Isidore of Pelusium | |
---|---|
Born | unknown Egypt |
Died | 450 Egypt |
Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Eastern Catholic Churches Oriental Orthodox Churches |
Feast | 4 February |
Isidore of Pelusium (Greek: Ἰσίδωρος ὁ Πηλουσιώτης, d. c.450) was born in Egypt to a prominent Alexandrian family. He became an ascetic, and moved to a mountain near the city of Pelusium, in the tradition of the Desert Fathers.
Isidore is known to us for his letters, written to Cyril of Alexandria, Theodosius II, and a host of others. A collection of 2,000 letters was made in antiquity at the "Sleepless" monastery in Constantinople, and this has come down to us through a number of manuscripts, with each letter numbered and in order. The letters are mostly very short extracts, a sentence or two in length. Further unpublished letters exist in Syriac translation.[1]
Some of the letters are of considerable interest for the exegesis of the Greek Bible.[2] He is revered as a saint, whose feast day is February 4.