Saint Germaine de Pibrac

Whatever the case, her father never cared for Saint Germanime. He remarried, and his new wife hated Germaine, possibly because the father didn’t care for her, or because she, his new wife, was just a very hateful person. She treated Germaine horribly. She was kept away from her brothers and sisters, or step-family, whatever they were. She was allowed to sleep under a stairway in the barn, and never allowed to live in the house. She lived in rags, and never had a pair of shoes. She ate the stale bread and water which was left for her at the front door of the house every day. She was required to spin an enormous amount of wool, which was an almost impossible task, considering her infirmities. But the Lord helped her.
She always did her job. On the few occasions where she was not able to spin the required amount of wool, or perform any of the other tasks she had been given, because of cold weather, which caused her fingers and toes to freeze, or if she were suffering an illness, which incapacitated her, she was beaten. She was beaten for many reasons, and sometimes she was beaten for no reason. Just based on the step-mother’s mood in any given situation, she would be beaten. The intensity of the mood of the step-mother usually determined how badly she would be beaten. The local farmers could see welts and bruises on her hands and face. There were also bruises in areas which could not be seen, her back, her legs and arms.