Feast of Saint Isaiah – May 9

Isaiah lived in the second part of the 8th century before the birth of Christ, in Jerusalem. During his life time, the Kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, knew much travail as the Assyrians invaded the King of Israel in the north, destroying it and exiling its inhabitants. They even reached the gates of Jerusalem but their siege did not succeed in bringing Jerusalem to her knees. Isaiah brought the word of God to the kings of Judah, particular to King Ahaz, castigating Judah for its sins but also enunciating God's fidelity despite everything.

In the editing of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah's own prophecies were joined with those of his disciples in later generations, particularly those of the 6th century – during and after the Exile in Babylon. In the canon of the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah was placed as the first of the Prophets and Christians found in his book many prophecies that pointed to the coming of the Messiah. The writers of the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, made frequent references to the writings of Isaiah in describing he birth, teaching, sufferings, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

According to one tradition, not mentioned in the Bible, Isaiah died a martyr's death.

The first home of the Hebrew speaking Catholic kehilla in Jerusalem was in Isaiah House, the center for the study of Judaism run by the Dominicans, established in 1960 and closed in 1998.