St. Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville

Bishop, Confessor & Doctor of the Church

Isidore was born in Spain around the year 560. His parents were prominent noble Catholics, and all his siblings are also venerated as saints. As a priest, Isidore was an invaluable assistant to his elder brother St. Leander, the Archbishop of Seville. Their efforts against the Arian heresy were a total success, and Isidore succeeded his brother as archbishop when Leander died around the year 600. Isidore was a great patron of monasteries and the poor, and was involved in several important councils. He was fluent in multiple languages, and a prolific writer on every subject, from history to liturgy to doctrine, making Spain a center of learning and culture. He introduced Aristotle to Western Europe long before Arabian scholars did, and wrote what some consider the world’s first encyclopedia, the widely influential Etymologiae. Isidore died on April 4th, in the year of Our Lord 636, and was immediately hailed as a saint and doctor. He is considered the last of the Latin Fathers, and an unofficial patron of the Internet.

Traditional Roman Martyrology for April 4th

AT Seville, in Spain, St. Isidore, a bishop eminent for sanctity and learning, who shed lustre on his country by his zeal for the Catholic faith, and the observance .of ecclesiastical discipline.

At Thessalonica, in the time of the emperor Maximian and the governor Faustinus, the holy martyrs Agathopodes, a deacon, and Theodulus, a lector, who, for the confession of the Christian faith, were thrown into the sea with stones tied to their necks.

At Milan, the demise of St. Ambrose, bishop and confessor, through whose labors, learning and miracles, almost all Italy returned to the Catholic faith, at the time when the perfidious Arian heresy was widely diffused.

At Constantinople, St. Plato, a monk, who for many years combated with invincible courage the heretics that were breaking sacred images.

In Palestine, the anchoret St. Zozimus, who buried the remains of St. Mary of Egypt.

℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

℟. Thanks be to God.