Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Concordia, to host this year’s event
The Rural Life Office will celebrate St. Isidore’s Day this year at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Concordia on Monday, May 15. The celebration will begin with a Mass at 11 AM. Bishop Vince and Priests from across the Diocese will be officiating the Mass. In the past, this has been a very moving service for those in attendance. There will be a lunch, provided by the Altar Society of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Parish Hall following Mass.
During the week leading up to St. Isidore’s Day, May 6-14, there will be a virtual Novena offered to St. Isidore via Zoom. Please visit the Rural Life office of the Salina Diocese website for more information and required registration. Click here to Register.
Each year the celebration includes a blessing of animals and fields in the host parish area. Also, Candy Thomas, Salina, Kansas, a regional soil health specialist in the Kansas state office of USDA-NRCS, will have a demonstration on how different farming practices affect the soil using a rain simulator. Thomas has served in an advisory role on the board of directors since 2013. Thomas believes that NRCS goals align closely with those of No-till on the Plains in helping people improve and sustain the land. NRCS has developed many tools and standards to help farmers improve soil health and soil conservation.
There will also be a trip to the Motherhouse of The Sisters of St. Joseph, Concordia, for a tour of their organic garden. Lyle Pound, the Motherhouse gardener, will speak to the three aspects of organic gardening: ground cover, composting, and mulching.
The event will conclude at about 3:00 PM with a prayer service at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse grotto. In the event of rain it will be held in the adjacent chapel.
