Isidore le Laboureur
v. 1070-1130 11th century Feast day: May 15
Manual work held as continuous prayer; poverty that still gives.
Who was Isidore le Laboureur?
A day labourer in the fields near Madrid, in the service of the same master all his life, he set out before dawn and stopped at the church before harnessing the oxen. He was blamed for arriving late; the story goes that his furrows were ploughed all the same. Married to María, a peasant like himself, he lost his only child and shared even his soup with the poorest of the town.
In their own words
I declare it to you in all honesty: from the King of kings, from the company of the saints and from their service, I neither will nor can in any way be parted.
Go in peace, my children; may the will of the Lord be done.
I beg you in God's name, dearest wife: if any of the stew is left, give it as alms to this poor man.