Genevieve

Genevieve (Sainte Geneviève; Genovefa; also called Genovefa and Genofeva; c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is the patron saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

Her feast day is on 3 January.

Recognized for her religious devotion at a young age, she met Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes when she was a child and dedicated herself to a virginal life.

Miracles and healings began to happen around her early on and she became to be known for changing the weather.

She moved from Nanterre, her hometown, to Paris, after her parents died and became known for her piety, healings, and miracles, although the residents of Paris resented her and would have killed her if not for Germanus' interventions.

Her prayers saved Paris from being destroyed by the Huns under Attila in 451 and other wars; her organisation of the city's women was called a "prayer marathon" and Genevieve's "most famous feat".

She was involved in two major construction projects in Paris, a basilica in the honour of Saint Denis of Paris in 475 and the Basilica of the Holy Apostles, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in c. 500.

Genevieve performed miracles both before and after her death.

In the 1700s, an annual pilgrimage to Navarre was celebrated the first Sunday after Easter and many of the well's visitors were members of the French royal family.

Genevieve was publicly invoked during emergencies related to the needs and expectations of the residents of Paris 153 times between 885 and October 1791, ranging from spontaneous and less-ritualized invocations and processions with her reliquary during the Middle Ages to highly ritualized ones said before her unveiled reliquary in the years leading up to the French Revolution.

As times and conditions changed in Paris, so did the ways in which Genevieve was invoked and processed.

As new calamities threatened the city and new intercessions to her were needed, new associations, images, and metaphors were required.

Her cult remained popular throughout the history of Paris, although her cult has never returned to its pre-Revolutionary popularity and unifying status.

Genevieve was born c. 419 or 422 in Nanterre, France, a small village almost 7 km west of Paris, to Severus and Gerontia, who were of German or possibly Frankish origins.

A candle is one of her most common attributes.

Sometimes she is depicted with the devil, who is said to have blown out her candle when she prayed at night.

Genevieve appears in the Martyrology of Jerome; her vita appeared many centuries after her death, although hagiographer Donald Attwater states that her vita claims to be written by a contemporary of Genevieve and "Its authenticity and value are the subject of much discussion".

According to historian Moshe Sluhovsky, the Vita of Sainte Geneviève was written shortly after her death, in the late 500s and was based upon the vita of Martin of Tours.

In 1310, the first French edition of her vita was published; in 1367, the first French translation was published.

As David Farmer states, "little can be known about her with certainty, but her cult has flourished on civil and national pride".

Even though popular tradition represents Genevieve's parents as poor peasants, their names, which were common amongst the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, are considered evidence that she was born into the Gallic upper class.

She was recognised for her religious devotion from an early age.

When Genevieve was seven years old (c. 429), Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes stopped at Nanterre on their way to Britain from Gaul to put an end to the Pelagian heresy.

Germanus saw Genevieve in a crowd of villagers who gathered to meet and obtain Germanus' and Lupus' blessing and observed her thoughtfulness and piety.

After speaking to her and encouraging her "to persevere in the path of virtue", Germanus interviewed her parents and told them that she would "be great before the face of the Lord" and that by her example, lead and teach many consecrated virgins.

As Sluhovsky states, "Miracles marking the young girl as a bride of Christ followed".

Genevieve told Germanus that she wanted to follow God; according to her vita, Germanus confirmed her desire to become a consecrated virgin, plucked a coin from the ground, and instructed her to have a necklace made from it to remind her about their meeting.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Germanus gave Genevieve a medal engraved with a cross and instructed her to wear it instead of pearls and gold jewelry to help her to remember her commitment to Christ.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also states that since there were no convents near Navarre, she "remained at home, leading an innocent, prayerful life"; according to historian Jo Ann McNamara, Germanus inspired Genevieve to dedicate her life and virginity to God's service, which was not limited to an established rule or a monastic lifestyle.

It is unknown when Genevieve received the consecration of virgins; some sources state that she received her veil from Pope Gregory I, while others state that she, along with two companions, received them from the Bishop of Paris when she was 15 years old.

Sluhovsky states that Genevieve was consecrated c. 437.

Genevieve's vita relates a story about her mother being struck blind after violently preventing Genevieve from attending church on a feast day.

After almost two years, Genevieve realised that she was the reason for her mother's blindness; after her mother asked her to retrieve water for her from a nearby well, she restored her mother's sight with it.

According to Sluhovsky, the miracle confirmed Genevieve's sanctity and her family later allowed her to be brought with two girls before a bishop to be consecrated as virgins.

The bishop blessed her before the other girls even though she was the youngest.

Sluhovsky calls her mother's healing the first water-related miracle associated with Genevieve, who was invoked to protect Paris from floods centuries after her death.

She was recognized as the patron saint of Paris in the 14th century.

She was "a favorite of both the humblest residents and of the Bourbon family, and was equally venerated by Erasmus and revolutionary fishwives" and was considered "a cultural symbol which Parisians shared, appropriated, negotiated, and used according to specific communal assumptions and traditions".

The Navarre well was a popular site of veneration well into the 15th century.

By the 16th century, many miracles occurred at the site and it was one of the major pilgrimage sites in the Ile-de-France.