WHERE in the Philippines do people decorate their houses with colorful flowers considered as rice-flour delicacies? In the Pahiyas Festival in Lukban, Quezon, to honor the patron saint of farmers, Saint Isidore.
In Pulilan, Bulacan, the carabaos parade in feast-day attires and made to kneel in front of the church of San Isidro Labrador, the local name of Saint Isidore.
For days windows, doors and the façade of houses in Lukban are adorned with fruits, vegetables, corn, palay and other produce farmers harvest in their farms.
Saint Isidore, a farmer, died on May 15, 1130, at the age of 60 and canonized 492 years after.
There is a scarcity of materials about him. Only 150 years after his death were information about him was collated because many marvelous happenings were witnessed around his tomb and preserved body, which cannot be ignored.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia of 2003 adds that no one bothered to write about Saint Isidore because his was so simple a life and “nothing much of tremendous interest happened.”
Angels helped
Saint Isidore, named after the Bishop of Seville, was born in 1070 to a poor family.
When he was old enough, he worked as a laborer in a farm outside the city of Madrid.
He married a lovely lady who bore him a son. When their only child died, they agreed to live in continence.
His wife survived him and also became a saint, Maria de Cabeza. Her head is reverently carried in processions in Madrid during drought and when people pray for more rain.
Blessed with celestial visions, he went to church every day, prayed while working and spent holidays visiting churches.
Fr. Paolo Pirlo, SHMI, in My First Book of Saints, narrates that co-workers complained that his prayer life is the cause of his tardiness. To verify the accusations, the landlord spied on him. He was really late but he finished all his work.
The landlord witnessed angels helping him in the field.
Saint Isidore is also known for his generosity. The best of his food is allotted for the poor, and the scraps he kept for himself. One winter, he saw birds on a bare branch. He took pity on them and poured half of the sack of corn for them to feast on. When he arrived at his destination, the sack is still full and the biggest surprise—the flour produced twice.
Work sanctifies
Isidore exemplifies a Christian who glorifies God in his work.
Holy Mother Church teaches that when someone does his best in his work and offers it in humility and prayer, the task is pleasing to God.
In Words of Faith, Alice Sherer states: “Work can become prayer only through unselfishness and love. We cannot find a better means of growing in spirituality than through our everyday life.”
Karl Rahner, dubbed as the greatest theologian of the 20th century, emphasizing that how one lives every day signifies his prayer life, said: “God must be sought and found in the things of our world.”
Josemaria Escriva de Balaquer, founder of the Opus Dei on October 2, 1928, teaches that “one’s work can be a loving dialogue with God.”
In his book The Forge, he emphasizes that “worthy, noble, honest work in human level can be raised to a supernatural level to be a divine task.” In Furrow Escriva writes: “I have seen many people live heroic lives without leaving their own place of work.”
Seemingly, all professions, all honest and moral occupations can be considered holy. All states of life, religious, married or single blessedness are equally pleasing to God. Sanctity is not for a privileged few.
The universal church accepts, praises and proclaims the doctrine of the Opus Dei that “everything we do with love for God and others can provide an opportunity to please God.” Indeed, each of us can attain holiness in our state of life and in our own work. Every baptized Christian is called to be a leaven, salt or light for others. All of us are called to be saints.
His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, stressed in his homily during the canonization of John XXIII and Pope John Paul II that we are all called to be saints amid worldliness.
May 15 is the feast day of Saint Isidore.
Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education-National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris College in Laguna.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons