Feast day: 15 May
St Isidore (1070-1130) was born in Madrid about 1070, to poor but very pious parents. He was called after St Isidore of Seville. His parents were unable to support him when he was very young and sent him to work for a wealthy landowner, Juan de Vergas. He was said to have been about six and a half feet tall. He married Maria Torribia (called Maria de la Cabeza) because later, after her death, her head was later kept in a reliquary and carried in procession, a devotion which often brought rain to regions affected by drought. Isidore and Maria had one child who died in childhood. There are some stories that he previously fell into a well and was miraculously saved. After his death the couple took a vow of continence.
There are many legends about St Isidore. One is that he fed a group of hungry birds from a sack of corn which was miraculously refilled. His companions complained that he was often late for work because he spent so much time in the church, but an angel often took over his tasks. There is another story how his wife Maria kept a pot of stew for the hungry poor but there were so many people that the food ran out. Isidore told his wife to look again and the pot was full.
Isidore died in 1120. He was eventually canonized with Ss Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, Philip Neri and Teresa of Avila. Perhaps this would not have happened if King Philip III had not fallen ill and recovered through the intercession of St Isidore. Philip petitioned the Pope to canonize Isidore. Perhaps this was fortuitus as ordinary working people do not often officially become saints. Isidore joined the founding fathers of the Jesuits and the Oratory and the Carmelite reformer Teresa of Avila. The group are known as the "five saints".
St Isidore is depicted with various symbols such as a sickle and sheaf of corn, a spade, a staff or with a angel with two white oxen him. He is the patron saint of Madrid and other towns in Spain. He is also the patron saint of farmers, peasants and farm labourers. In the 1950s St Isidore became the patron of the United States National Catholic Rural Life Conference. His wife Maria, who became a hermit after his death, is venerated as a saint, though she may not have been officially canonized.
St Isidore’s body was moved several times in order to help ailing members of the royal family. In1769, King Charles III had his remains brought to the church of St Isidoro in Madrid. The sepulchre has nine locks and the King of Spain has the master key. Only the Archbishop of Madrid is permitted to open it and must have the King’s approval. It has not been opened since 1985.
St Isidore, pray for us.