Letter 243

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Maro
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the orphan and the duty of care — arguing that to take the place of a father is to imitate God himself.

The one who takes the place of a father to the orphan has done more than fulfill a duty — he has imitated God, who is himself "a father to the fatherless" [Psalm 68:5].

This is the logic of Christian charity: it is not merely kindness to the helpless but participation in a pattern of care that has its source in God. The one who cares for the abandoned is not simply being generous. He is being what humans were made to be — images of the One who cares for those who have no other advocate.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.