May 15
Saints of the Day
 

The Solemnity of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit

"Pentecost" means "50 days after".

    The great feast of the "Jewish Pentecost" is kept in remembrance of the giving of the Law to Moses at Mount Sinai, 50 days after the liberation of the slavery from Egypt (the Passover). On that day God gave Moses the Ten Commandments engraved with fire on stones, among the roaring sounds of nature, making the Covenant with the People of God (Ex.19,20, Lev.23).

    The great feast of the "Christian Pentecost", after Acts 2, is celebrated on a Sunday, 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ, when God engraved his Commandments not on stone, but in the heart of each Christian by the power of the Holy Spirit, among roaring winds and tongues of fire, as prophesied by Joel and Jeremiah, starting officially the Church of Christ (Act.2, Joel 2:28-32, Jer.31:33-34, Heb.8:8-12).

    Pentecost was on a Sunday, as Easter, establishing definitely Sunday as the Lord's Day in the Christian Calendar. The Jewish Pentecost was also called the Feast of the Weeks, because it was 7 weeks after Passover, as the Christian Pentecost is 7 weeks after Easter, the Christian Passover.

    Before the episode of Mount Sinai, the Jews already had a Pentecost Feast, the Feast of the First-Fruits, or the Feast of Harvest, celebrating the harvest, 50 days after the sowing. How fitting then to have been chosen the Christian Pentecost as the Day for the First-Fruits, with 3000 being baptized in Pentecost, as a token of the World Gospel Harvest: In the dawn of the Third Millennium we are 2 billion Christians (Act.2:41).

Pentecost, the Holy Spirit

Saint Isidore the Farmer of Madrid, 1070-1130, Isidore of Madrid; Isidro Labrador  
The patron of Madrid, Spain. A farmer employee who attended Mass daily and the angels helped him, Body inorrupt

    Saint Isidore's feast is celebrated in Madrid, Spain, with ringing church bells and streets decorated for a procession in his honor.
    Pius farmer employee. Married to Saint Mary de la Cabeza. Their son died young; they became convinced it was the will of God that they not have children, and they lived together chastely the rest of their lives, doing good works.
    Accused by fellow workers of shirking his duties by attending Mass each day, taking time out for prayers, etc., Isidore claimed he had no choice but to follow the highest Master.
    When his master came in the morning to chastise him for skipping work for church, he found angels plowing the fields in place of Isidore.
    Miracles and cures reported at his grave, in which his body remains incorruptible.

Born c.1070 at Madrid, Spain
Died 15 May 1130 of natural causes
Canonized 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV
Patronage Patron of Madrid, Spain
Images Gallery of images of Saint Isidore
Additional Information
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainti03.htm
http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/05-10.htm
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0515.htm#isid
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