Saint Germaine Cousin | June 15

Saint Germaine was born in Pibrac, France in 1579 to poor parents. Her story is a heart wrenching one. She was born with a deformed right arm and hand, and her mother died when she was an infant. Her father remarried, but her stepmother brutally abused and neglected her.

As a child Germaine suffered from scrofula, a disfiguring form of tuberculosis which causes swelling and lesions on the side of the neck. Already sick, abused, and starving, she was forced to sleep in barn with sheep she tended. 

Despite everything, Germaine lived each day tending her flock with joy and in prayer. Mary and Jesus became her friends. She shared what little she had and taught the children of the village about God’s love. A rosary made of string knots was her constant companion. She attended Mass every day, leaving her sheep in care of guardian angels. Her flock was never attacked by wolves and never wandered. Some claimed to see the waters of the flooded river part so she could get to Mass.

She is often portrayed with an apron full of flowers because one winter day her stepmother accused her of stealing bread from the house and hiding it her apron. But when she was seized and forced to open the apron an abundance of spring flowers tumbled forth. It was this incident that compelled the villagers and even her parents to recognize her holiness.

Germaine died at 22, her poor body was found by her father, in the barn where she slept. She was buried in the village church. More than forty years later, her body was accidentally exhumed and found to be incorrupt. She was canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1867 and inscribed into the canon of virgins.