Venerable Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Nineveh (VII)

The Venerable Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Nineveh, lived in the seventh century. He settled with his brother in the monastery of Saint Matthew at Mar. For his deep learning and high spirituality he was offered the office of superior of the monastery, but the Venerable Isaac, inclined to silence, left the monastery altogether and began the life of a recluse. His brother begged him to come back. The venerable father refused; but when the report of his holy life spread, he was compelled to agree to become Bishop of Nineveh too. The inhabitants of the city were distinguished by rough manners and received the seeds of Christian teaching with difficulty. The hierarch felt that he did not have the strength to reform them, and besides, the sweetness of the hermit’s life kept coming back to his mind. All this weighed on the ascetic’s soul, and so he left his see and withdrew to the desert of Scetis, where he reposed in God-pleasing labour.