Profile: Saint Isidore - the Patron Saint of the Internet

Authored by telegraph.co.uk and submitted by Virble

Saint Isidore wrote a 20 book opus Etymologies, also known as the Origins, in which he tried to record everything that was known. Published after his death in 636, it was for a thousand years considered the encyclopedia of all human knowledge.

Written in simple Latin, it was all a man needed in order to have access to everything he wanted to know about the world but never dared to ask, from the 28 types of common noun to the names of women's outer garments.

It was a tool by those seeking wisdom much like the internet is used now.

The website catholic.org suggests the faithful over a prayer to the Saint before logging onto the internet.

The prayer includes the line: "we beseech Thee 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 Thee and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter."

permalink_save on September 5th, 2018 at 16:47 UTC »

Hey it's my (you chose one for confirmation) patron saint in the front page! He was chosen as the patrn saint of the internet because he was absolutely obsessed with information. He didn't just make encyclopedias, he basically had THE encyclopedia of his day, like how we have wikipedia now. He was also abused as a kid by his older brother who beat him and caged him over his schooling. St Isidore ran away, he found a rock with a hole being bore through it. Water dripped in the same spot over the ages and worn a hole in the rock. He took it as a lesson for perserverence, over time things can change. His icon is also bees. It was fiting to chose him as my patron saint because I work in internet infrastructure, but the perserverence really struck me. Also bees.

WaulsTexLegion on September 5th, 2018 at 15:34 UTC »

Blessed are the shitposters, for they shall inherit the webs.

Virble on September 5th, 2018 at 14:04 UTC »

Although St. Isidore of Seville was officially nominated for the role by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Holy See has not yet made a final decision. The website catholic.org nevertheless suggests the faithful over a prayer to St. Isidore before connecting to the Internet:

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

The prayer was also translated into Latin.