Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => The Sacred: Catholic Liturgy, Chant, Prayers => Topic started by: Matthew on August 30, 2007, 01:02:29 PM
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August 30th - St. Fiacre of Breuil, & Kilfiachra (Ireland)
(Also known as Fiachra, Fiaker, Fiacrius, Fialer, Fevre)
Born in Ireland; died c. 670;. The Irish hermit of Kilfiachra, Saint Fiacre, migrated to Gaul about 626 where he was given hospitality and a piece of land by Saint Faro (f.d. October 28) at Meaux, which was part of his own patrimony.
Tradition has it that Bishop Faro offered him as much land as he could turn up in a day, and that Fiacre, instead of using a plough, drove furrows into the ground with the point of his staff. He cleared the land of tree and briars, made himself a cell and garden, and built an oratory to the Blessed Virgin. Thus, Fiacre's hermitage arose, which became the abbey of Breuil to house his many disciples, and a hospice for travellers.
Although many sought his advice, and the poor and sick looked to him for relief, he strictly guarded his hermitage and chapel from women. Stories are told about the fates of those females who trespassed--even after his death. There was a persistent tradition that Fiacre had been offered and declined the throne of Scotia (Ireland).
He has one of the strongest cults in France, one that had already
started within his own lifetime because of his extraordinary sanctity, concern for the poor and suffering, and remarkable cures. His chapel and shrine, eventually at Meaux, were much visited by those seeking healings, especially those suffering from
haemorrhoids.
After the Battle of Agincourt, Henry V allowed his soldiers to pillage Fiacre's shrine, but the cart bearing his relics could not be moved beyond the boundary of Fiacre's monastery. It is said that Henry died of haemorrhoids on the Feast of Saint Fiacre.
Three towns (in Brie, Plougat, and Brittany) bear his name, as do 30
churches in
France. He has another shrine in Ireland at Kilkenny, and Saint
Fickers Bay near
Aberdeen, Scotland, also bears his name as does a church a few miles away. When
cabs for hire first appeared in Paris in 1620, their stand was close by the
Hotel Saint-Fiacre: from this came the French "fiacre" for a taxi. Thus, the
name of an Irish saint is perpetuated in the French language (Attwater,
Benedictines, Encyclopaedia, Montague, White).
In art, Saint Fiacre is portrayed as an abbot carrying a shovel. He might also
be shown in a Benedictine habit with a heavy staff, interceding for the sick,
with pilgrims in the background, and a basket of vegetables in the foreground
(Roeder).
He is venerated at Kilfiacha, Ireland, and Saint Fiacre at Seine-et-Marne,
France. He is the patron of cabdrivers, gardeners, florists, trellis-makers,
boxmakers, brass-beaters, coppersmiths, lead-founders, needle-makers, hosiers,
tile-makers, and potters. He is also the protector of field and garden fruits
(because of the vegetables he grew around his hermitage), and invoked against
fistula, haemorrhoids, tumours, colic, headache, sterility, and sickness
(Roeder).
Note: Some sources list St. Fiacre's Day
as September 1.)
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From what source did you get this, may I ask, Matthew?
Thanks in advance!
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I got the above article in a random e-mail -- I don't recall who it's from. It's not from one of the 'regulars' either.
Matthew