SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

Feast Day: April 4

Lived (c. 560 – April 4, 636)

Patron Saint of the Internet and Computers

Isidore’s lifetime was of conflict and growth for the Spanish Church. The Visigoths had invaded the land 150 years earlier, and shortly before Isidore’s birth they set up their own capital. They were Arians — Christians who said Christ was not God. Thus, Spain was split in two: One people (Roman Catholics) struggled with another (Arian Goths).

Isidore reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning. The country served as a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders.

Born in Cartagena to a family that included three other siblings—Leander, Fulgentius and Florentina— who are Saints too. He was educated by his elder brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville.

An incredibly learned man, sometimes referred to as “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages” because the encyclopedia he wrote was used as a textbook for 900 years. He demanded that seminaries be built in every diocese, wrote rules for religious Orders, and founded schools that taught every aspect of learning. Isidore wrote many books, even a dictionary, an encyclopedia, history of Goths, and a history of the world—beginning with creation! He completed the Mozarabic liturgy, which is presently in use in Toledo, Spain. For all these reasons, Isidore has been suggested as patron saint of the Internet.

He kept practicing austerity even as he approached age 80. The last six months of his life were marked with charities, that his house was overcrowded from morning till night with the poor of nearby countries.