St. Isidore the Farmer

St. Isidore the Farmer was born about 1070 near Madrid, Spain, of poor parents, and spent his whole life as a humble day laborer, tilling the fields of a wealthy landowner near the city. With his wife, St. Maria de la Cabeza, who is also venerated as a saint, he lived a life of deep piety, hard work, and generosity to those still poorer than himself, sharing his food with the hungry and even with the birds.

Many pious legends surround him, telling how angels were seen plowing the fields beside him or in his place while he lingered at prayer, and how his charity was miraculously rewarded; such stories express the esteem in which his holiness was held. He died about 1130 and was canonized in 1622, in the same ceremony as Ignatius, Xavier, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri. Patron of farmers, laborers, and the city of Madrid, he is a model of sanctity found in ordinary daily toil, and is celebrated on 15 May.