St. Germaine Cousin
Patron victims of child abuse
1579 - 1601
When Hortense decided to marry Laurent Cousin in Pibrac, France, it was not out of love for his infant daughter. Germaine was everything Hortense despised. Weak and ill, the girl had also been born with a right hand that was deformed and paralyzed. Hortense replaced the love that Germaine has lost when her mother died with cruelty and abuse.
Laurent, who had a weak character, pretended not to notice that Germaine had been given so little food that she had learned to crawl in order to get to the dog's dish. He wasn't there to protect her when Hortense left Germaine in a drain while she cared for chickens -- and forgot her for three days. He didn't even interfere when Hortense poured boiling water on Germaine's legs.
With this kind of treatment, it's no surprise that Germaine became even more ill. She came down with a disease known as scrofula, a kind of tuberculosis that causes the neck glands to swell up. Sores began to appear on her neck and in her weakened condition to fell prey to every disease that came along. Instead of awakening Hortense's pity this only made her despise Germaine more for being even uglier in her eyes.
Germaine found no sympathy and love with her siblings. Watching their mother's treatment of their half-sister, they learned how to despise and torment her, putting ashes in her food and pitch in her clothes. Their mother found this very entertaining.
Hortense did finally get concerned about Germaine's sickness -- because she was afraid her own children would catch it. So she made Germaine sleep out in the barn. The only warmth Germaine had on frozen winter nights was the woolly sheep who slept there too. The only food she had were the scraps Hortense might remember to throw her way.
The abuse of Germaine tears at our hearts and causes us to cry for pity and justice. But it was Germaine's response to that abuse and her cruel life that wins our awe and veneration.
Germaine was soon entrusted with the sheep. No one expected her to have any use for education so she spent long days in the field tending the sheep. Instead of being lonely, she found a friend in God. She didn't know any theology and only the basics of the faith that she learned the catechism. But she had a rosary made of knots in string and her very simple prayers: "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." Out of that simple faith, grew a profound holiness and a deep trust of God.
And she had the most important prayer of all -- the Mass. Every day, without fail, she would leave her sheep in God's care and go to Mass. Villagers wondered that the sheep weren't attacked by the wolves in the woods when she left but God's protection never failed her. One day when the rains had swollen the river to flood stage, a villager saw the river part so that she could cross to get to the church in time for Mass.
No matter how little Germaine had, she shared it with others. Her scraps of food were given to beggars. Her life of prayer became stories of God that entranced the village children.
But most startling of all was the forgiveness to showed to the woman who deserved her hatred.
Hortense, furious at the stories about her daughter's holiness, waited only to catch her doing wrong. One cold winter day, after throwing out a beggar that Germaine had let sleep in the barn, Hortense caught Germaine carrying something bundled up in her apron. Certain that Germaine had stolen bread to feed the beggar, she began to chase and scream at the child. As she began to beat her, Germaine opened her apron. Out tumbled what she had been hiding in her apron -- bright beautiful flowers that no one had expected to see for months. Where had she found the vibrant blossoms in the middle of the ice and snow? There was only one answer and Germaine gave it herself, when she handed a flower to her mother and said, "Please accept this flower, Mother. God sends it to you in sign of his forgiveness."
As the whole village began to talk about this holy child, even Hortense began to soften her feelings toward her. She even invited Germaine back to the house but Germaine had become used to her straw bed and continued to sleep in it. There she was found dead at the age of 22, overcome by a life of suffering.
With all the evidence of her holiness, her life was too simple and hidden to mean much beyond her tiny village -- until God brought it too light again. When her body was exhumed forty years later, it was found to be undecayed, what is known as incorruptible. As is often the case with incorruptible bodies of saints, God chooses not the outwardly beautiful to preserve but those that others despised as ugly and weak. It's as if God is saying in this miracle that human ideas of beauty are not his. To him, no one was more beautiful than this humble lonely young woman.
After her body was found in this state, the villagers started to speak again of what she had been like and what she had done. Soon miracles were attributed to her intercession and the clamor for her canonization began.
In this way, the most unlikely of saints became recognized by the Church. She didn't found a religious order. She didn't reach a high Church post. She didn't write books or teach at universities. She didn't go to foreign lands as a missionary or convert thousands. What she did was live a life devoted to God and her neighbor no matter what happened to her. And that is all God asks.
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
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I came across St. Germaine when I was looking for my patron saint when I was going through RCIA. At the time, I had a lot going on in my life. My 20 month old son had a brain tumor and wasn't expected to live, I had fallen out of my parents lives because I broke away from their religion and chose to become Catholic, my disabled oldest brother passed away and I didn't find out til I was given a copy of his obituary by a friend, and I was dealing with my own issues having grown up in an abusive home myself and when I came across her name is the seemingly thousands of saints I read about, something clicked. I felt a connection to her, and to her suffering. I always felt the ugly duckling anyway, and when I read about her, I felt as if, any saint would be good, but someone who actually KNEW how I felt, would be best. So I chose her. I wish more people knew about her. She's truly a special person.
