Non Tasarmi, Fratello!

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” Hillaire Belloc

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Two-fer! Feast of St. Dymphna AND St. Isidore the Farmer!

St. Dymphna is the patron saint of those with mental and nervous disorders. Not that she was off kilter - her dad was. After Dymphna's mother died, her dad sent his messengers out and about to find a woman of royal breeding who was willing to marry him AND looked like his dead wife. Surprisingly, he got no takers. So he decided to marry his daughter, Dymphna, instead. Again...surprisingly... she didn't like the idea so he whacked her head off. She was only 15 at the time.

St. Isidore was a farmer, but he had an edge - angels helped him plow the fields. He also reportedly raised someone from the dead and made a spring pop up in an arid field.
St. Dymphna

He also seemd able to make things appear - from Wikipedia:

One snowy day, when going to the mill with corn to be ground, he passed a flock of wood-pigeons scratching vainly for food on the hard surface of the frosty ground. Taking pity on the poor animals, he poured half of his sack of precious corn upon the ground for the birds, despite the mocking of witnesses. When he reached the mill, however, the bag was full, and the corn, when it was ground, produced double the expected amount of flour.
                                                                                                               
                                                                                                        St. Isidore and hoe

Isidore was married to Santa Maria de la Cabeza (St. Mary of the Head). She was called that "because her head (conserved in a reliquary and carried in procession) has often brought rain from heaven for an afflicted dry countryside." 

 So if you are a farmer with a mental or nervous disorder....today is your day!

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