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| St. Germaine |
For years
I have prayed to Sts. Genevieve, Germaine and Cuthbert for safe and healthy
lambs. But there are more out there waiting to be called upon for their gifts.
There are patrons of the sheep themselves, of the lambs, of the ram, of the
shepherd and shepherdess, and even of the vet, who may be called in for his/her
earthly talents.
ST.
GERMAINE COUSIN was
born in the remote village of Pibrac in 1579. Germaine was a frail and sickly
child. Her right arm was deformed and partially paralyzed. She was prey to
every disease of the times due to the unsanitary conditions under which she
lived.
Germaine
was a shepherdess who lived with the animals she tended. She had a
mattress of hay and twigs in the corner of the barn. 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.
When St.
Germaine died in 1601, the animals were the only ones there to comfort her. The
night she passed from this life to the next life, two monks traveling from
Toulouse had a remarkable vision. At midnight, they were awakened by heavenly
music overhead, accompanied by a pathway of light, inhabited by angels. A tip
of the luminous pathway rested over a barn in the distance. It seemed Germaine
was being escorted into heaven.
Pope
Gregory XVI declared Germaine "Venerable" on May 23, 1845, stating
Germaine is the saint we need." Pope Pius IX beatified Germaine on May 7,
1854. He then canonized St. Germaine on June 29, 1867. He said, "Go to Germaine. She is a new star shedding a marvelous glow over the
Universal Church."
ST.
SOLANGE of BOURGES (d.. 880) was a Frankish shepherdess, born to a poor but devout family in the town
of Villemont, near Bourges. She consecrated her virginity at the age of seven and
according to some, her mere presence cured the sick and exorcised devils. The
son of the count of Poitiers was highly taken with the beauty and popularity of
Solange and approached her when she was working on tending to her sheep, but
she rejected his suit. He argued with her to no avail, and so he decided to
abduct her.
At night,
he came and took Solange by force, but she struggled so violently that she fell
from his horse while he was crossing a stream. Her abductor grew enraged and
beheaded her with his sword. Solange's severed head invoked three times the
Holy Name of Jesus, according to the fully developed legend. Solange picked up
her head in her own hands and walked with it as far as the church of
Saint-Martin in the village of Saint-Martin-du-Crot (which now bears the name
of Sainte-Solange, the only commune in France to bear this name), only dropping
truly dead there.
ST.
GENEVIEVE was born about the year 422, at Nanterre near
Paris. When she was little she didn’t attend school as she had to help her father
with the sheep that her family owned. When she was watching the sheep,
Genevieve often prayed. Sometimes she would just sit and think about how she
could carry on the Lord’s mission.
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| St. Genevieve |
She was
seven years old when St. Germain of Auxerre came to her native village on his
way to great Britain to combat the heresy of Pelagius. The child stood in the
midst of a crowd gathered around the man of God, who singled her out and
foretold her future sanctity. At her desire the holy Bishop led her to a
church, accompanied by all the faithful, and consecrated her to God as a
virgin.
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| St. Genevieve-Louveciennes, France |
When
Attila was reported to be marching on Paris, the inhabitants of the city
prepared to evacuate, but St. Genevieve persuaded them to avert the scourge by
fasting and prayer, assuring them of the protection of Heaven. The event
verified the prediction, for the barbarian suddenly changed the course of his
march.
The life
of St. Genevieve was one of great austerity, constant prayer, and works of
charity. She died in the year 512. Her feast day is January 3rd. She is the
patroness of Paris.
ST.
CUTHBERT of LINDISFARNE is considered one of England's most revered saints. Although tradition
says that Cuthbert was the son of an Irish king, it is most likely that he was
born in the vicinity of Melrose, in present day Scotland, of poor parents.
Certainly we know that he tended sheep on the hills above the abbey when he was
older. The young Cuthbert may have been influenced by the nearby monks of
Melrose Abbey in his choice of vocation; when he was sixteen he received a
vision of the soul of St. Aidan being carried to heaven by angels. This vision
may have convinced him to enter holy orders at Melrose, but he did not rush to
fulfill his calling.
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| St. Cuthbert |
Instead,
Cuthbert spent several years as a soldier, probably in the service of the
Kingdom of Northumbria against the attacks of King Penda of Mercia. After that
conflict had ended, Cuthbert entered the monastery at Melrose, where his
devotion earned him high praise.
At the
Synod of Whitby in 664, a decision was made to follow the Roman liturgical
customs introduced by Augustine of Canterbury in place of the Celtic practices
that were formerly followed. While St. Colman, the local bishop, and his monks
refused to accept the decision of the Synod of Whitby and left for Ireland,
Cuthbert seemed to have accepted the introduction of the Roman practices and
remained. Cuthbert, then, followed his abbot, St. Eata, from Melrose to
Lindisfarne, where he became prior and later abbot.
From
Lindisfarne, Cuthbert continued his missionary work southward to Northumberland
and Durham. Cuthbert had become entranced with the sea and rocky lands of
Lindisfarne and yearned for a solitary life there. In 676, he actively turned
to such a life by retiring to a cave and shortly thereafter he moved to a cell
he built on the isolated island of Inner Farne that was south of Lindisfarne.
Yet he was still sought after. After being implored strongly by the king of
Northumberland, Cuthbert, in tears, agreed to accept election as a bishop in
684. While initially destined for the see of Hexham, Cuthbert exchanged sees
with St. Eata and was consecrated bishop of Lindisfarne in March 26, 685, on
the Sunday of the Resurrection, by St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, and
by six bishops in York.
