Saint Stephen Catholic Church

Jubilee Saints: Isidore the Farmer (May 15)

This article begins an assortment of stories about saints who demonstrated what it meant to live that perpetual jubilee I spoke about last week. It’s always easier when learning a skill to see someone doing it in action. Whether through apprenticeship or a YouTube video, a visible model makes the task seem possible and manageable. The saints are the living embodiment of the Lord Jesus’ teachings, and their stories reflect the ways we are called to grow in our discipleship under the watchful care of the Lord himself.

St. Isidore the Farmer (1070-1130) is the patron saint of farmers and rural communities (no surprise there). He grew up in Spain in the High Middle Ages as a tenant farmer to a wealthy landowner from Madrid. He and his wife Maria (beatified back in 1697) had one son who died in his youth. He did little that was politically or culturally extraordinary, but grew in holiness through daily prayer and daily work. The jubilee was a time of redemption and release from slavery. Isidore knew the spiritual freedom offered by Christ through the sacraments, and was free of the grasp of materialism. Though poor, he was known for his generosity to the poor. The jubilee was a time of return to one’s own land and rest in God’s providence. Isidore had an acute sense of the importance of the land and his home, but even more importantly, he understood where his true home was and how to return there through daily Mass, prayer in the fields, and harmony with God’s creation. Though he worked hard to provide for his family, he knew that abundance came from God who had placed him on earth to give him glory through his work and his prayer. He found rest in Christ who offered solace to those who labored and were burdened.

St. Isidore’s life, exemplifying simplicity, trust, freedom, and generosity, reflects the very same aspects of the biblical jubilee that we’ve been looking at all along. Though different saints highlighted different aspects of the jubilee, each reflected the freedom that Christ came to give. May you open your heart to receive this jubilee more fully this day!