| Rural Ministry |
St. Isidore, the Farmer
& St. Mary de la Cabeza
Feast Day: May 15
St. Isidore (1070-1130)
patron of rural communities,
and of the United States National Rural Life Conference.
Isidore worked all his life as a farm laborer on an estate owned by a wealthy landowner outside Madrid. A simple man, Isidore prayed as he plowed the fields and was sometimes late because he went to morning Mass - but according to legend, angels helped him to make up his share of the work and even overtake the other farm workers in productivity. Isidore and his wife, Maria, were known for their love for the poor.
After her husband's death, Maria lived on until about 1175 as a hermit, visionary and miracle worker. Her relics are carried in processions and pilgrimages around Torrelaguna, Spain, where her head, preserved in a reliquary, is said to have often brought down rain from heaven for the parched countryside. Saint Mary de la Cabeza shares a feast day with her husband on May 15 and also her own on September 9.
Deborah Housel, Pastoral Planning Liaison
585-328-3228, ext. 1270
Karen Rinefierd, Pastoral Planning Liaison
585-328-3228, ext 1255
Bernard Grizard, Diocesan Director
Parish Support Ministries
585-328-3228, ext. 1337
