September 1 - Saint Giles breski1 Aegidius, Aegidus, Aigeides, Aigigios, Egidio, Egidius, Egydius, Gil, Gilg, Gilgen, Gilgian, Gilles, Ilg, Ilgen, Jilg Memorial 1 September Profile Born to a wealthy …More
September 1 - Saint Giles breski1
Aegidius, Aegidus, Aigeides, Aigigios, Egidio, Egidius, Egydius, Gil, Gilg, Gilgen, Gilgian, Gilles, Ilg, Ilgen, Jilg
Memorial
1 September
Profile
Born to a wealthy noble family, when his parents died, Giles gave his fortune to help the poor. Known as a miracle worker. To avoid followers and adulation, he left Greece c.683 for France where he lived as a hermit in a cave in the diocese of Nimes, a cave whose mouth was guarded by a thick thorn bush, and a lifestyle so impoverished that, legend says, God sent a deer to Giles to nourish him with her milk.
One day after he had lived there for several years in meditation, a royal hunting party chased the hind into Giles’ cave. One hunter shot an arrow into the thorn bush, hoping to hit the deer, but instead hit Giles in the leg, crippling him. The king sent doctors to care for hermit‘s wound, and though Giles begged to be left alone, the king came often to see him.
From this, Gile’s fame as sage and miracle worker spread, and would-be followers gathered near the cave. The French king, because of his admiration, built the monastery of Saint Gilles du Gard for these followers, and Giles became its first abbot, establishing his own discipline there. A small town grew up around the monastery, and upon Giles’ death, his grave became a shrine and place of pilgrimage; the monastery later became a Benedictine house.
The combination of the town, monastery, shrine and pilgrims led to many handicapped beggars hoping for alms; this and Giles’ insistence that he wished to live outside the walls of the city, and his own damaged leg, led to his patronage of beggars, and to cripples since begging was the only source of income for many. Hospitals and safe houses for the poor, crippled, and leprous were constructed in England and Scotland, and were built so cripples could reach them easily. On their passage to Tyburn for execution, convicts were allowed to stop at Saint Giles’ Hospital where they were presented with a bowl of ale called Saint Giles’ Bowl, “thereof to drink at their pleasure, as their last refreshing in this life.”
In Spain, shepherds consider Giles the protector of rams. It was formerly the custom to wash the rams and colour their wool a bright shade on Giles’ feast day, tie lighted candles to their horns, and bring the animals down the mountain paths to the chapels and churches to have them blessed. Among the Basques, the shepherds come down from the Pyrenees on 1 September, attired in full costume, sheepskin coats, staves, and crooks, to attend Mass with their best rams, an event that marks the beginning of autumn festivals, marked by processions and dancing in the fields. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the only one not to die as a martyr.
Born
at Athens, Greece
Died
between 710 and 724 in France of natural causes
legend says that those who attended his funeral heard choirs of angels singing and then fading away as they carried his soul to heaven
his tomb is in the crypt of the abbey church of Saint-Gilles in Gard, France
in 1562, Huguenots burned the abbey, murdered the monks, looted the church, and vandalized the tomb; the surviving relics of Saint Giles were distributed to other churches
in Scotland in the seventeenth century, his relics were stolen from a church which triggered a great riot
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Patronage
abandoned people; against abandonment
against breast cancer
against epilepsy
against fear of night
against insanity
against leprosy
against mental illness
against noctiphobia
against sterility
beggars
blacksmiths
breast feeding
cancer patients
cripples
disabled people
epileptics
forests
handicapped people
hermits
horses
lepers
mentally ill people
noctiphobics
physically challenged people
paupers
poor people
rams
spur makers
woods
—
in Austria
Graz
Klagenfurt
in Italy
Altavilla Silentina
Camerata Nuova
Caprarola
Cavezzo
Latronico
Monte San Savino
Tolfa
Edinburgh, Scotland
Representation
arrow
cave
crosier
deer, hind, doe, roe
hermitage
Benedictine monk accompanied by a hind
lilies growing in the sand (refers to a legend that says three lilies blossomed in dry sand as Giles explained three points to prove the perpetual virginity of Mary to a doubter)
Aegidius, Aegidus, Aigeides, Aigigios, Egidio, Egidius, Egydius, Gil, Gilg, Gilgen, Gilgian, Gilles, Ilg, Ilgen, Jilg
Memorial
1 September
Profile
Born to a wealthy noble family, when his parents died, Giles gave his fortune to help the poor. Known as a miracle worker. To avoid followers and adulation, he left Greece c.683 for France where he lived as a hermit in a cave in the diocese of Nimes, a cave whose mouth was guarded by a thick thorn bush, and a lifestyle so impoverished that, legend says, God sent a deer to Giles to nourish him with her milk.
