Saint Germaine Cousin

Life story

Germaine Cousin was born around 1579 in Pibrac, a village near Toulouse in southern France. She was born with a deformed hand and suffered from scrofula. Her mother died when she was very young. Her father then remarried and, according to local tradition, her stepmother treated her harshly.

Germaine worked as a shepherdess. According to local sources she slept in a stable or on a bed of vine cuttings, was fed very little, and was regarded by villagers as gentle and devout. According to tradition she attended Mass daily, and various stories are told of her, such as crossing a flooded stream without getting wet. These are oral traditions, not confirmed by contemporary documents.

Her father found her dead on her bed in early summer 1601, when she was about 22. She was buried in the village church.

In 1644, when a grave was opened for another burial, her body was reported to be remarkably well preserved, and veneration spread. The remains were damaged during the French Revolution in 1793. Pius IX beatified her on 7 May 1854 and canonised her on 29 June 1867.

Works and witness

• Born with a deformed hand and orphaned of her mother young
• Worked as a shepherdess in Pibrac in poverty
• Died in 1601, aged about 22
• Her body was recorded as well preserved in 1644
• Canonised in 1867

Patron of

Abandoned people, People with disabilities

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Decrees of beatification (1854) and canonisation (1867)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.