Saint Giles

Biography

St. Giles, also known as Aegidius, Aegidus, Aigeides, Aigigios, Egidio, Egidius, Egydius, Gil, Gilg, Gilgen, Gilgian, Gilles, Ilg, Ilgen, Jilg, was born into a wealthy noble family in Athens, Greece. After the death of his parents, he chose to renounce his wealth and dedicate his life to helping the poor. Giles gained a reputation as a miracle worker and became a beloved figure among the people. However, to avoid followers and adulation, he decided to leave Greece around the year 683 and journeyed to France. He settled in the diocese of Nimes and chose to live as a hermit in a cave. The entrance to the cave was guarded by a thorn bush, symbolizing his desire for solitude and simplicity. Legend has it that while Giles lived in the cave, God sent a deer to nourish him with her milk. One day, during a royal hunting party, a deer being chased by hunters sought refuge in Giles' cave. One of the hunters, mistaking Giles for the deer, shot an arrow into the thorn bush, accidentally hitting Giles in the leg and causing him to become crippled. Upon learning of Giles' injury, the king sent doctors to care for the hermit's wound. Although Giles desired solitude, the king insisted on visiting him regularly. Word of Giles' wisdom and miraculous powers spread, attracting followers who gathered near his cave. In admiration of Giles, the French king built the monastery of Saint Gilles du Gard for these followers, and Giles became its first abbot. He established his own discipline within the monastery. As the monastery and town grew, Giles' reputation as a miracle worker continued to grow. After his death, his grave became a shrine and a place of pilgrimage. The monastery eventually became a Benedictine house. Giles' genuine concern for the well-being of beggars and the impoverished led to his patronage of these marginalized groups. Hospitals and safe houses for the poor, crippled, and leprous were constructed in England and Scotland. Giles' damaged leg, as well as his association with beggars, led to his patronage of cripples as well. Begging was often the only way for many to sustain themselves, and Giles became a symbol of hope for those in need. In Spain, Giles is regarded as the protector of rams. It was customary for shepherds to wash their rams and color their wool brightly on Giles' feast day. They would tie lighted candles to the rams' horns and bring them down the mountain paths to chapels and churches for blessings. Among the Basques, the shepherds would don their traditional attire and attend Mass with their best rams on September 1st, marking the beginning of autumn festivals characterized by processions and dancing in the fields. Saint Giles is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints venerated collectively in Catholicism. He is the only one among them who did not die as a martyr. His representation includes symbols such as an arrow, cave, crosier, deer (often a hind, doe, or roe), hermitage, and lilies growing in sand, referring to a legend where three lilies blossomed in dry sand as Giles explained the perpetual virginity of Mary to a skeptic. Saint Giles passed away between the years 710 and 724 in France from natural causes. According to legend, those attending his funeral reported hearing choirs of angels singing and fading away as they carried his soul to heaven. His tomb is located in the crypt of the abbey church of Saint-Gilles in Gard, France. Unfortunately, during the religious conflicts of 1562, Huguenots burned the abbey, murdered the monks, looted the church, and vandalized Giles' tomb. The surviving relics of Saint Giles were distributed to other churches. In seventeenth-century Scotland, his relics were stolen from a church, leading to a significant riot. Saint Giles is venerated as a patron saint of various causes and groups. He is considered the protector of abandoned people, as well as an intercessor against breast cancer, epilepsy, fear of the night, insanity, leprosy, mental illness, noctiphobia, and sterility. He is also invoked for the well-being of beggars, blacksmiths, breastfeeding, cancer patients, cripples, disabled people, epileptics, forests, handicapped people, hermits, horses, lepers, mentally ill people, noctiphobics, physically challenged people, paupers, poor people, rams, and spur makers. His veneration extends to several cities and regions. In Austria, Saint Giles is particularly revered in Graz and Klagenfurt. In Italy, he is honored in Altavilla Silentina, Camerata Nuova, Caprarola, Cavezzo, Latronico, Monte San Savino, and Tolfa. Edinburgh, Scotland also holds a special significance in his story. Saint Giles remains an inspiration and source of hope for those in need, particularly the marginalized and abandoned, embodying the Christian values of compassion, selflessness, and service to others.