San Ysidro Acequia Alicia Lueras Maldonado / AFSC
(photo: Alicia Lueras Maldonado)
As the warm May sun twinkles in the waters of the acequias (community irrigation ditches), our children toss flower petals in to thank God for the flowing water that quenches thirsty crops. Despite the pandemic, we still honor and act out the traditions that have woven the people of New Mexico to the land for hundreds of years. Every May 15 marks the Feast of San Ysidro Labrador and his wife, Santa Maria de la Cabeza. They are both patron saints of farmers and called upon especially during times of drought.
AFSC New Mexico supports local farmers and community members to keep this centuries old tradition alive. But this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, we came together as a community (using technology for the first time) to do what humans so skillfully do – adapt. We can’t have a mass gathering? We can’t process together on foot? We will gather in small groups at a social distance, we will use video to share ceremony, we will thank the waters individually, we will process in a car caravan around the farm.
We miss the closeness of each other’s smiles, we miss the reverberation of the drum through our body, we miss the faint scent of dust kicked up by so many friendly feet. Nevertheless, we come together from many backgrounds to express our immense gratitude to the land, the water, God, and whatever we hold most sacred for, as Wendell Berry puts it, “the whole beauty of the living world that never dies.” We ask for the essential blessings of nourishing rains and a fruitful year. In this year, with a newly sharpened sense of the gift of every day and our own vulnerability, we are humbled by how much we have.
In New Mexico, people have gathered for centuries on San Ysidro Day and have processions, often starting at a church, to the farms and along the acequias. Branches of juniper and piñon trees are dipped into the acequia and then used to sprinkle the fields. We place flower petals in the acequias as a way of blessing the water, say the Catholics - and for the water to bless us, say the indigenous folks of the surrounding tribes. The songs, prayers, and dances reflect the many faiths and traditions here.
The legend of San Ysidro has been told since the 12th century. Ysidro and his wife, Maria de la Cabeza, were poor farm laborers to a wealthy landowner in Spain around the year 1100 A.D. They were known to be humble and devout people. Ysidro and Maria went to mass every morning at the Catholic church before going to work.
Yet despite the lost hours in labor, the fields and plants were as well cared for as the other laborers. This created jealousy and envy among the other farm workers, who complained to the wealthy landowner that Ysidro and Maria spent too much time praying. The landowner checked on them and found that while Ysidro and Maria were praying at mass, an angel was plowing their fields for them!
Our work to accompany land-based people in New Mexico in their struggle for self-determination includes supporting their spiritual and cultural traditions around love of the land and water. It is an honor for us to be part of this special tradition, and a joy for us as mothers that our children are learning it, too.