St. Giles
Feast day: September 1
St. Giles, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, is said to have been an Athenian of noble birth. He sailed to France and chose to live at a hermitage at the mouth of the Rhône. He passed many years in this solitude, conversing only with God. His name became known throughout all of France due to his sanctity and the miracles attributed to him. Giles established a monastery, which in succeeding ages became a flourishing abbey of the Benedictine Order. St. Giles is often pictured accompanied by a deer, as according to legend an arrow shot at his beloved animal wounded the saint instead. He is patron of the disabled.
Collect
Grant us, O Lord,
that amid the uncertainties of this world
we may cling with all our heart to the things of heaven,
for through the Abbot Giles
you have given us a model of evangelical perfection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
