Augustine Sokolovski
Today, May 23, the Church honors the memory of Saint Isidora of Egypt. She is one of those very few righteous, revered by the Church, about the circumstances of not only life, but also the Day of birth, as the first Christians called the days of the departure of the saints to God, we know nothing. This amazing combination of reverence for holiness and acknowledged ignorance of her biography is a true adornment of the liturgical calendar.
Saint Isidora was an ascetic in one of the monasteries founded by Pachomius the Great (292–348). It should be recalled that, under the influence of his sister Maria, Pachomius also blessed the creation of convents. A distinctive feature of Pachomius' monasticism was the absence of personal charismatic gifts.
In the monasteries, like the army, there were only ranks. According to legend, the monks were named by letters of the alphabet in groups. Moreover, after a certain period, with regular periodicity, the letter name of the groups "moving" changed. Thus, the monk was required to exercise discipline, to transform his own being into a form, so that no other forms and rules of this age would have power over him. Thus, according to the plan of the charter, the spirit was made free for God.
Such a foundation of women's monasteries for that time was a huge exception. After all, women's cloisters then were small communities of prayer and pilgrimage under the guidance of wealthy Roman wives who had turned to Christ. Usually these were widows, who served from their property to those who escaped under their protection. In turn, the Pachomius monasteries were places of asceticism. At the same time, unlike male monasteries, women's cloisters were not a place of repentance for serious falls, deliverance from the past. Therefore, the younger contemporary of those events, Mary of Egypt, simply would not have had a place in any of these monasteries.
Information about Saint Isidora has been preserved in a collection of narratives about the life of the desert fathers, called “Lausiac History”. The author of this text, written in 419-420, was Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis (360-420). A younger contemporary, disciple, and defender of John Chrysostom (347-407) during the years of his suffering, Palladius himself lived in the monasteries of Egypt and personally knew the fathers. Isidora in this collection, one of the most important for this kind of narrative, is devoted to only a few paragraphs. Moreover, like modern postmodern novels, the story of Isidora is placed within another narrative.
So, the story of Isidora in Palladius is placed in another story: "About Abba Pitirim." This ascetic lived on a mountain on the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt. The name Pitirim corresponds to the Egyptian Pitiroun. When he reached perfection in asceticism, the moment of ascetic questioning came. This is an episode characteristic of ancient monastic literature, in which one or another great ascetic, now when his exploits become obvious, turns to God with a request to indicate whether he really pleased him.
In response to a question, an angel appeared to Pitirim, reproached him for exalting his deeds and ordered him to go to a convent and find there one who does not wear the headdress prescribed by the charter. “She is better than you!” An angelic voice proclaimed to him.
Angels, according to Scripture, are the bureaucrats of God. They do not have the ability to be creative, they cannot take the initiative in transmitting the commands of God. The ascetics were constantly learning from the words of Scripture, they lived and breathed the divine word. Therefore, it was obvious to Pitirim that soon something that he had not known before would be revealed to him. In the words of the Angel: “In her heart she never departs from God, and you, having never lived in the world, wander in thought through all the cities.”
The name Isidora is of Egyptian origin. It is derived from the name of two Egyptian deities - Isis and Horus. Apparently, the saint came from a family of pagans. This means that at a conscious age she came to faith, experienced conversion to Christ consciously. The practice of "simply baptizing" adults in the Church of that time did not exist.
It is known that the unbaptized came to the Pachomius’ monasteries to live the monastic life. On Easter, when the appointed time came, they were received into the community, and at the same time they pronounced the vows of baptism. These were the same vows that are recited by all believers. Such is the etymology of monastic vows. “Baptism is a promise to God of a good conscience” (1 Pet. 3:21). The Ancient Church did not know other promises. The monk went to one of those Pachomius’ monasteries.
The Church has always resisted the desire of some to turn monasticism into a sacrament. For the sacrament cannot be annulled or blotted out. The sacrament is a sign of slavery and a sign of sonship. A baptized person cannot become unbaptized. The Body and Blood of the Eucharist cannot become wine and bread again. The ascetics of antiquity were afraid of losing their monasticism, for they knew that the God of the Bible is an all-night vigil. He is the one who does not know sleep. The Lord of Insomnia and the Prince of Silence - He sees sinners and watches over his saints day and night.
From the words of the Angel to Pitirim, we can conclude that he never lived in the world. Isidora had such experience. Palladius calls her a virgin. Apparently, the moment of baptism and entry into the monastery coincided for her. It can be assumed that she came to faith and sought baptism to stay and live in a monastery among sisters who truly believe in Christ. According to the word of Acts: “Those who believe in Christ have one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). So, Pitirim went to one of those Pachomius’ monasteries.
From the words of the Angel to Pitirim, we can conclude that he never lived in the world. Isidora had such experience. Palladius calls her a virgin. Apparently, the moment of baptism and entry into the monastery coincided for her. It can be assumed that she came to faith and sought baptism to stay and live in a monastery among sisters who truly believe in Christ. According to the word of Acts: “Those who believe in Christ have one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). So, Pitirim went to one of those Pachomius’ monasteries.
By that time, Isidora was doing dirty work in the monastery, washing dishes, in the kitchen, from which she drank water. She also cleaned the outhouses. Instead of a monastic robe, she wore a rag on her head. It was this detail that helped Pitirim recognize her from the words of the Angel. After all, the sisters despised her, considered her possessed, devoid of mind. “When they brought her and the Great One saw her face and she had an old bandage on her head, he fell at her feet and said: “Bless me, mother.” According to Scripture, "only the elder blesses the younger" (Heb. 7:7).
Seeing such an attitude of the great ascetic, the nuns began one by one to ask for his blessing and forgiveness. At the same time, which is very important, they listed the injustices that Isidora had to endure from them: “I always laughed at her”; “I mocked her humble appearance”; “I insulted her while she was silent”; I often poured slop on her”; "I beat her"; "I hit her with my fist." This amazing confession, in fact, reproduced all those mockeries and beatings that the soldiers in the Gospel brought down on the head of the Lord (Mt. 27:27-30). The nuns confessed their attitude towards Isidora, but they asked for forgiveness from the elder Pitirim, and did not address her at all.
In one of the ancient calendars, next to the name of Isidora, there is a brief indication "in the world." This, in fact, is a liturgical indication that the saint ended her life not as a martyr.
A few days later, Isidora left the monastery. “Where she went, where she hid and where she died, no one knows to this day,” Palladius finished his testimony about her. In fact, by leaving the monastery, Saint Isidora saved her sisters from further immersion in the funnel of homicidal sin.