Patron Saint of farm workers and agriculture engineers

Colegiata of Saint Isidore (Madrid) were the saint’s remains are buried

Madrid – May 13th,2011.- The patron Saint of farm workers and agriculture  engineers around the world was born in Madrid in 1082. Due to the Arab invasion, his humble family moved to Torrelaguna, a municipality in the north of the region. There, he married a simple farm girl who later became a saint, St. Maria de la Cabeza. Ten years later, he returned to his hometown and worked there for the household of the nobleman Juan Vargas.

Saint Isidore found a way to unite his work-life with his prayer life. His virtue was made of prayer, charity and honest work. He would wake up early in the morning to pray for a while and would never start a day of work, without having attended mass. That is why his envious co-workers reported to the landlord that Isidore had abandoned his tasks. The landlord noticed that what the other farmers said was true, but at the same time, when Isidore was not there,, an angel did his work for him.

St. Isidoer Farmer was also known for helping the needy. He distributed his limited salary as a farm worker into three parts: one for the Church, another for the poor and another for his family.

His miracles in life and death

Procession of San Isidore in Madrid

He worked over four hundred miracles during his life and after his death. For example, one time he made water come out of a shovel to give a drink of water  to someone. The most well-known miracles is when his son accidentally fell into a well and unexplainably the water from the well started to rise until it reached the top, bringing his son back safe and alive. These and other miracles made people consider him a saint when he died at 90 years of age.
After his death many people from all over turned to him for his intercession and obtained many favors. The king of Spain Philip III was very ill and at the ponit of death. When the incorrupt remains of St. Isidore were retrieved from the cemetery, the king’s fever disappeared and when the body was brought before the king, he was completely cured.

Procession of Saint Isidore in Lima (Perú)

It is also said that he appeared to Alfonso de Castilla and showed him a hidden road to take the moors by surprise and allow him to win the Navas de Tolosa battle in 1212. For these and many other miracles he was canonized in 1622 with Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Francis Xavier, among others.
Saint Isidore with Our Lady of The Almudena are the patron saints of Madrid. At present he is buried in the Colegiata of Saint Isidore in Madrid, which was Madrid’s Cathedral for many years. His fesat day is May 15th.