What is saint gille?

St. Gilles (also known as St. Giles) was a Christian saint who lived in the 7th and 8th centuries in France. He is considered to be one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints venerated together in Catholicism for their reputation of healing power.

St. Gilles was said to have been born into noble circumstances, but he renounced his family's wealth to become a hermit in the forest. He was known to have a great devotion to prayer and meditation, and was said to have been gifted with miraculous abilities of healing and exorcism.

St. Gilles eventually founded a monastery in southern France, where he wrote extensively on Christian mysticism and guided numerous disciples in their spiritual journeys. He died in 710, and his relics were enshrined in the church that was built in his honor.

St. Gilles is usually depicted in Christian iconography as an elderly monk with a deer by his side, owing to a legend that a wounded deer once approached him seeking help, and that he was able to miraculously heal it. He is revered as a patron saint of the disabled, those suffering from mental illness, and hunters.