St. Isidore is the patron saint of farmers and rural people in the United States. Athough I am not a farmer, I am a rural person and I do some vegetable gardening.
There is a novena to St. Isidore and it starts tomorrow. Actually, there are several times throughout the year when you can pray this novena; the one tomorrow ends on his old, pre-Vatican II American feast day, March 22nd. This was the day he was canonized in 1622. Other dates are May 7-15 (to end on his Spanish feast day and current American one, which commemorates the day he died in 1170) and August 7-15 (ending on the Feast of the Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary, known also as the feast of Our Lady of the Fields.) Another time is the eight days preceeding the American Thanksgiving holiday.
He was married to a lady named Maria de la Cabeza; she is also a saint.
Quoting CatholicCulture.org, “St. Isidore, the Farmer, was born in Madrid, Spain, about the year 1110. He came from a poor and humble family. From childhood he worked as a farm hand on the De Vargas estate. He was very prayerful and particularly devoted to the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. He loved the good earth, he was honest in his work, and careful in his farming practices. It is said that domestic beasts and birds showed their attachment to him because he was gentle and kind to them. Master De Vargas watched Isidore at plowing and he saw two angels as his helpers. Hence, the saying arose, “St. Isidore plowing with angels does the work of three farmers.”
Isidore married a sweet and pious maid-servant by the name of Maria. They had only one son who died in youth. Both were most charitable and ever willing to help neighbors in distress and the poor in the city slums.
The novena can be found here, on the website of Catholic Rural Life: Novena to St. Isidore
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