Saint Giles

For three years, a stubborn fever had been consuming an unfortunate man. Witnessing the exemplary devotion of our blessed one, he commended himself to his fervent prayers and recovered his health. Immediately, the unknown wonder-worker was acclaimed. People surrounded him with respectful eagerness. Tell us your name, they asked him insistently from all sides. Become our fellow citizen; you have acquired your right of citizenship among us. Terrified by these flattering demonstrations, Giles escaped them hastily, crossed the Rhône, and, still harassed by the apprehensions of his humility, he ran as far as the steep rocks bathed by the Gardon. The hand of the Lord led him into an excavation closed by brushwood, already perfumed by the presence of a venerable solitary named Verede mus. Ver Vérédème A hermit of Greek origin chosen by Agricol to succeed him. edemus (Ferodemos), a Greek like him, and like him driven by similar attractions toward a foreign land. How sweet were the first outpourings of these two men, speaking the same language and merging their hearts, inflamed by divine love, in the same sentiments of heroic self-abnegation.

There, the disciple and the master vied in ardor and generosity. The neighboring populations, having caught sight of them, came to visit them first out of curiosity, then for edification. Giles suffered from these importunate visits; but he dared not inform his dear spiritual guide. Two years had passed since he had accepted his hospitality. Tormented, however, by that inner restlessness which is only appeased by the possession of the desired rest, he could not restrain its movements. "O good father," he said one day to Veredemus, "this encroaching crowd that does not cease to disturb us here causes me continual sorrow. Often I wonder if I should not move away to find again the calm I no longer enjoy." — "My son," Veredemus replied, "let us invoke the Holy Spirit together and not hesitate to follow His salutary inspirations, however cruel they may be for our mutual affection." Convinced both of the divine will, they gave each other the kiss of peace and parted.

Gilles ventured across fields and along winding paths; and at the decline of a full day of hurried walking, he reached the edge of the Gothic forest. Boldly, the next day, at the first rays of the rising sun, he entered it. The more he struggled to penetrate beneath that thick foliage, amidst gigantic trees and harsh thickets, the more he rejoiced. No one will ever surprise you here, he said to himself with joy, who would imagine that these inaccessible retreats conceal a living man? While promising himself the charm of an inviolable solitude, he suddenly found himself in front of a cave shaded by four enormous oaks. Not far away, a stream meandered and disappeared under a carpet of greenery. What an enchanting refuge! Gilles chose it for his dwelling. He continued there the contemplative and penitent life he had led with Saint Veredemus. Roots and wild herbs formed his daily food, while the nearby stream served to quench his thirst. A hind provided him with her milk, and by her joyful frolicking and innocent caresses, distracted him from his long prayers. The gentle animal also stirred his gratitude toward the Lord, who knows how to provide unexpected and extraordinary help to His friends.

It was in the year 672. Recceswinth, King of the Visigoths in Spain, to whom Septimania belonged, having died without heirs, the leaders of the nation called to the thron e Wam Vamba King of the Visigoths who donated the Flavian Valley to Giles. ba, a prince as religious as he was valiant. The most lively acclamations greeted this royal election in all the provinces of the vast monarchy. Only the governor of the city of Nîmes, Count Childeric, despised it and fought it openly. Wamba, informed of this unworthy conduct, hastened at the head of a numerous army and forced his enemies, entrenched behind the ramparts of ancient Nemausus, to capitulate and surrender at discretion. While the victorious monarch was enjoying the sweetness of the peace so gloriously conquered, by restoring the benefit of a wise administration, his courtiers indulged in the relaxation of the hunt. They came to exploit the Gothic forest, reputed to be very rich in game. They had advanced into the massive thickets when the blessed hermit's hind leaped at their approach. The dogs rushed forward barking, the men encouraged them and followed. The frightened beast went to take refuge with its protector. An arrow whistled and struck the servant of God in the hand. What was the desolation of those who had launched it when they found themselves in the presence of the wounded man whose blood was flowing in abundance. Subjugated by this grave and calm countenance, they fell to their knees. "Forgive us," they cried, "it is quite involuntarily that we have struck you. Our weapon was directed against this timid animal. If we had known that it belonged to you, we would certainly have spared it; forgive us!" At the same time, they took his bloodied hand, washed the wound, and bandaged it after having respectfully kissed it. The patient anchorite then stood up, pale and emaciated by austerities, and exhorted them in a persuasive tone not to abuse even the most innocent pleasures. "Know," he told them, "that life passes rapidly, like the trace of a cloud." If in it the love of Jesus Christ is manifested, "then when this inexorable judge appears, glory will surround us with its splendors." Let us always mortify ourselves, and triumph over ourselves. The warriors, seized with veneration, moved away with regret, for night was falling. Upon rejoining their king, they told him everything that had happened to them. Wamba, moved by their touching account, resolved to contemplate such a marvel. Accompanied by Bishop Aregius, he went to the good hermit's cave. He asked him various questions, wanted to know his name, his homeland, the means he had to sustain his life in such deep isolation, and the time he had spent there. He admired at once the modesty and wisdom of his answers and the sweet piety with which his words were entirely imbued. He did not want such virtues to be any longer ignored and lost to example. This light must not remain any longer hidden under a bushel. It was then that, in the presence of the bishop and some officers of his retinue, witnesses to his generosity, Flavius Wamba made a gift to the pious hermit of the valley which, from that time on, was called the Flavian Valley. "I want," said the prince, "for you to Flavius Vamba King of the Visigoths who donated the Flavian Valley to Giles. build a monastery where certainly numerous disciples will not delay in ranging themselv es under the ban Vallée Flavienne Site of the martyrdom and burial of Pierre de Castelnau. ner of Jesus Christ. With them, you will pray for the Church and for me, who am a great sinner."

