Madonna - November/December 2008

Patron of the internet - Mary Manning

Saint Isidore of Seville is regarded as one of the great scholars of the early Middle Ages. He was born in Cartagena, Spain, in 560 and died in 636. Mary Manning speaks with him.

MM: Can you tell us about your family? From all reports it included some remarkable people.

Isidore: We were fortunate in that our parents, Severianus and Theodora, were part of an influential family and probably accustomed to setting high standards for themselves and others. My brother, Leander, became Archbishop of Seville, a position I later held myself. My younger brother, Fulgentius, was made Bishop of Astigi, and my sister Florentina, who was older than me, was a nun. It is said that she ruled over forty convents and one thousand religious, but this might be an exaggeration. All three of my siblings were later canonised.

MM: Were you a diligent student?

Isidore: I was a fortunate one. I received my early education in the cathedral school of Seville where I was taught by some very learned men including the Archbishop, my brother Leander. The subjects we studied included grammar, logic and rhetoric, and, later, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. And that was before the really serious study of philosophy and theology. I loved learning and mastered Latin, Greek and Hebrew in a short time.

MM: Spain was a divided country during most of your life. Can you tell us about the problems facing the church when you were Archbishop of Seville?

Isidore: The problems started a century and a half before my birth, when the country was invaded by the Visigoths who set up their own capital and started the spread of Arianism. The Visigoth Arians were Christians but they preached that Christ was not God. My brother Leander dedicated his life to the cause of converting these people and I assisted him. I was committed to helping to reunite Spain and to make it a centre of culture and learning. With the knowledge I gained I was also able to help other European countries under threat by barbarian invaders.

MM: You were known as the 'schoolmaster of the Middle Ages'. Did this reputation come about because of your teaching or your writing?

Isidore: I learnt a great deal from my own inspiring teachers including Leander. Later I founded schools that taught every branch of learning. But my schoolmaster reputation came mostly from writing the Etymologiae or Origines, a kind of encyclopedia that covered many topics such as medicine and history, theology and grammar. A work of this kind had not been written before and it was used as a textbook for nine centuries.

MM: How were you able to keep your mind on your spiritual life when so busy with your writing and your duties as archbishop?

Isidore: I was aware that learning without holiness would lead to pride and loss of spirituality so I was careful to practise my religion daily. I did this by welcoming into my home anyone who needed looking after or who wanted to learn. I believed that if people had accurate knowledge they would have more insight into spiritual matters and the needs of other people. I also believed that education could open many doors for people regardless of their background. I would be happy to think I am remembered as much for these beliefs as for my writing.

MM: As you look at the way we live and learn in the twenty-first century, you must think of the internet as something that can open educational doors as your encyclopedia did.

Isidore: You are fortunate to live in a time when communication is so much easier and so far-reaching. The Pope has recognised the value of the internet by using the Vatican web page to allow Catholics to listen to his weekly audience. And the website is powered by three host computers named after the archangels Raphael, Michael and Gabriel, which says a great deal about the Vatican's attitude. I feel privileged to be considered as patron for the internet.

MM: Why do you think the Vatican is so cautious about making your role as patron saint of the internet official?

Isidore: I support the Vatican's caution as they are still working towards a statement about ethical aspects of the internet. Your Pope acknowledges the internet's enormous potential for good but recognises the other side—the potential in some people for harming others. At the same time it seems that people don't always wait for a patron saint to be declared as such officially. Prayers to me or about me are already bouncing around in cyberspace. I like the way this one that I found recently concludes with having concern for other people we meet. That is something I always tried to keep in my mind.

A prayer before logging on to the internet

Almighty and eternal God, who created us in your image
and bade us to seek all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech you, 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 you
and treat with charity and patience all those we encounter.
Through Christ, our Lord.
Amen