Saint Who?
Saints Who Worked with Their Hands
Saint Germaine Cousin
Laywoman († 1601) Feast: June 15
Germaine was a shepherdess. Unlike other shepherds described this month, she did not grow up in a happy home. She was born in the French village of Pibrac with a deformed right hand and scrofula, a condition related to tuberculosis which causes unsightly lesions, usually on the neck. Germaine’s mother died soon after her birth, and her father married a woman who actively disliked Germaine. To keep the girl away from her own children, the stepmother forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals, fed her on scraps, and sent her to care for the sheep.
But God did not abandon the lonely, disabled little girl. God moved in her heart during the many hours she spent alone in the fields, giving her the grace to work cheerfully, accept mistreatment without resentment, and hunger for his presence. Sometimes Germaine would commend her flock to God’s care and leave them to attend Mass. Her sheep were always safe when she returned.
This real-life Cinderella was not waiting for a prince to come and rescue her from a cruel life. Rather she was waiting for a King to take her to heaven. He came one night when Germaine was only twenty-two years old, and the people of Pibrac began loudly proclaiming that Germaine was a saint.
Merciful Father, help us to let go
of all resentment of mistreatment.
