Gardening was St. Fiacre’s thing.
Passing through the mists of time to where he lived in the 7th century, we find that his original abode was in Kilkenny, Ireland. Some say he was raised in a monastery and there learned about gardening and herbal medicine.
He was ordained and eventually retired to his own hermitage, but his peaceful seclusion was not to last. Drawn by his knowledge and holiness, disciples and crowds streamed to him. So he left for France in search of the solitude that he loved.
He found it in Meaux in the northern part of the country, where he built himself a hermitage, a garden, an oratory to Our Lady, and a hospice for travelers. But attracted by the scent of the garden’s flowers—or more likely, by Fiacre’s holiness and his reputation for miracles—disciples and sick pilgrims besieged his solitude once more. He built a monastery for his followers and welcomed the sick, miraculously curing them by laying his hands upon them.
A 19th century stained glass window of St. Fiacre in France
St. Fiacre’s Miraculous Monastery and Hospice of Healing (as we imagine they were called) eventually evolved into the village of Saint-Fiacre, a town that is still extant in the Île-de-France region of the country. He is buried in the nearby cathedral of Meaux, and is revered as the patron saint of gardeners today.
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