Giles is
reckoned
as one of the Vierzehn Noth-halfer.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
There the Canons of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Gilles concealed them, while the disturbances and wars of that period prevailed.
In 1865, the shrine of the saint, with his relics, had been discovered,41 and on the 22nd of October, 1867, that event was celebrated in a public manner, and with a religious ceremony, at which a great number of the faithful assisted.
Since that time the pilgrimages, which had so long been interrupted, were resumed by the clergy, religious and others, whole parishes sending numerous
39 According to the writers of "Gallia toire de France," tome ix. , cinquieme
converted this church into a fortress. The Marechal de Damville34 besieged St. Gilles on the 2nd of June, 1570, however, and took possession of it in three days. 35 Again, in 1575, the
6
century,3
1562,
the
Huguenots33
Christiana," col. 506.
30 See " De Admiranda Colonise Magni-
tudine," p. 311. Cologne, 1634, 4to.
partie, liv. li. , p. 28. n. 2.
34 Appointed to the government of Lan- guedoc in 1563. See Pere G. Daniel's '* Histoire de France," tome viii. . Charles IX. , p. 484.
3S See " Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome v. , liv. xxxix. , sect, lxvii. , p. 305.
36 See ibid. , liv. xl. , sect, xiii. , p. 341.
3? See ibid. , liv. xlii. , sect, lxii. , p. 530,
Languedoc,"
with a part of the German Swiss, who fluence of M. Michel, a lawyer of St.
desired to render themselves independent Gilles.
from the Duke of "
Savoy. Lescatholiques
A° See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
4I An account of this may be seen in a
firent de ce nom une injure : les protestants en firent un titre de gloire et voulurent que huguenots signifiat ddfenseurs de la —race de Hugues Capet contre les Lorrains. "
" ['Invention du Tombeau de Saint-Gilles. "
" His-
In 162 1, the canons and
and sect. Ixxiv. , p. 538.
38 See Pere G. Daniel's
"
Histoire de
work of M. l'Abbc Trichaud.
Histoire de
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. r 9 bands to St. Gilles' shrine. His church had also attracted the attention and
2
admiration of tourists and archaeologists. '*
In a very remarkable manner, veneration for St. ^Egidius was introduced
at Leodium, a. d. 976,43 while Notger was its prelate. One Gorderan, from
Gallia Narbonensis, was accustomed to traverse the country with a bear and
an ape, with which he gave popular exhibitions. 44 However, in his old agt;,
having selected a place among the woods, and Latinized Publicus Mons,45 for a
station ; he then erected houses and cottages, where he received the poor
with hospitable care. Even robbers, who infested that country, flocked
thither to receive the devout man's exhortations, and frequently were they
thus induced to reform their lives. But, his work was not deemed to be
complete, until he had there erected a church to his patron, St. . /Egidius, for
the stranger had been a native of Saint-Gilles. Moreover, that humble man
had contrived to gather pious women,*6 to form a religious society, in those
houses he had built near the church. *? In that place, Goderan closed his
earthly career, and departed this life, venerated as a saint in popular
8
estimation. 4
So great was the veneration of the French for St. Gilles, that besides the
chief city in the Isle of Reunion, and which took its name from him, no less than eighteen other towns have a similar name throughout France. Between Peronne and Abbeville, in Picardy, a beautiful Gothic church has been erected to Saint-Gilles, near the ruins of Mount Saint-Quentin, which formerly had an oratory and altar dedicated to him. 49 In the forest of Ardennes, St. Theodore, Abbot over the monastery of St. Hubert, constructed a church in honour of St. ^Egidius, after the middle of the eleventh century. 5° With a desire to obtain some relic of the holy Abbot, Theodore made a pilgrimage to his tomb,andtookTroyesonhisway. Hereturned,havingobtainedthedesired relics. s1 From the Church of Saint-Gilles, divers relics of its
2 Among these may be mentioned the cathedral city of Strigonia,* St.
Saviour's," at Antwerp, in Lisbon, in Saint-Gilles of Bruges, Saint-Gilles of Paris, Saint-Gilles of Bamberg,s* Saint-Gilles-sur-Vic, Saint-Gilles of Noir- moutiers, Saint-Gilles of Vannes, Saint-Gilles of Saint-Omer,ss Avesne,
holy patron have been procured, and they were preserved in various churches and cities.
42 See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Septembre, pp. 405, 406.
43 See at this year, Fisenius, in " Historiae Ecclesire Leodiensis," lib. vii.
44 As in so many other instances recorded in the Acts of the Saints, we are here furnished with an illustration of customs prevailing in the Middle Ages.
ad S. /Egidii quotannis susceperunt cereum, proximo Mercurii die post S. Joannis Bap- tistae natalem. Hodieque post tot saecula antiquum ten—ent. Ista sunt ^Egidiani ccenobii
"
incunabula. " Historia Ecclesiastica Leo-
diensis," lib. vii.
49 This is to be gleaned from the monk
Nicholas' Vita S. Godefridi, Ambianensis Episcopi, as introduced by Surius, at the 8th day of November,
3° This is related by Mabillon in his Acts
"
Acta Sanctorum," srec vi. , Benedict, pars ii. , pp. 573, 574.
3I These he divided into two parts : one of them he reserved for his own monastery, the other he gave to the Church of St. yEgidius, over which he placed a priest,
52 In Hungary,
53 Belonging to the Cistercians.
54 In the twelfth century, St. Otho, Bishop of Bamberg, obtained the thumb of St. yEgidius, which was kept with other relics on an altar dedicated to him.
55 In the English Jesuits' College there
43 This may be rendered in English
"
the
public Mount," probably in relation to the civitas Leodii which was near it.
45 Among these one Judila was especially
of St. Theodoric in the
for her
"7 In the twelfth century, the Church of
St. yEgidius was served by Canons Regular, while the succession of Abbots and Priors
is enumerated by Dionysius Sammarthann, in "Gallia Christiana," tomus hi. , a col. 1009. 48 He was buried in front of the altar dedicated to Saints Dionysius and Lambert.
"
Fisenius adds :
sodalem a pio instituto primum revocare ten- tarant, Jn demortui memoriam deferendum
distinguished
sanctity.
Histriones, et citharaedi, qui
destitute,
of salvation for
souls,
praise
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
s 606' Tournai,56 Walcourt,57 Cambrai,s Cologne^ Prague, Bologne, and in
Rome, where they were preserved in the church of St. Agatha. Having thus parted with so many portions, the city and church of Saint-Gilles only
possesses, at present, some parcels of the patron's relics. However, Monsig- neurPlantierobtainedfromToulouseaconsiderablepart; and,onthe27th of July, 1862, a translation to the parent church took place with solemn ceremonies. 63 Although the Festival of St. ^Egidius had been previously celebrated in the Church Aniciensis, yet would Raymund, Count of Toulouse, have it commemorated, in a more solemn manner, a. d. 1096 ; and, as an expiation for his sins, he endowed it with certain possessions. This appears from a charter still extant and published. 63
After the death of St. Gilles, the reputation of this holy Abbot for working miracles rendered him celebrated, not alone throughout France, but also in the Low Countries, throughout Germany, Poland, and all over the European Continent, as also in Great Britain and in Ireland. From these countries, also, crowds of pilgrims resorted to his shrine, imploring the saint's intercession. In 1115, Gertrude, Countess of Northeim, wife of Henry,
6
founded the monastery of St. ^gidius, without Brunswick, * and this was
knownasthe"ccenobiumBursfeldense. " Aboutthesametime,anoblecon- vent for nuns, and dedicated to St. ^Egidius, was built in Munster, Westphalia. Another monastery, also dedicated to the holy abbot, was erected in the diocese of Halberstad. Also at Bamberg, in the twelfth century, St. Otho, Bishop over that See, resolved on founding a monastery dedicated to St. ^Egidius, at a certain eligible place, called Lugenhubel,65 without the city. It was levelled at that spot, and there he built the church. A domicile for the poor and pilgrims was attached ; so that, what had been heretofore a disreputable locality, might become thenceforward a source of relief for the
and of
Nuremburg, a. d. 1140, having entertained an exalted opinion of the services
rendered to religion in Germany by the Irish—then called Scottish—monks
on the Continent, the Emperor Conrad III. built a magnificent monastery, dedicated to St. iEgidius, and he placed them in charge of it. This was
was a bone of St. /Egidius.
s6 The Abbey of St. Nicholas de Pratis,
France in the year 1356, "teste Phosphoro Pragensi," p. 517.
6l
These relics were kept in the Church ot St. Stephen, and in the Jesuits' Church " In the Collegiate Church of the Blessed of St. Ignatius, according to Masinus in
belonging to the Canons Regulars, preserved a considerableportionofthearmofSt/Egidius.
Virgin, Rayssius relates, that in a large
Cross, adorned with gems and precious
stones, in which are kept relics of various
saints, among—those are included relics
"
Bononia perlustrata," p. 439.
6l "
of St. /Egidius incorrectly styled Abbot of tomus ii. , inter Instrumenta, col. 343.
Aries. See
"
64 See an account of this city, in the Gazetteer of the world," vol. iii. , pp. 92,93. 6s In Latin its translation is rendered,
Hierogazophylacium Belgicum,"
"
p. 330.
s8 In the Abbey Church of the Holy
Sepulchre was kept a small portion of the
" collis mendacii. "
6j Androes, who describes what is in the
arm of St.
