Fool-for-Christ15th century

Venerable Isidore the Fool-for-Christ of Rostov

d. 1474

Also known as Isidore Tverdislov

A man of German and wealthy birth who, embracing Orthodoxy, forsook all and lived as a homeless fool-for-Christ at Rostov, dwelling in a hut of branches and hiding great gifts of prayer and wonderworking.

May 14New Calendar

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May 27Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Isidore, Fool-for-Christ and Wonderworker of Rostov

Life

Isidore of Rostov, surnamed Tverdislov, was a fool-for-Christ who lived and died in the Russian city of Rostov in the fifteenth century. By the accounts preserved in the synaxarion he was of Western and well-to-do background, born in the German lands to wealthy parents and raised in the Latin confession. Embracing the Orthodox faith, he gave away his inheritance, took up the staff of a wanderer, and at length settled at Rostov, where he assumed the difficult ascetic path of holy foolishness.

At Rostov he built himself a crude hut and lived without shelter from filth, snow, rain, and cold, enduring every outrage while concealing great gifts of unceasing prayer and wonderworking beneath an outward show of folly. He is surnamed Tverdislov, "Constant of Word," from his manner of speaking. He reposed in 1474, and the Church of the Ascension was later raised over his grave, where his relics are venerated. He is commemorated on May 14, and is distinct from the Martyr Isidore of Chios honored the same day.

Kontakion & Troparion5 hymnsReadHide

KontakionTone 8

Today let us offer words of praise to the courageous and wondrous among the righteous,
who received from Christ the gift of working miracles.
But as one who has boldness before the Holy Trinity,
pray that we your servants may be delivered from our troubles so that we may cry out to you:
“Rejoice, O godly-wise Isidore.”

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

KontakionTone 4

O Blessed one, preserve those who honor your memory with faith from every evil and temptation of the devil,
for you have boldness before Christ God, the Master of all;
therefore, entreat Him to deliver your servants from their troubles and misfortunes O godly-wise Isidore.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

Enlightened by Divine grace, O godly-wise one,
with great chastity and patience you completed the course of your temporal life well.
Therefore, after death, the purity of your life was revealed;
for you pour forth the grace of healing to those who hasten to your holy tomb with faith.
O Blessed Isidore, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

O Saint Isidore, you were called from the earthly abodes to the eternal,
preserving your body unharmed even after death,
for you lived your life in chastity and purity, O Blessed one,
without defiling your body.
Boldly entreat Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 1

Enlightened by Divine grace from above, O godly-wise one,
you completed your life's path with much patience;
therefore even after your repose,
you pour forth miracles to all who come with faith to the shrine with your relics, O most blessed Isidore.
Glory to Him Who strengthened you.
Glory to Him Who glorified you with miracles.
Glory to Him Who through you, grants healing to all.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Western birth and conversion

According to the tradition recorded in the Orthodox calendar, Isidore was born in the German lands, by some accounts near Brandenburg, to a wealthy family and was raised in Roman Catholicism. From his youth he is said to have led an unsullied life and shown a compassionate understanding. The sources do not specify where he received the Orthodox faith, but having embraced it he distributed his wealth to the poor and, desiring the Kingdom of God, left his home to live as a pilgrim, traveling through many lands and cities before coming to Russia.

The fool-for-Christ at Rostov

Settling at Rostov, Isidore built a rickety hut of branches for himself and chose the manner of life that the Apostle Paul describes when he speaks of the apostles as fools for Christ's sake. By night he gave himself to unceasing prayer, allowing himself little sleep; by day he wandered the streets and marketplaces of the city in voluntary foolishness, bearing insults and hardship. Beneath this hidden life the synaxarion relates that he received the grace to work miracles.

Repose and veneration

Isidore reposed in 1474. By tradition his death was made known when an unusual fragrance spread through the city near his hut. A church of the Ascension of the Lord was built at the place of his burial in Rostov, and his relics rest there as a source of healing. Later accounts relate that a stone church replaced the earlier wooden chapel in the sixteenth century and that a shrine was set over his tomb in the nineteenth.

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Distinct — the 3rd-century martyr Isidore of Chios commemorated the same day (May 14); not this Russian fool-for-Christ.

Martyrs Isidore and Myropeof Chios

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints