ZEPHYRINUS.: Saint Giles. Abbot. Feast Day 1 September.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Giles.
Abbot.
Feast Day 1 September.

Simple.

White Vestments.

English: Stained-Glass Window depicting Saint Giles.
Parish Church of Notre-Dame-des-Marais,
La Ferte-Bernard, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France.
Deutsch: Katholische Pfarrkirche Notre-Dame-des-Marais in
La Ferté-Bernard im Département Sarthe (Pays de la Loire/Frankreich), Bleiglasfenster (baie 10), mit Fragmenten aus dem späten 15., dem 16. und dem frühen 17. Jahrhundert; Darstellung: Szenen aus dem Leben Jesu und Marias; Ausschnitt: Hl. Ägidius.
Photo: 15 August 2015.
Source: Own work.
Author: GFreihalter
(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Stained-Glass Window depicting "Saint Giles and The Hind".
Church of Saint Giles, Marsaneix, Dordogne, France.
Français: Vitrail représentant Saint-Gilles,

église Saint-Gilles, Marsaneix,

Dordogne, France.

Photo: 3 November 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Père Igor
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Giles, born in Athens, distributed all his patrimony to The Poor and followed Jesus (Gospel). Several Miracles having made him celebrated, he fled to Provence, France, to escape away from honours. He lived in Prayer and Meditation (Introit) in the depths of a vast forest, with no other food but roots and the milk of a tame Hind.

One day, when pursued by the hounds of the Visigoth King, Wamba, The Hind fled to the grotto of the Saint, who, while trying to protect her, had his hand pierced by an arrow. The King, on his arrival, urgently begged the Saint to consent to the building of a Monastery on the spot.

English: Parish Church of Saint Giles,
Dietfurt, Bavaria, Germany.
Deutsch: Stadtpfarrkirche St. Ägidius (Dietfurt a. d. Altmühl).
Date: 11 September 2008 (original upload date).
Source: Own work.
Author: A. Reinsch (Unteroktav).
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Holy Hermit undertook its governance and, like Moses among The People of God (Epistle), he became The Chief and Law-Giver of a numerous Monastic family which followed his leadership, his Doctrine, and his Counsels (Communion). This happened in 673 A.D.

The Abbey of Saint Giles, a marvel of architecture, became one of the most frequented resorts of Pilgrims in The Middles Ages, and a Town arose there. The Counts of Toulouse regarded it as an honour to bear this Saint's name.

The ancient Missals place him among "The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints". He was invoked in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and England, where 146 Churches were built in his honour. Saint Giles died about 721 A.D. His tomb was discovered in 1865.

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: The Holy Twelve Brothers. Martyrs.