One of my favorite saint pictures! Good Saint Isidore who was so good and holy, and such a good worker, that God sent an angel to toil in the field so that St. Isadore could keep going to daily mass! Isadore’s employer saw the angel working away and he converted to Christianity, and the story has it that Isadore and his boss started going to mass together.
Isidore’s wife, Maria Torribia is also a saint. They too suffered the sorrow of losing a child, their only child, a son. They were noted however not for how they grieved, but how they incorporated that grief into living a full, holy, and even happy life afterwards.
Christina B Castro via Flickr Licensed by CC
St. Isidore loved the poor and loved the animals. The miracle of the multiplication of food occurred when Isidore fed a flock of starving birds and on another time when Isidore shared his food with a large group of beggars.
Isidore died on May 15, 1120 at 60 years of age. It is noted that he took special preparation and prayer to prepare for a holy death. He was canonized in 1622 along with four very notable Spanish saints. The group, known as “the five saints”, included St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier, St. Phillip Neri, and St. Isidore. His body has been found incorrupt. His memorial is celebrated on May 15th on the Roman Calendar.
My daughter’s name is Isadora, so today is her feast day. She is named for her Grandpa Isadore, Mr. Pete’s father. He was a delightful man with a wonderful sense of humor and fun. I remember in high school he drove the family station wagon to pick up Pete and his friends wearing a blond Farrah Fawcett wig. Of course everyone pointed and stared but he pretended he had no clue what they were laughing at. Mr. Pete and his friends had no choice but to get in the car with him if they wanted a ride home. Ah… the fun of embarrassing teenagers!
Another time, after we were married, my father-in-law Isadore wore a pair of dark sun glasses to a New Year’s Eve party. The glasses lit up when he pressed a button in the pocket of his leisure suit. He spent a good part of the evening flashing his glasses and surprising people. The DJ that evening then found a record about cheap sunglasses and my father-in-law took to the floor, dancing by himself and flashing his sun glasses while the crowd watched and applauded. Boy, that was so fun! I really missed him after he passed on.
Lest you think he was just a jokester, my father-in-law was with General Patton in WWII. He was with him during two campaigns, but was hit by shrapnel in Africa and was out for the rest of the war. That’s how he met my mother-in-law. A girl was writing to him, but she had too many soldiers to write to, so she gave Isadore off to my mother-in-law Virginia. Their letters clicked with each other. They met, married and had nine children. The rest is history!
My kids know all of these stories. So in honor of St. Isadore, and of Grandpa Isadore, we are going to plant some flowers today. St. Isadore was a farmer, so that is very appropriate.
Happy Feast Day St. Isadore, Grandpa Isadore, and sweet little Izzy!
Litany to St. Isadore here
Great day to do some planting! Like a Marian Garden. Check out St. Isadore’s Grotto