THE TRUE PATRON SAINT OF GARDNERS

By Leslie Fitzwater, KC Master Gardener, 2002

St. Francis of Assisi often is mistaken as the patron saint of gardeners because of his association with animals and nature.  True, St. Francis did ask those that till the soil to include flowers and fragrance in their gardens.   However, Fiacre, pronounced fee-ak-ruh, a little known 7^th century hermit, is the true patron saint of gardeners.   

Fiacre grew up in an Irish monastery where he studied the use of healing herbs.  He had many followers in County Kilkenny, and is still honored there today.  But Fiacre fiercely desired solitude and left his disciples and his homeland for the forests of France.  There he built a shrine to honor the Virgin Mary and planted gardens to heal the sick and feed the hungry. 

According to legend, Fiacre needed more land for his gardens and asked his bishop for additional acreage.  The bishop told Fiacre he could have all the land he was able to entrench in one day.  Fiacre walked along a huge stretch of land, dragging a tiny spade behind him.  Amazingly, the small shovel uprooted trees and divided rock from sod.  The bishop viewed this act as a miracle and gave Fiacre the land he needed for his gardens.

After Fiacre died in 670 A.D., his gardens became a shrine for the sick.  Even today visitors believe Fiacre’s gardens have healing powers.  Fiacre’s sainthood is celebrated in France and Ireland every August 30 with parades, hymns, and flowers.

Fiacre also is the patron saint of taxi drivers.  At one time, the Hotel de Saint Fiacre in Paris catered to those seeking the healing powers of Fiacre’s gardens.  The hotel used horse drawn carriages to transport its guests to the saint’s shrine and these coaches became known as “fiacres.”  Today, French cabs still bear the patron saint’s name.