Festival of St. Gens

St. Gens, Festival of (La Fête de St. Gens)

Sunday following May 15; first weekend in September

St. Gens, patron saint of the fever-afflicted, was born in Monteux, France, which he is said to have saved from a great drought in the 12th century. He is honored twice annually in his native Provence: first, at Monteux on the Sunday following May 15, and again, at Beaucet, on the first Saturday and Sunday in September. The ceremonies held on both occasions are similar, consisting of a procession with the saint's image, prayers for the sick, and supplications for rain.
According to legend, St. Gens retired to a desert place near Mont Ventoux, where he worked the land with a team of oxen. One day a wolf attacked and ate one of the oxen. St. Gens made the wolf pay by hitching him with the remaining ox and forcing him to plow the land.

CONTACTS:
Monteux Tourist Center
Parc du Chateau d'Eau
Monteux, 84170 France
33-4-9066-9718; fax: 33-4-9066-9719

SOURCES:
FestWestEur-1958, p. 37

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. © 2010 by Omnigraphics, Inc.