Память преподобного отца нашего Исидора Пилусиотского

The Monk Isidore was born in Alexandria in 1145. He was descended from noble and pious parents and was related to Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria and to St. Cyril, Theophilus' successor. Having successfully studied secular sciences and become proficient in Divine wisdom, Isidore wished to devote himself to serving God. While still young, he left the glory of this world and wealth and, despising the nobility of his origin and considering everything as dust, went to Mount Pilusiot 1146. There, having accepted monasticism, he led a strict ascetic life 1147. The spiritual wisdom and strict life of Isidore gathered to him many zealots of piety, by whom he was elected to the rank of abbot and presbyter 1148. Through his strict exploits and high education, the Monk Isidore gained such respect for himself that not only bishops and nobles, but also the emperor himself and the patriarchs of Alexandria turned to him for advice and guidance, and he was held in great esteem by everyone. The church historian Evagrius 1149, remembering Isidore, says: “During the reign of Theodosius 1150, Isidore of Pilusiot was held in great honor; the fame of him as a virtuous and teaching man spread far and wide, and his name was glorified by all lips. With his labors he exhausted his flesh so much that his life seemed to everyone like the life of an angel on earth. He served as a living example of monastic life and thought of God and wrote a lot of very useful things for the instruction of others.” The historian Nicephorus 1151, testifying to the virtuous life of Isidore, says: “The Divine Isidore from his youth shed so much sweat in monastic labors and so mortified his flesh, warming his soul with mysterious and lofty teachings, that he seemed to everyone to be leading the gospel way of life in complete perfection. He was a living and animated pillar of monastic rules and Divine vision and, as it were, the highest example of the warmest imitation and spiritual teaching. Isidore wrote many different useful instructions. After him there remained up to ten thousand messages to various persons, filled with Divine grace and human wisdom, in which he explains all the Divine Scriptures and corrects the morals of people.” From these testimonies it is clearly evident how great a saint of God the Monk Isidore was. Although his life written in detail has not been preserved, even the brief words of historians are enough to see his holiness and wisdom, for he was an example of a virtuous life for everyone and filled the universe with his God-wise writings. He appeared as a great defender of Saint John Chrysostom, who was unjustly deprived of his episcopal see, and wrote a lot to Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria and to Emperor Arcadius 1152, exhorting them to abandon their evil deed, and, although he did not achieve success, he exposed their malice and untruth. And after the death of Chrysostom, in writing he convinced Saint Cyril of Alexandria, the successor of Theophilus, to inscribe the name of John in church diptychs 1153 as a great confessor who suffered a lot for the truth from evil people. He also wrote to Tsar Theodosius, instructing him to take care of the church world. And he prompted him to convene the third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus 1154 against the evil heretics; for he himself was a great zealot for piety, being a strong opponent of heretics, ready to suffer and die for the Orthodox faith, as can be seen from his words. In a letter to one detractor, Therasius, he says: “I ask you, who mocks us and shows yourself to us to be such a witty and strict judge: if the king placed you on the city walls, ordering you to guard and defend the city, and you saw that the enemy was digging through and destroying the wall in order to more easily enter the city, would you not resist, with the help of all the tools and weapons, preventing the destruction of the wall and not letting the enemies in; Of course, you would do this in order to protect the city and yourself from enemies, and to show loyalty and zealous obedience to the king. Is it not appropriate for us, whom God has appointed as teachers in His Church, to strongly rebel against Arius 1155, who not only attacked the flock of Christ with war, but also destroyed many? I consider it nothing to endure any misfortune for this cause, and I desire nothing more than to endure all sorts of misfortunes for the true faith.” From these words of the saint his zeal for piety is clearly visible; but from his messages one can learn about his other virtues. He praises virginity, which Isidore himself was a strict guardian of, above other virtues, calling it a queen, whom everyone should honor, although he does not disparage honest marriage. In his letter to Anthony the scholastic, he says: “Those who maintain virginity should be likened to the sun, those who are virgin widows should be likened to the moon, and those who live honestly in marriage should be likened to the stars, just as the holy Apostle Paul says: “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). He exhorts people who