April 4
Saints of the Day
 

Saint Isidore of Seville, 560-636
The Archbishop of Seville, Doctor of the Church, schoolmaster of the Middle Ages, patron of the Internet, with another 3 brothers Saints

    At the time of Isidore Spain was divided, one people (Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths)... St. Isidore contributed to the conversion of the Goths.

    Brother of Saint Fulgentius, Saint Florentina, and Saint Leander of Seville.

    Prolific writer including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths, and a history of the world beginning with creation... he was the schoolmaster of the Middle Ages and became the leading candidate for patron of computer users and the Internet in 1999.

    Proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1722,

Born c.560 at Cartagena, Spain

Died 4 April 636 at Seville, Spain

Additional Information

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainti04.htm
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1343

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Readings

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

Saints of April 4:

http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0404.htm