Isidore of Pelusium

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Isidore of Pelusium (* around 360 in Alexandria in Egypt, † between 431 and 451 in Pelusium , Egypt ) was a monk and later abbot in the monastery of Pelusium. He was a revered ascetic and theologian of his time.

Isidore grew up in a noble Christian family in Alexandria and received an excellent education. He was related to the Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria and his nephew and successor Cyril of Alexandria . For a while he taught rhetoric in Pelusium, but then retired to the desert as an ascetic. After a year he returned to Pelusium and was ordained a priest there. A few years later he retired to a monastery near Pelusium, where he was presumably abbot. According to some sources he died in 436, according to others between 431 and 451.

Isidore is important because of his extensive correspondence: According to Nicephorus, he is said to have left about ten thousand letters on his death, of which about two thousand have survived. Isidore wrote to monks, priests, bishops, soldiers, generals, and chamberlains, to the patriarchs Theophilus and Cyril and to Emperor Theodosius II.

In his letters, Isidore sharply criticized the grievances of the church at that time, in particular the ambition, the love of luxury and the building frenzy of the higher clergy, with whom he made enemies.

“Some… openly blame the priests; others show them respect for the outside but abuse them inside. … That does not surprise me. Since they do not act as they did then, they are treated differently. The priests of old corrected kings when they sinned; the present day did not correct even rich subjects; and if they try to correct a poor man, they are accused of having been convicted of the same offenses themselves. "

Many letters are answers to questions about scriptures. In his theology, Isidore was precise and moderate, and clearly opposed the extremes of Sabellianism and Arianism.

Contrary to his patriarch and relative Theophilos, he was a staunch admirer of John Chrysostom , whom he had met on a trip to Constantinople, and later vigorously advocated Cyril to mention the name of John in the Diptiches.

Isidore of Pelusium is a saint of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. His feast day is February 4th.

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SURNAME Isidore of Pelusium
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Isidorus of Pelusium; Isidorus Pelusiota
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ascetic, abbot, theologian
DATE OF BIRTH around 360
PLACE OF BIRTH Alexandria , Egypt
DATE OF DEATH between 431 and 451
Place of death Pelusium , Egypt