Venerable
Venerable Isidore of Pelusium
ок. 350-360 — †ок. 435-440
Venerable Isidore of Pelusium — an Egyptian monk-presbyter and abbot, a disciple and defender of St. John Chrysostom, author of over 2,000 letters of scriptural interpretation and moral guidance — a major monument of patristic exegesis.
Venerable Isidore was born around 350-360 in Alexandria; according to tradition he was related to Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria. As a young man he left the world and withdrew to a mountain near Pelusium in Egypt, where he lived a strict ascetic life. His spiritual wisdom, asceticism, learning, and discernment earned him the respect of the brethren, who elected him abbot; he was ordained a presbyter (monk-priest), which defines his true status — not a lay righteous person, but a monastic ascetic.
During contacts with Constantinople he grew close to St. John Chrysostom and deeply revered him. He firmly defended the hierarch during the persecution against him by Empress Eudoxia and Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, speaking out against the injustice done to Chrysostom.
He is the author of a vast epistolary legacy — interpretations of Holy Scripture, dogmatic and moral instructions. The surviving number of letters is usually estimated at around 2,000-2,090 (ancient sources, e.g. Severus of Antioch, cite up to 3,000; late Byzantine lexica exaggerate this to as much as 10,000). The letters fearlessly denounce injustice, praise virtue and holiness, point out the failings of clergy and monastics, expound Orthodox teaching and scriptural interpretation, and refute heresies — a major exegetical monument of patristic literature.
He reposed around 435-440. His feast is February 4/17.
ON THE CATEGORY CORRECTION: the original stub gave the category as "righteous" (for a layperson), yet the text itself called him "an ascetic and writer," a monk-presbyter, a disciple of Chrysostom — in every source checked (pravenc.ru, azbyka.ru, radiovera.ru, obitel-minsk.ru) he is invariably titled "venerable." The category has been corrected from righteous to venerable.