Egypt was the cradle of monasticism in early Christian times. Great ascetic figures brightened Egyptian monasticism. One of them was Saint Isidore of Pelusiotis. A truly great personality of orthodox monasticism, who perfectly combined in his person asceticism and theology.
It came from lower egypt. Born in 350 close to Clay mountain and that is why he received the nickname Hostess and which was at its north-east end Nile Delta. His parents, virtuous, faithful and noble, raised him in piety. Having the financial ability, they gave him a great education. He learned his first letters in his hometown. Then, about it 370, went to Alexandria, where he studied at the famous philosophical schools there. He studied Theology at the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria, where his teacher was the great ecclesiastical theologian and teacher Gemini the Blind. He studied ancient Greek literature and studied the Holy Bible and the Fathers of the Church in depth. He was a particular admirer of it Saint John Chrysostom (354-407) and scholar of his works. He even supported him during his conflict with him Patriarch Theofilos (+412) and worked for his restoration in Alexandria.
A milestone in his life was his meeting with him Athanasius the Great (298-373), by whom he was ordained a deacon. On entering the Holy priesthood he displayed unusual zeal and piety. In fact, in his priestly ministry he used his philosophical knowledge, so that he distinguished himself as a great thinker, but also a man of virtue and deep faith in God. Having him as his role model Honest Precursor, worked actively, leading multitudes of people to salvation. When he was ordained an elder, he returned to Pelusio, where he developed an enormous pastoral work and at the same time emerged as a great spiritual personality, distinguished by holiness.
About it 400 he decided to retire to a monastery in the area, where he submitted to a holy elder and began his personal struggle for purification and sanctification. He prayed incessantly and studied the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the Fathers and ancient Greek philosophy, so that he acquired a great reputation, the great and mature father, to whom many people ran to benefit and be spiritually edified. To the numerous visitors he offered, in addition to spiritual food and Abrahamic hospitality, ministering to them himself.
But, with his personal purification and struggle against his passions, he became a model ascetic for a large number of monks in the surrounding area. He became their supervisor, instructing and supporting them. But for more quiet he withdrew deeper into the desert, for more quiet, prayer, exercise and study. But he did not abandon his visitors. He communicated with them by letters. More than two thousand of them have been saved, in which his high spirituality, his philosophical and poetic acumen and his incomparable way of persuading their recipients, of God's love and mercy, are imprinted. In fact, his stylus is nowadays the object of study by philologists, for its beauty.
Many of his letters have a controlling content, through which he severely checked those who committed serious errors, with a view to correcting them. Typical examples are his audit letters to the Bishop of Pilusius Eusebius, to the Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilos and to the emperor Theodosius II (408-450) , to whom he pointed out their errors and called them to repentance and correction. He considered repentance as the highest virtue.
Isidore censured with particular severity the actions of wicked clerics. He civilized phenomena of simony, avarice and immorality of clergy, which tarnished the image of the Church in the eyes of non-Christians. He succeeds against candidate Bishops, who tried to withdraw by dishonest means. He considered the Priesthood a great ministry, in which humble passions do not fit and that the priest must be an example of a holy life.
In addition to letters, he also wrote wonderful theological treatises for him. In his art "Speech to a Greek" defends the Church's teaching about it Divine Providence, while in his work "Don't complain about him" it demonstrates the fragility of the fallacy of fatalism. It should be noted that the dying Greek philosophy at the time attempted to falsify the truth of the Church.
Isidore also showed great anti-heretical work. In his essay "Grammasi of the divine wisdom and externally trained" he strictly controls his heresy Nestorius and other heretics. In a letter he had asked the emperor Theodosius II to participate in Third Ecumenical Council of 431 in Ephesus. In his letter to the saint Cyril of Alexandria, who had opposed excessively against the heretic Nestorius, asked him to lower his tone, to have a dialogue and reveal the truth through him. Our infallible guides, according to him, are the Holy Bible and the God-bearing Fathers of the Church, who interpreted the hagiographic texts with humility and prayer. Rather, the fallacy is the result of selfishness and self-importance.
In 437 the Lord called him to him. He slept peacefully, surrendering his sanctified soul to Him whom he had loved and served all his life. The Church declared him a saint and his memory is celebrated on 4 February.
Saint Isidore the Pelusiotis can also become our teacher in today's age, where faith in God is waning, impiety and immorality have reached an extreme point and errors and malice tend to suffocate the saving truth of our Church. His controlling texts against the evil and Simonian clergy of his time can also illustrate the contemporary phenomena of decline, moral rot and relaxation of the confessional orthodox opinion of today's clergy.
photo San Simera
https://www.sansimera.gr/biographies/1184
