The life of our revered father Isaac the Confessor
The memory of May 30 Soon after the acquisition of the most venerable and life-giving cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in the reign of Constantine the Great [See his life under May 21], the multi-colored serpent and headed enemy and hater of the Christian race and especially of Christ Himself, our Savior, the opponent of the holy faith, by his cunning brought confusion to the Church of God, namely: he inspired the evil and lawless emperor Valentinus [Valentinus reigned from 364 to 378] to defend Arius Arius [On Heresy] and to contribute to its spread.
And there was at that time great weeping and great sorrow among the Christians, who all day and night prayed to the Lord to have mercy on His holy Church, and to bring about a just judgment and vengeance on the wicked king. It was as in the days of the Apostles, when King Herod "stretched forth his hands against some of those who belonged to the church to do them evil" (Acts 12:1).
When he heard of the persecution of the Church of God by the Arians, and also that the king had hastened the spreading of heresy, he was greatly distressed; he left the desert and came to Constantinople in order to confirm the believers in piety; his word was like a burning candle; the Spirit of God rested on him and the grace of heaven overwhelmed him. Seeing with his own eyes the great tribulations which the believers suffered from the wicked king and his co-thinkers, he prayed to God, asking Him to look down from the height of His throne on the persecuted innocent and to show them His mercy, but to humble the pride of the persecutors.
God heard the prayer of Moses, who prayed for his people who were in trouble (1 Kings 28:17-22), and heard the prayer of Isaac, his servant, and raised up against the wicked king Valens barbarians, namely: barbarians who lived at that time on the Danube River, gathering all their regiments, began a war with the Greeks; they had already taken over Thrace and were approaching Constantinople. It was necessary to gather soldiers and king Valens, to go into battle with the enemies; but here it happened to the king the same thing that happened to Saul, the king of Israel, the enemy of David; Saul did not return from the battlefield, according to the prophecy of the holy prophet, as the king had promised.
But the king answered him not, and despised him as a commoner and a madman; and he took no thought of his words, and went on his way. And the next morning the blessed old man came to the king, and said again, Open, O king, the temples to the righteous, and the war will be ended for thee in peace: thou shalt overcome thine enemies, and return home in peace, and in good health. And the king, hearing his words, that thou shalt return home in peace, desired to open the doors of the church, and to give the temples to the righteous, and he began to counsel with his nobles concerning it.
And on the third day the blessed old man came again to the king; and Isaac took the saddle of the horse on which he was riding, and began to entreat and exhort the king to open the temples, lest he should suffer the judgment of God. And there was in that place a deep chasm, at the bottom of which there were thorns and a swamp; and when any beast came into that swamp, he could not enter thence, but was soaked in the swamp and died. And into that swamp the king commanded to cast Isaac, that he might die here; and he went on his way. And Isaac, being in that swamp, was guarded by the right hand of God, and suffered no hurt: his vulnerability was not suffered, and he was not dragged by the swamp; and he endured the summer in the midst of the swamp, as if he had been in the midst of three flowery beds, which had appeared to him from God, and were not broken; and he was brought up in the midst of the swamp, and his men were brought to him.
Then Isaac realized that it was the Lord who had sent his angels to rescue him from the abyss, and he knelt down and thanked his Savior for taking care of his servants and for not abandoning all who feared him and trusted in him. After praying for a long time and being strengthened by the Holy Spirit, Isaac stood up, and then he went quickly round the road and, overtaking the king, stopped in his path. When he saw the saint, the king was very afraid and trembled with fear and wonder. The saint said to him, "You wanted to destroy me in the thorns and swamps, but the Lord saved me alive and sent me His angels, who saved me from that abyss. Listen to me, O king, and be faithful to me; then you will not return to the battlefield, but you will be victorious, and you will not perish from the battlefield.
The king was greatly astonished at the insolence of the monk and the brightness of his countenance, but he did not listen to him, because his heart was hardened and removed from God. Then the king gave the blessed man to his two nobles, Saturnus and Victor, and ordered them to keep him in chains. At the same time he said to them: "Keep this annoying old man with you until I return and repay him for his shamelessness and insolence".
When the saint had said this, the king went on his way in anger, and the saint was bound.
Meanwhile the Greeks joined forces with the barbarians; the battle was very fierce; the barbarians were victorious by the permission of God, according to the prophecy of St. Isaac; many of the Greeks fell by the sword; King Valens himself was wounded, and, being unable to resist the enemies, he fled. The barbarians pursued the Greeks and seeded the Greek soldiers like grass; they overtook even the king himself, who was fleeing with only one of his advisers, the military commander, Aninus, who advised him not to listen to Isaac. When he came to a certain village, he saw a palace in which there was straw; since his horse was already tired, he got off and hid himself with his adviser in that palace. But he did not hide from the counselor of God until he found out the reason for his death.
After that battle, the remaining Greek army went to meet the Roman emperor Gracian, who came to the aid of the Greeks. When Gracian arrived in the Greek region, he elected as king to the Greeks Theodosius the Great, who was called the Great. Theodosius, having gathered soldiers, went to the barbarians, defeated and drove them away and returned to Constantinople with great triumph.
"It has been seven days since I smelled the stench of his burnt bones; for, as I said, he is burned. Those who heard it were greatly afraid; and indeed the news of the death of Valens soon reached them. After this, St. Isaac was released from bondage, and all began to revere him as a prophet of God. When Theodosius entered the city with solemnity, the above-mentioned nobles, Saturninus and Victor, told him all about St. Isaac, - said of his audacity and his prophecy. The king, respecting such a man, ordered him to be brought to him with great honor and bowed to him, and all his great godly devotion was read and spoken of him and made him like God. The emperor Constantine was pleased to see him restored to the peace and goodness of the whole Roman Church.
And Isaac the blessed, when he had thanked God for all things, intended to go into the wilderness, that he might stay there; but Saturninus and Victor besought the saint not to depart from the royal city, but to abide by them, and to hasten their prayers and the teaching of the peaceful habitation of the Christians; and the saint consented to grant their request. At that time a dispute arose between Saturninus and Victor, because each of them wanted the saint to dwell in his house.
The monastery of Saturnin had a very beautiful place outside the city, very convenient for the monks to live; on this place he hastened to build a monastery pleasing to God; here is where the monk Isaac settled. Similarly, Victor built a beautiful dwelling for the saint and was very sorry that Saturnin was ahead of him.
And he was a great monastery built for the money of the godly husbands Saturninus and Victor. And he was a mentor and abbot of many monks, a useful teacher and layman, for he guided all to the way of salvation by his word and example of his virtuous life. He was very kind to the poor, so that when he had nothing to give to the beggar, he took off his clothes and gave them to the beggar; he did many other godly works.
His relics were laid in the temple of St. Stephen, which was next to the Dalmatian monastery; later moved to the temple of All Saints.] ; to his burial the whole city gathered; his honourable body was laid in the temple of the holy martyr Stephen; his holy soul will stand before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, in the face of the holy and venerable fathers and pray with them for us the death of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, to Whom the glory rests forever. Amen.
I 'm going to have to get back to you .