St. Isidore of Seville

Patron saint of......

The internet!!... as well as the patron saint of computer technicians, computer users, and computers.

The soon to be called "Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages" (560-636) grew up with a very saintly family.... with parents known for their great piety, and his siblings... Saint Fulgentius, Saint Florentina, and Saint Leander of Seville! His future saint siblings raised him after their father's death. He wasn't exactly a bright student at first, but after leaving the problem up to God, he soon became so bright that his teacher had to wear sunglasses! ;-) Later, he became a priest, and helped his brother, St. Leander of Seville, (who was the archbishop of Seville around that time) with the conversion of the Visigoths. After that, he became a hermit....

After a few years when he learned that his brother passed away, he was ordained archbishop to take his place in 601. He started to teach, and announced that there should be seminaries in every diocese. He also wrote a rule for religious orders. Isidore founded, reformed, and wrote books....

Here's a part of a book he wrote that's entitled, Book of Maxims

....

"Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading. If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us. All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned.

Reading the holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man's attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.

The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.

The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth.

Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart...."

-from Book of Maxims by Saint Isidore

Info and image from here