Saint Giles, Abbot
S. Aegidii Abbatis
Saint Giles, a hermit and abbot of southern Gaul, was widely venerated in the Middle Ages as a man of solitude and prayer, and is honoured as one of the most beloved abbots of the early Church in the West.
Saint Giles — in Latin Aegidius — was a hermit and abbot who lived, according to the tradition, in the seventh or eighth century in the region of Provence in southern Gaul, in what is now France. He is one of the most widely venerated saints of the medieval West; yet of the particulars of his life little has come down to us with certainty, for the accounts that were later written of him belong to a time long after his death and contain much that history cannot confirm. What is sure is the great antiquity and the wide reach of his veneration.
A life of solitude and prayer
The tradition handed down in his honour relates that Saint Giles, desiring to flee the praise of men and to serve God alone, withdrew into the wilderness and there lived as a hermit in prayer, penance, and poverty. In time disciples gathered around him, and he became the abbot of a monastery that grew up at the place of his solitude, which afterward bore his name — Saint-Gilles — and became a famous centre of pilgrimage. He is remembered as a wise and gentle father to his monks and as a man of deep prayer and charity.
Many pious legends gathered about his memory in later centuries, among them the well-loved story of a hind that took refuge with him in the forest; but the Church, while cherishing the saint, distinguishes the certain from the legendary, and honours Saint Giles above all for what such accounts agree upon: that he was a man who left the world for God, who served Him in solitude and in the guidance of souls, and whose holiness drew many to seek his prayers.
A beloved patron of the Middle Ages
So great was the devotion to Saint Giles in the Middle Ages that he was reckoned among the most popular of the saints, his shrine a goal of pilgrims, and his name given to countless churches across western Europe. He was counted among the band of saints whom the faithful of that age invoked in their needs. He died at his monastery in Provence, and his feast has long been kept on the first of September.
In Saint Giles the Church honours the hidden holiness of the desert and the cloister — a life unknown to the world in its details, yet fruitful in prayer and in the souls it guided to God. Where the records are uncertain, the faithful are content to honour what is sure: a holy abbot whose intercession the Church of many centuries has confidently sought.
The Collect
Patronage
He was among the most widely venerated saints of the medieval West and is invoked as a patron of those who are disabled or in distress, of beggars, and of those who seek his intercession in their needs.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar he is no longer kept on the universal calendar, though he continues to be honoured in many local calendars on 1 September.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Giles?
His feast is kept on 1 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast. He is no longer on the modern universal calendar, but is still honoured on this day in many places.
Who was Saint Giles?
He was a hermit and abbot of southern Gaul, generally placed in the seventh or eighth century, who withdrew into the wilderness to serve God in solitude and later founded a monastery that became a famous place of pilgrimage. He was one of the most beloved saints of the medieval West.
How much is reliably known about Saint Giles?
Comparatively little. The written accounts of his life come from long after his death and contain much that history cannot confirm, including the famous legend of the hind. The Church honours soberly what is sure — that he was a holy abbot devoted to solitude and prayer — while treating the later legends as pious tradition rather than fact.
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