[Rank]
S. Isidori Episcopi Confessoris et Ecclesiae Doctoris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C4a

[Name]
Isidore

[Rule]
vide C4a;
9 lectiones

[Oratio]
O God, Who granted to thy people blessed Isidore as a minister of salvation, grant, we beseech thee, that we who cherished him on earth as a teacher of life may be found worthy to have him as an intercessor in heaven.
$Per Dominum.

[Lectio4]
Isidore, the admirable teacher, was a Spaniard by birth, being the son of Severian, governor of the Province of Carthagena. He was trained up in all godliness and learning by his holy brethren Leander, Archbishop of Seville, and Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena. He was well instructed in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew letters, and he came from his masters a most eminent scholar in all human knowledge, and a pattern of all Christian graces. While yet he was very young, he attacked with such firmness the Arian heresy, which had of former times polluted the Gothic nation, who then were the chief rulers of Spain, that he was near being murdered by the heretics. After that Leander was departed this life, Isidore was chosen to the See of Seville, against his own will, but at the vehement instance of King Reccared, and with the strong assent of the clergy and people. Holy Gregory the Great not only confirmed his election by his own Apostolic authority, and caused him to be adorned, as is the custom, with a Pallium sent from the body of Blessed Peter, but is also stated to have appointed him Vicar of the Apostolic See for all Spain.

[Lectio5]
When he was Archbishop no tongue can tell how leal he was, how lowly, and meek, and merciful, how careful to restore the laws of Christianity and the Church, and how unwearied in establishing the same by his word and writings, yea, how brightly he shone in all graces. He was a leading promoter and spreader of monastic institutions throughout Spain. He built many monasteries. He founded colleges in which, when his duty allowed him spare time for sacred study and reading, he taught the many disciples who betook themselves to him from all quarters. Among these, two of the most distinguished were the holy Bishops Ildephonsus of Toledo, and Braulio of Saragossa. He called the Council of Seville, wherein, in a most incisive and eloquent discourse, he shattered and crushed the heresy of the Acephali, by which Spain was then threatened. So great was his fame among all men for the holiness of his life and doctrine, that scarcely sixteen years after his death the whole Council of Toledo, by the acclamation of more than fifty Bishops, among whom was the holy Ildephonsus himself, declared him to be worthy to be called the excellent Teacher, the newest ornament of the Catholic Church, one whose learning would endure to the end of the world, and of worshipful memory. It was the opinion of the holy Braulio that he was not only fit to be compared to Gregory the Great, but also that he was a gift from God to Spain instead of the Apostle James.

[Lectio6]
Isidore wrote Books of Etymologies and on Church Offices, and likewise many others, so useful in the administration of Christian and Church Law, that the holy Pope Leo IV felt no scruple in writing to the Bishops of Britain, that the sayings of Isidore were worthy to be kept like those of Jerome and Augustine, whenever there is to be done some strange work, wherein the rules of the Canon Law are not enough defined. Many sentences from his writings may also be discovered embedded in the Canon Law of the Church itself. He presided over the Fourth Council of Toledo, the most celebrated that ever met in Spain. Before his death he had purged Spain of the Arian heresy, and publicly foretold his own dissolution and the wasting of the kingdom by the Saracens which was to come. He passed away to heaven, at Seville, where he had ruled his Church for forty years, ~(upon the 4th day of April,) in the year of our Lord 636. In accordance with his own commands, his body was first buried between his brother Leander and his sister Florentina, but Ferdinand I, King of Castille and Leon, bought it for a great price from Enet, the Saracen, who then ruled at Seville, carried it to Leon, and there built a Church in honour of him, wherein his said body lieth, illustrious through miracles, and reverenced with great worship by the people.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 5:13-19
At that time, Jesus said unto His disciples: “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” And so on.
_
Homily by St. Isidore, Archbishop (of Seville.)
!Bk. ii. to St. Fulgentius in Offices, c. 5
Whosoever is set over the people to teach them and to catechize them in good works, him it behooveth in all things to be holy, and in nothing to be held blameworthy. For he which rebuketh another for sin, should have no dealings with sin himself. Since with what face can he rebuke them which are under him, if he which is rebuked of him be able to answer him straightway, saying Begin by teaching thyself to do well? Verily, whosoever setteth himself to teach others to live well, him it behooveth first of all to correct his own life, so that in all things he may be able to give the same his own life for an example, and may provoke all to good living by his works as well as by his words. Likewise also he must needs be learned in the Scriptures, since if the life of a Bishop be holy only, then is he profitable to himself only. But if he be learned also in his teaching and discourse, he is able to edify his neighbors, both teaching such as are his own, and confounding the gainsayers, who, unless they be confounded and unmasked, are easily able to lead astray the hearts of the simple.

[Lectio8]
Such an one it behooveth, that his discourse should be pure, plain, open, very weighty, and seemly, full of sweetness and comeliness, touching often the mystery of Law, the teaching of faith, the manliness of self-control, and the training of righteousness. Such an one it behooveth to exhort all men with varying exhortation, according to the profession and way of life of each, that is to say, such an one must know what, to whom, when, and how to speak. His duty is, before all others, to read the Scriptures, to know the Canons, to copy the examples of the Saints, to be instant in watching, fasting, and prayer, to keep peace with his brethren, to separate himself from none of the members of Christ, to condemn no man untried, and to excommunicate no man unheard. Such an one it behoveth, as he is the first in authority, so also to be the first in lowliness, yet ever so, that, by misplaced lowliness, he suffer not nor encourage the sins of those that are under him, nor use his authority hardly and with violence, but as one that is the more careful of the flock committed unto him, as being mindful of that stricter account which he will have to give at the fearful judgment seat of Christ.

[Lectio9]
Such an one must have firm hold on charity, that gift which surpassed all others, and without which all others are nothing worth. Charity is the keeper of chastity, and that keeper's home is lowly-mindedness. With all other gifts he must needs be eminent for purity, yea, his must be a mind belonging utterly to Christ, and clean and free from any fleshly defilement. But these are not all his needful gifts. Besides these, it behoveth him to undertake the care of the poor, and to do the same with zeal and likewise with prudence, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to entertain strangers, to ransom prisoners, to be the guardian of the widow and the orphan, to watch over all without ceasing, and to be heedful that his alms be neither foolish nor wasteful. In him hospitality must shine, entertaining all men with courtesy and brotherly love; for if it be the duty of all the faithful to listen to that Gospel which saith: “I was a stranger, and ye took Me in”, (Matth. xxv. 35,) how much more is it the duty of Bishops, whose house it behooveth to be an home for all men?
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[Lectio94]
Isidore of Spain was born at Carthagena, his father, Severianus, being governor of the province. His brothers, Leander of Seville and Fulgentius of Carthagena, both holy bishops, educated him in the love of God and in the liberal arts, and he became outstanding in all forms of knowledge and Christian virtue. When Leander died, Isidore was raised to the bishopric of Seville and made vicar apostolic for the whole of Spain. In his episcopal ministry he gave an example of all good works, and was especially concerned with the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline. When a Council was convoked at Seville, he broke up and stamped out the heresy of the Acephali, then threatening Spain, by the force and eloquence of his arguments. The fame of his holiness and teaching became so widespread that, hardly sixteen years after his death, he was called the illustrious Doctor. He wrote many useful books filled with learning, and presided over the fourth Council of Toledo, the most celebrated of those held in Spain. Finally, after he had ruled his church for about forty years, he died at Seville in the year 636.
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