Saint Isidore the farmer

Profile

Pious farmer. Married to Saint Mary de la Cabeza. Their son died young; they became convinced it was the will of God that they not have children, and they lived together chastely the rest of their lives, doing good works. Accused by fellow workers of shirking his duties by attending Mass each day, taking time out for prayers, etc. Isidore claimed he had no choice but to follow the highest Master. One tale says that when his master came in the morning to chastise him for skipping work for church, he found angels plowing the fields in place of Isidore. Miracles and cures reported at his grave, in which his body remains incorrupt.

Readings

O God, Who didst teach Adam the simple art of tilling the soil, and Who through Jesus Christ, the true vine, didst reveal Thyself the husbandman of our souls, deign, we pray, through the merits of Blessed Isidore, to instill into our hearts a horror of sin and a love of prayer, so that, working the soil in the sweat of our brow, we may, with Christ our Lord, enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – Prayer to Saint Isidore, Patron of Farmers; from The Fold, August 1953