59 Gelenius assigns relics of St. y£gidius
to various churches of that city : viz. , to the Collegiate Church of St. Gereon, to the Collegiate of St. Cunibert, to the Church of St. Pantaleon, and to the parochial Church of St. Lupus. See " De Admiranda Colonise
Magnitudine," pp. 264, 289, 372, 412.
60 A pait of the arm and two other small
w«re in the
portions deposited Metropolitan
Church of St. Vitus, when brought from
/Egidius.
to the Lord. 66 at Again,
See Les Petits Bollandistes, Vies des Saints," tome x. , Septembre i. , p. 405.
6iBythewritersof"HistoricOccitania\"
text, adds : "Eo tempore canonicus quidam eccleske S. Jacobi, Wichodo nomine, Orttio- nis causa, beatum vi«itam;/Egidium, reliquias magnificas, id est, pollicem ejus, comparavit ; quern pius Otto, ab eodem sagaciler impetra- turn, altario S. /Egidii cum aliis multiplici- bus reliquiis inclusit, ecclesiamque solenniter dedicans, memoriam ejus per omnem locum — eatenus
" Vita S.
celebriorem, quam fuisset. instituit. "
Ottonis,"
num.
3.
September i. l LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS.
governed and regulated by monks from Ireland, until a. d. 1418, when the succession from Ireland failing, German monks of the Benedictine Order were substituted. 67 In Germany, St.
Giles is reckoned as one of the Vierzehn Noth-halfer. 6S Towards the end of the eleventh century, the veneration of St. /Egidius extended in Hungary, while the saintly King Ladislaus, son of the Champion Bela, ruled there. He founded a monastery and church
dedicated to the holy abbot, at Semichen, and this religious house was 6
subjected to the parent one, ? already established in the Flavian Valley. In that, also, only French monks were to be received. 70 To the discretion of the Hungarian monarch was left certain affairs connected with that monastery. 71 Besides, at Rome itself, were churches and religious places connected with a veneration for the Blessed Abbot ^Egidius. 72
On the 1 st of September, the feast of their patron, at Saint-Gilles-Vieux-
Marche, at Saint-Gilles-Pligneaux, and at Saint-Gilles du Mene, in Bretagne, a great number of pilgrims annually assemble to invoke his intercession.
After the middle of the thirteenth century, Pope Urban IV. " ordered an Office of Nine Lessons for St. yEgidius to be inserted in the Roman Breviary, and it was to be recited as a semi-double. 7* But, about the middle of the sixteenth century, that office was reduced to a simplex? * and as thus regulated by Pope St. Pius V. , it has since been observed. However, in many dioceses, especially in France and Belgium, the office of our saint has had a higher position. Hence, the Lessons recited on the Festival of St. ^Egidius are varied according to the circumstances of churches and provinces. In Ireland, it is a simplex, the third Lesson of which is a proper one,76 dealing with the acts of St. /Egidius and having a special prayer. With fifteen other saints, for many ages in various churches of Western Christendom, he was invoked by the special title of " Auxiliator. " 77 This must be attributed to the confidence felt by the faithful in the efficacy of his intercession. 78
67 Bucelin, who records these facts, adds ; Patet hodie magistratui, extinctis post mutatam religionem in urbe monachis, cele- braturque summopere amplissimce basilicce architectur—a,egregiumpriscisplendorisargu-
'*
<;
Arelatem ad beatum Ccesarium 77 Father Papebroke, when treating of St.
"
63
statement, contendit. "
mentum. "
Germania Sacra," parsii. ,p. 3. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
reasons
for such a
title ;
but he has a only
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
69 This is to be seen in the Letter of Pope Paschal II. , in 1106, and directed to Hugh, Abbot of St. /Egidius in Septimania. See Baluzius, in " Miscellaneorum," tomusii. , p.
183.
70 This is stated by the monk Albericus, in
his Chronicle, at A. D. 1078.
71 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus v. , lib lxv. , num. xlviii. ,
p. 137.
71 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto ^Lgidio Abbate in Fano S. ^Egidii Occitaniae. Com- mentaiius Praevius, sect. i. Veneratio Sancti longe lateque propagata, pp. 284 to 287.
73 He ruled from a. d. 1261 to a. d. 1264.
74 Father Stilting adds, " ut ex Gavanto
scribit Bailletus ad I. Septembris in S.
yEgidio. "
75 He presided over the Church from a. d.
conjecture to offer, that such appellation had been given, because each of those saints was venerated and invoked for some special necessity. In certain Missals is the Mass, De Quindecim Sanctissimis Auxiliatoribus. In some old Missals, there is a Mass thus intituled, Missa de Quinque Sanctis Privile- giatis. In the Collect for both these Masses, St. /Egidius is specially numbered.
