During the reign of Emperor Valens, there was a great persecution of Orthodoxy by the Arians, whom the emperor himself supported. Hearing about this persecution, Isaac, a hermit somewhere in the East, left the desert and came to Constantinople to encourage the Orthodox and denounce the heretics. At that very time, Emperor Valens set out with an army north against the Goths, who were descending from the Danube towards Thrace. Isaac came out before the emperor and said to him: “O Emperor, open the churches to the Orthodox, and God will bless your journey!” But the emperor ignored the elder and continued on his way. The next day, Isaac ran out before the emperor again and repeated his admonition to him, and the emperor almost did not listen to the elder, if one of his advisors, a follower of the Arian heresy, did not prevent him from doing so. On the third day, Isaac ran before the emperor, grabbed the bridle of the emperor's horse and begged the emperor to grant freedom to the Church of God, threatening God's punishment if he opposed his request. The enraged emperor ordered the elder to be thrown into a pit of mud and thorns. But three angels appeared and pulled the elder out of the pit. On the fourth day, Isaac appeared before the emperor and prophesied a terrible death for him if he did not grant freedom to the Orthodox: "I tell you, emperor, you will lead an army against the barbarians, but you will not resist the barbarians, you will flee from them, but you will be captured and burned alive." And so it all happened. The barbarians cut down the Greek army like grass, and the emperor fled with his advisor, the Arian, and hid in a basket. The barbarians arrived at that place, and having learned where the emperor was, they surrounded the basket and set it on fire, and Emperor Valens and his advisors were burned to death. Then Emperor Theodosius the Great became emperor, who heard about Isaac and his fulfilled prophecy. The emperor summoned him to himself and bowed down to him. When peace had reigned in the Church and the Arians had been expelled, Isaac wanted to return to his desert, but he was begged to remain in Constantinople. A certain nobleman Saturninus built him a monastery where the elder asceticized until his death, performing many miracles. The monastery was filled with monks and became a great monastery. Before Isaac's death, he appointed his disciple Dalmatus as abbot, after whom the monastery was later called the Dalmatian monastery. And the God-pleasing elder Isaac passed away around the year 383 into eternity, to enjoy seeing the face of God.

Venerable Isaac of Dalmatia. Saint Macrina.