Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent
March 23, 2023
Today’s Lenten reflection focuses on Saint Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners, who is always depicted holding a garden spade. Fiacre was an Irish traveling hermit who settled at Meaux, in Brittany. There he is said to have built the first hostel for Irish pilgrims on the Continent and maintained a large vegetable garden to feed his guests. The place where he lived and died is now called Saint-Fiacre. He lived a life of great ascetical mortification devoted to prayer, fasting, keeping vigils, and manual cultivation of his garden. His fame for miracles was widespread. It is said that he cured all manner of diseases by the laying on of hands. He gave his name to French hackney carriages because they often started their journeys from the Hotel Saint-Fiacre in Paris, which was named for this gentle saint, who tended to his ministry with others with kindness and cheerfulness.
Prayer
Lord God, our Creator,
By whose gift of life we are born and sustained,
As we thank you for the careful tending of Fiacre,
Help us to tend this planet, your garden,
To the best of our ability.
Amen.