Blessed Isidore the Fool-For-Christ

Life

A German by origin. Having come to Rostov, he fell in love with the Orthodox faith, and not only became a member of the Orthodox Church but took upon himself the difficult struggle of foolishness for Christ. He spent his nights in a hut of branches which he himself had made in a certain marsh. Great and awesome miracles this saint showed both during his life and after his death. To a certain merchant who had been cast out of his boat and was drowning in the sea, Isidore appeared walking on the water and brought him to shore. In the house of the Prince of Rostov, all the vessels of wine suddenly dried up when his servants drove Isidore from the gates and did not give him even the cup of water he had asked for. When he died on May 14, 1484, in his hut, all of Rostov was filled with a wondrous fragrance. That merchant whom the Blessed One had saved at sea built a church for him on the site where his hut had been.