St. Germaine Cousin Medal and Necklace

Sterling Silver St. Germaine Cousin Medal and Necklace

14KT Gold Filled St. Germaine Cousin Medal and Necklace

14KT Gold St Germaine Cousin Medal

St. Germaine

Saint Germaine Cousin was born in 1579 in Pibrac, a small village in France. She has been termed “The saint without a history”. From her earliest years Germaine was a frail, sickly child, and throughout her life was afflicted with scrofula, a tubercular condition, affecting particularly the glands of the neck. In addition, her right arm and hand were deformed and partially paralyzed. In spite of her many afflictions, the emaciated child possessed a charming, sweet disposition.

A Childhood of Great Suffering

Besides bodily sufferings, Germaine endured harsh, cruel treatment from her stepmother, who had a deep aversion and hatred for the little girl. Often her face was swollen and covered with blood from the blows administered by the brutal woman. The child was almost starved to death, being given only a few crusts of moldy black bread daily; her bed was a pile of leaves and twigs under the stairway of the barn, amidst the squalor of the animals.

Abandoned and forlorn, it was here that she spent her nights, cold, hungry and sick. I would seem that the stepmother sought by her inhuman treatment to bring about the child’s death, But God was watching over her. At break of day, summer and winter, Germaine was obliged to drive the sheep into the fields to graze and to watch them until evening. While the sheep were grazing Germaine had to spin. If the allotted wool was not spun, she was severely punished. Even the villagers showed a hostile attitude toward the forlorn child. The children, however, loved to listen to her speak about the goodness and love of God as she shepherded her flock.

With no opportunity to attend school, Germaine never learned to read or write. The catechetical instruction given after the Sunday Mass in the village church, she eagerly drank in as she prepared for her First Holy Communion. Like our Blessed Lady, she “pondered in her heart” all she learned about the Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother. The long hours of solitude in the fields during the day and in the stable at night were spent by this innocent child in sweet communion with God, and she never complained of her hard life. The village church was the only place where Germaine was welcome.

Many Miracles

Each morning she could be seen there kneeling before Our Lady’s shrine after assisting at Mass. In order to reach the church it was necessary to cross the Courbet. Ordinarily it was only a small stream, but after a heavy rain it would become a raging torrent. On several occasions when the stream was full, the villagers were amazed to see the rushing waters separate as Germaine approached, and that she was able to cross to the opposite side on dry land as the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea.

It wasn’t long before the people of Pibrac began to talk about this and the other wonderful happenings in the life of the unwanted child. Although ravenous wolves infested the forest near the village, the stepmother sometimes ordered Germaine to take the sheep there. While other villagers’ flocks had been dispersed and destroyed by these wild animals, never once did they harm Germaine’s sheep. She would strike her staff into the ground and the sheep would huddle at it and remain there safely while she would go to Mass.

One evening as several of the townspeople passed the stable where Germaine slept they heard a heavenly melody. Peering through a crack, they saw the child kneeling in ecstatic prayer, her head crowned with a radiant light. Attempting to enter, the celestial hymn was renewed, and they fled in awe.

One wintry day, shortly before her death, some of the village folk saw the stepmother pursuing Germaine as she drove the sheep down the road. Screaming loudly, she ac cused the girl of having concealed in her apron some bread she had stolen from the home of her stepmother. Threatening to strike the child, she demanded that Germaine unfold the apron. When she obeyed, fragrant flowers, not grown in that region, fell to the ground. The villagers’ attitude of contempt now changed to one approaching veneration, but Germaine’s life on earth was nearing its end.

One night early in the summer of 1601, at the age of twenty-two, she died, as she had lived, alone with God. Her remains were interred in the village church, as was the custom in those days. In 1644 a relative desired to be buried next to Her. When the stones were removed, to the astonishment of the grave-digger there was found the body of a beautiful young girl in a state of perfect preservation. His pick had struck the girl’s nose, and the wound was bleeding. Some of the older residents identified the girl as Germaine Cousin.

Miracle after miracle occurred. On June 29, 1867, the neglected little child of Pibrac was enrolled upon the list of Saints by Pope Pius IX. In 1877 the citizens of Toulouse erected a stone monument in Saint Germaine’s honor. Annually thousands of pilgrims visit the church of Pibrac, where the sacred body of Saint Germaine is enshrined.
St. Germaine Cousin Rosary
UPC: 617759345902
Brand: Bliss