St. Isidore of Seville
St. Isidore was born into a family that had a lot of saints come from it. St. Isidore was born in Spain during the sixth century.
As mentioned before, many saints came from St. Isidore’s family. Two of his brothers, Leander and Fulgentius, and his sister Florentina are viewed and respected as saints in Spain. St. Isidore’s family also had many great and wise leaders come from it, St. Isidore’s brother Leander and Fulgentius served as bishops and his sister Florentina served as an Abbess.
St. Isidore’s brother Leander was very tough on him and Leander made life very difficult for St. Isidore. Leander, who was St. Isidore’s older brother felt the need to take over St. Isidore’s studies and he taught St. Isidore using a lot of strict discipline. St. Isidore was very successful during his life due to his intelligence and his hard work and dedication to his studies.
However, St. Isidore at a young age was frustrated and upset at his inability to learn as fast as his brother wanted him to and was very hurt by Leander’s poor treatment, so he decided to run away from his home. Even though St. Isidore was able to escape Leander’s strict treatment, St. Isidore could not run away from his own feeling of failure.
After St. Isidore ran away he was relaxing and noticed sparkling water droplets falling down at a certain pace on the rock he was sitting beside. The thing that caught his attention was not the sound the droplets made as they hit the surface of the rock, but the fact that the little water droplets that seemed to have no effect on the rocks smooth surface, were able to form holes into the rocks surface over time.
St. Isidore connected the rock to his brother heart. St. Isidore thought that if he continued to work hard on his studies he would be able to get a good education, but most importantly St. Isidore hoped that with all the hours he spent studying his efforts would wear down the stone his brother had as a heart.
When St. Isidore returned back to his house, his brother decided to confine him to a cell which was in a monastery. His brother did this out of anger due to the fact that St. Isidore ran away and he hoped that he couldn’t run away again while spending time in the monastery.
St. Isidore was a very forgiving and merciful saint and he would later work with his brother. After his brother Leander had passed away, St. Isidore decided to complete all of the tasks he wanted to do, and he began with creating a missal and a breviary.
During the time, St. Isidore was alive it was a common practice to blame the past for the present issues one person was encountering. However, St. Isidore was successful in separating the strict and harsh way he was taught from the grace of learning. Therefore, St. Isidore was able to not run away from learning, and St. Isidore was able to make education the center of his life’s mission. St. Isidore left his past mistakes and issues behind and became the best teacher in Spain.
St. Isidore’s love of learning was so large that he assured that a Seminary in Spain taught art, and medicine. St. Isidore did this because he wanted people to learn as much as they could during their lives.
St. Isidore wrote many books on topics like grammar, geography, history, biography and theology. However, his encyclopedia of knowledge was really well known during the duration of 9 centuries. St. Isidore also taught many different philosophers and taught about philosophy to his students in Spain.
St. Isidore was the Bishop of Seville for 37 years and succeeded his brother Leander. St. Isidore was a very well known bishop and he made a lot of changes to the church. St. Isidore helped convert the barbarian Visigoths from Arianism to Christianity.
St. Isidore lived until the age of 80. When St. Isidore was dying his house was filled with a lot of people including the poor and vulnerable who he would aid and give alms to. St. Isidore’s last act was him giving all of his possessions to the poor.
When St. Isidore died in 636, he was a doctor of the church and he had done more then his brother ever expected of him. St. Isidore’s teachings, and love helped the Spanish get through the many issues they encountered especially during the Dark Ages. St. Isidore’s love for Christ helped him to stay positive and spread Christ’s love to everyone no matter how hard it may have been.
Prayer to St. Isidore:
St. Isidore help us to have the strength and courage we need to repent for all the wrong we had done in the past so that we may be able to renew our souls, and do the will of Christ for the rest of our lives and eternity. St. Isidore help us to understand the importance of receiving the sacraments and help us to spread the graces that they give us to everyone that we meet. St. Isidore help us to do the will of the lord and help us to follow Christ’s guidance and footsteps on our journey.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother Heaven
Amen
St. Isidore pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
May everyone have a blessed and safe Easter Sunday.
God Bless
He is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works Cited:
Information (read from, not taken):
Catholic Online. “St. Isidore of Seville.” St. Isidore of Seville - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online. Accessed 4 April 2021.
Images:
St. Isidore of Seville. April 4, 2021.
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