Isaac of Dalmatia

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Isaac the Confessor
birth_date=
death_date=May 30, 383 or 396
feast_day=May 30, August 3
venerated_in=Eastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=200px
caption=Icon of Saint Isaac the Confessor
birth_place=
death_place=Constantinople
titles=Venerable Confessor
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=Clothed as an Eastern monk, sometimes holding a scroll with a quotation from his hagiography, sometimes carrying a "paterissa" (abbot's staff)
patronage=Romanov dynasty
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint Isaac the Confessor, founder of the Dalmatian Monastery (died May 30, 383) was a Orthodox Christian monk who is honored as a saint and confessor. He is sometimes referred to as Isaac the Dalmatian, not because he was from Dalmatia, but because of the monastery which he founded.

According to some accounts, Isaac was a Syrian, but this is uncertain. [http://orthodoxwiki.org/Isaac_the_Confessor Isaac the Confessor] , Orthodox Wiki] Neither is anything known for certain about his early life. What is known is that Isaac had been a hermit living in a small hut in the wilderness outside of Constantinople. In the year 378, when he heard that the Roman emperor Valens had fallen into the heresy of Arianism and was persecuting the Orthodox, deposing bishops, closing some churches, and turning others over to the Arians, Isaac went into the imperial city to confront the emperor. At the time, the emperor was preparing a military campaign against the Goths. After several attempts to disuade the emperor from his persecutions, Isaac prophesied that Valens would "die in flames" because of his actions. The emperor ordered that Isaac be thrown into prison, vowing that he would punish Isaac and put him to death upon his return from battle. Soon after, on August 9, 378, Valens was defeated at the Battle of Adrianople and died in a fire after taking refuge in a barn.

Valens' successor, Theodosius I, released Isaac, outlawed Arianism and reopened the Orthodox churches closed by Valens. Isaac wanted to return to monastic life in the wilderness, but a wealthy aristocrat named Saturninus built a monastery for Isaac in Constantinople, over which he became the first hegumen (abbot). Isaac is also known as a zealous defender of Christian orthodoxy at the Second Ecumenical Council, convened in Constantinople in 381.

At the end of his life, he entrusted the leadership of the monastery to his closest disciple, Dalmatus—who was later himself glorified (canonized as a saint)—after whom the monastery came to be known as the "Dalmatian Monastery". Isaac died in his monastery on May 30, 383, although others place his death around 396. The life of John Chrysostom includes mention of St. Isaac living into the fifth century.

Saint Isaac has been glorified as a saint by the Orthodox Church. His feast day falls on May 30, and he is also commemorated together with other saints from his monastery on August 3.

He was adopted as the patron saint of the Romanov dynasty by Peter the Great of Russia, whose birthday fell on Saint Isaac's feast day, May 30. Saint Isaac's Cathedral in the city of St Petersburg is consecrated to his honour.

References

External links

* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101566 Venerable Isaac the Founder of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople] Orthodox icon and synaxarion (May 30)
* [http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=151 Isaac, Dalmatus and Faustus, ascetics of the Dalmatian Monastery] (August 3)