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| 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 prĂ©cis 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
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