Supported by financial aid, these desires were realized exactly and promptly. The humble founder, upon whom Aregius had conferred the high dignity of the priesthood after much resistance on his part, soon found himself surrounded by fervent religious. They strove with him in perfection, within the walls of a grandiose cloister backed by a beautiful church which he consecrated to the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Eleven years after these events, the Lord's blessing had spread wide and abundant over the house of His devoted servant. At the head of a flourishing community, whose members mutually encouraged one another to acquire monastic virtues, Saint Gilles, their enlightened guide and perfect model, humbled himself under the burden of the office he exercised so worthily. In order to relieve himself of a responsibility that frightened him, and to testify to his entire submission to the Holy See, he traveled to Rome in 685 to lay at the feet of Ben edict II Benoît II Pope mentioned as having received the request for canonization (historically Benedict IX). an authentic act of donation of his monastery. The Vicar of Jesus Christ accepted, declaring the religious property of which he became the possessor exempt in perpetuity from all episcopal jurisdiction. Saint Gilles returned filled with spiritual gifts for his brothers, who were delighted to see him again.

Some time later, the crescent of Muhammad, victorious throughout Spain, crossed the southern borders of Gaul and swooped down, like a greedy vulture, upon the terrified Septimania. A dreadful shudder agitated the peoples, powerless to defend themselves against the bloodthirsty hordes exalted by a furious fanaticism. Everything was put to fire and sword. Cities were destroyed, holy temples overturned, monasteries demolished, and castles razed without mercy. Warned from above of these frightening disasters, Saint Giles, followed by his religious, carrying the relics and sacred vessels, headed toward Orleans, where Charles Martel covered hi m with his pow Charles Martel Mayor of the palace, possible ancestor of the saint. erful aegis. The exile did not last long. The Duke of Aquitaine, Eudes, routed the Saracens, whose miserable remnants were pursued beyond the Pyrenees. Then the reassured monks returned peacefully to their homeland.

The impression of our holy abbot, at the sight of the heaped ruins of his dear monastery, was painful. "O my God!" he cried out, "grant me the courage to rebuild these fallen walls." The church, the cloister, and their dependencies soon reappeared with their majestic proportions. Then

Saint Giles saint Gilles Abbot and founder of the monastery of Saint-Gilles, of Athenian origin. began to sing joyfully like the elder Simeon: "Now, Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace, because he has seen the resurrection of the work raised to your glory." In his thoughts, this work was above all the spiritual edifice of religious life, solidly established by the most edifying regularity. "My good friends," he repeated to his many disciples, "I feel my vigor fading rapidly. Eighty-three years of miseries weigh upon me with an overwhelming burden. Oh! when then shall I be delivered from this body of death?" The hour of deliverance finally struck. Saint Giles was called to the eternal wedding feast, gently and without agony, on Sunday, September 1, 720.

The hind has become the distinctive attribute of our Saint, and it composes the coat of arms of the city of Saint-Gilles.

