Keeping faith with the Workers' Saint

Up early this morning to be driven by Jill to Almunecar for the nine thirty service at the 'Fisherman's Chapel', as the former convent chapel is popularly known. This was a kindness on her part as the last part of the route down from the Autovia into the town was not easy to recall after just one visit last week. Having driven the route twice, I think I should be able to remember it next week. Jill lived and work in several countries before retirement, and we had a very interesting conversation en route about the funeral customs of Spanish Royals and Zoroastrians. There were twenty three in the congregation, and they sang enthusiastically, filling the small place with their voices - and, of course, the early sun shone in through the open windows, to make worship against the backdrop of a barrio waking up to enjoy its Sunday, real pleasure.

We drove back to Nerja for the midday Eucharist at the church of San Miguel. Many of the regular congregation stayed away from church, due to the difficulties of access and parking (as many drive in from outlying areas) caused by the Romeral de San Isidro - an annual street procession made by the region's agricultural communities to honour the saint. There was also the competing attraction of seeing the procession. Nevertheless there were still twenty eight of us for the Eucharist, in an echoing barn of a building seating 400.

Nobody could tell us much much about the saint, so I googled St Isidore and came up with the 6th century sevilliano scholar bishop who converted the Visigoths from Arianism to Orthodoxy. (Ah! A contemporary of Illtud and Teilo, back home in Glan Morgannwg!) He was an early developer of thinking about involving people in decisions about their governance, when such ideas were less than fashionable. Why so popular? 

It was only after mentioning this in my Good Shepherd Sunday sermon, that someone spoke about San Isidro Laborador - Saint Isidore the Worker. I googled again, and this time came up with an eleventh century Spanish saint - a landless peasant who, together with his saintly wife were acclaimed for their holy living and generosity to the poor - so, not San Isidro of Seville, patron saint of computers, but San Isidro the Worker, patron saint of agricultural workers. That explained everything. A big 'oops' for me however.

After the service, I met some of the family of the woman whose funeral I shall be doing there tomorrow, and we confirmed the arrangements we'd made by phone and email from the U.K.  Then it was time to make as much haste as possible in the midday heat, to follow the procession uphill to the outskirts of town, to see as much of it as possible, having missed the first hour or so of a three hour affair.

We missed the horsemen leading the way, and a few of the opening festively decorated wagons. The first dozen or so were literally ox-carts, drawn by beautifully kept yoked pairs of bullocks and some mighty bulls. A variety of decorated horse drawn carriages and carts followed the oxen, and finally came every kind of tractor and trailer available, festooned with flowers and ribbons, and kitted out with a sound system. 

Each vehicle was accompanied by groups of men, women and children in traditional Andalusian costume or in stylish fashionable modern derivatives, singing, dancing, drinking and smoking, smiling, chatting and waving. It was all the better for the absence of obvious commercial or political sponsorship. I felt they were doing it for themselves, and not for the tourists, not even for any 'good cause'. It was just a natural expression of pride and pleasure in community life and fraternal relations. My photos of that precious hour on the street can be viewed here.

We learned that the procession made its way out of town to a nearby area where there are large limestone caves. This was to be the site of a party for thousands, continuing all afternoon and into the evening. Back at Church House we could hear from the distant hillside the thumping disco beat of a big sound system. It didn't continue into the small hours, however. After all, tomorrow for farmers would be an early rise to a working day as usual, in the spirit of San Isidro, Laborador, their causa festiva.