Saint Isidore the Farmer
Layman
- Feast Day
- May 15
- Life
- 1070–1130
- Canonized
- 1622
- Born
- Madrid, Spain
Saint Isidore the Farmer (San Isidro Labrador) was born about 1070 near Madrid, then a small town under the Christian kingdom of Castile. He worked all his life as a hired farm laborer for the Vargas family on an estate just outside the walls of Madrid. He married Maria Toribia, also a saint (Santa Maria de la Cabeza), with whom he had one son who died young.
The earliest account of Isidore's life is the Codex of Juan Diacono, written about 1275, which records both his life and the miracles attributed to him after his death in 1130. He was buried in the parish church of San Andres in Madrid; in 1212 his body was found incorrupt and translated.
Pope Paul V beatified Isidore on May 2, 1619. Pope Gregory XV canonized him on March 12, 1622, in the same ceremony in which he canonized Saints Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri. He is the patron saint of Madrid and of farmers; in the United States he is patron of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. The May 15 Optional Memorial is inscribed in the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States.
Isidore embodies the sanctification of ordinary lay work. The hagiographical tradition of his sharing food with the poor and of angels assisting at his plow articulates two themes that run through Catholic social teaching: that labor is participation in God's creative work, and that almsgiving is intrinsic to Christian life (Tobit 4:7-8; CCC 2447).
Patronages
farmers · Madrid · the United States National Catholic Rural Life Conference · rural communities
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Isidore the Farmer
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Isidore the Farmer's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Isidore the Farmer Chaplaincy — Sta. Catalina, NEGROS ORIENTAL
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Lazi, SIQUIJOR
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Ayungon, NEGROS ORIENTAL
- St. Isidore the Farmer Quasi-Parish — Maribojoc, BOHOL
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Tagbilaran City, VII
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Garcia-hernandez, BOHOL
- Saint Isidore the Farmer Parish — Tubigon, BOHOL
- St. Isidore the Farmer Quasi-Parish — Silay City, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Labrador, PANGASINAN
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Santol, LA UNION
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Hondagua, QUEZON
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — San Juan, ILOCOS SUR
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Pinili, ILOCOS NORTE
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — SAMAR
- St. Isidore the Farmer — Lope de Vega, NORTHERN SAMAR
- St. Isidore the Farmer Mission Center — Silvino Lobos, NORTHERN SAMAR
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Camalaniugan, CAGAYAN
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Aurora, ISABELA
- St. Isidore the Farmer — Denmark, WI
- St. Isidore the Farmer Parish — Imperial, PA
Sources