About fifty gendarmes were gathered this Saturday, November 23 on the church square in Hermes (Oise)near Beauvais, for a ceremony particular. Every year, towards the end of November, the gendarmes celebrate Saint Genevieve. The latter became their patron saint in 1962, by a decree of Pope John XXIII. According to legend, in the 5th century, Genevieve prayed so hard that she saved Paris from the invasion of the Huns and their leader Attila. Thirty years later, she obtained the Christian conversion of the king of the Franks, Clovis.
Ten police officers honored
Whoever wants to believe it, the fact remains that Geneviève has been the patron saint of police for sixty-two years now. It is therefore celebrated every year by the military. This Saturday, November 23, the gendarmes of Méru, Chaumont-en-Vexin, Mouy, Noailles and Auneuil-Le Coudray-Saint-Germer met in Hermes for the occasion. A mass was first celebrated at 11 a.m., before the raising of the flag followed by some awards granted to ten valiant gendarmes. Notably for their bravery during the riots following the Nahel affair, in 2023.