One day after he had lived there for several years in meditation, a royal hunting party chased the hind into Giles’ cave. One hunter shot an arrow into the thorn bush, hoping to hit the deer, but instead hit Giles in the leg, crippling him. The king sent doctors to care for hermit‘s wound, and though Giles begged to be left alone, the king came often to see him.
From this, Gile’s fame as sage and miracle worker spread, and would-be followers gathered near the cave. The French king, because of his admiration, built the monastery of Saint Gilles du Gard for these followers, and Giles became its first abbot, establishing his own discipline there. A small town grew up around the monastery, and upon Giles’ death, his grave became a shrine and place of pilgrimage; the monastery later became a Benedictine house.
The combination of the town, monastery, shrine and pilgrims led to many handicapped beggars hoping for alms; this and Giles’ insistence that he wished to live outside the walls of the city, and his own damaged leg, led to his patronage of beggars, and to cripples since begging was the only source of income for many. Hospitals and safe houses for the poor, crippled, and leprous were constructed in England and Scotland, and were built so cripples could reach them easily. On their passage to Tyburn for execution, convicts were allowed to stop at Saint Giles’ Hospital where they were presented with a bowl of ale called Saint Giles’ Bowl, “thereof to drink at their pleasure, as their last refreshing in this life.”
In Spain, shepherds consider Giles the protector of rams. It was formerly the custom to wash the rams and colour their wool a bright shade on Giles’ feast day, tie lighted candles to their horns, and bring the animals down the mountain paths to the chapels and churches to have them blessed. Among the Basques, the shepherds come down from the Pyrenees on 1 September, attired in full costume, sheepskin coats, staves, and crooks, to attend Mass with their best rams, an event that marks the beginning of autumn festivals, marked by processions and dancing in the fields. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the only one not to die as a martyr.
Born
at Athens, Greece
Died
between 710 and 724 in France of natural causes
legend says that those who attended his funeral heard choirs of angels singing and then fading away as they carried his soul to heaven
his tomb is in the crypt of the abbey church of Saint-Gilles in Gard, France
in 1562, Huguenots burned the abbey, murdered the monks, looted the church, and vandalized the tomb; the surviving relics of Saint Giles were distributed to other churches
in Scotland in the seventeenth century, his relics were stolen from a church which triggered a great riot
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Patronage
abandoned people; against abandonment
against breast cancer
against epilepsy
against fear of night
against insanity
against leprosy
against mental illness
against noctiphobia
against sterility
beggars
blacksmiths
breast feeding
cancer patients
cripples
disabled people
epileptics
forests
handicapped people
hermits
horses
lepers
mentally ill people
noctiphobics
physically challenged people
paupers
poor people
rams
spur makers
woods
—
in Austria
Graz
Klagenfurt
in Italy
Altavilla Silentina
Camerata Nuova
Caprarola
Cavezzo
Latronico
Monte San Savino
Tolfa
Edinburgh, Scotland
Representation
arrow
cave
crosier
deer, hind, doe, roe
