Hermit: d. 670
His life
+ Fiacre was an Irish hermit who lived in County Kilkenny. Because of his fame as a skilled gardener who grew a variety of medicinal herbs, Fiacre received unwanted attention and traveled to France seeking greater solitude.
+ Welcomed by Saint Faro, bishop of Meaux, he was given a site for his hermitage at Breuil, in the region of Brie.
+ Fiacre built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin and a hospice for strangers. He dedicated his life to penance and prayer.
+ Fiacre died on August 18, 670.
+ Saint Fiacre is honored as the patron of gardeners, especially of those who grow vegetables and medicinal plants. He is also honored as the patron saint of taxi drivers because, from 1650 on, the Hotel Saint-Fiacre in Paris hired out carriages. These carriages became known as fiacres.
Spiritual bonus
The Church honors two other men named Fiacre as saints: Fiacre, abbot of Urard, and Fiacre, abbot of Clonard.
Quote
“Then the LORD will guide you always
and satisfy your thirst in parched places,
will give strength to your bones
And you shall be like a watered garden,
like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.”—Isaiah 58:11
Prayer
O God, who alone are holy and without whom no one is good, command, we pray, through the intercession of blessed Fiacre, that we be numbered among those who do not deserve to be deprived of your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
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Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...