Saint Fiacre (or Fiachra) was born in Ireland in the seventh century. He was better known in France, where he built a hospice for travellers in what is now Saint-Fiacre-en-Brie . His relics are installed in Meaux Cathedral. In Ireland is feast day is 1 September, elsewhere it is 18 August.
Patronage
He is the patron saint of:
Taxi Drivers
The first horse-drawn carriages in France were offered outside the Hotel Saint-Fiacre in Paris. This later led to him becoming the patron of taxi-drivers and to fiacre becoming a word in the French language for a carriage..
Venereal Disease
Fiacre was famously misogynistic, which, it is argued, is the reason he became connected with venereal disease sufferers.
Horticulturists
The patron of horticulturists, outside his hospice Fiacre ploughed a very fertile garden, with only his walking stick.
Hemorrhoids
It is said that Fiacre became the patron of hemorrhoid sufferers after taxi-drivers began to suffer from the complaint, after sitting down for so many hours at a time.
References
- Sacred Origins of Profound Things, by Charles Panati. ISBN 0140195440
