By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Saint Isidore, who was Egyptian by birth, was known as the son of noble and God-loving parents, and he was a relative of Theophilos and Cyril, the Bishops of the Church of Alexandria. This venerable man, greatly educated both in divine wisdom and in secular learning, left behind very many writings, worthy of study and remembrance by lovers of learning. Having abandoned every form of wealth, the splendor of his lineage, and the comfort of worldly life, he went to Mount Pelusium and embraced the monastic life. There, living in complete dedication to God, he illumined the whole inhabited world with the teaching of his divine words, with the result that he led sinners to repentance, strengthened those who were struggling in the faith, and stirred to virtue those who were disobedient, through the severity of his divine reproofs. Moreover, he reminded and admonished even kings, for the benefit of the world, and in general interpreted the words of Holy Scripture in a most wise manner for all who questioned him. It is said, indeed, that his letters number as many as ten thousand. Having therefore lived an excellent life and conducted himself according to the will of God, he departed this life in deep old age.
Saint Theophanes, the hymnographer of Saint Isidore, quite naturally focuses his attention on what constituted the greatest gift of the Saint whom we commemorate today: his teaching. In almost all the hymns he composed for him, he refers to the didactic character of the Saint, while at the same time pointing to his enduring influence on the faithful and to the prerequisites of his spoken and written word. In the troparion of the kathisma at Matins, for example, he notes concisely: “You were shown to be a book of teaching and knowledge, composed from the richness of your faith by the illumination of the all-pure Spirit, and you reveal divine things to all who are in need of God and seek Him, and you store up life for those who desire it.” And in one of the stichera of Vespers he presents the Venerable one with beautiful inspiration: “With the flood of God’s grace and with the rain of your words, you water all the God-fearing. For placing your mouth upon the bowl of divine wisdom, as though drinking from a spring, you drew forth abundantly and spread everywhere the rays of your doctrines, sending letters and teaching and admonishing, O most admirable one.”
We have said, of course, that the Holy Hymnographer also refers to the prerequisites in the Saint with regard to the gift of speech that he possessed. Saint Isidore did not write or preach — indeed, with great eloquence — simply because he had studied, though his study was truly arduous and painstaking, both of the Church Fathers and ecclesiastical writers and of various philosophers; but chiefly because, in the language of the Church, he “learned from what he suffered.” In other words, he lived the spiritual life, was illumined by the Spirit of God, came to know God, and proclaimed Him. In one of the stichera of Vespers again, the Hymnographer notes: “As you were raised toward God throughout your life by theoria and praxis, O all-wise one, you established praxis as a firm foundation and stepping-stone for theoria, and you wisely loved the most desirable of all things, God.” And elsewhere: “By self-control you put to death the sinful phronema, having clothed yourself in the life-bearing mortification given by Christ. And having broadened the condition of your soul, O most holy one, you made it clearly capable of receiving the gifts of the Spirit, and thus you became a vessel of divinely-inspired teachings and a dwelling place of divine wisdom beyond understanding.”
Saint Isidore left us approximately ten thousand (or, according to more precise research, two thousand) letters. However the matter stands, what is important is the fact that he was “the most prolific letter-writer of the ancient Church” (S. Papadopoulos). And this means — emphasized by the hymnology of our Church — that he is able to guide, admonish, and enrich not only those of his own time, but the faithful of all ages. His letters are truly a treasure, and very often they refer us to the priceless treasury of the writings of Saint John Chrysostom, whom he loved exceedingly and whom, for this reason, he made extensive use of in his own writings. Thus Saint Isidore, “as a reed of the Holy Spirit,” constitutes a constant challenge and invitation for all of us to come, through his texts, into contact with the Holy Spirit Himself, the living presence of God. Let us hear once more the corresponding hymn of his Canon: “You abound in wealth even after death, for you left your living words as a precious inheritance to all the faithful, who glorify Christ unto the ages.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