are interested in secular science to learn a more virtuous life than eloquence. In a letter to a certain monk Patrim, he says: “I hear about you that you have a great mind and natural gifts, so that you diligently study the art of rhetoric in order to become eloquent, but the path of spiritual life is successfully passed only by doing good deeds, and not with the help of eloquence; Therefore, if you want to receive an immortal reward, then do not worry about eloquence, but be more concerned about doing good deeds with zeal.” Similarly, Isidore writes to Bishop Apollonius: “Since it is indecent and should not be forced to attract to piety people created with free will, who do not express their will and who resist, then you should take care to enlighten those who are in darkness with good instruction, good life and good morals.” This saint also teaches that a virtuous person should not be proud of his good deeds, but should think humbly about himself: “He who is virtuous in one virtue,” he says, “has a bright crown, and he who performs many virtues, but thinks of himself that he has done little good, through such a humble opinion of himself will have a bright crown; with virtues, the very thought in oneself that little has been created deserves no less praise than the (created) virtues themselves; but in all truth I will say: whoever maintains a humble mindset, his virtues are brighter, but whoever does not have this mindset, his bright virtues become darkened, and his great virtues are diminished. Therefore, whoever wants his virtues to be great should not consider them great, and they will turn out to be great in reality.” Teaching others in this way, the Monk Isidore himself, first of all, was the executor of what he taught. In this he imitated the Lord, who first performed it Himself, and then taught. Isidore was not proud of his good deeds, but was humble; He also combined chastity with humility, like a pair of working oxen dragging the good with the yoke of Christ. The chastity of Saint Isidore is revealed from the epistle to Palladius, Bishop of Elenopolis 1156, in which he teaches a lot to be careful in interviews with women. “If any conversations,” says the Scripture, “corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33), then it is conversations with women, even decent ones, because they can secretly corrupt the inner man, through evil thoughts, and even though the body remains pure, the soul will be desecrated. Therefore, the Monk Isidore turns with advice to this bishop, who used to instruct women in useful ways in oral conversations, and who boasted that he did not feel any lusts in himself. “Avoid,” he writes, “as many interviews with women as you can, good husband! For those who have the office of the priesthood must be holier and purer than those who dwell in the mountains and deserts. The former care about themselves and the people, while the latter care only about themselves. Moreover, the former are placed at the height of such honor that everyone explores and analyzes their lives, while the latter live in caves, either healing their wounds, or studying their shortcomings, and others weaving their own crowns. If you are forced to meet with women, then bow your eyes down, and teach those to whom you have come to have chaste glances. And after a short conversation, sufficient to confirm and enlighten their souls, immediately quickly leave, so that a long meeting does not weaken and upset your strength, and, having taken possession of you, like a formidable and majestic lion, does not cut off the mane, which really makes a lion a lion and protects its royal dignity. If you want to be respected by women (and a spiritual husband should especially take care of this), then do not have fellowship with them, and then you will be honored by them. For then this becomes most possible when we least of all seek it. It is common for a person to despise those who serve him, and to revere those who do not flatter him. In general, female nature is more susceptible to this ailment. A woman, when she is flattered, is intolerable; and most of all she is in awe and amazed at those who behave with her freely and commandingly. But you say that you have long conversations with women and do not suffer any harm. So be it. But everyone knows that water wears away stones, and raindrops, constantly falling on them, pierce them. Decide what is softer than water or water drops? However, their incessant action also overcomes nature. If an almost irresistible substance is overcome, and from such a thing, which is nothing in comparison with it, suffers and is diminished, then is it really possible that the human will, easily shaken, will not be defeated and corrupted by prolonged influence? Instructing Bishop Palladius in this way, the Monk Isidore teaches us all to live a chaste life, so that we not only preserve our body from carnal sin, but also keep our soul pure from sinful thoughts. The Monk Isidore left in his writings many instructions about all sorts of virtues, and in oral conversations, having taught everyone these virtues, he reached a very old age, and, having pleased God, died in peace 1157. Having found another day