At the beginning of this month on May 1, we celebrated the
feast of Saint Joseph the worker. Today
we celebrate the feast of a farm worker.
Not to be confused with Saint Isidore of Seville, this saint was born in
Madrid, Spain in 1070 and spent his whole life working as a farm laborer for
the same landowner. He married a girl as
poor as holy as himself, and after their one son died in infancy, they lived
the rest of their married life in perfect chastity in order to dedicate themselves
totally to the service of God. Both he and his wife St. Maria de la Cabeza
became saints.
The couple practiced great generosity towards the poor
despite their limited circumstances. The
poor would often follow Isidore home from the farm, and would enjoy greater
portions of food than Isidore and his wife.
Isidore was a man of intense prayer and his life was marked
by numerous miracles and supernatural interventions. He
would attend Mass daily, and all day long, as he walked behind the plow, he communed
with God.
He was canonized with four very notable Spanish saints in
1662. The group, known as "the five saints", included St. Ignatius of
Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier, St. Phillip Neri, and St.
Isidore. The feast of Saint Isidore is celebrated in the United States with
special devotion and he has been named patron of the National Catholic Rural
Life conference—that is, he is the patron saint of farmers.
He is also a model of spirituality for us. He made his day an offering to God in a
simple, but heroic manner. We should
want everything in our day to give glory to God, not just our prayers, but also
our humble labors. As he walked behind
the plow and planted seeds in the soil, Isidore offered a simple prayer for
someone. Routine work can be turned into
a beautiful prayer to God by saying a prayer with each piece of clothing
folded, or each potato peeled, or praying the rosary while driving.
Prayer made his soul more fertile than the soil he
worked. May St. Isidore help us to be
led by God in the ways of prayer and generosity towards all for the glory
of God and salvation of souls.
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