Their story
Adapted in modern English from Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints · Baring-Gould original below · little is known
Isidore was taken from his cell in the desert, ordained priest and made hospitaller of Alexandria by St. Athanasius, caring for the poor and strangers.
He often wept at table, saying that he, made to enjoy God, ate the food of beasts. Palladius came to him for advice before taking up the ascetic life.
He was persecuted by the Arian (followers of Arius's teaching that the Son is a created being, not fully God) Lucius and later by Theophilus, who accused him of Origenism, and died at Constantinople under the protection of St. Chrysostom. Butler gives 403; Baring-Gould, the text on this page, gives 404. The sources differ.
Early life
The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.
Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 90 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.
S. Isidore, priest and monk, lived in Alexandria as hospitaller, that is, in charge of a hospital for the reception of strangers and the poor. He suffered many persecutions, first from Lucius, the Arian Bishop, who ill-treated the two Macarii, and afterwards from the orthodox bishop, Theophilus, who, moved by some jealousy, unjustly charged him with favouring the views of Origen. He took refuge at Constantinople with S. John Chrysostom, where he repudiated the heresy of Origen, declaring that he was falsely accused of holding it, and died in 404.
How they teach us to live
Drawn from themes in the original account
Look after people who are sick or suffering. The sick come up again and again in this story.
Welcome guests and strangers. Hospitality shows up in this account.
Stay faithful when it costs you. This account is about holding firm under pressure.
Learn from the kind of life it was. A life spent serving ordinary people.
