São Frei Gil de Vouzela
Saint Gilles de Santarem
Prêtre dominicain (+ 1265)
Jeune abbé d'une abbaye
de Coïmbra au Portugal, il ne priait plus, n'allait plus au chœur, sans cesse
plongé dans des livres d'alchimie pour y trouver le secret de la nature. Il
partit à Paris, espérant que là au moins les savants le lui révèleraient, puisqu'il
s'y trouvait une des plus célèbres facultés de médecine. Il n'en fut rien et il
se consola dans la débauche qui le conduisit à la tristesse et même au
désespoir. Il découvrit que seule la Vierge Marie pouvait le sauver, et il
partit rejoindre son monastère. Sur la route, il rencontra un dominicain qui
l'agrégea à son Ordre dans le couvent de Valence. Il vécut heureux sans
néanmoins connaître le secret de la nature, mais ayant découvert que Dieu est
le secret de la paix. Son culte fut reconnu en 1748 par le pape Benoît XIV.
À Santarem au Portugal,
en 1265, le bienheureux Gilles de Vouzela, prêtre. Enseignant la médecine à
Paris, il abandonna une vie dissolue pour entrer dans l’Ordre des Prêcheurs; il
y passa le reste de ses jours dans les larmes, la prière et la pénitence,
repoussant toutes les tentations.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6913/Saint-Gilles-de-Santarem.html
Bx Gilles de Santarém
(P),
Prêtre o.p. (v.
1190-1265)
Gilles de Santarém (Gil
Rodrigues de Valadares), en latin Aegidius Scallabitanus, naît à Vouzela
(province de Viseu, Portugal) vers 1190. Troisième fils de Rui Pais de
Valadares - gouverneur de Coimbra (alors capitale du Portugal) et conseiller de
Sancho 1er -, il fut destiné dès l’enfance à l’Église et étudia à Coimbra la
philosophie et la médecine.
Le roi lui donne de gros
bénéfices, mais il ne veut pas être ecclésiastique, il veut être médecin. Il
partit continuer les études à Paris, la meilleure faculté d’Europe. La légende
dit qu’en cours de route, il rencontra un étranger courtois (plus tard, il pensait
que c’était le diable), qui proposa de lui enseigner la magie à Tolède, en
échange il devait donner son âme au diable. Ensuite, il alla à Paris, y obtint
son diplôme de médecin, et pratiqua et enseigna la médecine avec grand succès.
Mais au milieu de la richesse et des honneurs, il n’est pas heureux.
N’ayant pas trouvé le secret de la nature, il se consola dans la débauche, qui le conduisit à la tristesse et au désespoir. Il a perdu la foi, mais il a gardé la dévotion à Marie, il pressent qu’elle le délivrera. Une nuit, un rêve lui montre dans quel danger mortel il est, il appelle Marie à l’aide, et au réveil il est délivré. Il brûla ses livres de magie, cassa ses flacons d’onguents, distribua ses biens à ses serviteurs et aux pauvres, et entreprit de rentrer à pied au Portugal. De passage au couvent de Palencia où les dominicains lui donnèrent l’hospitalité, Gil profita de l’occasion pour se confesser, et prit l’habit vers 1221/1224.
Sous le Bx Jourdain de Saxe, maître de l’Ordre, il fit sa profession.
Autre version : c’est à Paris qu’il fit connaissance de l’Ordre dominicain récemment créé, et où il fut, au noviciat, le compagnon de cellule du Bx Humbert de Romans. En 1229, il est envoyé au couvent de Scallabis (actuel Santarém), au Portugal, où il se consacre à l’enseignement, à la prédication, à la prière et à la pénitence.
Dans les tentations de désespoir, il continue à prier Marie et finalement il est entièrement libéré. Il vécut heureux sans connaître le secret de la nature, mais ayant découvert que Dieu est le secret de la paix. Il est très doué pour toucher par ses prédications les pécheurs endurcis.
Il est élu provincial d’Espagne (Province incluant le Portugal) en 1234,
participe au chapitre général de Burgos, où il défend la création d’un couvent
à Porto. Au chapitre général de Bologne, en 1238, il vote l’élection de (saint) Raymond
de Peñafort (1175-1275)comme Maître général. En 1245 il participa à la
déposition de Sancho II par le pape Innocent IV (Sinibaldo Fieschi, 1243-1254).
Il fut réélu provincial en 1257, mais son âge avancé l’obligea à renoncer
bientôt à cette charge. Il passa ses dernières années à Santarém.
