✝️ Saint Giles
Abbot & Hermit of Languedoc
๐ชถ Title: Abbot, Hermit
๐ Born: c. 650, Athens, Achaea, Eastern Roman Empire
✝️ Died: c. 710 (aged ~60), Septimania, Visigothic Kingdom (Languedoc, France)
๐ Venerated in: Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion
๐ Canonized: Pre-Congregation
⛪ Major Shrines: Abbey of Saint-Gilles (France); St. Giles' Cathedral (Edinburgh, Scotland)
๐ Feast Day: 1 September
๐ Attributes: Arrow, Crosier, Hermitage, Hind (deer)
๐ก️ Patronage: Beggars, Blacksmiths, Breast cancer, Breast feeding, Cancer patients, Disabled people, Edinburgh, Epilepsy, Noctiphobics, Forests, Hermits, Horses, Lepers, Mental illness, Outcasts, Poor people, Rams, Spur makers, Sterility
“The hermit of Languedoc, friend of the poor and protector of the outcast.”
Saint Giles, also known as Aegidius, was born around 640–650 AD in Athens, Greece, into a noble and possibly royal family. According to the Legenda Aurea, a 13th-century collection of saints’ lives, he was the son of King Theodore and Queen Pelagia of Athens, though this claim is likely an embellishment by later hagiographers. His early life was marked by profound piety and intellectual pursuits, with some sources attributing to him works of medicine and poetry, though his primary focus was spiritual. His sanctity and learning made him a prominent figure in Athens, drawing admiration that he found burdensome, as he sought a life of humility and solitude.
After the death of his parents, Giles inherited considerable wealth, which he distributed entirely to the poor, embodying Christ’s call to charity. A notable miracle from his youth involved healing a sick beggar by giving him his cloak, an act that reportedly restored the beggar’s health instantly. This event solidified Giles’ commitment to a life of poverty and service, but the fame from his miracles made it impossible for him to remain obscure in Greece. Seeking solitude, he left Athens around 683 AD and embarked on a journey to France.
Life as a Hermit in France
Giles first settled in a wilderness near the mouth of the Rhรดne River in southern France, in what was then Septimania, part of the Visigothic Kingdom (though some sources suggest a Frankish context due to historical timelines). He later moved to a retreat near the River Gard and eventually to a dense forest in the diocese of Nรฎmes, where he found the solitude he craved. Living in a cave hidden by thickets, Giles subsisted on wild herbs, roots, and water, adhering to a Christian vegetarian diet. His sole companion was a hind (female deer), which, according to legend, sustained him with her milk, a symbol of divine providence.
For many years, Giles lived in this intense solitude, dedicating himself to prayer and contemplation. His life of austerity and holiness attracted divine favor, and he reportedly performed numerous miracles, such as healing the sick and providing for the needy. His reputation as a miracle worker began to spread, drawing attention despite his desire for obscurity.
Giles’ solitude was disrupted when the hind, pursued by royal hunters, sought refuge in his cave. The king, often identified in legend as Wamba, a Visigothic ruler (r. 672–680), but more likely a Frankish king due to the historical expulsion of Visigoths from the region by the Franks, was hunting in the forest. One of the hunters shot an arrow at the hind, but it struck Giles instead, wounding him in the leg or hand (accounts vary). The injury left him permanently disabled, and Giles refused medical treatment, choosing to bear the wound as a form of mortification.
Impressed by Giles’ humility and holiness, the king developed a deep respect for him and visited frequently, offering gifts and honors, which Giles consistently declined. However, recognizing Giles’ spiritual influence, the king persuaded him to accept disciples and founded a monastery in the valley where Giles lived, later known as Saint-Gilles-du-Gard. Around 674 AD, Giles became the first abbot of this monastery, placing it under the Benedictine rule and establishing a disciplined community.
As abbot, Giles maintained his commitment to humility and charity, guiding his monks with wisdom and fostering a community dedicated to prayer and service. The monastery became a flourishing center of faith, attracting pilgrims traveling to Compostela or the Holy Land. Giles’ reputation for sanctity grew, and he was credited with numerous miracles, including healing a king’s son and aiding the poor.
One famous legend, recounted in the Vita sancti Aegidii (10th century), describes Giles celebrating Mass to intercede for the sins of Emperor Charlemagne (c. 742–814). During the Mass, an angel placed a scroll on the altar listing a grave sin Charlemagne had never confessed. As Giles prayed, the sins vanished from the scroll, signifying divine forgiveness. This story, while popular, is historically problematic, as Charlemagne’s life postdates Giles’ death by several decades. A similar tale involves Charles Martel (c. 688–741), who sought Giles’ prayers for an unconfessed sin. These stories, though likely apocryphal, underscore Giles’ reputation as a powerful intercessor.
Giles died in the early 8th century, around 720 AD, at the monastery of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, with a reputation for extraordinary sanctity. His tomb, located in the crypt of the abbey church, became a major pilgrimage site, rivaling Rome and Compostela. The town of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard grew around the abbey, which was rededicated to him in the 10th century. His cult spread rapidly across Europe, with churches and monasteries dedicated to him in France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Great Britain.
In 1562, during the French Wars of Religion, Huguenots looted the abbey and transferred Giles’ relics to Toulouse for safety, causing a decline in pilgrimages. The restoration of his relics to Saint-Gilles-du-Gard in 1862 and the rediscovery of his tomb in 1865 revived the pilgrimage tradition.
Saint Giles is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints invoked during the Black Death, and the only non-martyr among them. He is the patron saint of people with disabilities, due to his own injury, as well as beggars, the poor, lepers, and those suffering from depression, convulsions, and childhood fears. In Spain, he is the protector of shepherds, with traditions of blessing rams on his feast day, September 1. In medieval art, he is depicted with a hind or an arrow, symbolizing his protective act and injury.
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