Saint Giles
7th-century Greek hermit and abbot, Catholic saint, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers
Feast: 1 September (1962 Missal) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
Giles's tomb, in an abbey near Nîmes in France, probably dates from Merovingian times, though his Life, full of wonders, was written only in the tenth century. Popular legend says he came from Athens to live as a hermit in a wood near the mouth of the Rhône, praying, fasting and sleeping on the bare ground with a stone for a pillow; God sent him a deer to give him milk.
From that hermitage grew the abbey that bore his name, which he led as abbot.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: Giles has been honoured as a saint since the early Middle Ages. The wonders in his Life were never formally examined.
Why that counted as sanctity
Giles sought God in solitude and penance, and his holiness drew a monastic community around him.
- Vatican News - Saint of the day (Italian): Saint Giles
- Wikidata Q149727 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Saint Giles (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.