Extases, prophéties. Dès son vivant il était considéré comme un saint.
Il mourut à Santarém le 14 mai 1265, octogénaire et sans agonie, consumé par l’amour divin. Sa tombe devint un lieu de pèlerinage. Beaucoup de miracles et de guérisons lui sont attribués.
Gil de Santarém a été béatifié le 09 mars 1748 par le pape Benoît XIV
(Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, 1740-1758).
Source principale :
docteurangelique.forumactif.com/(« Rév. x gpm »).
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
.jpg)
São
Frei Gil de Vouzela
Also
known as
Giles of Portugal
Giles of Santarem
Giles of Vauzela
Giles of Vouzela
Egigio…
Egidius…
Gil…
Profile
Son of Rodrigo Pelayo
Valladaris, governor of
Coimbra, Portugal and
councillor to King Sancho
I. Though his family encouraged him to entered the priesthood,
and his royal connections provided him with several benefices and prebends,
Gil had no interest. He studied medicine and necromancy;
one of his biographers claimed Gil made a blood-sign pact with the devil for
knowledge and skills, and that he renounced it only when a spectral knight
appeared to him and ordered to change his life. Whether it was a real or
metaphorical description, Gil did return to Christianity and studied theology in Paris, France.
Joined the Dominicans at Palencia, Spain. Dominican provincial
for Spain.
Born
14 May 1265 in
Santarem, Portugal of
natural causes
miraculous healings reported
at his tomb
relics preserved
in a private home in San Martino do Porto, Portugal
9 May 1748 by Pope Benedict
XIV (cultus
confirmed)
Additional
Information
Catholic
Legends, by Mother Francis Raphael
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Blessed Giles of
Santarém“. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 May 2024. Web. 9 June 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-giles-of-santarem/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-giles-of-santarem/
Blessed Giles of
Santarem, OP (AC)
Born at Vaozela near
Coimbra, Portugal, c. 1185-1190; died at Santarem, Portugal, 1265; cultus
approved in 1748.
So many romantic legends
intertwine themselves with the story of Blessed Giles that it is difficult to
see the man himself. His life, even stripped of its legend, however, is the
story of the triumph of grace in the human soul.
He was the son of
Rodrigues de Vagliaditos, governor of Coimbra under King Sancho the Great. From
his childhood, Giles was destined for the priesthood for which he studied at
Coimbra. He was ordained at an early age, but with no good intention, for he
saw in the priesthood only a chance to wield power. His father's influence
gained for him a number of rich benefices, which he used sinfully for power and
pleasure.
Being a brilliant
student, he advanced rapidly in his chosen field of medicine, an art that was
at the time often linked with necromancy or black magic. He neglected his
priestly duties and seemed bent only on the pleasures of life.
Legend takes up the story
from here and relates that Giles, a thoroughly irreligious and pleasure-seeking
young man, set out for Paris to work for higher degrees in medicine. On the
advice of a stranger he met on the way, he went to Toledo instead and became a
student of the black arts. According to one legend, he met the devil and signed
a contract with him, in which he promised his soul in return for a universal
knowledge of medicine. Thereupon he spent seven years in bondage to his evil
master, learning all his arts.
Having gained the highest
degrees in medicine, Giles went to Paris and became a successful physician. At
the peak of worldly success, he began to have horrible visions. He saw himself
in a cemetery of a monastery of which he enjoyed the revenues. There he saw a specter
who carried a skull and an hourglass. The specter knocked at one and then
another of the tombs, calling out, "Arise, faithful monk!" At each
summons another fearful specter appeared, until at one tomb there was no
answer.
"Giles," he
called. "What--not there?" He poised the hourglass and murmured,
"There are yet a few sands to run!" After this fearful vision, says
the legend, Giles repented of his misspent life, destroyed his magic books and
potions, and set out in haste for Coimbra on foot.
At Palencia he met the
friars of the newly founded Order of Preachers. He was still troubled by
diabolical attacks, but they helped him to make his peace with God. Joining
them, he spent seven years in terrible penance, after which Our Lady returned
to him the fateful scroll he had signed with Satan.
Such a legend adds color
to the calendar of saints, but it would be hard to tell how much of it is true.
It is known that Giles had spent his youth badly, and that after entering the
Dominicans he did fervent penance. By nature he was witty and charming, and he
found the silence hard to keep. Actual violence to his natural disposition was
necessary to make him into the humble and reserved religious he later became.
Blessed Giles occupied
several positions of authority in the order, including provincial of Portugal,
and his medical skill proved to be a blessing in the care of his sick brethren.
He made a practice of going about the dormitories, cleaning up the students'
rooms while they were at class. His heroic penance did much to undo the scandal
he had caused in his early years.
Giles was sent back to
Portugal after his early training, and his preaching was noteworthy, even in
that age of renowned preachers. He founded a number of monasteries and did much
to establish the Dominicans in Portugal. His last years were filled with visions
and ecstasies. He lived to be very old, regarded by all but himself as a very
great saint (Benedictines, Dorcy).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0514.shtml
Blessed Gil of Santarem
A Portuguese Dominican:
b. at Vaozela, diocese of Viseu, about 1185; d.
at Santarem, 14 May, 1265. His father, Rodrigo Pelayo
Valladaris, was governor of Coimbra and councillor of Sancho I. It
was the wish of his parents that Gil should
enter the ecclesiastical
state, and the king was very lavish in best caving ecclesiastical
benefices upon him. When he was still a boy, he already held prebends at Braga, Coimbra, Idanha,
and Santarem. Gil, however, held no desire to be
an ecclesiastic; his ambition was
to become a famous physician. After devoting some time to the study
of philosophy and medicine at Coimbra he
set out for Paris,
with the intention of perfecting himself in the science of medicine and
obtaining the doctor's degree. If we may give credence to
his unknown contemporaneous biographer, he was accosted on his journey by a
courteous stranger who promised to teach the art of magic at Toledo.
As payment, so the legend runs, the stranger required
that Gil should make over his soul to
the devil and
sign the compact with his blood. Gil obeyed and after devoting
himself seven years to the study of magic under the direction
of Satan,
went to Paris,
easily obtained the degree of doctor of medicine, and performed
many wonderful cures. One night while he was locked up in his library a
gigantic knight,
armed head to foot, appeared to him and, with his sword drawn, demanded
that Gil should change his wicked life. The same spectre
appeared a second time, and threatened to kill Gil if he would
not reform. Gil now repented of his evil ways,
burnt his books of magic and returned to Portugal,
where he took the habit of St.
Dominic in the newly-erected monastery at Palencia,
about 1221. Shortly after, his superiors sent him to the Dominican house
at Scallabis, the present Santarem. Here he led a life of prayer and penance,
and for seven years his mind was tormented by the thought of the
compact which was still in the hands of Satan.
Finally, his biographer narrates, the devil was
compelled to surrender the compact and place it before the altar of
the Blessed
Virgin. Gil returned to Paris to
study theology and
on his return to Portugal became
famous for his piety and
learning. He was twice elected provincial of
his order in Spain. Benedict
XIV ratified his cult on 9 March, 1748.
Ott,
Michael. "Blessed Gil of Santarem." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. 14 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06561b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06561b.htm
Blessed Giles of
Portugal, C.O.P.
Memorial Day: May 14th
So many romantic legends
intertwine themselves with the story of Blessed Giles that it is difficult to
see the man himself. His life, even stripped of its legend, however, is the
story of the triumph of grace in the human soul.
He was the son of Rodrigues
de Vagliaditos, governor of Coimbra under King Sancho the Great. From his
childhood, Giles was destined for the priesthood for which he studied at
Coimbra. He was ordained at an early age, but with no good intention, for he
saw in the priesthood only a chance to wield power. His father's influence
gained for him a number of rich benefices, which he used sinfully for power and
pleasure.
Being a brilliant
student, he advanced rapidly in his chosen field of medicine, an art that was
at the time often linked with necromancy or black magic. He neglected his
priestly duties and seemed bent only on the pleasures of life.
Thoroughly irreligious
and pleasure-seeking young man, set out for Paris to work for higher degrees in
medicine. On the advice of a stranger he met on the way, he went to Toledo
instead and became a student of the black arts. According to one story, he met
the devil and signed a contract with him, in which he promised his soul in
return for a universal knowledge of medicine. Thereupon he spent seven years in
bondage to his evil master, learning all his arts.
Having gained the highest
degrees in medicine, Giles went to Paris and became a successful physician. At
the peak of worldly success, he began to have horrible visions. He saw himself
in a cemetery of a monastery of which he enjoyed the revenues. There he saw a
specter who carried a skull and an hourglass. The specter knocked at one and
then another of the tombs, calling out, "Arise, faithful monk!" At
each summons another fearful specter appeared, until at one tomb there was no
answer.
"Giles," he
called. "What--not there?" He poised the hourglass and murmured,
"There are yet a few sands to run!" After this fearful vision, says
the legend, Giles repented of his misspent life, destroyed his magic books and
potions, and set out in haste for Coimbra on foot.
At Palencia he met the
friars of the newly founded Order of Preachers. He was still troubled by
diabolical attacks, but they helped him to make his peace with God. Joining
them, he spent seven years in terrible penance, after which Our Lady returned
to him the fateful scroll he had signed with Satan.
It is known that Giles
had spent his youth badly, and that after entering the Dominicans he did
fervent penance. By nature he was witty and charming, and he found the silence
hard to keep. Actual violence to his natural disposition was necessary to make
him into the humble and reserved religious he later became.
Blessed Giles occupied
several positions of authority in the order, including provincial of Portugal,
and his medical skill proved to be a blessing in the care of his sick brethren.
He made a practice of going about the dormitories, cleaning up the students'
rooms while they were at class. His heroic penance did much to undo the scandal
he had caused in his early years.
Giles was sent back to
Portugal after his early training, and his preaching was noteworthy, even in
that age of renowned preachers. He founded a number of monasteries and did much
to establish the Dominicans in Portugal. His last years were filled with
visions and ecstasies. He lived to be very old, regarded by all but himself as
a very great saint (Benedictines, Dorcy).
Born: Born 1185 at
Vaozela
Died: 1265 of
natural causes
Beatified: May 9,
1748 by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed)
Commemorations
First Vespers:
Ant. Come, O
daughters of Jerusalem, and behold a Martyr with a crown wherewith the Lord
crowned him on the day of solemnity and rejoicing, alleluia, alleluia
V. Pray for us, Blessed
Giles alleluia
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ, alleluia.
Lauds:
Ant. Perpetual light will
shine upon Thy Saints, O Lord, alleluia, and an eternity of ages, alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia
V. The just man shall
blossom like the lily, alleluia.
R. And shall flourish
forever before the Lord, alleluia
Second Vespers:
Ant. In the city of the
Lord the music of the Saints incessantly resounds: there the angels and
archangels sing a canticle before the throne of God, alleluia.
V. Pray for us, Blessed
Giles, alleluia
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ. alleluia
Prayer:
Let us Pray: We
humbly implore Thy mercy, O God, that as through its promptings Thou didst
cause Blessed Giles to return to the way of holiness and justice, so Thou
wouldst transfer us from the slavery and death of sin into life and perfect
liberty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SOURCE :
http://www.willingshepherds.org/Dominican%20Saints%20May.html#Giles of Portugal
Saints and
Saintly Dominicans – 14 May
Blessed Egidius
or Giles, Confessor, O.P.
Blessed Giles, whose
immoderate desire for knowledge and the fame it procures led him from Portugal
to Paris in order to perfect himself in the art of medicine, there fell into a
disorderly life, gave himself up to the practice of magic and even signed a
contract with the evil one. But by a miraculous stroke of interior grace, God
in His infinite mercy converted him and he entered the Order of Saint Dominic.
Here he deplored his sinful wanderings day and night, mortified his body and
welcomed humiliations. His fervor was rewarded by heavenly consolations and one
day at the foot of Mary’s altar he found the detestable contract he had made
with the devil, wrested from the evil one by force. The name of Jesus alone
filled his soul with ineffable sweetness. Far from bringing forward medical
precautions and the maxims of his former life to escape the austerities of the
monastic state, he was most faithful to these practices, and in visiting the sick
he recommended them as the best of remedies to abstain from all dwelling on
themselves, and to cultivate a sweet confidence in God alone. He took pleasure
in tidying the cells of the novices whilst they were at their classes, and on
returning they found all in perfect order as if by a miracle. He lived to be
more that eighty years old, and died lying on a haircloth which he had himself
spread, in order to die as a penitent. (1260)
Prayer
“O Lord, forgive the
ignorance of Christians; if they knew what sin was, they would never commit
it.” – Blessed Henry Suso
Examen
Do you not speak bitterly
of sinners? Do you try to bring them back to God? Do you pray for this intention?