? 8 To the prayers offered for his interces-
sion, by Judith Wladislai, wife of the King of Poland, she is believed to have given birth to a son, afterwards known as Boleslaus, King of Poland, in the beginning of the twelfth century. When the latter grew up, with a few priests and other pious men, that prince made a pilgrimage in a plain habit to the tomb of St. yFgidius. A great part of this journey he accomplished in his bare feet, and on the way, he bestowed liberal alms on the churches, monasteries and poor. He remained in fastings and prayers fifteen days before the tomb of the holy Abbot, as
1566 to a. d. 1572.
76 In this single Lesson is inserted the related by Joannes Herburtus. See Bene-
"
for April, and at p. 149, investigates the
George in the
Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
In art, St. Giles is represented as wearing a monastic habit, with his beloved hind? 9 beside him, the saint's hand pierced with an arrow and resting on its head. When his festival takes place at Valencia, it is customary to bless a sprig of fennel. 80 His devout clients invoke his intercession, more- over, to avert fire, the falling sickness, weakness of mind, and fear.
Jn England, in Ireland, and also in Scotland, for many ages past, St. Giles has been held in great veneration ; while in those countries many elegant and noble churches have been erected in his honour. 8 ' About the year 1090, Alfime, the first master of St. Bartholomew's. Hospital, London,
founded the old church, dedicated to St. Giles, in Cripplegate, anciently a fen or moor, the houses and gardens of which were counted a village, called
without the walls of that
82 The of this church was patronage
Mora,
formerly in private hands, until one Alemund, a priest, granted the same to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul. In the year 1545, the old Church of St. Giles was destroyed by fire. Afterwards, a fine Gothic church was
erected, 114 feet in length, by 63 in breadth, 33 feet high to the roof, and 122 feet to the top of the tower. It is one of the few London churches that escaped the dreadful conflagration in 1666. The monuments of several
8
celebrated persons are to be found within this church. 3 Fragments of the
old Roman wall may still be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripple-
city.
8'* A
in the Fields—to distinguish it from St. Giles, Cripplegate—was made parochial, in the year 1547. 85 The Church and village of St. Giles in the Fields are supposed to have sprung from an hospital for Lepers founded
Especially was St. Giles honoured in Edinburgh, where a celebrated church was built and dedicated to him. 88 The original church on its site
whom is not known. 00 A new
in lieu of the original one, was erected by King David I. , in the early part
gate.
village,
called from a church
standing
there a. d. St. Giles 1222,
aboutthe 86 In 87 year1117. 1354, King
wifeof
Edward III. granted that hospital to the Master and Brethren ot the Order of Burton St. Lazar of Jerusalem, in Leicestershire.
there,byMatilda,
HenryI. ,
was erected before a. d. 8q but 854,
church,
by
diet Gononus,in "Vitis Patruum Occidentis,"
iii. , p. 251.
84 See Ward and Lock's "Pictorial Guide
to London," p. 19.
8s See Walter Harrison's "New and
Universal History, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster,"
&c, book v. , chap, i. , p. 536.
86
See "London," edited by Charles Knight, vol. iii. , sect. Ixvi. , St. Giles's, Past and Present, p. 258.
8? See a plan of St. Giles in the Fields and its connexion with the First St. Giles' Church. when both were regarded as in a suburban position outside the walls in London, in the
lib. iii. ,
79 The hind is represented, likewise, as
the armorial bearing of the city of Saint- Gilles. See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Sep- tembre, p. 405.
80
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. , September 1, pp. 9, 10.
81
See "Les Petits Bollandistes," tome x. , ic jour de Septembre, p. 405.
1
In process of time, the village increased so considerably in buildings, that it was con- Stitttted a prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral,
by the appellation of Mora. This preben- dary has the ninth stall on the right side of the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral. See Walter Harrison's "New and Universal Hi>tory, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, and their adjacent Parts," book ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 468, and n. ibid.
Si Milton was buried, where his father had been buried before him, in the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap.
p. 155.
work just quoted, Hid. , p. 272. 88 "
See Registrum Cartarum Ecclesia'
Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh," edited by the Bannatine Club.
8' See Francis 11. Groome's "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland : a Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical," vol. ii. , p. 515.
9° The original building was probably of small dimensions, but the parish Church of Edinburgh. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-Monasticon : the Ancient Church of Scotland," p. 363.
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
of the twelfth century. Additions of aisles, transepts, chapels and a choir, were subsequently made to it; but, in 1385, it was destroyed by the Duke of Gloucester and the English who invaded
St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
confirmed its privileges to St. Giles' by charter. 93 It contained several
chapels,94 all of which were destroyed in 1559, by the Earls of Argyle and Glencairn. After episcopacy had been abolished, looms were erected within the aisles, 1560-7,95 and in different ways was St. Giles' afterwards dese-
9t See the history of St. Giles's Church, from the churches in all parts of Scotland,
with illustrations, in Daniel Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," vol.
