Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Isidore of Seville, the patron saint of Computer and Internet users.

Isidore lived 76 years, during which the Spanish Church experienced division and expansion. Before Isidore’s birth, the Visigoths established their capital after conquering the country a century and a half earlier. These were Christians known as Arians who denied the deity of Christ. As a result, Spain became divided into two, with conflicts between two Roman Catholic groups (Arian Goths).

Spain was brought back together by Isidore, who turned it into a hub of learning and culture. Other European nations, where the barbarian invaders also invaded their cultures., looked to this nation as a teacher and leader.

His elder brother, who later became the bishop of Seville, educated him. He was born in Cartagena into a family with three other saintly siblings: Leander, Fulgentius, and Florentina.

The encyclopedia he compiled served as a textbook for nine centuries, earning the incredibly erudite man the nickname “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages.” He established schools that taught every academic subject, mandated the construction of seminaries in each diocese, and drafted a Rule for monastic orders. Isidore authored many publications, including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of the Goths, and a history of the world that started with creation. In Toledo, Spain, he finished the Mozarabic liturgy. Someone suggested Isidore as the patron saint of the Internet for each of these explanations. In addition, a few others have been presented, including Anthony of Padua.

He kept up his austerities as he got closer to becoming 80. He boosted his charitable giving so much in the final six months of his life that the less fortunate flocked to his house day and night.

Source: franciscanmedia.org