of glory, your church has become more glorious, illuminated by your words with lightning, and calls to you: Rejoice, all-blessed God-Wise Isidora. Alexandria is a city in northern Egypt, at the mouth of the Nile River; founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. It was once the center of pagan science and the first trading city on earth. At the beginning of the 4th century it became a center of Christian education and the residence of the patriarch. Currently, Alexandria is one of the most fortified ports and most important trading points on the Mediterranean Sea. Mount Pilusiot was located in Lower Egypt, near the Nile River. – Pilusia, or Pelusa, is one of the cities of northern Egypt. Living here in deep solitude, Isidore jealously devoted himself to the exploits of monastic life. He wore clothes made of coarse hair and ate only roots and herbs. From here the Monk Isidore traveled to Constantinople to see and hear Saint John Chrysostom. What Isidore saw and heard from Chrysostom, as well as his writings, remained for Isidore in his subsequent life a subject of careful study and surprise, so that the clarity of Chrysostom’s mind, his simplicity and jealousy became the property of Isidore and was imprinted in all his actions. Upon returning to the Pilusiot monastery, he continued his ascetic life, not ashamed to denounce hypocrites and offenders: he denounced his bishop for setting a price on places, and civil rulers for partiality. Modesty in clothing, maintaining silence, poverty in food, charity to the poor - these are the rules that the Monk Isidore instilled in his brethren and which were confirmed by the living example of his own life. Evagrius - 6th century church historian. Theodosius 2nd the Younger, grandson of Theodosius the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. Nikephoros Callistus, who lived in the 14th century, wrote the History of the Church. Arcadius, son and successor of Emperor Theodosius the Great, reigned from 395 to 408. Diptych (from the Greek words: twice and fold) - two tables, of which the names of the living were written on one, and the names of the deceased on the other. We call them synodics, or simply pomenaniya and pomyannikami. In the primal church, Christians considered it an honor to be included in a church diptych, but, on the contrary, it was a disgrace for those people whose names were not included or excluded from the diptych. The Third Ecumenical Council was convened in 431 regarding the heresy of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who confused the church with a false teaching about the Person of Jesus Christ, claiming that in Him the Divinity was not united with humanity in the very incarnation, and therefore calling Him the God-Bearer, and not the God-Man, and the Most Holy Virgin, the Christ Mother, and not the Mother of God. Having condemned Nestorius and his teaching as heretical, the fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council solemnly confirmed the Orthodox teaching that it is appropriate to confess in our Lord Jesus Christ one Person and two natures, and to praise His Most Pure Mother as the one Ever-Virgin and true Mother of God. Arius (lived at the beginning of the 4th century) humiliated the Son of God with his wicked teaching, calling Him the highest creature through which God created the whole world. This heresy was condemned at the 1st Ecumenical Council. Palladius of Elenopolis (368–430), a disciple of the Monk Dorotheos, a native of Gaul, arrived in Alexandria in 388, from where he later retired to the nearby desert, where the Monk Dorotheos asceticised, and then moved to Bethlehem. In 399 he was elected bishop of Elenopolis, in Bithynia, in Asia Minor. After that, Emperor Arcadius exiled him as a supporter of St. John Chrysostom to Antinous, and in 412 he was returned to his see in Elenopolis. At the request of the Cappadocian prefect Laus, in 420 he compiled a collection of biographies of saints and legends about them, which he named “Lavsaik” in his honor. In view of the edifying and instructive nature of this collection, the church charter requires readings from it at the matins of the Holy Pentecost. The Monk Isidore died around 436. Saint Isidore, according to his writings, was one of the great fathers of the Church. His writings consist of letters. Their number, as they say, extended to 10,000, but now does not exceed 2090. Contemporaries saw in Saint Isidore an experienced interpreter of the Holy Scriptures and asked him for explanations of certain sayings of Scripture. Isidore fulfilled the wishes of his contemporaries in letters. The number of his letters with such content extended to 3000. Of the now known letters of Saint Isidore, most contain explanations of the Holy Scriptures, where Saint Isidore is the best disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. Saint Isidore does not have very many dogmatic letters. But, like Saint John Chrysostom, he was a practical mentor. “Practical philosophy, in his words, is the foundation of the building and the building itself, logic is the decoration, contemplation is the crown.” “Virtue is harmony of the soul” You might be interested in: