2-sided St. Fiacre of Breuil (K 27) Garden Flag

Also available as a less costly, one-sided variant + Add a finishing touch to your flower or herb garden with a garden flag from Saints_Aplenty on Zazzle! This flag features St. Fiacre of Breuil, the principal patron of gardeners. + Born in Ireland c. 600, St. Fiacre was raised in a monastery. Seventh-century Irish monasteries were not only renowned for their holiness but for being seats of culture and learning. Having taken vows as a monk, St. Fiacre took a special interest in cultivating medicinal herbs and using them to cure the sick. At some point later in his monastic career, he was ordained priest and became abbot of his own establishment. Meanwhile, his fame as a healer grew. And, so did the crowds seeking cures. Feeling the need for greater solitude in which to live out his vocation, St. Fiacre fled to France. Laying his cause before the understanding Bishop of Meaux, St. Faro, St. Fiacre was granted as much land as he could entrench in a day. Dragging his cane or a spade behind him to leave a very shallow “ditch”, St. Fiacre claimed enough acreage to eventually establish a hermitage, an herb garden, a vegetable plot, an oratory dedicated to the Blessed Virgin with the first recorded Mary Garden, and a hospice for travelers. St. Fiacre died of natural causes in 670. + Here, St. Fiacre, in common Medieval laborer’s dress, is posed leaning on his gardening spade. He wears a long, belted, reddish-brown robe over a bright red tunic, a blue cowl, and blue hose. The sleeves of his outer garment are rolled up to the elbow and reveal its yellow-orange lining. Prayer beads hang from his belt. Behind St. Fiacre, between orderly pathways, are neatly planted gardens. Scattered about are the implements necessary for the gardens’ maintenance: on the left, a watering can; on the right, in the background, a rake and a wheelbarrow. On the grounds, enclosed by lattice-work wooden fence, are an arbor and a two-storied building. + In the space above St. Fiacre’s head is a banderole inscribed in Latin as “Fiacrius : Solitarius”, that is, “Fiacre, Hermit”. At his feet, lies a golden crown. Being neither a martyr nor of royal lineage, the crown signifies St. Fiacre’s rejection of earthly fame and fortune. The image as a whole is framed with stylized flowers, leaves, and tendrils populated with birds and field mice. + Feast: August 30 + Image Credit (K 27): Antique image of St. Fiacre the Hermit in chromolithography, from Henry Riancey’s La vie des Saints : illustration en or et en couleurs, d'après les manuscrits de tous les siècles par Kellerhoven (Paris: Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne, [1874]), f. p. 289, from the designer’s private library. Franz Kellerhoven (1814-1872), the chromolithographer, was a German priest-artist who migrated to Paris and established a printshop there. He specialized in artworks based on medieval manuscripts but did lithos of paintings and ancient architectural works as well.