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Icons of St. Giles the Greek,
Abbot at Narbonne
Feast: Sept. 1
St. Giles was born in Athens,
Greece, where as a young man he began already to work miracles. To flee
the corrupting praise of men, he fled to France and established himself
as a hermit near the mouth of the river Rhone. He was fed upon the milk
of a deer. One day that deer was being hunted by the party of Gothic
king Flavian, the deer took refuge with Giles, and an arrow intended
for the deer transfixed Giles. King Flavian was mortified, and also
deeply impressed with the ascetic life of the Saint. Therefore he
endowed a monastery at Narbonne and made Giles its abbot. Later on,
Giles became a spiritual advisor to Charlemagne. Once Charlemagne held
back a sin in confession, but an Angel revealed it to Giles while he
was celebrating the Divine Liturgy. Giles brought the amazed king to
repentance, as Nathan did king David. St. Giles the Wonderworker, one
of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, is the patron of cripples and beggars.
Holy Father Giles, pray to God for us!
Top Icon: by the hand of Br.
Leon Liddament, St. Seraphim's Studio, Walsingham, England.
Final image: iconic/religious painting by an unknown hand. From the
Angels workshop website in the U.K.
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