Is St. Isidore of Seville really the Patron Saint of the Internet?

Believe it or not, yes, your Mom's absolutely correct!

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education:

"The Vatican has declared that St. Isidore of Seville is the patron saint of the Internet, and now his image – in the form of a stained-glass window – casts its colors in Boston College's new data center. According to The Boston Globe, the center is housed in a building formerly owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and so ld to the college in 2004. When the college took over, it preserved this and other stained-glass windows in what had been a seminary dormitory. One of the windows depicts St. Isidore (c. 560-636), who served as a powerful bishop in present-day Spain and is best known for his voluminous writing on a host of topics. His most influential work was the Etymologies, also known as the Origins, an encyclopedic tract in which he tried to record everything that was known. Small wonder that the church saw fit to recognize him as the Internet's patron."

And according to the Wikipedia entry:

"Saint Isidore of Seville (Spanish: San Isidro or San Isidoro de Sevilla) was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and has the reputation of being one of the great scholars of the early Middle Ages. All the later medieval history-writing of Spain were based on his histories.

"At a time of disintegration of classical culture, and aristocratic violence and illiteracy, he was involved in the conversion of the royal Visigoth Arians to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander and continuing after his brother's death. Like Leander, he took a most prominent part in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. In all justice, it may be said that it was due to the enlightened statecraft of these two illustrious brothers, that the Visigothic legislation which emanated from these councils, is regarded by modern historians as exercising an important influence on the beginnings of representative government."

Of course, making this maximally confusing, there's another St. Isidore who is not the patron saint of the Internet. He's described thusly: "Isidore, the patron saint of farmers and protector of crops, was a farm laborer employed by a wealthy landowner near Madrid in the early twelfth century. According to legend, Isidore spent so many hours in prayer that he was in danger of falling behind with his farming chores. As a reward for his exceptional piety, divine intervention dispatched an angel to help Isidore finish his plowing on schedule."

And now you know. Tell your Mom you should never have doubted her!