Isidore of Pelusium


Isidore of Pelusium
Isidore of Pelusium
Bornunknown
Egypt
Died450
Egypt
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Catholic Churches
Oriental Orthodox Churches
Feast4 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 Further unpublished letters exist in Syriac translation.[1]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.

  1. ^ Pierre Evieux, Isidore de Peluse, 1995. A study of the man and his works, in French.
  2. ^ C.H.Turner, The letters of Isidore of Pelusium, Journal of Theological Studies 6 (1905)