hermitage
Benedictine monk accompanied by a hind
lilies growing in the sand (refers to a legend that says three lilies blossomed in dry sand as Giles explained three points to prove the perpetual virginity of Mary to a doubter)
Our Lady of Montevergine
—
Abdon the Judge
Abigail the Matriarch
Aegidius of Sansepolcro
Agia
Ambrosinian of Armenia
Anea of Como
Arcanus of Sansepolcro
Arealdo of Brescia
Colomba of Mount Brancastello
Constantius of Aquino
Donatus of Sentianum
Douceline of Digne
Felix of Sentianum
Firminus the Younger
Giles
Giles of Castaneda
Giovanna Soderini
Giuliana of Collalto
Giustino of Paris
Ibzan the Judge …More
Our Lady of Montevergine
—
Abdon the Judge
Abigail the Matriarch
Aegidius of Sansepolcro
Agia
Ambrosinian of Armenia
Anea of Como
Arcanus of Sansepolcro
Arealdo of Brescia
Colomba of Mount Brancastello
Constantius of Aquino
Donatus of Sentianum
Douceline of Digne
Felix of Sentianum
Firminus the Younger
Giles
Giles of Castaneda
Giovanna Soderini
Giuliana of Collalto
Giustino of Paris
Ibzan the Judge
Joshua the Patriarch
Laetus of Dax
Luigi Conciso
Lupus of Sens
Lythan
Nivard of Rheims
Regulus
Simone Ponce
Sinicius of Reims
Sixtus of Rheims
Terentian of Todi
Verena of Zurich
Victorious of Le Mans
Vincent of Xaintes
—
Exiles of Campania
Adjutor
Augustus of Caserta
Canion
Castrensis
Elpidius of Atella
Heraclius
Marcus
Priscus of Capua
Rosius
Secundinus
Tammarus
Vindonius
Twelve Holy Brothers
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
Martyred Hospitallers of Saint John of God – (12 beati)
Agustín Navarro Iniesta
Alfonso Sebastiá Viñals
Amparo Carbonell Muñoz
Andrés Iniesta Egea
Antonio Lorca Muñoz
Carmen Moreno Benítez
Francesc Trullen Gilisbarts
Joaquim Pallerola Feu
José de La Cruz García-Arévalo
José Prats Sanjuán
Josep Samsó y Elias
Juan José Egea Rodríguez
Julian Villanueva Alza
Manuel Mateo Calvo
Maximiano Fierro Pérez
Pedro Meca Moreno
Pedro Rivera y Rivera
Pio Ruiz de La Torre
Tomás Galipienzo Perlada
—
Acasius of Sardinia
Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos
—
Abdon the Judge
Abigail the Matriarch
Aegidius of Sansepolcro
Agia
Ambrosinian of Armenia
Anea of Como
Arcanus of Sansepolcro
Arealdo of Brescia
Colomba of Mount Brancastello
Constantius of Aquino
Donatus of Sentianum
Douceline of Digne
Felix of Sentianum
Firminus the Younger
Giles
Giles of Castaneda
Giovanna Soderini
Giuliana of Collalto
Giustino of Paris
Ibzan the Judge
Joshua the Patriarch
Laetus of Dax
Luigi Conciso
Lupus of Sens
Lythan
Nivard of Rheims
Regulus
Simone Ponce
Sinicius of Reims
Sixtus of Rheims
Terentian of Todi
Verena of Zurich
Victorious of Le Mans
Vincent of Xaintes
—
Exiles of Campania
Adjutor
Augustus of Caserta
Canion
Castrensis
Elpidius of Atella
Heraclius
Marcus
Priscus of Capua
Rosius
Secundinus
Tammarus
Vindonius
Twelve Holy Brothers
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
Martyred Hospitallers of Saint John of God – (12 beati)
Agustín Navarro Iniesta
Alfonso Sebastiá Viñals
Amparo Carbonell Muñoz
Andrés Iniesta Egea
Antonio Lorca Muñoz
Carmen Moreno Benítez
Francesc Trullen Gilisbarts
Joaquim Pallerola Feu
José de La Cruz García-Arévalo
José Prats Sanjuán
Josep Samsó y Elias
Juan José Egea Rodríguez
Julian Villanueva Alza
Manuel Mateo Calvo
Maximiano Fierro Pérez
Pedro Meca Moreno
Pedro Rivera y Rivera
Pio Ruiz de La Torre
Tomás Galipienzo Perlada
—
Acasius of Sardinia
Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos