Saints Isidore and Maria
Isidore and Maria were not Franciscan, but as the patron
saints of farmers and day laborers in the fields, their feast day is a
benchmark in creation-centered spirituality. You will see the connections as
you read on. We remember them together
as a married couple on the day of Isidore’s death in 1130. Maria died Sept. 9,
1175. After Isidore's death, Maria became a hermit. She is known in Spain as Santa
Maria de la Cabeza (St. Mary of the Head) because her head is contained in
a reliquary. Her intercession has often brought rain to dry countrysides when
there was drought.
Isidore is named after Isidore of Seville, the saintly
archbishop and theologian who died in 636. He is the patron of Madrid and of
the United States National Rural Life Conference. A story told about St.
Isidore is that “he often came later to work in the fields than other laborers
because he would first attend Mass in the morning. Yet his work never suffered
and he always met the chores required of him. It was said two angels, one on
either side of Isidore, appeared and joined their pious companion in plowing
the fields.”
Another story about Isidore found online is that “he is also
known for a love of animals. During one winter, he was carrying a sack of corn
to the mill to be ground to flour. Noticing all the hungry birds around him, he
opened the sack and poured half of it on the ground for them. He was ridiculed
for the waste, but when he reached the mill, the sack produced double the
normal amount of flour.”
He married Maria Torribia and they lived and worked in
Torrelaguna, near Madrid in Spain. After their only son died, they committed
themselves to sexual abstinence as a form of devotion. The story is told online
that “St. Maria always kept a pot of stew on the fireplace in their humble
rural dwelling. She knew that her husband Isidore would often bring home
anyone who was hungry. One day he brought home more hungry people than
usual. After she served many of them, Maria told him that there simply was
no more stew in the pot. He insisted that she check the pot again, and she
was able to spoon out enough stew to feed them all.”
Isidore and Maria show the beautiful complementarity of
spouses. Isidore worked the fields, evangelizing with his actions, while Maria
prepared to continue serving God’s people from the home. Without Isidore there
would be no one to feed, but without Maria there would be no food to give.
Saint Isidore the Farmer’s life challenges contemporary
compartmentalization of work and spirituality, showing that work can be a
channel for grace, regardless of its nature. Isidore was canonized in 1622 and
Maria was canonized in 1697, over 500 years after their deaths. St. Isidore’s incorrupt
body can be found in the Cathedral of Madrid, interred alongside relics of
Maria.
St. Isidore the Farmer, you and your wife Maria led a simple life of great faith that produced wonders—pray for us!
Saint Dymphna
The other saint traditionally commemorated on May 15th
is a young Irish girl who consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of
chastity. Soon afterward, her mother died and her father Damon- who had loved
his wife deeply - began to suffer a rapid deterioration of his mental
stability. He was a minor regional ruler who began to desire his daughter
because of her strong resemblance to her deceased mother. Dymphna resisted the
advances of her father and fled with her confessor, a priest named Gerebran,
two trusted servants, and the king's fool. The group sailed toward what is now Belgium
and hid in the town of Geel. Damon pursued them, and Dymphna was beheaded by
her father on the 30th of May, circa 650, although the year of
her death in the 7th century is uncertain. She was said to
have been 15 years old when she died.
This virgin martyr is revered for her compassion, fleeing
her mentally unstable father to care for the sick in Belgium, where she was
eventually killed, making her a symbol of purity and a protector for those with
mental health struggles. Dymphna is the patron saint of those suffering from
mental illness, anxiety, depression, stress, and nervous disorders. She is also
patroness of mental health professionals, incest victims, and the motherless. There
has been a contemporary revival of devotion to this saint. Whether we remember
her on the 15th or the 30th of the month, it is
providential that May is Mental Health Awareness Month!
For even more on her story and the connection to the care of those with mental
illness, I recommend this US Catholic article: https://uscatholic.org/articles/202005/remembering-st-dymphna-in-a-world-gone-mad/
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