Saint Fiacre
Also known as
Fevre
Fiachrach
Fiacrius
Fiaker
Memorial:
30 August, everywhere except in Ireland where it is September 1.
Profile
Our saint today was raised in an Irish monastery. In the7th century these monasteries were great repositories of learning, especially in the use of healing herbs, a skill studied by Fiacre. His knowledge and holiness caused followers to flock to him, which destroyed the holy isolation he sought.
Fleeing to France, he was given land for his hermitage by the local bishop. Fiacre asked for land for a garden for food and healing herbs. The bishop said Fiacre could have as much land as he could entrench in one day. The next morning Fiacre walked around the perimeter of the land he wanted, dragged his spade behind him. Wherever the spade touched, trees were toppled, bushes uprooted, and the soil was entrenched.
A local virago woman heard of this, and claimed sorcery was involved, she confronted and relentlessly scolded our saint today. Because of her relentless harangue on St. Fiacre, all women were banned from his chapel. During the verbal assault of the shrew mentioned above Fiacre was so wearied that he sat on a nearby stone, there miraculously imprinting his buttocks. This stone was later moved to the church of St Fiacre en Brie where generations of pilgrims sat on it in hopes of being cured of their hemorrhoids; hence this patronage. In the long run, this garden, miraculously obtained, became a place of pilgrimage for centuries for those seeking healing.
Fiacre had the gift of healing by laying on his hands; blindness, polypus, and fevers are mentioned by the old records as being cured by his touch; he was especially effective against a type of peri-anal tumor or fistula later known as “le fic de S. Fiacre”.
Anne of Austria, queen of Louis XIII, had a great devotion to St. Fiacre, and credits him with the safe delivery of her son….the Sun King.
Fiacre’s connection to cab drivers is because the Hotel de Saint Fiacre in Paris, France rented carriages, people who had no idea who Fiacre was, referred to the cabs as Fiacre cabs, and eventually just as Fiacres. Those who drove them assumed Fiacre as their patron. And since cab drivers anecdotally suffer a lot from hemorrhoids it seemed like a natural “fit”.
In many garden stores today, you can see statues of a bearded monk wearing a cowl carrying a shovel. Many believe this to be St. Francis, …..but it is St. Fiacre; patron saint of gardeners. Images of Francis are are shovel-less
Died
18 August 670 of natural causes
his relics have been distributed to several churches and cathedrals across Europe
Patronage
against barrenness
against fistula
against hemorrhoids
against piles
against sterility
against syphilis
against venereal disease
box makers
cab drivers
costermongers
florists
gardeners
hosiers
pewterers
taxi drivers
tile makers
Representation
man carrying a spade and a basket of vegetables beside him surrounded by pilgrims and blessing the sick
shovel
spade
30 August, everywhere except in Ireland where it is September 1.
Profile
Our saint today was raised in an Irish monastery. In the7th century these monasteries were great repositories of learning, especially in the use of healing herbs, a skill studied by Fiacre. His knowledge and holiness caused followers to flock to him, which destroyed the holy isolation he sought.
Fleeing to France, he was given land for his hermitage by the local bishop. Fiacre asked for land for a garden for food and healing herbs. The bishop said Fiacre could have as much land as he could entrench in one day. The next morning Fiacre walked around the perimeter of the land he wanted, dragged his spade behind him. Wherever the spade touched, trees were toppled, bushes uprooted, and the soil was entrenched.
A local virago woman heard of this, and claimed sorcery was involved, she confronted and relentlessly scolded our saint today. Because of her relentless harangue on St. Fiacre, all women were banned from his chapel. During the verbal assault of the shrew mentioned above Fiacre was so wearied that he sat on a nearby stone, there miraculously imprinting his buttocks. This stone was later moved to the church of St Fiacre en Brie where generations of pilgrims sat on it in hopes of being cured of their hemorrhoids; hence this patronage. In the long run, this garden, miraculously obtained, became a place of pilgrimage for centuries for those seeking healing.
Fiacre had the gift of healing by laying on his hands; blindness, polypus, and fevers are mentioned by the old records as being cured by his touch; he was especially effective against a type of peri-anal tumor or fistula later known as “le fic de S. Fiacre”.
Anne of Austria, queen of Louis XIII, had a great devotion to St. Fiacre, and credits him with the safe delivery of her son….the Sun King.
Fiacre’s connection to cab drivers is because the Hotel de Saint Fiacre in Paris, France rented carriages, people who had no idea who Fiacre was, referred to the cabs as Fiacre cabs, and eventually just as Fiacres. Those who drove them assumed Fiacre as their patron. And since cab drivers anecdotally suffer a lot from hemorrhoids it seemed like a natural “fit”.
In many garden stores today, you can see statues of a bearded monk wearing a cowl carrying a shovel. Many believe this to be St. Francis, …..but it is St. Fiacre; patron saint of gardeners. Images of Francis are are shovel-less
Died
18 August 670 of natural causes
his relics have been distributed to several churches and cathedrals across Europe
Patronage
against barrenness
against fistula
against hemorrhoids
against piles
against sterility
against syphilis
against venereal disease
box makers
cab drivers
costermongers
florists
gardeners
hosiers
pewterers
taxi drivers
tile makers
Representation
man carrying a spade and a basket of vegetables beside him surrounded by pilgrims and blessing the sick
shovel
spade
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