Feast of St Germaine of Pibrac, Patroness of Unwanted - click to read

One of the Eucharistic Miracles took place in 1589 in a small village of Pibrac, near Touluse, France, and is connected with the name of young shepherdess, Germaine Cousin. From the time this our young girl became motherless, her father remarried a woman who, from the very start, demonstrated hostility towards her because Germaine’s face was full of acne and was not easy to look at. The stepmother, who could not stand the sight of Germaine, convinced her husband to make Germaine live in the small basement under the steps. The poor girl found herself so completely isolated in that basement that the rats were often her only companions. Germaine, however, was very close and devoted to Our Lord and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament on a daily basis. Every day she would leave her sheep unattended to receive the Holy Communion and miraculously the herd would never be attacked by wolves. To reach the church, however, Germaine had to cross the stream called Courbet. One day the heavy rains had rendered the stream impossible to pass through, but the young girl decided to affront the furious waters of the stream and get through so she could receive her daily Communion. Before going into the water in order to get across, she made the sign of the Cross and while she was reciting her prayers she saw the waters miraculously separate in two. This happened on the way back, also.

Catholic Encyclopedia entry on St Germaine