Ecclesiastical leader and scholar: he forged European culture

Today we celebrate saint Isidore of Seville. He was a younger brother of Leander, Archbishop of Seville. The young Isidore had succeeded his brother Leander on the episcopal throne of Seville in 599. Then he had to contend an inner strife between a desire for solitude to dedicate himself solely to meditation on the word of God, and the demands of charity to his brethren for whose salvation, as Bishop, he felt responsible. —Isidore sought in Christ's example the definitive confirmation of a just orientation of life and said: «Just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbour with action».