Pilgrims and devotees can now venerate a first-class relic of St. Isidore the Farmer at a diocesan shrine dedicated to the 12th-century Spanish saint in Bulacan province.
Described as “ex corpore,” a Latin term meaning “from the body,” the relic was welcomed with a solemn celebration that included a Mass and procession in Pulilan town.
“This celebration of receiving the sacred bone of San Isidro is an act of glorifying God, who is the source of all holiness,” said Fr. Dario Cabral, the shrine’s Rector.
The relic was a “gift” from Spain’s Archdiocese of Madrid, which is home to the incorrupt body of the patron saint of farmers.
The parish is known for its annual ‘Kneeling Carabao Festival,’ which commemorates the feast of San Isidro and emphasizes farmers’ gratitude for the year’s agricultural produce.”
The shrine is also one of the only two churches in the country that received the relic of their patron. The other one is the San Isidro Labrador Parish in the city of Calamba.
According to the Madrid archdiocese, the relics are just two of the 17 that it gifted to different churches around the world to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the canonization of its patron saint.