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I
s i d o r e o f S
e v i l l e
Born:
c.560 in Cartagena, Spain
Died:
April 4, 636
Canonized:
1598
Feast
Day: April 4
Patron
Saint of: computers, computer users, computer programmers,
Internet
Isidore
was born in 560 AD to a noble family in Cartgena, Spain.
He was educated mainly by his older brother, Leander,
a monk. Succeeding his brother, Isidore served for 36
years as archbishop of Seville, and was known for his
emphasis on education. In 633, three years before his
death, he presided over the Fourth National Council of
Toledo, which enacted a decree commanding all bishops
in Spain to establish seminaries in their Cathedral Cities,
along the lines of the school already existing at Seville.
So,
how did a 7th century Spanish archbishop
and educator become the patron saint for the Internet?
The
Vatican’s Observation Service for Internet, which drew
its mission from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications,
researched the Internet and related technologies to select
a patron saint that best reflects the concerns and ideals
of computer designers, programmers and users. The saint
chosen by the Observation Service was Saint Isidore.
The
proposal for such a move was made in 1999, with Spanish
Catholic bishops advocating St. Isidore as the best candidate
on the grounds that in the 7th century he produced one
of the world's first databases in the form of a twenty-volume
encyclopedia called the Etymologies. He was the
first Christian writer to essay the task of compiling
a summa of universal knowledge. His encyclopedia
epitomized all learning, ancient as well as modern, and
in it many fragments of classical learning are preserved
which otherwise would have been hopelessly lost.
A
Prayer before Logging onto the Internet
Almighty
and eternal God, who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good, true
and beautiful, especially in the divine person
of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that, through the intercession
of Saint Isidore, bishop and doctor, during our
journeys through the internet we will direct
our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing
to Thee and treat with charity and patience all
those souls whom we encounter. Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
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AUDIO:
Latin
Saint Isidore,
pray for us!
Sancte Isidore, ora pro nobis!
Prayers
by Fr. J.T. Zuhlsdorf
with ecclesiastical approval
More
about St. Isidore
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