39 According to the writers of "Gallia toire de France," tome ix. , cinquieme
converted this church into a fortress. The Marechal de Damville34 besieged St. Gilles on the 2nd of June, 1570, however, and took possession of it in three days. 35 Again, in 1575, the
6
century,3
1562,
the
Huguenots33
Christiana," col. 506.
30 See " De Admiranda Colonise Magni-
tudine," p. 311. Cologne, 1634, 4to.
partie, liv. li. , p. 28. n. 2.
34 Appointed to the government of Lan- guedoc in 1563. See Pere G. Daniel's '* Histoire de France," tome viii. . Charles IX. , p. 484.
3S See " Histoire Generate de Languedoc," tome v. , liv. xxxix. , sect, lxvii. , p. 305.
36 See ibid. , liv. xl. , sect, xiii. , p. 341.
3? See ibid. , liv. xlii. , sect, lxii. , p. 530,
Languedoc,"
with a part of the German Swiss, who fluence of M. Michel, a lawyer of St.
desired to render themselves independent Gilles.
from the Duke of "
Savoy. Lescatholiques
A° See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
4I An account of this may be seen in a
firent de ce nom une injure : les protestants en firent un titre de gloire et voulurent que huguenots signifiat ddfenseurs de la —race de Hugues Capet contre les Lorrains. "
" ['Invention du Tombeau de Saint-Gilles. "
" His-
In 162 1, the canons and
and sect. Ixxiv. , p. 538.
38 See Pere G. Daniel's
"
Histoire de
work of M. l'Abbc Trichaud.
Histoire de
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. r 9 bands to St. Gilles' shrine. His church had also attracted the attention and
2
admiration of tourists and archaeologists. '*
In a very remarkable manner, veneration for St. ^Egidius was introduced
at Leodium, a. d. 976,43 while Notger was its prelate. One Gorderan, from
Gallia Narbonensis, was accustomed to traverse the country with a bear and
an ape, with which he gave popular exhibitions. 44 However, in his old agt;,
having selected a place among the woods, and Latinized Publicus Mons,45 for a
station ; he then erected houses and cottages, where he received the poor
with hospitable care. Even robbers, who infested that country, flocked
thither to receive the devout man's exhortations, and frequently were they
thus induced to reform their lives. But, his work was not deemed to be
complete, until he had there erected a church to his patron, St. . /Egidius, for
the stranger had been a native of Saint-Gilles. Moreover, that humble man
had contrived to gather pious women,*6 to form a religious society, in those
houses he had built near the church. *? In that place, Goderan closed his
earthly career, and departed this life, venerated as a saint in popular
8
estimation. 4
So great was the veneration of the French for St. Gilles, that besides the
chief city in the Isle of Reunion, and which took its name from him, no less than eighteen other towns have a similar name throughout France. Between Peronne and Abbeville, in Picardy, a beautiful Gothic church has been erected to Saint-Gilles, near the ruins of Mount Saint-Quentin, which formerly had an oratory and altar dedicated to him. 49 In the forest of Ardennes, St. Theodore, Abbot over the monastery of St. Hubert, constructed a church in honour of St. ^Egidius, after the middle of the eleventh century. 5° With a desire to obtain some relic of the holy Abbot, Theodore made a pilgrimage to his tomb,andtookTroyesonhisway. Hereturned,havingobtainedthedesired relics. s1 From the Church of Saint-Gilles, divers relics of its
2 Among these may be mentioned the cathedral city of Strigonia,* St.
Saviour's," at Antwerp, in Lisbon, in Saint-Gilles of Bruges, Saint-Gilles of Paris, Saint-Gilles of Bamberg,s* Saint-Gilles-sur-Vic, Saint-Gilles of Noir- moutiers, Saint-Gilles of Vannes, Saint-Gilles of Saint-Omer,ss Avesne,
holy patron have been procured, and they were preserved in various churches and cities.
42 See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Septembre, pp. 405, 406.
43 See at this year, Fisenius, in " Historiae Ecclesire Leodiensis," lib. vii.
44 As in so many other instances recorded in the Acts of the Saints, we are here furnished with an illustration of customs prevailing in the Middle Ages.
ad S. /Egidii quotannis susceperunt cereum, proximo Mercurii die post S. Joannis Bap- tistae natalem. Hodieque post tot saecula antiquum ten—ent. Ista sunt ^Egidiani ccenobii
"
incunabula. " Historia Ecclesiastica Leo-
diensis," lib. vii.
49 This is to be gleaned from the monk
Nicholas' Vita S. Godefridi, Ambianensis Episcopi, as introduced by Surius, at the 8th day of November,
3° This is related by Mabillon in his Acts
"
Acta Sanctorum," srec vi. , Benedict, pars ii. , pp. 573, 574.
