St. Isaiah (Jesaja) (Mor Esha'yo Holoboyo)

St. Isaiah (Jesaja) (Mor Esha'yo Holoboyo)

October 15th is the commemoration of the dukhrono of St. Isaiah Jesaja of Aleppo according to the Liturgical Calendar of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Mor Esha'yo Holoboyo was one of the disciples of Mor Augin, who moved to Anhel in Tur'Abdin. His parents were wealthy people from Aleppo. They gave him a good education and he married when he was 22 but against his will. During the wedding night, to him and his young wife Hanna, an angel appeared. Mor Esha'ya and Hanna agreed to move on to live in abstinence. Mor Esha'ya met Mor Augin on the way to Mesopotamia and from this meeting, the desire developed in Mor Esha'ya to become a monk . But he first asked Hanna if she wanted to become a nun. They parted and Mor Esha'ya followed Mor Augin to preach and to live a life of healing. After he had settled in Anhel, he made a pilgrimage to Palestine. When he visited his wife Hanna, near Aleppo, in her monastery, he found her dying on her deathbed. He wept bitterly, but he saw the room lit up as she handed her soul to her Lord. After he had returned to Anhel, he baptized many people in the town. Thrice blessed late Patriarch HH Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum observed that, "The life-story of Isaiah of Aleppo mentions that at the end of his life Isaiah baptized in just one day six hundred and thirty converts from the village of Anhil". St. Isaiah's mortal remains are interred in the main church of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel. Biography researched and translated by Miss. Ranya Kucukkaplan Oh Mor Esha'yo Holoboyo! Plead for us before God's throne of grace. Amen