St Cajetan & the ears of wheat

St Cajetan is often depicted with ears of wheat, which are a symbol of the

most basic need of existence, food and most particularily bread.

These ears of wheat remind us of his title as the Saint of Divine Providence 

and of his miraculous power as intercessor for bread and work .

One of St Cajetan's first publicised miracles in Argentina occurred when the country was in the grip of a great drought. A poor farmer faced with losing his crops and possible destitution, placed an ear of wheat at the feet of a statue of St Cajetan and rain came three days after, saving him and his countrymen from disaster and thereby introducing the symbol of the ear of wheat into the popular iconography of the saint.

En Argentina, su imagen está siempre acompañada de una espiga de trigo, recordando una antigua tradición que relata que un paisano llegado a Buenos Aires, una aldea en ese tiempo, entra a rezar en la pequeña capilla, pidiéndole al Santo la gracia de mejorar la sequía que abatía a su campo sembrado de trigo, ya que malograda la cosecha sería una gran pérdida representada por falta de trabajo y pan para su familia; y para que San Cayetano no olvidara su ruego, le dejó una espiga de trigo. Cuando el paisano regresó a su campo, se encontró un abundante y maduro trigal.

Jobless Argentinians turn to the Patron Saint of Work