3I These he divided into two parts : one of them he reserved for his own monastery, the other he gave to the Church of St. yEgidius, over which he placed a priest,
52 In Hungary,
53 Belonging to the Cistercians.
54 In the twelfth century, St. Otho, Bishop of Bamberg, obtained the thumb of St. yEgidius, which was kept with other relics on an altar dedicated to him.
55 In the English Jesuits' College there
43 This may be rendered in English
"
the
public Mount," probably in relation to the civitas Leodii which was near it.
45 Among these one Judila was especially
of St. Theodoric in the
for her
"7 In the twelfth century, the Church of
St. yEgidius was served by Canons Regular, while the succession of Abbots and Priors
is enumerated by Dionysius Sammarthann, in "Gallia Christiana," tomus hi. , a col. 1009. 48 He was buried in front of the altar dedicated to Saints Dionysius and Lambert.
"
Fisenius adds :
sodalem a pio instituto primum revocare ten- tarant, Jn demortui memoriam deferendum
distinguished
sanctity.
Histriones, et citharaedi, qui
destitute,
of salvation for
souls,
praise
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
s 606' Tournai,56 Walcourt,57 Cambrai,s Cologne^ Prague, Bologne, and in
Rome, where they were preserved in the church of St. Agatha. Having thus parted with so many portions, the city and church of Saint-Gilles only
possesses, at present, some parcels of the patron's relics. However, Monsig- neurPlantierobtainedfromToulouseaconsiderablepart; and,onthe27th of July, 1862, a translation to the parent church took place with solemn ceremonies. 63 Although the Festival of St. ^Egidius had been previously celebrated in the Church Aniciensis, yet would Raymund, Count of Toulouse, have it commemorated, in a more solemn manner, a. d. 1096 ; and, as an expiation for his sins, he endowed it with certain possessions. This appears from a charter still extant and published. 63
After the death of St. Gilles, the reputation of this holy Abbot for working miracles rendered him celebrated, not alone throughout France, but also in the Low Countries, throughout Germany, Poland, and all over the European Continent, as also in Great Britain and in Ireland. From these countries, also, crowds of pilgrims resorted to his shrine, imploring the saint's intercession. In 1115, Gertrude, Countess of Northeim, wife of Henry,
6
founded the monastery of St. ^gidius, without Brunswick, * and this was
knownasthe"ccenobiumBursfeldense. " Aboutthesametime,anoblecon- vent for nuns, and dedicated to St. ^Egidius, was built in Munster, Westphalia. Another monastery, also dedicated to the holy abbot, was erected in the diocese of Halberstad. Also at Bamberg, in the twelfth century, St. Otho, Bishop over that See, resolved on founding a monastery dedicated to St. ^Egidius, at a certain eligible place, called Lugenhubel,65 without the city. It was levelled at that spot, and there he built the church. A domicile for the poor and pilgrims was attached ; so that, what had been heretofore a disreputable locality, might become thenceforward a source of relief for the
and of
Nuremburg, a. d. 1140, having entertained an exalted opinion of the services
rendered to religion in Germany by the Irish—then called Scottish—monks
on the Continent, the Emperor Conrad III. built a magnificent monastery, dedicated to St. iEgidius, and he placed them in charge of it. This was
was a bone of St. /Egidius.
s6 The Abbey of St. Nicholas de Pratis,
France in the year 1356, "teste Phosphoro Pragensi," p. 517.
6l
These relics were kept in the Church ot St. Stephen, and in the Jesuits' Church " In the Collegiate Church of the Blessed of St. Ignatius, according to Masinus in
belonging to the Canons Regulars, preserved a considerableportionofthearmofSt/Egidius.
Virgin, Rayssius relates, that in a large
Cross, adorned with gems and precious
stones, in which are kept relics of various
saints, among—those are included relics
"
Bononia perlustrata," p. 439.
6l "
of St. /Egidius incorrectly styled Abbot of tomus ii. , inter Instrumenta, col. 343.
Aries. See
"
64 See an account of this city, in the Gazetteer of the world," vol. iii. , pp. 92,93. 6s In Latin its translation is rendered,
Hierogazophylacium Belgicum,"
"
p. 330.
s8 In the Abbey Church of the Holy
Sepulchre was kept a small portion of the
" collis mendacii. "
6j Androes, who describes what is in the
arm of St.
59 Gelenius assigns relics of St. y£gidius
to various churches of that city : viz. , to the Collegiate Church of St. Gereon, to the Collegiate of St. Cunibert, to the Church of St. Pantaleon, and to the parochial Church of St. Lupus. See " De Admiranda Colonise
Magnitudine," pp. 264, 289, 372, 412.
