who was saint Germaine?
Born 1579 at Pibrac, France
Died 1601, apparently of natural causes; relics interred in the church at Pibrac
Daughter of Laurent Cousin, a farm worker, and Marie Laroche. Her mother died while Germaine was an infant. A sickly child, she suffered from scrofula, and her right hand was deformed. Ignored by her father and abused by her step-family, she was often forced to sleep in the stable or in a cupboard under the stairs, was fed on scraps, beaten or scalded with hot water for misdeeds, real or imagined.
At age nine Germaine was put to work as a shepherdess, where she spent much time praying, sometimes using a rosary she made from a knotted string. She refused to miss Mass, and if she heard the bell, she set her crook and her distaff in the ground, declared her flock to be under the care of her guardian angel, and went to church; her sheep were unharmed during her absences. It is reported that once she crossed the raging Courbet River by walking over the waters so she could get to church.
Germaine was so poor it is hard to imagine she would be able to help others, but she was always ready to help anyone, especially children whom she gathered in the fields to teach a simple catechism and share the little food she had. The locals laughed at her religious devotion and called her ‘the little bigot’.
Once in winter her stepmother, Hortense, accused her of stealing bread, and threatened to beat her with a stick. Germaine opened her apron, and summer flowers tumbled out. Neighbors and her parents were awed and began to treat her as a holy person. Her parents invited her to rejoin the household, but Germaine chose to live as she had.
In 1601 she was found dead on her straw pallet under the stairs, and she was buried in the Church of Pibrac opposite the pulpit. When accidentally exhumed in 1644 during a renovation, her body was found incorrupt. In 1793 the casket was desecrated by an anti-Catholic tinsmith named Toulza, who with three accomplices took out the remains and buried them in the sacristy, throwing quick-lime and water on them. After the French Revolution, her body was found to be still intact save where the quick-lime had done its work.
Documents attest to more than 400 miracles or extraordinary graces through the intervention of Saint Germain. They include cures of every kind (of blindness, both congenital and resulting from disease, of hip and spinal disease), and the multiplication of food for the distressed community of the Good Shepherd at Bourges in 1845.
Readings
“Dear God, please don’t let me be too hungry or too thirsty. Help me to please my mother. And help me to please you.” – prayer of Saint Germaine
In Her Footsteps:
Do you make excuses not to help others because you have so little yourself? Share something this week with those in need that may be painful for you to give up.
Prayer:
Saint Germaine, watch over those children who suffer abuse as you did. Help us to give them the love and protection you only got from God. Give us the courage to speak out against abuse when we know of it. Help us to forgive those who abuse the way you did, without sacrificing the lives of the children who need help. Amen
St Germain Sure Thing
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KRULL, Germaine w de NERVAL, Gérard. Le Valois. 1st Edition, SIGNED Quarto 1930 $7,500.00 |
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St. Solid 14K Gold Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Oval Pen $1,079.99 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal Protector Saint Pat $922.49 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal No Chain 7211KT $638.79 |
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St. 14K Solid Gold Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant $599.99 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal Patron Saint Protec $512.32 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal No Chain 8211KT $376.68 |
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PAN RUE ST. GERMAINE FRENCH FOUNTAIN 24″ HOME & GARDEN $239.00 |
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Sterling St. Germaine Cousin Crystal Medal Rosary Swaro $216.72 |
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Custom Silver Saint Germaine Medal Black Crystal Rosary $212.75 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal Saint Protector Pat $210.14 |
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14kt Gold St. Germaine Cousin Medal No Chain 9211KT $201.74 |
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LOUIS NO.1~THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF LOUIS ST. GERMAINE $199.99 |
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Rue St. Germaine Wall Fountain Statue Stunning $189.99 |
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Silver Saint Germaine St Medal Amethyst Crystal Rosary $185.00 |
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St. SML 14K Solid Gold Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pend $151.70 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.12 – The King – 1999 art by Guy Davis $150.00 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.13 – Great Girl – 1999 art by Guy Davis $150.00 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.1 – Cool Castle – 1999 art by Guy Davis $130.00 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.01 – art by Guy Davis $130.00 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.4 – The Man in the Iron Mask – 1999 art by Guy Davis $125.00 |
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St. Germaine #9 p.6 – The Man in the Iron Mask – 1999 by Guy Davis $125.00 |
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St. Germaine #? p.25 – Cool Two Panel Page – Signed art by Guy Davis $125.00 |
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Louis No. 1: The Life and Legend of Louis St. Germaine $120.59 |
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“L’Abbaye De Saint Germaine” French Antique Oil Paint $99.99 |
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FRENCH ANTIQUE RELIC RELIQUARY SILVER ST GERMAINE 19c TINY CHARM ANGELS $99.00 |
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Tiffany Style Stained Glass Lamp “St. Germaine” w/ Decorated Metal Base $89.99 |
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Gold Fl St. Germaine Cousin W/24″ Necklace Saint Medal $80.00 |
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Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Medal Saint Patron Prot $75.60 |
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Bree, Germaine VENTURE : Albert Camus A Final Interview 1st Ed Second Printing $75.00 |
