Our patron saint (Latin name Aegidus) is said by Latin writers to have been born in Athens, from where he travelled to France, arriving there in 715 A.D.  He stayed for two years under the protection of the Bishop of Arles; afterwards he was persuaded to become Abbot of a monastery which the King of France built for him in the place where his cell had been.  He had come from a wealthy family and renounced his riches to follow the monastic life.  He lived to the age of eighty and is buried in his own abbey at Arles.

St. Giles was a popular saint in the Middle Ages, appealed to by those in need.  He is the patron saint of cripples, as a result of his lameness.  The story tells how, when he became lame, he would not accept any cure, preferring to use his infirmity as a means of mortifying his flesh.  Another story about St. Giles is that of the Holy Hind, which is said to have found the saint near to death in a remote cave in Normandy; she suckled him with her milk and thus saved his life.  Many churches and hospitals were dedicated to St. Giles.  Outside St. Giles Cripplegate, at the entrance to the City of London, it was the custom for cripples to gather and ask for alms.  St. Giles is also said to be the patron saint of beggars and, appropriately in our rural parish, farmers.  His feast day is September 1st.