NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum to host 22nd annual Blessing of the Fields

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – For the 22nd year, the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum will host the Blessing of the Fields. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 13, 2022 at the museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road.

This tradition is a colorful procession around the museum grounds and begins with blessing the animals, plants, and acequia. Visitors who come to the museum to participate in the procession from 10 to 11 a.m. will not be charged admission. The museum will also have a plant sale as part of the festivities. Vegetables, flowers, and desert plants grown in the museum’s greenhouse will be featured in the sale.

A Prayer of the Four Directions will be led by Patrick Narvaez, and Cacique of Corporacion de los Indigines de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Tortugas and Tortugas Pueblo. Leading the procession will be Most Reverend Peter Baldacchino, Bishop of the Las Cruces Diocese.

Students from Las Cruces Catholic Schools will be among the participants. The bulto carried during the procession was created by Las Cruces artist Virginia Maria Romero. The public is invited to participate with free admission.

This marks the 22nd year that the museum has held this program, which focuses on a long and rich history. San Ysidro, the patron saint of farmers, lived from 1070 to 1130. He worked in the fields for a wealthy landowner and was known for his devotion to God, his humility, and his generosity to those less fortunate than him.

The story of San Ysidro has been passed down through the generations and still inspires many farmers and their families in the Mesilla Valley. For many years, workers in San Miguel, N.M. would make a pilgrimage each May, stopping at all the villages along the valley.

Visit: www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org.

This article originally appeared on Deming Headlight: NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum to host 22nd Blessing of the Fields