The Story of Germaine
Germaine was born in the remote French village of Pibrac in
1579.
She was no Joan of Arc, nor Therese of Lisieux; she had never been
heard of in her lifetime beyond her own village and was a practical
outcast there. She endured a wretched life as an unwanted child of the
Cousin family. There is not even proof that she was entitled to the
name of Cousin. The wife of Laurent Cousin hated her and abused her.
Some are of the opinion that she was Laurent's daughter. This seems
scarcely credible, as what father would allow his own child to be
consigned to a stable and literally starved to death, particularly in
the case of Laurent Cousin, who was quite well to do.
At any rate Germaine was a frail, sickly child, afflicted with
scrofula, a nauseous disease which caused abscesses about the neck. Her
right arm was deformed and partially paralyzed. She was a prey to every
disease of the times due to the unsanitary conditions under which she
lived.
Laurent Cousin's wife beat Germaine savagely. The child's body bore
livid testimony of her cruelty. She was dressed in cast-off rags and
never given a pair of shoes. Her feet were frost-bitten in winter and
bloody in summer as she led the Laurent flock to pasture and back.
Germaine lived with the animals, had a mattress of hay and twigs in a
corner of the barn. She was given little food and was often so hungry
she ate what the dogs and pigs left behind. She was never sent to
school, merely instructed briefly in order to make her First Holy
Communion. The girl was shunned by children of her own age and ignored
by adults. Her only refuge was the church. There she heard Mass every
morning.
The most celebrated incident in Germaine’s life occurred
shortly before her death. One wintry day the village people saw the
stepmother pursuing Germaine as she drove her flock down the road. The
woman was screaming loudly and she shrilly accused Germaine of having
concealed in her apron some bread that she had stolen from the
stepmother's home. Threatening to strike the girl with the club, she
demanded that Germaine unfold her apron. The girl did so, and fragrant
flowers, of a kind unknown in the region, cascaded to the snow-covered
ground.
On the night of her death two monks traveling from Toulouse lost their
way in the forest and sought shelter for the night in the ruins of an
ancient castle. At midnight they were awakened by music overhead,
accompanied by a pathway of light, inhabited by white-clothed forms. A
tip of the luminous pathway rested over a barn in the distance. The
forms again appeared going this time towards heaven and were
accompanied by another who was garlanded with flowers. It seemed the
forms were escorting the newcomer.
Upon reaching the village next morning the monks inquired if anyone had
died during the night. Only a poor shepherd girl, they were told.
Germaine Cousin had been found dead in a stable. Interest was enhanced
when Germaine took on startling beauty after death. People flocked to
the Cousin house to see her and departed calling her "a saint."
In accordance with the custom of the day Germaine's body was interred
in the village church, consigned to a grave under the flagstone floor
of the church opposite the pulpit, without marker or inscription.
Forty-one years later, when a relative named Edualde died after
requesting to be interred in the Cousin place of burial, the grave
diggers found a beautiful girl beneath the flagstone. The body was in a
state of perfect preservation, as soft and pliable as a living person.
The older residents of Pibrac identified the corpse as that of Germaine
Cousin. The scrofula scars were evident and there was the deformed arm.
A series of astounding miracles through the succeeding seventeen years
brought to Pibrac Monsignor Jean Dufour, Vicar General of the
Archdiocese of Toulouse. This investigator arrived on September 22,
1661. He found Germaine's body still perfect sixty years after her
death! Germaine's canonization however, was to be as painfully acquired
as her life had been. Her cause was plagued with obstacles.
In the year 1700 a voluminous file containing all official documents
and testimony taken, was entrusted by Archbishop Colbert of Toulouse to
a Capuchin monk, Father Constantin de Figeac, who was on his way to
Rome. The file, however, was not delivered to the Vatican, for
immediately on his arrival in Rome Father Constantin was sent to
Mesopotamia. He left instructions that the precious papers were to be
delivered to the Congregation of Rites. The papers were mislaid,
forgotten.
The French Revolution became another form of torture, yet at the same
time, the proceedings added evidence to the cause of Germaine. The
revolutionaries of Toulouse decided that
“superstition” should be stamped out of Pibrac. A
tinsmith named Toulza was sent with three assistants to destroy the
body of Germaine. They dug a hole under the sacristy floor, dumped the
corpse into it, spread a large quantity of quicklime over it and
drenched the lime with water. The lead casket was confiscated to be
melted down for bullets for the revolution.
When the Reign of Terror subsided, the citizens of Pibrac urged a
reopening of the lime pit. After two years in such a place the body of
Germaine was again brought forth in perfect preservation, more
beautiful than ever. The corpse was returned to the sacristy of the
church.
In 1765 Abbe Francis, a priest of the village of Auriac near Pibrac,
published a book relating the story of Germaine. The book inspired
interest in the shepherdess throughout France. In 1843 Cardinal Paul
d'Astros, Archbishop of Toulouse, officially reopened the cause of
Germaine for canonization.
His successor, Pope Pius IX, was equally fascinated by Germaine but
political events of the time drove the Holy Father from the Vatican,
prevented Germaine's beatification until May 7, 1854. Canonization
followed on June 29, 1867.
On that day the little girl with a withered arm, whom no one wanted,
was given to the world to love and cherish as a glorified saint of God.
more about St. Germaine
Prayers to St. Germaine
- Saint Germaine, look down from Heaven and intercede for the
many abused children in our world. Help them to sanctify their
sufferings. Strengthen children who suffer the effects of living in
broken families. Protect those children who have been abandoned by
their parents and live in the streets. Beg God's mercy on anyone who
abuses children. Intercede for handicapped children and their parents.
Saint Germaine, you who suffered neglect and abuse so patiently, pray for us.
Amen.
- Remember us, blessed Germaine, your brothers and sisters
who labor and suffer in this difficult world. Know that we place our
hope in you, ask for your help in our need, and for consolation in our
suffering. Hear us as we ask you to be with us in our time of trial.
You experienced much pain, isolation, humiliation, and suffering. Now
from your place of glory please look with kindness upon our sorrows. In
your happiness, remember our tears.
Form us in the way of your humility, your patience, your faith, and your charity.
And then, at the hour of our death, welcome us to our eternal home.
Amen.
translated from the original French prayer