San Isidro blessing in fire, drought and COVID
As I write this on (May 15), our beloved country of El Norte is overshadowed by colossal and towering pyro-nimbuscumulus clouds of smoke rising from what early this week became the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history, an inferno that has burned huge portions of forests, lands and people’s homes, while thousands are having to evacuate from their cherished communities to evade the unprecedented fires that are feeding upon the hot baked arid landscapes of the mountainous forests and grassy valleys in Northern New Mexico.
And, in the meantime, the insidious and lethal SARS-CoV-2 virus and its sub-variants are still afflicting all the populace of El Norte and far beyond. It is all a shattering, staggering and dismaying situation that is demanding the best from the people to help and support each other, and for many to pray for divine intercession that the winds be calmed, that rains and moisture ease the torrid drought, that rejuvenation flourish.
This is the time of year in when, normally in our northern traditional communities, one could very well witness a longtime familiar sight, which is the procession of people from out of the churches or capillas or moradas, following the lead guide figure of the wooden Santo representing Saint Isidore, or San Isidro Labrador, the Patron Saint of Agricultural and Pastoral Lands, as the faithful walk out on the fertile lands and waters to invoke the saint’s blessing for productive and fruitful yields of harvest.
This blessing tradition has continued for centuries here, and is, for example, faithfully carried out in the Cordillera/Los Cordovas area near Ranchos de Taos in the Taos Valley, emanating from the old Capilla de San Isidro Labrador. A special mass is said there and then the procession takes place on the pastoral lands and to the Rio Pueblo de Taos, which is the source of life-giving water through the centuries-old acequia systems, and the blessing is said by the community together with the local priest.
The “official” feast day of San Isidro is May 15, although many communities conduct the blessing ceremony on a day or week that is specifically appropriate for their own circumstances and when more people will be able to come, such as on a weekend.
The San Isidro Blessing is one of the fundamental religious traditions of Northern New Mexico, and from older times has represented the union of the people’s work and alimentary needs with the providence of the Most High.
This year’s San Isidro Blessing may be more necessary and appropriate given the uncertainties that so many are facing due to the devastating severity of these times and circumstances.
Some are praying for the intercession of San Isidro, who is the patron saint of helping agricultural works and for harmony in the forces of nature according to the seasons, to help ease the current, very difficult problems we face.
Yet, the people have continued with the venerable work of clearing the acequias, preparing the lands, planting the seeds of the sustenance of life and invoking the blessing of the author of life for good harvest.
It is necessarily and fundamentally important that the relationship of the people with the fertile world and lands should continue. This work and these traditions are
like a parable of a good way to live and produce, in a world which is demonstrably otherwise many
times at odds with this concept.
It is lamentable that while the workers are bravely planting the seeds for sustenance of life, even in the midst of tragedy and fire and drought and COVID-19, there are many who are planting the seeds of the destruction of life. Due to war and violence, there are many millions of people who have nothing to eat, and who are victims of their own political and secular leaders, and victims also here and there of some so-called “religious leaders.”
We are awed and inspired by the people of El Norte who — patient and hope-filled — work for the continuation of life and the beauty of the fruitful and sustaining world, even while in the throes of these heart-rending, tragic and challenging circumstances.
Our people of El Norte and the regions beyond will overcome, through the strong vigor of life itself, through the vitality of the families, communities and traditions that also include the Blessings and Intercessions of San Isidro Labrador and the Santos and through the natural and supernatural helps that are available in El Norte.
La Bendición del Creador es siempre en nosotros...!