60 A pait of the arm and two other small
w«re in the
portions deposited Metropolitan
Church of St. Vitus, when brought from
/Egidius.
to the Lord. 66 at Again,
See Les Petits Bollandistes, Vies des Saints," tome x. , Septembre i. , p. 405.
6iBythewritersof"HistoricOccitania\"
text, adds : "Eo tempore canonicus quidam eccleske S. Jacobi, Wichodo nomine, Orttio- nis causa, beatum vi«itam;/Egidium, reliquias magnificas, id est, pollicem ejus, comparavit ; quern pius Otto, ab eodem sagaciler impetra- turn, altario S. /Egidii cum aliis multiplici- bus reliquiis inclusit, ecclesiamque solenniter dedicans, memoriam ejus per omnem locum — eatenus
" Vita S.
celebriorem, quam fuisset. instituit. "
Ottonis,"
num.
3.
September i. l LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS.
governed and regulated by monks from Ireland, until a. d. 1418, when the succession from Ireland failing, German monks of the Benedictine Order were substituted. 67 In Germany, St.
Giles is reckoned as one of the Vierzehn Noth-halfer. 6S Towards the end of the eleventh century, the veneration of St. /Egidius extended in Hungary, while the saintly King Ladislaus, son of the Champion Bela, ruled there. He founded a monastery and church
dedicated to the holy abbot, at Semichen, and this religious house was 6
subjected to the parent one, ? already established in the Flavian Valley. In that, also, only French monks were to be received. 70 To the discretion of the Hungarian monarch was left certain affairs connected with that monastery. 71 Besides, at Rome itself, were churches and religious places connected with a veneration for the Blessed Abbot ^Egidius. 72
On the 1 st of September, the feast of their patron, at Saint-Gilles-Vieux-
Marche, at Saint-Gilles-Pligneaux, and at Saint-Gilles du Mene, in Bretagne, a great number of pilgrims annually assemble to invoke his intercession.
After the middle of the thirteenth century, Pope Urban IV. " ordered an Office of Nine Lessons for St. yEgidius to be inserted in the Roman Breviary, and it was to be recited as a semi-double. 7* But, about the middle of the sixteenth century, that office was reduced to a simplex? * and as thus regulated by Pope St. Pius V. , it has since been observed. However, in many dioceses, especially in France and Belgium, the office of our saint has had a higher position. Hence, the Lessons recited on the Festival of St. ^Egidius are varied according to the circumstances of churches and provinces. In Ireland, it is a simplex, the third Lesson of which is a proper one,76 dealing with the acts of St. /Egidius and having a special prayer. With fifteen other saints, for many ages in various churches of Western Christendom, he was invoked by the special title of " Auxiliator. " 77 This must be attributed to the confidence felt by the faithful in the efficacy of his intercession. 78
67 Bucelin, who records these facts, adds ; Patet hodie magistratui, extinctis post mutatam religionem in urbe monachis, cele- braturque summopere amplissimce basilicce architectur—a,egregiumpriscisplendorisargu-
'*
<;
Arelatem ad beatum Ccesarium 77 Father Papebroke, when treating of St.
"
63
statement, contendit. "
mentum. "
Germania Sacra," parsii. ,p. 3. See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
reasons
for such a
title ;
but he has a only
the Saints," vol. ix. , September I, p. 10.
69 This is to be seen in the Letter of Pope Paschal II. , in 1106, and directed to Hugh, Abbot of St. /Egidius in Septimania. See Baluzius, in " Miscellaneorum," tomusii. , p.
183.
70 This is stated by the monk Albericus, in
his Chronicle, at A. D. 1078.
71 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus v. , lib lxv. , num. xlviii. ,
p. 137.
71 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. , Septembris i. De Sancto ^Lgidio Abbate in Fano S. ^Egidii Occitaniae. Com- mentaiius Praevius, sect. i. Veneratio Sancti longe lateque propagata, pp. 284 to 287.
73 He ruled from a. d. 1261 to a. d. 1264.
74 Father Stilting adds, " ut ex Gavanto
scribit Bailletus ad I. Septembris in S.
yEgidio. "
75 He presided over the Church from a. d.
conjecture to offer, that such appellation had been given, because each of those saints was venerated and invoked for some special necessity. In certain Missals is the Mass, De Quindecim Sanctissimis Auxiliatoribus. In some old Missals, there is a Mass thus intituled, Missa de Quinque Sanctis Privile- giatis. In the Collect for both these Masses, St. /Egidius is specially numbered.
? 8 To the prayers offered for his interces-
sion, by Judith Wladislai, wife of the King of Poland, she is believed to have given birth to a son, afterwards known as Boleslaus, King of Poland, in the beginning of the twelfth century. When the latter grew up, with a few priests and other pious men, that prince made a pilgrimage in a plain habit to the tomb of St. yFgidius. A great part of this journey he accomplished in his bare feet, and on the way, he bestowed liberal alms on the churches, monasteries and poor. He remained in fastings and prayers fifteen days before the tomb of the holy Abbot, as
1566 to a. d. 1572.
