Albert the Farmer

Albert of Bergamo, known as Albert the Farmer, is celebrated and remembered today. He gave the last of his money, the scraps of his food to the poor. He was very pious and worked very hard. He was a married man. Some of the other farmers were jealous of his productivity and placed iron in his field to break his plow, only to plow through the stone with a scythe. He is often pictured with a dove bringing him the viaticum. He is the patron saint of bakers and day-laborers.  Working at the heavy labor of the fields, Albert learned to see God in all things, and to listen for His voice in all nature. The beauty of the earth was to him a voice that spoke only of heaven. He grew up pure of heart, discreet, and humble--to the edification of the entire village

I have been passing the word around Sacred Heart. Some of the bread  for LLamas Sunday in August will be made from the wheat grown in our garden, milled into flour.  Today I was joined in the garden by two angels, two young women who are walking from Camden to the mountains of Shenandoah in Virginia. They are carrying peanut butter and a change of clothes, relying 

on hospitality. They worked hard in the garden with me today, and they both have blisters

on their hands from their hardwork in their Mennonite homeland. They are saints, walking 

for peace and I am quite blessed to have Rachel and Grace, my friends, turning the soil with 

me in Camden again.

On Friday we roasted  corn in the Bread Oven for Cinco de Mayo, and the popcorn was planted in the field. We claim a big victory, one young man came not liking corn, and left loving it.  This week I am readying the gardens for the Feast Day of St. Isadore the farmer, patron saint of farmers. It is Friday, which is also coincidentally the last day of last anticipated frost. In preparation, I have also been going to Mass every morning at Sacred Heart. 

On Saturday I walked around the neighborhood with a boy scout and his father around the neighborhood. The boyscout, Richard, is in the process of becoming an eagle scout. To do so he needs to complete a project which includes 80 hours of  man hours. His father said that the neighborhood had enough project ideas for the whole troop to become Eagle Scouts.  There are three new garden spaces in the neighborhood this year, and we have a $1,000 grant to grow our own orchard with fruit trees, berry bushes, and a nut tree. The walk was so  hopeful, so full of life and occuring miracles. Its like vision casting, a sort of feng shui of justice and peacemaking.  We will test the soil of the various plots where we are considering fruit trees, and work on the hardscaping, leveling, and fencing this year, and plant out the fruit next spring. I am focusing mostly on disease resistant varieties, as it seems the most limiting factor is how much the fruit needs to be sprayed against mold, rust, fungus, scab, insects, and birds. I have been having fruit tree dreams lately. One of my neighbors stood in front of the sycamore tree next to my house, showing us that it also bares apples. He picked the fruit and taught us all how to harvest and eat. 

The berries on the mulberry tree are tiny and hard now, they will be ready to pick in the beginning of June.

There are so many amazing options for fruits that do well in our slightly acidic soil, our sandy loam native to the blueberry.  Its rather like selecting the saint for the day. Every day there are at least a dozen different saints that are celebrated, remembered. It appears as though the certain saint is selected due to the day of birth, death, or miracle. I am very curious about this. And just like the fruit, the saints are all pretty good. 

Here's the list for today:

May 11

• Bl. Albert of Bergamo
• St. Anastasius VI
• St. Anastasius VII
• St. Anthimus
• St. Walbert
• St. Walter
• St. Tudy
• St. Francis Jerome
• St. Gangulphus
• Bl. John of Rochester
• St. Majolus
• St. Mamertius
• St. Odilo of Cluny
• Bl. Matthew Gam
• St. Maximus
• Bl. Peter the Venerable
• St. Ignatius of Laconi

And another source list:

11 May

---

Albert of Bergamo Aloysius Luis Rabata Anastasius of Camerino Anastasius of Lérida Ansfrid of Utrecht Anthimus of Rome Argyrios of Thessaloniki Asaph of Wales Bassus of Sabinta Benincasa of Montepulciano Carthusian Martyrs of England Comgall the Abbot Credan Diocletius of Osimo Evellius of Pisa Fabius of Sabina Florentius of Osimo Francis of Girolamo Fremund of Dunstable Gengulphus of Burgundy Gualfardus Guarin of Laon Humphrey Middlemore Ignatius of Laconi		Illuminatus Illuminatus of San Severino James Walworth John Rochester Julian Cesarello de Valle Lua of Killaloe Lucina Anicia of Roma Majolus of Cluny Mamertus of Vienne Matthew Gam Maximus of Sabina Mayeul Nicodemus of Serbia Odilo of Cluny Peter the Venerable Philip Eade Possessor of Verdun Principia of Rome Sisinnius of Osimo Tudy Vivaldus Walbert of Hainault Walter of L’Esterp Zefyrinus Namuncurá Burgos

Thousands of saints to familiarize ourselves with, like the Seed Saver's Exchange Seed Catalogue, holy story telling. The interesting matter is that the trailer for "Angels and Demons" shows on this webpage. 

Today is the feast Day of Albert of Bergano, a farmer, and married layman, known for his compassion to the poor. He was known as a miracle worker. St. Anthimus was tortured and thrown into the Tiber river by the Empire. He was rescued by an angel, escaped and was later recaptured and beheaded.  Both Saint's bones were found incorrupt-----live long and prosper.

(p.s. I saw the new Star Trek movie at the Imax on opening night. It was incredible and anti-imperical, and i remembered my childhood crush on Spock. i have a soft spot for Vulcan, something strangely familiar).