⛪ Born: 1579 at Pibrac, France
⛪Died: • 1601 in her parent's home in Pibrac, France, apparently • Relics interred in the church at Pibrac
⛪ Canonized: 29 June 1867 by Pope Blessed Pius IX
⛪Patronage: • Abandoned or neglected people • Abuse victims, child abuse victims • Against bodily ills, illness, sickness; sick people • Against impoverishment, poverty; poor people • Disabled, handicapped or physically challenged people • Girls from rural areas; peasant girls; country girls • Against the loss of parents • Shepherdesses • Unattractive people
⛪ Representation: • Girl with a distaff (it's used in spinning thread) • Girl with a sheep • Girl with a shepherd's crook • Girl with a watchdog • Girl with flowers in her apron • Peasant girl dying alone in poverty • Peasant girl tending sheep • Peasant girl with flowers falling around her in winter
Saint Germaine Cousin was born in 1579 in Pibrac, a small village near Toulouse, France. From her earliest years, she was frail and sickly, afflicted with scrofula, a tubercular condition affecting the glands of the neck. Additionally, her right arm and hand were deformed and partially paralyzed. Despite her many afflictions, Germaine possessed a charming and sweet disposition.
Early Life and Hardships: Germaine endured not only bodily suffering but also harsh, cruel treatment from her stepmother, who harboured a deep aversion to the little girl. Nearly starved to death, Germaine was forced to sleep in the barn on a pile of leaves and twigs under the stairway. From dawn till dusk, regardless of the season, she would drive the sheep into the fields to graze, then watch them until evening. She also had to spin wool during this time, and if she did not complete her work, she was severely punished.
Faith and Devotion: Despite her hardships, Germaine's faith never wavered. The village children, in contrast to the adults, loved listening to her speak about the goodness and love of God while she tended her flock. The only instruction she ever received was the catechism taught after Sunday Mass in the village church, which she attended with joy. During her long hours of solitude in the fields and at night in the stable, she remained in sweet communion with God and never complained about her hard life.
Every morning, Germaine attended Mass and then knelt before Our Lady’s shrine. To reach the church, she had to cross a stream that, after heavy rains, became a raging torrent. On several occasions, villagers witnessed the rushing waters parting when Germaine approached, allowing her to cross on dry land. When she left her sheep to go to church, she would place her staff upright in the ground, and the sheep never wandered far from it.
Miracles and Death: One day, her stepmother pursued Germaine, accusing her of stealing bread and hiding it in her apron. When Germaine unfolded her apron, fragrant flowers, foreign to the region, fell to the ground. Germaine died one night in 1601, at the age of twenty-one, and was buried in the village church, as was the custom.
Posthumous Miracles: Forty-three years later, when a relative was to be buried near her, the grave-digger found Germaine's body in a state of perfect preservation. His pick struck her nose, causing it to bleed. Some older villagers identified the girl as Germaine Cousin. Following this discovery, numerous miracles occurred, leading to her canonization in 1867 by Pope Pius IX.
Legacy: Today, thousands of pilgrims visit the church in Pibrac, where the relics of Saint Germaine are enshrined. She is venerated as the patron saint of victims of abuse and child abuse, abandoned people, the sick, the impoverished, the physically challenged, and peasant girls.
Saint Germaine's life is a testament to enduring faith, humility, and the power of divine love and mercy. Her story continues to inspire and bring comfort to those who suffer from similar afflictions and hardships.
Prayer:
O Saint Germaine, look down from heaven and intercede for the many abused children in our world. Help them to sanctify these sufferings in union with Jesus. Strengthen children who suffer the effects of living in broken families. Protect those children who have been abandoned by their parents and who live in the streets. Beg God's mercy on the parents who abuse their children. Intercede for handicapped children and their parents. Saint Germaine, you who suffered neglect and abuse so patiently, pray for us. Amen.
Tradition tells us that, in the spring of 1601, a priest from the town of Gascony was traveling to the city of Toulouse. It was night when reached the village of Pibrac, and he could scarcely make out his way in the darkness. Suddenly a celestial brightness penetrated the night and he saw in a vision a beautiful procession of holy virgins, refulgent with light, coming down from Heaven descending into a section of the village. At the same time, but traveling from another direction, two religious, also overwhelmed by the blackness of the night and having lost their way, sought shelter in the ruins of an ancient castle of Pibrac. They also saw the virgins, surrounded by a brilliant light. Awestruck, neither group of travellers knew the meaning of the sight.
The relics of Germaine in the St. Francis de Sales Chapel in the village of Pibrac |
Devotion to Germaine grew and the influence of her life spread to such an extent that, in 1789, almost 200 years after her death, the strength of the Faith in that region of France became an obstacle to the revolutionists. Those wicked men who were attempting to "overthrow the altar and the throne" – to destroy Catholicism – had to destroy the devotion of the people for this simple uneducated orphan. Three soldiers entered the village church and forcibly removed the incorrupt and pliant body of Germaine. They then threw the saint's body out-side into an open pit dug for this purpose and covered it with quicklime to speed the process of decomposition.