St. Isidore, was a great Spanish bishop, and lately in an interesting turn of events, he is
now the proposed Patron saint, of the Internet. Yes, the World-Wide-Web. So, the next
time you think that you will need help because your computer will crash, say a quick
prayer to St.
Isidore, and he will try to help you with your problem. You can even
download a sound byte of the prayer. They are all available at www.catholic.
org/Isidore.He was born the Severianus and Theodora in approximately 560 AD They were a
very powerful family. His family was also very educated, and they provided Isidore with
a very good education. He learned to speak three languages fluently.
Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew. Perhaps Isidores greatest feat, was his 20 volume Encyclopedia which had
very many different topics. These are the different volumes the first book was all about
grammar. Book two, was rhetoric and dialectic. The third volume was about education
and the guidelines for it.
Medicine and libraries were the theme for the fourth book. Book
five, was law and chronology. Volume six, was ecclesiastical books. God and of the
heavenly and earthly hierarchies, volume seven was considered some of his best work.Book eight, of the Church and of the sects was another deeply thought out publication.
The ninth book was of languages, peoples, kingdoms, and official titles. Book ten,
etymology. Book eleven, man. The twelfth book was about birds and beasts. Book
thirteen, of the world and its parts. The fourteenth was physical geography.
Book fifteen,
of public buildings and roadmaking. Volume number sixteen, was of stones and metals.Book seventeen, was on agriculture. Book eighteen, of the terminology of war, of
jurisprudence, and public games. The nineteenth book was of ships, houses, and clothes.Book twenty, of victuals, domestic and agricultural tools, and furniture.
The variety of these subjects shows the real diversity of the thinking of St. Isidore
of Seville. Many people consider him to have been instrumental in the development of
the Christian way of life and the education of our religion.
