Dom Toussaints Du Plessis, in his "Histoire de l'Eglise de
Meaux," Paris, 1731, wrote (t. 1, p. 54) about the "mal saint
Fiacre" :
"Il y a une espece de maladie ou d'incommodite a laquelle on a donné le nom
de fic ou mal saint Fiacre. C'est une sorte de
champignon ou d'excroissance de chair, qui jette une sanie fort puante et qui
survient pour l'ordinaire autour du fondement ou des parties honteuses" (As the
description is realistic, I prefer to leave it in French !).
Please, have a look on a study by P. & R. Lerou, "Saint Fiacre :
histoire et culte" in "Revue d'histoire et d'art de la Brie et du
pays de Meaux", n° 51 (2000), p. 51-82.
In Brittany, the subparish church of Saint-Fiacre (Cotes d'Armor) in the
former diocese of Treguier was previously "Saint Briac's cloister"
(Claustrum Briaci) until the middle of the 15th century. There is a
beautiful chapel of Saint-Fiacre in Le Faouet (Morbihan).
ANDRE-YVES BOURGES
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