76 In this single Lesson is inserted the related by Joannes Herburtus. See Bene-
"
for April, and at p. 149, investigates the
George in the
Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September
In art, St. Giles is represented as wearing a monastic habit, with his beloved hind? 9 beside him, the saint's hand pierced with an arrow and resting on its head. When his festival takes place at Valencia, it is customary to bless a sprig of fennel. 80 His devout clients invoke his intercession, more- over, to avert fire, the falling sickness, weakness of mind, and fear.
Jn England, in Ireland, and also in Scotland, for many ages past, St. Giles has been held in great veneration ; while in those countries many elegant and noble churches have been erected in his honour. 8 ' About the year 1090, Alfime, the first master of St. Bartholomew's. Hospital, London,
founded the old church, dedicated to St. Giles, in Cripplegate, anciently a fen or moor, the houses and gardens of which were counted a village, called
without the walls of that
82 The of this church was patronage
Mora,
formerly in private hands, until one Alemund, a priest, granted the same to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul. In the year 1545, the old Church of St. Giles was destroyed by fire. Afterwards, a fine Gothic church was
erected, 114 feet in length, by 63 in breadth, 33 feet high to the roof, and 122 feet to the top of the tower. It is one of the few London churches that escaped the dreadful conflagration in 1666. The monuments of several
8
celebrated persons are to be found within this church. 3 Fragments of the
old Roman wall may still be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripple-
city.
8'* A
in the Fields—to distinguish it from St. Giles, Cripplegate—was made parochial, in the year 1547. 85 The Church and village of St. Giles in the Fields are supposed to have sprung from an hospital for Lepers founded
Especially was St. Giles honoured in Edinburgh, where a celebrated church was built and dedicated to him. 88 The original church on its site
whom is not known. 00 A new
in lieu of the original one, was erected by King David I. , in the early part
gate.
village,
called from a church
standing
there a. d. St. Giles 1222,
aboutthe 86 In 87 year1117. 1354, King
wifeof
Edward III. granted that hospital to the Master and Brethren ot the Order of Burton St. Lazar of Jerusalem, in Leicestershire.
there,byMatilda,
HenryI. ,
was erected before a. d. 8q but 854,
church,
by
diet Gononus,in "Vitis Patruum Occidentis,"
iii. , p. 251.
84 See Ward and Lock's "Pictorial Guide
to London," p. 19.
8s See Walter Harrison's "New and
Universal History, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster,"
&c, book v. , chap, i. , p. 536.
86
See "London," edited by Charles Knight, vol. iii. , sect. Ixvi. , St. Giles's, Past and Present, p. 258.
8? See a plan of St. Giles in the Fields and its connexion with the First St. Giles' Church. when both were regarded as in a suburban position outside the walls in London, in the
lib. iii. ,
79 The hind is represented, likewise, as
the armorial bearing of the city of Saint- Gilles. See Les Petits Bollandistes, "Vies des Saints," tome x. , premier jour de Sep- tembre, p. 405.
80
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. ix. , September 1, pp. 9, 10.
81
See "Les Petits Bollandistes," tome x. , ic jour de Septembre, p. 405.
1
In process of time, the village increased so considerably in buildings, that it was con- Stitttted a prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral,
by the appellation of Mora. This preben- dary has the ninth stall on the right side of the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral. See Walter Harrison's "New and Universal Hi>tory, Description and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, and their adjacent Parts," book ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 468, and n. ibid.
Si Milton was buried, where his father had been buried before him, in the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. See Charles Knight's "Old England," vol. ii. , book vi. , chap.
p. 155.
work just quoted, Hid. , p. 272. 88 "
See Registrum Cartarum Ecclesia'
Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh," edited by the Bannatine Club.
8' See Francis 11. Groome's "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland : a Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical," vol. ii. , p. 515.
9° The original building was probably of small dimensions, but the parish Church of Edinburgh. See Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott's " Scoti-Monasticon : the Ancient Church of Scotland," p. 363.
September i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
of the twelfth century. Additions of aisles, transepts, chapels and a choir, were subsequently made to it; but, in 1385, it was destroyed by the Duke of Gloucester and the English who invaded
St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
confirmed its privileges to St. Giles' by charter. 93 It contained several
chapels,94 all of which were destroyed in 1559, by the Earls of Argyle and Glencairn. After episcopacy had been abolished, looms were erected within the aisles, 1560-7,95 and in different ways was St. Giles' afterwards dese-
9t See the history of St. Giles's Church, from the churches in all parts of Scotland,
with illustrations, in Daniel Wilson's "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time," vol.
