San Isídro Labrador, and May blessings in El Norte

In this month of May, Norteños and many others in the world give thanks for and invoke the natural and supernatural forces of life in the springtime refulgence of vital color and vigor in the world, while still being held in the menacing lethal thrall of the insidious COVID-19 Crown Virus which has afflicted and overturned the accustomed norms of human life.

This corona-viral pestilence has flayed bare much of the façade of societal custom, commerce, politics, institutional structures of state, national and international relations, religions and nearly everything else that humankind has built up.

Even the traditional annual cycles of religious devotional observances are affected.

For example, the May 3rd Santa Cruz Feast Day at Taos and other Indian Pueblos, normally wellattended by large intercultural throngs of people who go to see the Foot Races and Corn Dances and the Blessing of the Fields and other lifeenhancing ceremonies, was closed to visitors again this year and was observed solely by the Pueblos.

Santa Cruz Feast Day and other seasonal Catholic Christian Feast Days which were introduced by the Spanish over 400 years ago also coincide with traditional Pueblo religion, and are often dual religious celebrations that are an integral part of the spirituality of El Norte.

The Pueblos are now closed until further notice because of the COVID-19 pandemic for the precaution and safety of community; and non-Puebloans are on notice to refrain from attempting to visit as they will not be allowed near or inside the Pueblo.

And this is normally the time of year when in our northern traditional communities one may witness the processions 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 Isídro Labradór who is the patron saint of agricultural and pastoral work, as the faithful walk out on the fertile lands and waters to invoke the Saint’s blessing upon the fields for productive and fruitful yields of harvest. His Feast Day is May 15.

This blessing tradition has continued for centuries in the Taos Valley and in El Norte and in many other parts of the world. In the Taos Valley for example, a special San Isidro Mass is said and the procession follows on the pastoral lands and to the Río Pueblo de Taos which is the source of life-giving water from Blue Lake through the centuries-old acequia systems, where the Blessing of San Isidro is invoked upon the fields and upon the community.

The San Isídro Blessing is a fundamental religious tradition of Northern New Mexico, and represents the union of the people’s work and alimentary needs with the providence of the Most High, and invokes the forces and sustenances of life.

This year’s San Isídro Blessing, while the terrible COVID-19 pandemic still holds its lethal sway, is even more necessary and vital given the increased uncertainty many are facing; and which is compounded by ongoing economic pressures and distress, certain developments regarding the pastoral and agricultural lands tax reassessment valuations, and other factors such as regional water rights adjudication settlement agreements.

Some are praying for a miracle through San Isídro to ease all the current problems. And although this year again the customary Mass and the communal processions to the fields and acequias and Río Pueblo de Taos may be severely curtailed, the Blessing of San Isidro and of all the Santos and the invoked life-enhancing natural and supernatural power of the Most High Creator will in due deliberate course overwhelm and overcome the viral pestilence which for the moment is afflicting the Taos Valley and the world.

A Fountain of Life flows here, from the Mountain Lakes to the rivers, streams, and acequias on our fertile earth, in the primordial ceaseless Blessing Way.

A traditional intercessory prayer to San Isidro: “Señor Dios, te damos infinitas gracias por las maravillas que has creado, poniendo a nuestra disposición el universo entero. Ház que saquemos de la tierra el pán de cada dia y a ejemplo de San Isidro Labrador podemos cumplir fielmente con nuestros debéres. Te rogamos hacer brotar agua en los campos que llueve para que las cosechas crezcar en abundancia. Amen.”