March 31, 2010

Isidore of Seville: Patron of computers

By John Gleason

It’s fair to say it’s happened to anyone who works on a computer.  An accidental key stroke or failure to back up work or a power outage takes place and suddenly everything you’ve been working on is lost. Only this time, instead of considering taking a hammer to your hard drive, why not close your eyes, count to 10 and offer up a prayer to St. Isidore of Seville, the patron saint of computers and the Internet. (Not to be confused with St. Isidore the Farmer who was named after this illustrious saint.)

St. who?

How could a man, who lived 1,400 years before the Internet was even conceived turn out to be its patron saint?  It’s all about the gathering of information.

St. Isidore was born in Spain in the year 560.  Possessing a passion for learning (he was fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew) and a talent for writing, he eventually became archbishop of Seville.  He also took it upon himself to create a 22-volume encyclopedia called Etymologiae.  The work, a collection of all knowledge known to that time was categorized and condensed by St. Isidore by the time of his death in 636.

As the Roman Empire began to fade, it was feared that all the knowledge of the Roman civilization would disappear with it.  St. Isidore, through the creation of his encyclopedia, was instrumental in seeing that didn’t happen.  The first volume of the Etymologiae was dedicated to grammar.  Later volumes covered a variety of subjects including medicine, law, languages, the animal kingdom, geography, agriculture and even road making.  According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “throughout the Middle Ages, it (the Etymologiae) was the textbook most in use in educational institutions … not even the Renaissance seemed to diminish the high esteem in which it was held.”

So, jumping forward in time, when the subject of who should be the acknowledged patron saint to assist dot-com Catholics, was the field of candidates limited to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs?  Hardly.

According to research information Web site Suite101.com, a study was made on the subject of the Internet with the blessings of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, a dicastery or department of the Roman Curia which is responsible for using various forms of media in spreading the Gospel, for the purposes of “selecting a saint that best reflects the concerns and ideals of computers designers, programmers and users.”  St. Isidore, whose feast is observed on April 4, was selected as the patron of computers, computers users, programmers and the Internet.

As to how much St. Isidore’s influence expands to other aspects of the computers was not determined, but it’s doubtful many people would ask him to intercede the next time they play Wii or PlayStation.
In his book, “This Saint’s For You,” author Thomas Craughwell writes: “The Web is about collecting, preserving and disseminating information—precisely what St. Isidore accomplished in his life.  Until a Webmaster or blogger is canonized, he seems to be the right patron for the Internet.”