– taken from the
book Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-14-may/
Blessed Giles of Vouzela
in Portugal
15 MAY 2010. Today the
Dominican Order recalls two of its holy ones. Blessed Giles was born at
Vouzella, near Coimbra, Portugal, about A.D. 1184. His father was the governor
of Coimbra and a counselor of Sancho I, the king of Portugal. Although his
father wanted Giles to enter the ecclesiastical state, and the King was lavish
in bestowing ecclesiastical benefices on Giles, while still a child, Giles, however,
wanted to study medicine. After some time studying philosophy in Coimbra, Giles
left to study medicine in Paris.
Legend tells that Blessed Giles was intercepted by a kindly stranger on his
trip to Paris, who promised to teach him magic if he would sign his soul over
to the devil in blood. Blessed Giles, the legend continues, signed away his
soul and studied magic for seven years before going to Paris where he excelled
in his medical studies and was noted for many fantastic cures. However, we know
that at some point Blessed Giles reformed his life and repented.
He returned to Portugal and took the Dominican habit in at a newly erected
convent in Palencia in about A.D. 1224. Shortly after arriving in Palencia, his
Dominican superiors sent Blessed Giles to the Dominican convent at Scallabis,
present day Santarem, Portugal. There he led a life of prayer and penance and
for seven years was tormented about the compact he had entered into with the
devil. However, according to Blessed Giles' biographer, finally Satan was
compelled to surrender Giles' soul and placed the compact he had signed before
the altar of the Blessed Virgin.
After this experience, Giles returned to Paris to study theology. On his second
return to Portugal, he became famous for his piety and learning. He was twice
elected provincial of the Dominican Order in Spain.
Noted for his humble service to his brethren, he died at Santarem on 14 May
1265. Blessed Giles was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed)
on 9 May 1748.
Blessed Giles of Vouzela, pray for us!
SOURCE : https://acta-sanctorum.blogspot.com/2010/05/blessed-giles-of-vouzela-in-portugal.html
Catholic
Legends – The Legend of Blessed Egidius, or Giles
During the reign of
Sancho I, King of Portugal, there lived at the court of that monarch a
counsellor of high rank, named Don Rodriguez de Vagliadites. This nobleman had
an only son, named Egidius, who displayed from his earliest years ever, sign of
an extraordinary genius. Being sent to the University of Coimbra, the
reputation which he there acquired was of so unusual a character as to attract
the notice of the king; who, willing to mark his sense of the son’s talents and
the fathers long services, loaded him with several rich benefices — he having
chosen the ecclesiastical state. Unhappily, in making this choice Egidius had
been guided only by interest. Finding himself whilst still a mere youth his own
master, with an enormous revenue at his disposal, and flattered by the proud
sense of his own unequalled genius and powers of mind, he used his sacred
office only as a means of gratifying his thirst for learning; but neglected all
its duties, and gave himself up to a life of unrestrained indulgence ana
licentiousness. Once having entered on this course, it seemed indeed as if the
whole energy of his mind, with all its brilliant and varied attainments, were
directed to no other end than to procure the degradation of his soul. His
profound science was employed to provide for himself new excitements; and
stimulated by a restless and unholy curiosity, he determined to commence the
study of medicine; and for this purpose set out for Paris, whose university
then enjoyed the highest reputation of any throughout Europe m every department
of science.
On his journey thither he
was joined by a young man, who fell into conversation with him on the road, and
in whose company he continued to travel during the whole of that day. He was of
a strangely fascinating and winning address; and almost without being aware of
it, Egidius suffered him to read the very secrets of his heart, and revealed to
him all the designs and plans which were revolving in his brain. It was,
indeed, no other than the great enemy of souls himself, who had taken this
disguise in order to complete the ruin of the unhappy Egidius. With many a word
of artful eloquence he won his confidence: nothing was concealed; the excessive
and unrestrained passion for human science, which, unsanctified by Divine
grace, had united itself to a bold and quenchless thirst for the enjoyments of
sense, was all laid bare before the keen eye of the stranger; and whilst the latter
encouraged him in all his designs, he assured him at the same time that in
choosing the study of medicine he had not selected the best means of carrying
them into effect. “There is a science,” he said, “which will bring you far more
quickly to your desired end than any you have yet attempted; it will itself aid
you to acquire all sciences. Intellectual power, without bound or limit, and
the enjoyment of pleasures which you never pictured to yourself ip the, wildest
moments of your imagination, will it pour out at your feet. Nay more, it will
secure you also a fame amongst men, which no mere human science can ever
procure; and whilst you enjoy the cup of pleasure to the full, the world will
reckon you as her wisest and most renowned master. This science is magic; and
if you will trust yourself to my guidance, I can introduce you to a university
at Toledo where its profoundest secrets are taught and practised.” It was not
without a secret thrill of horror that Egidius listened to the suggestions of
the fiend: but he hesitated not to stifle the whisperings of conscience; and,
dazzled at the thought of acquiring an unbounded possession of all after which
his heart longed with so passionate an ardour, he gave a ready consent, and
they took the road to Toledo.