## CULT AND RELICS. — PILGRIMAGE OF SAINT-GILLES.

The body of Saint Gilles, buried in a common stone, soon became the object of great veneration. It was placed in evidence in an artistically crafted reliquary, leaving in the simple sarcophagus where it had been deposited some bones, and the iron, it is believed, of the arrow that had pierced the hand of the pious hermit. This translation took place on June 15 of the year 925. Popes Urban II, in 1195, Adrian IV, in 1159, and Gregory IX, in 1233, granted numerous indulgences to the pilgrims who flocked from various regions to prostrate themselves before the remains of Saint Gilles. In 1562, the canons of the collegiate church of Saint-Gilles covered the relics of Saint Gille Saint-Gilles Site of the martyrdom and burial of Pierre de Castelnau. s, which were transported and deposited in the church of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. In 1865, the discovery of his t omb with Toulouse Episcopal see of Erembert. the relics it contained was made at Saint-Gilles. On October 22, 1867, the anniversary of the invention of the tomb of the holy abbot was celebrated, amidst an immense gathering of the faithful who had flocked to attend this pious ceremony.

The church of Saint-Gilles gave relics of its glorious patron to a large number of churches and cities, such as: the metropolis of Strigonia, Saint-Sauveur of Antwerp, Saint-Gilles of Bruges, Saint-Gilles of Paris, Saint-Gilles of Bamberg, Saint-Gilles-sur-Vic, Saint-Gilles of Noirmoutiers, Saint-Gilles of Vannes, Saint-Gilles of Saint-Omer, Avesne, Tournai, Walcourt, Cambrai, Cologne, Prague, Bologna, and finally Rome in the church of Saint Agatha. After having thus shared its largesse, it possessed only a few fragments of his body; but Mgr Plantier obtained from Toulouse an illustrious relic, which was solemnly translated into the church of Saint-Gilles on July 27, 1862.

After the city of which Saint Gilles was the founder, eighteen towns are named after him, not counting Saint-Gilles on the island of Réunion. But at Saint-Gilles-Vieux-Marché, at Saint-Gilles-Pligneaux, and at Saint-Gilles du Mené, in Brittany, on September 1st, the feast of the patron saint, the influx of pilgrims is incalculable. Between Péronne and Abbouille, in Picardy, where a beautiful Gothic church dedicated to Saint-Gilles stands, lie the ruins of the monastery of Mont Saint-Quentin, which had also dedicated a chapel and an altar to him. In England and Ireland, his memory has always been held in great veneration, and a multitude of elegant and sumptuous churches are raised in his honor. In Belgium, his cult is very widespread.

In the Ardennes forest, Saint Theodore, abbot of the monastery of Saint-Hubert, built a church under the invocation of Saint-Gilles around the middle of the 14th century. In Brunswick, in Munster, in Bamberg in Bavaria, in Sémichen in Hungary, from the 10th to the 13th century, remarkable monuments arose under the name of Saint-Gilles.

In 1044, Saint-Gilles was designated as one of the three famous pilgrimages of the Christian world. Dom Mabillon cites a charter from that era, in which it is said that pilgrims shall visit Saint Mary Major and Saint Peter in Rome, or Saint James of Compostela, or Saint-Gilles. A century later, the accepted usage regarding the destination of these pilgrimages was slightly modified because of the Albigensian heretics, because this pilgrimage, which touched the theater where the incendiary torch of heresy was agitated, would have been too easy. For five hundred years, a long chain of papal concessions has linked this pilgrimage like a garland of roses that charms the gaze and perfumes the heart. In 1326, in the month of September, one hundred Belgian pilgrims arrived at Saint-Gilles, executing a clause stipulated in the treaty concluded between Charles the Fair and the Flemings. From the depths of Armorica, Great Britain, Germany, Poland, and Hungary, people flocked to prostrate themselves before his tomb to implore the Blessed One whose remains it contained and whose memory it recalled. The pilgrimage, having ceased for several centuries, has resumed its course today. Since the invention of his tomb, priests, religious, tourists, archaeologists, pious caravans, and even parishes have gone on pilgrimage to Saint-Gilles.

Saint Gilles is invoked against fire, falling sickness, madness, and fear.

We have reviewed and completed this biography with the History of the Invention of the tomb of Saint Gilles, by the Abbé Trichaud, apostolic missionary.