Isaac the Teacher of Neamt

Isaac was a schemamonk and teacher of Greek and Slavonic at Neamț Monastery, a translator of patristic writings, who died in 1817. He is named in the Romanian Paterikon and venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization; the sources available to us give no day of commemoration.

He was from the area and entered the lavra in youth, where from the most learned monks he learned the struggle in Christ and the teaching of the Fathers. The founders' commemoration book of Neamț says he was so skilled in both languages that he taught the fathers the Hellenic tongue and rendered many books. He created at Neamț a school of Greek and taught many monks the language in which most of the Fathers' works were written. In the time of Saint Paisius's eldership he was among the first teachers of Greek, beside Archimandrite Macarius, the hieromonk Hilarion, the hierodeacons Stephen and Gregory the Teacher and the monk Gerontius.

From Greek he translated many patristic books, above all philokalic ones: the Book of Saints Barsanuphius and John (1787), the complete work of Saint Symeon the New Theologian, books of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, the Paraklesis of the Mother of God with the fifty-⁠six canons of the Compline (1816) and more. His translations are fluent and clear. From Slavonic he rendered the Great Typikon, called that of Saint Sabbas, printed at Iași in 1816. After 1800 he struggled several years at the Prodromos Skete on Athos, where he went on translating; those books were not printed and were largely lost.

Returning to Neamț, he wrote, at the monks' request, the full Life of Elder Paisius and translated other books. He had a choice struggle: fasting, prayer, silence, reading of the Scriptures, vigil. He thought himself more sinful than all. He fell asleep in 1817 and was added to his fathers at Neamț.