- St. Genevieve (c.419-c.512 CE) is the Patron Saint of Paris, France.
- She saved Paris from Attila the Hun in 451 CE.
Early Life
- Born in Auxerre in c.419 CE, St. Genevieve met St. Germain in 431 CE on his way to Britain, who helped her decide to become a devoted Christian.
- At the age of fifteen she moved to Paris and became a nun, where she led an exemplary life.
Saviour of Paris
- In 451 CE St. Genevieve saved Paris from Attila the Hun.
- She exhorted the mass of the population to say prayers at home, and not to leave the city. As a result, Attila bypassed Paris and besieged Orleans instead.
- In 464 CE during Childeric’s Siege of Paris, St. Genevieve escaped through the siege lines, and brought grain from Troyes.
- She interceded with Childeric I over the treatment of prisoners of war.
- St. Genevieve then persuaded his son, Clovis I to liberate some prisoners and show leniency to others.
Burial
- In 506 CE Clovis I founded an Abbey for her in Paris, where she was later buried.
- The Abbey was demolished to make way for the Rue Clovis. However, the bell tower still remains as part of the Lycee Henri-IV on the Rue Clovis.
- Her relics were desecrated during the French Revolution, but the surviving parts were reassembled in a chapel of L’Eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, near the Pantheon in Paris.
Lycée Henri-IV, Rue Clovis, Paris, France