My mother and father had been trying for several years to concieve a child. My mother read a story about St. Germain Cousin and was so touched by it that she made her a promise. If she would intercede on my mother's behalf to ask the Lord to bless her with a child, and if that child was a girl, she would name that child after St. Germaine. I am that child. I was told this story from the time I could understand what it meant. From the time I was a small child I have had a very special relationship with St. Germaine. Whenever I had asked her to intercede for me, my special intentions were always granted. I never asked for anything for myself...only for others. Then came the day that I was trying to concieve myself and it was not going well. My mother-in-law, knowing of my special relationship with St. Germaine, asked why I didn't ask for intercession from her. I explained that I didn't ever ask for anything for myself. To which she replied that having a child impacted more than just me...it impacted my entire family. She was a smart lady! I asked for intercession and 11 months later I gave birth to my daughter, Sarah Germaine. I love St. Germaine as if she were a member of my family. She means so much to me and I often don't feel worthy of her name. I am 54 now and I still call on her often to intercede for me...she still answers the call...every time. It's not always the exact thing I request but it is always the exact thing I need....because only God knows the REAL needs of my soul. I hope to continue to spread the word of St. Germaine and her beautiful, holy, inspiring life. God Bless!
What a beautiful saint. I came across the trailer to a movie short produced by Our Lady's Tears Productrions. Are you aware of this 28 minute short about her life? The trailer can be viewed ON YOUTUBE. See the hyperlink below. I purchased the DVD to show to confirmation-1 classes at our parish. It is short enough to be able to use it in class discussions. It is an edifying movie and frankly they did a pretty good job for a small Catholic movie companie. Here is the youtube link which I think your viewers might enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Germaine was the middle name I was given at birth, at 14, 2 years after my older sister took confirmation I was curious about the saint of my birthday and I found out that my name was the same as the name of a saint.I am proud of my name and of St Germaine who has endured so much.I have little faith in many things and I am often full of doubts but I hope that I would one day have a similar amount of faith that came from one so young.May my actions be guided with faith, forgiveness, humility and love so they would spread to those around me.
i was born under St. Germaine Cousin's feast day. And i am extremely proud of it.
Thank you for sharing this very inspiring story with displaying the greatness of GOD in the weak and wretched of the world that HE is there for them and for us all if we only but believe.
Gracious LORD...thank you for the revelations YOU give us through the lives of these saints to inspire us to come to know, love and serve you despite all the obstacles that come our way. Amen
St Germaine ...Pray for all the children of the world especially the unborn.
As an abused child, orphaned at age 10, in and out of foster homes, I know in a very small way the feelings of being unloved and unwanted that this poor girl went through. Now I am watching as my drug-abusing daughter beats and starves her kids, denying them even the simple necessities of life like clean clothes, baths, and medical care. Please, St. Germaine, pray for my grandchildren that they can be returned to us so that they will be loved and cared for and never have to endure another day of their mother's torture. Amen.
I also had never heard of St. Germaine, what a sad live she had. No wonder she is a Saint, the way she forgive and the way she handle her life. Saint Germaine Cousin please pray for us and help us to be like you, what we have in this life does not even come close to what you suffer. Pray for our daughter, and her children. She lost her husband in the line of duty. It has been 10 years, she and her daughter and son are still having it very hard.
This Saint is still being abused - the writing of the first version is horribly done - illiterate. Fortunately the Wikipedia versions are easier. Please fix this injustice on the poor saint.
Please Saint Germaine Cousin, please pray for Jacob that he finds the right path and for his parents that they find the strenght and wisdom to guide him. Thank you.
I too had never heard of St. Germaine. The article was most interesting. I pray that St. Germaine will help my stepson who has many health problems.
St. Germaine, please pray for me to face upto the challenges and sufferings in my day to day life with compassion and forgiveness, as you always did.
Excellent story of the life of saint never heard before.
Long live thieir tribes!
ST. GERMAINE, PLEASE WATCH OVER THE MANY MEXICAN CHILDREN WHO ARE ABUSED IN SOME WAY. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THEY SUFFER, PLEASE DON¨T LEAVE THEM ALONE AND MAKE THEIR BAD SITUATION CHANGE...ST. GERMAINE, PRAY AND INTERCEDE FOR THEM EVERY DAY..
As a child, I experienced the worst kinds of abuse possible, financial, emotional, physical, sexual, incest, and neglect . I pray to Saint Germaine Cousin that the abusers of the world find the peace they lack, and the abused, find the healing they need. The world is filled with abused and abusive people, but through the guidance and intercession of Saint Germaine, God will intercede. It is not only up to Saint Germaine and her intercession. It is up to the saints of today's world, to spread the message of peace, hope, and love.
i loe this sight its so cool
A truly touching story...heartbreaking. :(
Thank you St Germaine, for your blessings. Care for and protect the helpless in our world from all abuse. And many prayers for those who left messages here.
St Germain Cousin, please pray for my stepdaughter and her brother that they never have to suffer abuse at the hands of their mother again. Please pray that their hearts and minds are healed from the abuse they endured. Please pray that they will live wonderful lives untainted by the horrific trials they lived through as children. And please pray that i and the stepmother of her brother are instruments of comfort and love and guide these children to reach their full potential. Amen.
Years ago when I was approaching my Confirmation, I was going to choose the name Therese after the Little Flower. I had never heard of St. Germaine. About a month before my Confirmation, I read a booklet about her life; a relative lived in an area where a new Catholic Church was built and named for St. Germaine. I cried as I read the story of her life, deeply touched by her sufferings and her goodness. I immediately chose her name for my Confirmation name. She is also the patron saint of the disabled. I am now disabled and have been for 6 years; I still feel I chose the perfect Saint as my Patron. I have a son with a lot of medical problems and I pray that St. Germaine will intercede for him so that he may have a life, which has been so limited for years. Dear St. Germaine, please watch over my son and ask God to grant him the gift of health so that he may be able to finish his schooling and be able to live an independent life. I thank you for all the many favors I know that you have done for me. I know that you watch over me, dear beloved St. Germaine.
St. Germaine, Please pray for me get my visa early as posible and at the suit time.
Thankn You
Joseph