For the
next two years, Cuthbert, while maintaining an ascetic life, led his diocese by
caring for the sick, distributing alms, working the many miracles that earned
him the title of Wonder-worker of Britain. Then, during the Christmas season of
686 in declining health he resigned his office and retired to his cell on the
Inner Farne Island where he reposed on March 20, 687.
One of my
favorites, but the least known is BL. PANACEA de'MUZZI of QUARONA. Panacea’s
mother died when the girl was an infant. When she was old enough, Panacea
worked as shepherdess. Her father re-married, but her step-mother, Margherita
di Locarno Sesia, quickly developed a hatred of the girl, partly because she
would not work as ordered, and partially because Panacea was a pious little
girl and Margherita hated religion.
One
spring evening of 1383 , while Panacea, fifteen at the time, was looking after
the sheep, the stepmother found the girl in prayer, near the ancient church of
St. John. Furious, she scolded the girl severely and, in the throes of rage,
struck violently and repeatedly with a spindle, killing her instantly. The
woman threw herself in despair into a nearby ravine. Panacea's father, the
local priest and villagers tried to lift her off the ground but failed.
Finally, the body was carried downstream and
placed on a cart pulled by oxen, but the oxen could not pull the wagon and so were replaced by two heifers. They were to
drive the body to a special field, but the owner opposed the burial in his
field. The heifers, guided by the spirit of Panacea, resumed their journey
towards the plains followed by the Bishop, the clergy and by many people. The
church bells rang and people saw the carriage
stop in the cemetery where the mother of Panacea was buried.
ST.
CUTHMAN of STEYNING was born about 681, either in Devon or
Cornwall, or more probably at Chidham, near Bosham, about 25 miles from
Steyning. Most probably, Saint Wilfrid, the Apostle of Sussex (680-685)
converted and baptized Cuthman and his parents.
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| St. Cuthman |
His
legend states he was a shepherd who had to care for his paralyzed mother after
his father's death. When they fell on hard times and were forced to beg from
door to door, he built a one-wheeled cart or wheelbarrow in which he moved her around with him. They
set out east, towards the rising sun, from his home and, even though the cart
broke, he improvised a new one, deciding that when that cart broke again he
would accept it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church. It
broke at the place now called Steyning, upon which he prayed.
After
building a hut to accommodate his mother and himself, he began work on the
church (now St Andrew's, Steyning, which in the 20th century instituted a
Cuthman chapel in his honor), with help from the locals. As the church was
nearing completion and Cuthman was having difficulty with a roof-beam, a
stranger showed him how to fix it. When Cuthman asked his name, he replied:
"I am He in whose name you are
building this church."
Whatever
date we ascribe to Cuthman, this church was in existence by 857, for we know
that King Æthelwulf of Wessex was buried there in that year.
According
to one legend, one day as he was watching his sheep, he drew a line around his
sheep with his staff so that he could get away to collect food. On his return,
he found that the flock had not left the invisible boundary. This miracle may
have taken place in a field near Chidham, which for centuries was known as ‘St
Cuthman’s Field’ or ‘St Cuthman’s Dell.’ It was said that a large stone in the
field, ‘on which the holy shepherd was in the habit of sitting,’ held
miraculous properties.
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| St. Cuthman |
Christopher
Fry wrote a play on him in 1938 called "The Boy with a Cart",
performed at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1950, directed by John Gielgud
and with Richard Burton as Cuthman, from which the following is a quote:
“ It is there in the story of
Cuthman, the working together
Of man and God like root and sky;
the son
Of a Cornish shepherd, Cuthman, the boy
with a cart,
The boy we saw trudging the
sheep-tracks with his mother
Mile upon mile over five counties;
one
Fixed purpose biting his heels and
lifting his heart.
We saw him; we saw him with a grass
in his mouth, chewing
And travelling. We saw him building
at last
A church among whortleberries…"
ST.
BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS
is one of our more modern patronesses of sheep. Most know her story as it was
to her Our Lady appeared at Lourdes, while Bernadette watched her sheep. She was
born in Lourdes, France, on January 7, 1844, the daughter of Francis and Louise
Soubirous. Bernadette, a severe asthma sufferer, lived in abject poverty. On
February 11, 1858, she was granted a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a
cave on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes. She was placed in
considerable jeopardy when she reported the vision, and crowds gathered when
she had further visits from the Virgin, from February 18 of that year through
March 4.The civil authorities tried to frighten Bernadette into recanting her
accounts, but she remained faithful to the vision.
On February 25, a spring
emerged from the cave and the waters were discovered to be of a miraculous
nature, capable of healing the sick and lame. On March 25, Bernadette announced
that the vision stated that she was the Immaculate Conception, and that a
church should be erected on the site. Many authorities tried to shut down the
spring and delay the construction of the chapel, but the influence and fame of
the visions reached Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon Ill, and
construction went forward. Crowds gathered, free of harassment from the
anticlerical and anti-religious officials. In 1866, Bernadette was sent to the
Sisters of Notre Dame in Nevers. There she became a member of the community,
and faced some rather harsh treatment from the mistress of novices. This
oppression ended when it was discovered that she suffered from a painful,
incurable illness.
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| St. Bernadette |
She died in Nevers on April 16,1879, still giving the same
account of her visions. Lourdes became one of the major pilgrimage destinations
in the world, and the spring has produced 27,000 gallons of water each week
since emerging during Bernadette's visions. She was not involved in the
building of the shrine, as she remained hidden at Nevers. Bernadette was
beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.
Other patrons of sheep are: Sts. Regina, Drogo, George, Castulus of Rome, Dominic of Silos, Julian the Hospitaller, Pascal Baylon, and Ursinus of Bourges and Raphael the Archangel.
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| St. Drogo |
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| St. Pascal |
