Please join us over the next 9 days as we pray a Novena for Rain.
Each morning we will share the prayers of the day. Please share this Novena as well as our parched land is in need of our prayers.
~To Saint Isidore the Farmer for Rain ~
How to Pray the Novena
Begin with the Sign of the Cross. Read the daily scripture verse(s) for the appropriate day, and spend a few moments meditating on it. Pray the novena prayer (under the verses) followed by the prayer in honor of St. Isidore (at the bottom of the page) and the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be three times for the intention of the Holy Father. Conclude with the Prayer for Rain and the Sign of the Cross.
~Day 1~
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FIRST DAY: PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD
Genesis 1:25 - And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and everything that creeps on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 2:15 - And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
Prayer: Grant we beseech You, merciful Lord, through the intercession of Blessed Isidore, farmer and confessor, not to let us be vain with the wisdom of the world, but by his merits and example, let us in all humility always do what is pleasing to You. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer in Honor of St. Isidore
O God, who taught Adam the simple art of tilling the soil, and who through Jesus Christ, the true vine, revealed Yourself the husbandman of our souls, deign, we pray, through the merits of Blessed Isidore, to instill into our hearts a horror of sin and a love of prayer, so that, working the soil in the sweat of our brow, we may enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the Intentions of the Holy Father
(Repeat three times)
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...
Prayer for Rain
O God, in Whom we live and move, and have our being, grant us rain, in due abundance, that, being sufficiently helped with temporal, we may the more confidently seek after eternal gifts. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FIRST DAY: PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD
Genesis 1:25 - And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and everything that creeps on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 2:15 - And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
Prayer: Grant we beseech You, merciful Lord, through the intercession of Blessed Isidore, farmer and confessor, not to let us be vain with the wisdom of the world, but by his merits and example, let us in all humility always do what is pleasing to You. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer in Honor of St. Isidore
O God, who taught Adam the simple art of tilling the soil, and who through Jesus Christ, the true vine, revealed Yourself the husbandman of our souls, deign, we pray, through the merits of Blessed Isidore, to instill into our hearts a horror of sin and a love of prayer, so that, working the soil in the sweat of our brow, we may enjoy eternal happiness in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the Intentions of the Holy Father
(Repeat three times)
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...
Prayer for Rain
O God, in Whom we live and move, and have our being, grant us rain, in due abundance, that, being sufficiently helped with temporal, we may the more confidently seek after eternal gifts. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Life of Sts. Isidore and Maria de la Cabeza
St. Isidore the Farmer was born in Madrid, Spain, in about 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.
Isidore 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 helps. Hence, the saying arose, “St. Isidore plowing with angels does the work of three farmers.”
Isidore married a sweet and pious maidservant 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.
St. Isidore died on May 15, 1170. His saintly wife, a little later. He was canonized on March 22, 1622. The earthly remains of the holy couple are found over the main altar of the cathedral in Madrid, Spain. St. Maria was not officially canonized, but is honored as a saint throughout Spanish countries. Her head (cabeza) is carried in solemn processions during times of drought.
By a special decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, dated February 22, 1947, St. Isidore was constituted as the special protector of Catholic Rural Life and American farmers.
