isidore's knowledge
that some moderns have proposed him as the patron of Internet users.
Prayer:
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after
all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person
of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
bishop and doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes
only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience
all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen