Today September 1

Today is the feast of St. Fiacre (died c. 670 AD). This Irish saint is more famous than people realize. Those garden statues people have, mistakenly thinking they are St. Francis statues, are usually really St. Fiacre (patron of gardens and gardeners). So he's been seen but not recognized.

This Irish monk traveled to France to the region of Meaux and was given a plot of land for his hermitage. St. Faro gave it him, as much as he could plow in a day, it is said. Instead of a plow, he used his walking stick to measure off the property. I'm not sure how much it was, but evidently it was enough for a little cell, a church dedicated to St. Mary, a hospice for travelers and a garden. He gained a reputation for wisdom and was sought out like wise men of old, but he was also known as a soft touch, so he was often sought out for alms as well. He took care of the sick and dying who came to the hospice, and even was known to cure a person or two just by laying hands on him. And I do mean "him"; no women were allowed in the hermitage, even in the church! Even Anne of Austria, Queen of France, had to wait outside the door when she came with the other pilgrims. My sources don't say, but I assume that was to ensure all propriety.

The healings went on even after his death and many swarmed to his little retreat with petitions and thanksgivings. The aforementioned Anne of Austria attributed to the prayers of St. Fiacre the recovery of her husband Louis XIII at Lyons, where he was deathly ill, and the healthy birth of her son, Louis XIV. Dear St. Fiacre's relics are resorted to in all kinds of ills, especially, for some reason, venereal diseases. (Which is kind of ironic, don't you think, since he never consorted with females?) He is patron of gardeners from his active work in the self-supporting garden, and, oddly enough, of French cab drivers. They really need it! Actually, it's not that odd. When the guild started up in the 17th century, the taxi drivers -- horse-drawn, of course -- started out in the Rue Saint-Martin near the hotel Saint-Fiacre, in Paris. Mystery solved.

Saint Fiacre, pray for us.