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12K Gold Fill St. Germaine Cousin 3/4″ Medal w/18″ Cha $69.99 |
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925 Silver St Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant Necklace $66.80 |
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St Gold fill Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant Neckl $66.06 |
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Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Pendant Patron Saint Bl $65.62 |
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St. 925 Silver Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant Neck $65.17 |
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Gold Filled Baby Badge w/ St Germaine Cousin Polished P $60.00 |
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Louis No. 1: The Life and Legend of Louis St. Germaine by Tom Hollatz (1984, … $59.99 |
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Silver St. Germaine Cousin W/24″ Neck Saint Medal $59.99 |
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Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Medal Patron Protec $59.85 |
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Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Medal Patron Protector $58.45 |
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Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Medal Saint Patron $57.75 |
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Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Pendant Bliss Medal Pat $57.10 |
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St 12K Gold Filled Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant $56.30 |
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RARE ANTIQUE FRENCH RELIGIOUS MEDAL SILVER ST GERMAINE FLEURS DE LIS SOUVENIR $56.00 |
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Silver St. Germaine Cousin Pendant w/Chn Medal $54.99 |
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St Sterling Silver Saint Germaine Cousin Medal Pendant $52.20 |
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Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Medal Protector Sai $52.15 |
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Heinrich & Co.,”Saint Germaine” pattern dinner service $50.00 |
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12K Gold Fill St. Germaine Cousin 1/2″ Medal w/18″ Cha $49.99 |
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FINE FRENCH ANTIQUE RELIGIOUS MEDAL SIGNED PENIN ST GERMAINE OF PIBRAC $49.00 |
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925 St. Germaine Cousin w/24 in chain 7211SS $48.03 |
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UNE VILLE NAQUIT. PAR GERMAINE CORNEZ. SAINT-JÉRÔME 1821-1934 $45.21 |
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925 St. Germaine Cousin w/18 in chain 8211SS $45.20 |
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The Obstacle Race 1st Edition, SIGNED by Germaine Greer $45.00 |
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Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Pendant Patron Sain $44.89 |
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Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Pendant Patron Saint Bl $44.62 |
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Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Pendant Bliss Medal $43.64 |
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925 St. or Saint Germaine Cousin w/18 in chain 9211SS $42.89 |
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Costa Brava St. Germain Gift Set, Leather Line $158.48 The Gift Set is a perfect option for a wine enthusiast who wants to combine a smaller compliment of our wine accessories and include a favorite bottle of wine. The drip stopper, foil cutter, and pneumatic opener are gathered in different packaging options allowing for an elegant display. The Leather Line is the most elegant display option for St. Germain products. Similar to the wood line, prod… |
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Tourist $7.62 Smooth, downtempo grace flows through the veins of St. Germain, a.k.a. noted French composer-producer Ludovic Navarre. His record is a sensual flow of jazzy textures, Latin rhythms, and bass-ridden beats, hovering on the verge of techno, jazz, or experimental headphone music without tipping its hand too far in any direction. The result is irresistible: class with an edge. –Matthew Cooke… |
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Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen $7.74 “Vision–The Music of Hildegard von Bingen”? Make that “Hildegard–the Dance Remix.” (Yes, it has been used on the dance floor of at least one New York City nightclub.) What else can you call it when Richard Souther takes the stark, ecstatic plainchant of the 12th-century abbess and adds heavily produced electronic trance-and-dance tracks? Souther’s additions aren’t bad in themselves–they ar… |
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Cafe De Flore: Rendez-Vous a Saint-Germain-des-Pres $10.45 Taking a cue from the Buddha Bar compilations, this collection of nu-jazz swing and martini music represents the sound and feel of a popular coffeehouse, in this case the Café De Flore in Paris’ Saint-Germain district. With the likes of Serge Gainsbourg, Diana Krall. and Eartha Kitt represented, the music is both grown up enough to play for the in-laws and filled with enough hipster irony to attr… |
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Lola Montes [VHS] $9.98 Max Ophüls explores the scandalous life of dancer and courtesan Lola Montes with a bittersweet empathy that turns melodrama into a tragic melancholy masterpiece. Using the theatrical re-creation of Lola’s life in a big-top pageant as a framing device, Ophüls contrasts the outrageous sensationalism of her reputation with poignant, poetic flashbacks that explore her many affairs, most notably with… |
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Monsieur Vincent $7.34 Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/15/2008 Run time: 114 minutes Rating: Nr… |
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Lola Montes (The Criterion Collection) $27.22 LOLA MONTES – DVD Movie… |
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St. Germain Elderflowers Liqueur 750ML Made with fresh hand-selected elderflowers, this elegant liqueur hints of passion fruit, pear, grapefruit and lemon. Subtle and delicate, try in a St. Germain Cocktail:2 parts Brut Champagne1 1/2 parts St. Germain2 parts Sparkling WaterFill a collins glass with ice, then add ingredients in order, stir and serve with a lemon twist. Perfect for springtime! Liquor… |