St. Fiacre

30/08/15

Today's Saint:

St. Fiacre

-Born in Ireland
-Moved to France for living with God in a calm place
-Made a house for himself and a small chapel
-Prayed and lived there
-Many people came to seek spiritual advice from him
-He was humble and simple
-Helped poor and sick people with what he had
-Showed miracles and cure for many people

Fiacre was born in Ireland in the seventh century. Looking for a place where he could live close to God in solitude, he sailed to France. The bishop of Meaux offered him part of his own land in a forest. Legend has it that the bishop told Fiacre he could have as much land as he could plow in a day. Instead of using a plow, which would have made his claim much larger, Fiacre showed how simply he wanted to live by using the point of his walking stick to turn the soil. Fiacre cleared his ground and built a little house for himself, as well as a chapel in honor of the Blessed Virgin. He also built a place for travelers to stop and rest. Before long, many people were coming to him for spiritual advice. He shared whatever he had with the poor and cared for the sick, sometimes restoring their health with miracles. Even after his death, many miracles were reported to have taken place when people visited his little chapel. St. Fiacre is the patron saint of gardeners.

St. Fiacre shows us that helping the poor isn’t only the responsibility of wealthy people. Even if we don’t have a lot, we can always share what we do have with those who have even less.