- Germana Cousin - Germaine of Pibrac Daughter of Laurent
Cousin, a farm worker, and Marie Laroche. Her mother died while
Germaine was an infant. A sickly child, Germaine suffered from
scrofula, and her right hand was deformed. Ignored by her father
and abused by her step-family, she was often forced to sleep in
the stable or in a cupboard under the stairs, was fed on scraps,
beaten or scalded with hot water for misdeeds, real or imagined.
At age nine Germaine was put to work as a shepherdess, where she
spent much time praying, sometimes using a rosary she made from
a knotted string. She refused to miss Mass, and if she heard the
bell announcing services, she set her crook and her distaff in
the ground, declared her flock to be under the care of her
guardian angel, and went to church; her sheep were unharmed
during her absences. It is reported that once she crossed the
raging Courbet River by walking over the waters so she could get
to church. Germaine was so poor it is hard to imagine she would
be able to he