Venerable Isaac the Syrian

Life

Isaac was born in Nineveh, and in his youth he practiced asceticism in the monastery of Mar Mattai, near Nineveh. When he became renowned for the holiness of his life and many miracles, he was chosen as Bishop of Nineveh and compelled to accept this rank. But only after five months he left the episcopacy and secretly withdrew to the desert monastery of Rabban-Shabur. He composed many works, of which about one hundred homilies on the spiritual life and asceticism have come down to us, written mostly from his own experiences. Incomparable as a psychologist and guide in the spiritual life. Even such saints as Saint Simeon of the Wondrous Mountain sought his counsel. He reposed in deep old age at the end of the seventh century.