The Life of St Giles in Scripture

Detail - Saint Giles from The Hermit Saints Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch

If we wanted to meditate on the Life of St Giles using scripture, which passages might we choose?

The different accounts of the Life of St Giles (summarised in a post at this link) offer a number of possibilities:

2 Corinthians 4.16  & 2 Corinthians 12.9

‘So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.’

‘but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.’

The passages above are the only direct quotations from scripture in the earliest Latin version of the Life of St Giles (La Vita sancti Aegidii). A précis of the latter is repeated in the subsequent Anglo-Saxon edition of the text. These verses bring Giles comfort when he falls ill after being hit by an arrow from one of the King’s huntsmen, intended for a doe that had been sustaining the saint during his time in the hermitage.   

 

Mark 5.21-24 & 35-43

(Or the equivalent account in Matthew 9.18-26) 

 

‘When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.

 

While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.’

 

 

The Anglo-Saxon Life of Saint Giles draws on the Gospel accounts of the miracles that Jesus performed to add more detail to the text of the Latin ‘La Vita sancti Aegidii.’ In one of the most obvious such instances, the account of Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter is used to enhance the report of Giles healing a rich widow’s daughter. Several passages - such as Giles sending the crowds out of Teocrita’s house before he will perform the miracle, and the words Giles speaks before her daughter is raised, are drawn directly from Mark 5.21-24 & 35-43. While in the Latin Vita a prominent local saint (Caesarius of Arles) seems to provide a model for the description of Giles and his life, in the Anglo-Saxon version, Christ and his miracles offer the central reference point. Giles’ renown as a miracle worker attracted thousands of pilgrims to his shrine in the south of France. 

 

 

Luke 7.36-50

 

‘One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

 

Whilst not directly referenced in any of the texts of ‘The Life of St Giles’, Luke’s account of Jesus forgiving the sins of a woman while he is eating at the house of a Pharisee might offer a point of reflection for one of Giles’ most renowned miracles, known as The Mass of St Giles. According to each account of the ‘Life’, the King had committed a great sin and would tell no one else about it. Whilst Giles was celebrating Mass, an angel dropped a note on the altar telling him what the King had done - and that if the King desists from his sinful behavior and Giles prayed to God on his behalf during the Mass, his sins would be forgiven. This miracle is one of the most widely depicted in art. The association with Giles and the absolution of sins became an important draw for pilgrims, particularly in the thirteenth century. 

 

 

Matthew 5.1-12

 

‘When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’

 

Scholars of the medieval Anglo-Norman poem ‘La Vie de saint Gilles’ by Guillaume de Berneville (c1170) read in his text a particular influence from both the Beatitudes and the Rule of Saint Benedict (especially Chapter Seven on humility.)

 

This version of the Life of St Giles offers a romanticized characterization and dramatized account of the relationships between Giles and the other characters in the story. Much of the tension between Giles and those around him arises from his eschewing of worldly wealth. It is perhaps from this passage - as well as the healing miracles generally - that Giles became known as the patron saint of lepers?: 

 

‘But he distributed [his inheritance] without counting. He did not give it to the debauched, to the whores, to the jugglers, but he made abbeys for the poor, hospitals for the paralyzed, the sick, the infirm, the lepers and the ill: it is to them that he distributed his wealth.’ (Lines 270-277 translated by Monica Antoinette Ehrlich).

 

The revulsion and persecution Gilles receives from his peers for his decision to reject his inheritance and live an eremitic life as a hermit is expanded across several verses of the poem:

 

‘You have greatly disinherited your people and turned against the advice of your barons. If you do not conduct yourself differently, all of your people will leave you.’ (291-294 translated by Monica Antoinette Ehrlich)

 

 

Psalm 131

(and Psalms 22 and 73)

 

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvellous for me. 
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   like a weaned child with its mother;
   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. 
O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.

 

In his Rule, which formed the foundation of western monasticism, Benedict uses a number of metaphors to explain the concept of humility - drawing extensively from the Book of Psalms. Referencing Psalm 131 he likens the humble man as a weaned child. In some translations the Psalmist is described as “Like a weaned child upon his mother’s breast”. One who no longer needs to be breastfed for sustenance yet finds comfort and security in the arms of his mother. 

 

Guillaume de Berneville’s ‘Vie’ is ambiguous about how Giles is nourished by the milk of the doe who befriends him, but many commentators see their relationship, as described in this poem in more detail than the other accounts, as one of reciprocal humility. The doe - normally a nervous creature around humans - humbles herself by offering to feed Giles, who in turn humbles himself by caring for her and - in the ultimate act of Christ-like humility - taking an arrow in her place so that she might live.

 

The image of the sucking child in Benedict’s Rule and the relationship between the Giles and the doe may help to explain why the Pelican in her piety - a common Eucharistic symbol - is particularly prominent in many churches dedicated to Saint Giles? 

 

I would be interested to hear of any further verses from scripture which come to mind when recalling the Life of Saint Giles, patron saint of my church.

 

 

Related Posts

A Bouquet for Saint Giles - interpreting the flora and fauna in ‘St Giles and the Deer’ to create a floral display fit for the saint!

 

The Life of Saint Giles -A Living Text - a commentary on the four different versions of The Life of St Giles and how understanding of the saint has changed over time.

Image
Detail - Saint Giles from The Hermit Saints Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch