Saint Germaine Cousin known as Saint Germaine de Pibrac

Germaine was born in Pibrac in 1579, into a modest family whose father was a laborer named Laurent Cousin and mother, Marie Laroche. However, Germaine suffered from scrofula and had an atrophied hand. Her mother died when she was still young, and her father remarried a cruel woman who abused and humiliated her.

Relic of Saint Germaine Cousin of Pibrac on Relics.es

Because of this difficult situation, Germaine asked her father to allow her to keep the sheep in the wild, where she could pray and recite her rosary. She attended mass every day and shared her bread with the poor.

Unfortunately, Germaine died at the age of 22 in 1601. Her father found her dead in the lean-to where she slept, far from family life. She was buried in the church of Pibrac, but her grave was forgotten over time.

The Miracles:

Germaine used her distaff as a stake to herd the sheep. She managed to keep the flock together without a single sheep wandering off and without any wolves attacking, despite their frequent presence in the area. To go to church, she had to cross a large stream. One day, during a flood, some peasants made fun of her, wondering how she was going to make it through. But the waters parted before her and she crossed the stream without getting wet.

Another day, her stepmother accused her of stealing bread and chased after her to beat her. However, when she searched her apron, she found an armful of roses instead of bread. Her father was moved by this miracle and forbade his wife to hit Germaine. He also asked her to return to the house, but she refused.

The night of his death, two monks on their way to Pibrac saw two young girls dressed in white heading towards the house of Laurent Cousin. The next morning, as they continued on their way, they saw three young girls come out, one of them being crowned with flowers and flanked by the other two. This account testifies to the holiness of Germaine and the recognition of her devotion to God.

In 1644, the sexton discovered the buried body of Germaine Cousin when he was digging a grave for the funeral. Her body was incredibly fresh, with the flowers she was holding still barely wilted. Germaine was identified by her deformed hand and lymph node scars. She was placed in a lead coffin offered by a parishioner cured by the saint's intercession and was left in the sacristy, forgotten for 16 years.

In 1661, vicar general Jean Dufour came to Pibrac and was surprised to find Germaine's coffin in the sacristy. When he opened it, he discovered that the body was still fresh. After digging around where she had been found, he found that all the other dead had become skeletons. Moved by this miracle, the vicar general asked for the opening of the process for the canonization of Germaine in 1700.

After many miracles, his remains were destroyed by soaking in quicklime in 1793 during the Revolution. However, two years later, in 1795, the constitutional parish priest of Pibrac recovered his remains in bone form and reinterred them in the church.

In 1867, Germaine was canonized. In Pibrac, on June 15, 1901, Bishop Germain laid the first stone of a new church dedicated to Saint Germaine. This basilica was consecrated on June 15, 1967 by Bishop Saint-Gaudens, and in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI officially granted it the title of minor basilica3.

The Mestre Laurens farmhouse, Germaine Cousin's birthplace, still exists. It is located about 2 kilometers from the village of Pibrac, in the hamlet called le Gainé. Recently restored, it is open to visitors.urs.