WHO'S THAT GUY WITH THE DEER?
A FEW NOTES ABOUT OUR PATRON SAINT
Giles (Aegidius, Gilles, Egidio) was born in Athens in the mid-7th century but emigrated to southern France, where he lived as a hermit in a cave in Septimia. According to pious legend, Giles had as companion a deer.
One day a king and his hunting party were riding through the forest, saw the deer, and one of them attempted to shoot it with an arrow. Giles stepped in front of the animal, taking the arrow in his thigh and leaving him permanently crippled.
The king was so im-pressed that he sought to reward Giles monetarily, but Giles refused. He did, however, agree to the building of a monastery, Saint-Gilles-du-Gard. Giles died in the early part of the 8th century.
He is considered patron of lepers and those with skin diseases, the disabled, beggars, blacksmiths, breast cancer, breast feeding, out-casts, rams, spur makers, noctiphobes [those afraid of the dark and nights] and of course, our parish.
