St. Germaine of Pibrac - June 15th
Pibrac is the little village in France where Germaine was born and spent her life. In fact, her right hand was deformed and helpless. Her father paid little attention to her, and her stepmother did not want her around her own healthy children. So Germaine slept with the sheep in the barn, even in cold weather. She dressed in rags and was laughed at by other children. When she came home at night with the flock of sheep she had tended in the fields, her stepmother often screamed at her and beat her.
Yet this poor girl learned to talk with God and to remember that He was with her all the time. She always managed to get to Mass and she received Holy Communion as often as she could. Her sheep she would leave in care of her Guardian Angel, and never once did one wander away from the staff she planted in the ground.
Germaine often gathered young children around her to teach them their faith and fill their hearts with God’s love. She tried her best to help the poor, too. She shared with beggars the little bit of food she was given to eat. One winter day, her stepmother accused her of stealing bread and chased her with a stick. But what fell from Germaine’s apron was not the expected bread. It was summer flowers!
By now people no longer made fun of Germaine. In fact, they loved and admired her. She could have begun to live in her father’s house, but she chose to keep sleeping in the barn. Then, one morning, when she was twenty-two, she was found dead on her straw bed. Her life of great suffering was over and God worked miracles to show that she was a Saint.
The main virtue of this Saint was patience, she carried her big cross well, because she went to Holy Communion often. In our little sufferings, let us turn to Our Lord in Holy Communion and ask His help.
