Naomh An Lae - Saint Of The Day

St Isidore of Seville (560-636) patron of the internet

Two brothers bishops and a sister a distinguished abbess

Isidore's family came from Cartagena in south eastern Spain, but he was probably born in Seville. 

His elder brother, Leander, became a great archbishop in Seville and is venerated as a saint as are another brother, Fulgentius, bishop of Ecija, and their sister, Florentina, a distinguished abbess.

Education

Leander oversaw Isidore's education probably in a monastic school and he became the most learned person of his generation and a leading authority on a wide range of subjects through the Middle Ages.

Bishop of the Mozarabic liturgy 

Isidore succeeded his brother Leander as bishop in 599. 

Recared the Visigoth had converted from Arianism to Catholicism and both he and Isidore made significant contributions to the culture of the new Catholic kingdom, especially in the composition of the distinctively Spanish, or what is now called Mozarabic, liturgy.

His Etymologies 

A compiler of popular knowledge rather than an original thinker, Isidore's encyclopedic work is called the Etymologies, or Origins, from the number of words whose meaning he explains. 

Its 20 volumes cover all human knowledge from grammar and mathematics to biology, geography, classical literature and theology. 

Acute critics point out that not all his explanations are correct. 

More critically approved today is his History of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi.  

Isidore also wrote a book of astronomy and natural history entitled De Rerum Natura.

It is probably because of his encyclopedic knowledge that he was chosen as the patron of the internet.

The ideal bishop

Isidore's description of the ideal bishop is said to have inspired Pope John XXIII: "He who is set in authority for the education and instruction of the people for their good must be holy in all things and reprehensible in nothing.... Every bishop should be distinguished as much by his humility as by his authority... He is also to preserve that charity which exceeds all the other gifts and without which all virtue is nothing."

Death and influence

Isidore died after a careful preparation in 636. It was only when his remains were removed to Leon on the route to Santiago de Compostela that his cult began to grow. 

He was canonised in 1598 and declared a doctor of the Church in 1722.