Isidore the Laborer
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- For homonyms, see Isidore
Contents
Biography
Isidore was born to very poor parents near Madrid, about the year 1070. He was in the service of the wealthy Madrid landowner Juan de Vargas on a farm in the vicinity of Madrid. Juan de Vargas would later make him bailiff of his entire estate of Lower Caramanca.Every morning before going to work he was accustomed to hear a Mass at one of the churches in Madrid. One day his fellow-labourers complained to their master that Isidore was always late for work in the morning. Upon investigation, so runs the legend, the master found Isidore at prayer, while an angel was doing the ploughing for him.
On another occasion his master saw an angel ploughing on either side of him, so that Isidore's work was equal to that of three of his fellow-labourers. Isidore is also said to have brought back to life the deceased daughter of his master and to have caused a fountain of fresh water to burst from the dry earth in order to quench the thirst of his master.
He was married to Maria Torribia, a canonized saint, who is venerated in Spain as Santa Maria della Cabeza, because her head (Spanish, cabeza) is often carried in procession, especially in time of drought. They had one son, who died in his youth. On one occasion this son fell into a deep well and at the prayers of his parents the water of the well is said to have risen miraculously to the level of the ground, bringing the child with it, alive and well. Hereupon the parents made a vow of continence and lived in separate houses. Another of the many miracles attributed to the saint is the famous one of the Angels, popularly narrated because the angels plowed the field whereas San Isidro said (although according to acts of the canonization, Iván de Vargas saw how two Angels helped to Isidor to plow to more and faster after being delayed since San Isidro stopped previously to say in all the parishes through which he passed through to pray).
He died on 15 May, 1130, at his birth place near Madrid.
Veneration
Legacy
Forty years after Isidore's death, his body was transferred from the cemetery to the church of St. Andrew.He is said to have appeared to king Alfonso VIII of Castile, and to have shown him the hidden path by which he surprised the Moors and gained the victory in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, on 16 July 1212.
When king Philip III of Spain was cured of a deadly disease by touching the relics of the saint, he replaced the old reliquary by a costly silver one.
He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV, along with Saints Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Teresa, and Philip Neri, on 12 March, 1622.
San Ysidro, California and San Ysidro, New Mexico were named after him.
His liturgical feast is celebrated on 15 May.
In his master Iván de Vargas's house in Madrid there is at the moment a museum with temporary exhibitions of Madrilenian subjects and also with memories relative to the life of the saint.
St. Isidore is widely venerated as the patron saint of peasants and day-labourers, his profession.
Among other places, he is the patron of:
- * The Spanish cities of Madrid (the capital), Leon, Saragossa, Estepona (province of Malaga) and Seville
- San Isidro, in the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
- Orotava, in Tenerife (Canary islands, part of Spain)
- Carampa, in the district of Alcamenca, province of Victor Fajardo Ayacucho (Peru)
Celebrations and festivals
He and Maria are venerated in many towns with processions in which the fields are blessed.Spain
In Orotava is celebrated the greater celebrations of the villa in honor to santo and his woman Santa Maria of the Head. The "Dance of ' ' magos' '" (magician is a word guanche that means farmer) with the typical suits is celebrated, the "Ascent of small santo" or romería, the "Fair or blessing of the cattle" and finally the Romería, with typical suits, in honor of both patronos of the villa, being one of the most important of Canary. In other places of the islands too, celebrations in honor to both holy are held. For years, the Alicantine locality of Castalla has been celebrating the Fair of San Isidro, where numerous companies expose their products in a playful and festive atmosphere. A medieval swap-meet and mechanical attractions do not fail.Chile
In Chile, in the locality of Cuz-Cuz, distant 5 kilometers of the city of Illapel, province of the Choapa, region of Coquimbo, is celebrated the celebration of San Isidro day 15 of May. In this occasion, being day Monday, the first later Sunday is celebrated, that is, the 21 of May. One begins at noon with a mass, soon to make a procession by the field in which santo is accompanied by the Chinese dances.Peru
In Lima, the celebration of San Farm Isidro is festejada by the residents of the town San Isidro de Carampá, of Ayacucho in the city of Lima. For it the "First Societyof San Isidro de Carampa" organizes, along with the Butler and the Adornante, the festividades for this date. A procession of santo begins in the vispera with the celebration of the Mass and towards the house of the Adornante. Santo is loaded by the First group of Shippers of San Farm Isidro. On the following day, Central Day, also another mass is made; this time celebrated by the butler. Also the procession is made and soon a celebration in honor to Santo.
Sources and external links
- [St. Isadore entry on Catholic-forum.com]
- http://crl.nmsu.edu/Research/Projects/retablos/san_ysidro_labrador.html
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia.
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