Isaiah the Solitary (? – 11 August 491), also known as Isaiah of Gaza, Isaias or Isaiah the Solitary, Abba Isaiah, or possibly also Isaiah of Scetis, was a Christian ascetic and monastic writer known from the ''

Sayings of the Desert Fathers The ''Sayings of the Desert Fathers'' ( la, Apophthegmata Patrum Aegyptiorum; el, ἀποφθέγματα τῶν πατέρων, translit=Apophthégmata tōn Patérōn) is the name given to various textual collections consisting of stories and ...

'' and various Palestinian

Miaphysite Miaphysitism is the Christology, Christological doctrine that holds Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, the "Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnate Logos (Christianity), Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a posi ...

sources. He is canonized as a saint by the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

, with his feast day on the 11th day of the month Abib (

Epip Epip ( cop, Ⲉⲡⲓⲡ), also known as Epiphi ( grc-gre, Ἐπιφί, ''Epiphí'') and Abib. ( ar, أبيب), is the eleventh month of the ancient Egyptian calendar, Egyptian and Coptic calendars. It lasts between July 8 and August 6 of the Grego ...

) in the

Coptic calendar The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...

. His work "On Guarding the Intellect" can be found in the

Philokalia The ''Philokalia'' ( grc, φιλοκαλία, lit=love of the beautiful, from ''philia'' "love" and ''kallos'' "beauty") is "a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters" of the mystical hesychast trad ...

Life

Isaiah the Solitary lived in

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

on a mountain in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

then moved to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Although he was active in Gaza (as he was quoted by

Barsanuphius Barsanuphius ( gr, Βαρσανούφιος, Barsanouphios, it, Barsonofio, Barsanofrio, Barsanorio; died c. 545), also known as Barsanuphius of Palestine or Barsanuphius of Gaza, was a Christian hermit and writer of the sixth century. Born in ...

of Gaza), Isaiah was a product of the Egyptian monasticism which had developed in the 4th century in the

Kellia Kellia ("the Cells"), referred to as "the innermost desert", was a 4th-century Egyptian Christian monastic community spread out over many square kilometers in the Nitrian Desert about 40 miles south of Alexandria. It was one of three centers of ...

(Cells) of the desert of

Scetes Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt dep ...

, where he was first a monk. He lived in Egypt during the early 400s. Much of Isaiah's writings were instructive for monks and solitaries. Very few of his writings are extant, as the majority of them have been destroyed by Muslims. Isaiah was also influential in bringing Christianity to Palestine. He died as a hermit in a monastery near Gaza on 11 August 491.

Writings

Many of Isaiah's works have been lost. The ''

Asceticon The ''Asceticon'' ("ascetic discourses") by Abba Isaiah of Scetis is a diverse anthology of essays by an Egyptian Christian monk who left Scetis around 450 AD. Contents Originally composed in Greek, the ''Asceticon'' consists of 30 essays ("''log ...

'', a collection of about 30 discourses on Christian asceticism, was especially popular in the Eastern Orthodox monastic tradition, and has survived in many translations in Syriac (6th century), Coptic (6th century), Ethiopic (8th century, translation from Coptic), Armenian (8th century), Arabic, and Georgian (of which only ''logoi'' 3, 7, 23, and 27 have survived). The Syriac version of his ''Asceticon'', which is only a partial translation of the original Greek text, has been translated into French. Excerpts of his writings are also included in the ''

''.

Isaiah of Scetis

Some scholars suggest that Isaiah of Gaza and Isaiah of Scetis were in fact two different people, with the ''Asceticon'' first written by Isaiah of Scetis (d. early 5th century) and later edited by Isaiah of Gaza (d. 491).

Life

Writings

Isaiah of Scetis

References

Further reading