medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I cannot resist sharing this wonderful "Invocation to St Isidore" by
one Mary Cox (I have it on my office door):
Invocation to St. Isidore
When programs crash and cursors freeze,
with warnings: "fatal error",
our systems drive us to our knees-
can this be cyber-terror,
or mere demoniac possession?
We need some saintly intercession!
Ah, what comfort to implore,
"Pray for us, St. Isidore!"
When files we've saved cannot be found
(not even by Outlook),
when viruses and worms abound,
and eat the address book,
when through the Windows data's flying,
the desperate cyber-slaves are crying,
prostrate on the office floor,
"Pray for us, St. Isidore!"
When "You've got mail!" but it's all spam
(or files that won't unzip),
when all at once there's no more RAM,
we start to lose our grip,
and filling with the foulest hates,
we would defenestrate Bill Gates!
"Our charitable hearts restore-
pray for us, St. Isidore!"
When downloads fail, when disks erase,
when life-work's lost in cyberspace,
remind us in our dire frustration:
The goal here is communication.
"Oh, heed our pleas (but don't keep score)-
pray for us, St. Isidore!"
--Mary W. Cox
Copyright © 2002 Mary W. Cox
>>> John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> 4/4/2007 9:07 PM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
Today (4. April) is the feast day of:
1) Isidore of Seville (d. 636). I. was the younger brother of St.
Leander of Seville, who saw to his early education, and of St.
Fulgentius of Écija (Astigi). It was also Leander who ordained I.
priest. A respected theologian, I. succeeded L. as metropolitan of
Seville in 600 or 601. Keen on improving the educational level of the
religious in his charge, he had episcopal schools opened in several
dioceses (Seville, Saragossa, Toledo, perhaps others) and wrote
prolifically on many subjects. I.'s _Etymologiae_ or Origines_ was the
leading Latin-language encyclopedia of the early and central Middle
Ages. Here he is as depicted in the Aberdeen bestiary:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/comment/81risidf.hti
And here he is with his friend and correspondent St. Braulio of
Saragossa (Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 167; later
tenth-century):
http://tinyurl.com/ywn78d
In 1063 I.'s relics were brought from Seville to León, where they were
placed in the church of San S. Juan Bautista. An expandable view of
their present reliquary is here:
http://tinyurl.com/34t439
I. was canonized in 1598 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722.
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