Desperate believers turn to saint for rain

SAN ANTONIO — Farmers in South Texas can't raise their crops, so they are bowing their heads.

An extended drought has led to a dire situation that transcends meteorology. They are praying to God for the most basic of necessities: Water.

But — perhaps for good measure — it appears that more and more who farm the dry, sun-baked land in this heavily-Catholic part of Texas are also turning to St. Isidore, considered the patron saint of farming.

At some Catholic supply stores, sales of St. Isidore candles have gone up as much as 40 percent lately.

"We pray to the saints not because they're gods or anything, but they're in heaven, and so they're close to God, and we have them put in a good word for us," Father Sam Heitkant explained.

He noted that St. Isidore's wife, Maria, is also a saint who is known for helping provide relief in a drought. She is more commonly prayed to in Spain, and Father Heitkant said the Spanish tend to get angrier with St. Maria than with St. Isidore.

"If they pray and nothing happens, they take Maria's statue and turn it toward the wall," he said.

But with more people in South Texas turning to St. Isidore, to St. Maria, and, of course, to God — one might ask when God is going to answer all these prayers for rain?

"He hears them all and he answers them all," Father Heitkant said with a laugh, "but sometimes not the way we wanted them answered."

If St. Isidore doesn't intercede soon, some farmers may have to start praying to St. Jude — the patron saint of hopeless causes.

KENS 5