Far from every human
habitation, on the side of a desolate mountain, yawned the gloomy entrance into
two vast subterranean caverns: this was the school of magic of which the fiend
had spoken; and it was here that his disciples pursued their dark and unholy
studies. As he drew near the spot with his new victim, there came out to meet
them several of these unhappy men, accompanied also by demons in human shape,
who acted as their masters, and received their new associate with extraordinary
joy. He was very soon initiated into the rules and mysteries of this fearful
society; he subscribed their laws and statutes, and submitted to the three
conditions imposed on him before being suffered to become a member: the first,
to renounce obedience to the laws of God; the second, to abjure the faith and
his baptismal vows; the third, to become henceforth the pledged bond-slave of
Satan. One might well suppose such a contract would have startled the most
blind and hardened; but a long course of sin and resistance to inspirations of
Divine grace, had rendered the depths of evil neither new nor terrible to
Egidius, and he signed the paper without hesitation, and with his own blood.
It is a common saying
that the devil gets better served than God. Egidius, the votary of pleasure,
who was impatient of a day which did not bring its new excitement and
indulgence, consented to spend seven years in these gloomy caverns, severed
from the society of all save his unhappy companions, whilst he gave himself up
to a painful and weary apprenticeship in the art of magic: “another proof”,
says his Portuguese chronicler, “that the service of Satan is a harder bondage
than the yoke of Christ. They who serve this lord think no labour too hard to
attain unto the enjoyment of a pleasure, which, when attained, does but weary
and torment.”
He left the Caverns of
Toledo a master in human, and in more than human knowledge. The secrets of
hell, the hidden and mysterious forces of nature, were all his own. Armed with
a power which no rival was ever able to withstand, he now appeared in Paris;
and very soon was rewarded for his long labours by a dazzling and universal
fame. His cures were little short of miraculous; his skill in every branch of
medicine astonished the most learned: hut deeper and profounder even than his
science was the secret course of unbridled vice to which he gave himself up,
and which seemed to penetrate into the very recesses of his degraded being.
Thus dead to grace and
sunk in corruption lay the soul of the gifted Egidius. The brilliancy of human
intellect and a rich imagination were there indeed; but they were like the fair
blossoms which hang around a grave, drawing their nourishment from its deadly
contents, and scarce veiling the hideousness that lies beneath. Yet this man,
the slave of hell and the outcast of the world, was, in the eternal counsels of
God, chosen to be a living monument of His grace. Nor was the manner of his
conversion less marvellous than the change it wrought.
It was the dead of night,
and Egidius sat alone in his chamber, surrounded by his books. Suddenly the
door swung on its hinges, and a terrible and gigantic figure, clad in brazen
armour and mounted on a black steed, rode into the apartment. In his hand he
bore a lance, with which he threatened the astonished master; then, in a voice
so harsh and terrible that it would have shaken the heart of any ordinary man,
he cried, “Change thy life, unhappy wretch!” — repeating thrice the words,
“Change thy life.” For the moment a sensation of fear did indeed pass through
the soul of Egidius. He seemed to see nell open to receive him, and the hand of
God raised to cast him in. But the feeling was but for an instant, the next he
laughed at his own weakness, at being disturbed at what he resolved to consider
nothing but a troublesome dream.
Three days passed away,
and again, at the same time and in the same room, he sat as before. And, as
before, the door burst open, and the strange horseman once more entered; but
this time in a far more terrible manner. He spurred his gigantic horse at full
speed right at Egidius; and as the fierce animal raised its brazen hoofs, and
seemed about to crush him to the earth, the same voice sounded beneath the
closed visor of the helmet, “Change thy life!” and then the raised lance struck
on his heart, and he fell senseless to the ground. He awoke from a long and
fearful trance, and found himself another man. Like Saul, the first words that
rose to his lips were: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The pain of his
mysterious wound still smarted in his breast; he looked, and found a scar
indeed, but perfectly healed and cicatrised; but the blow had struck deep into
his heart. His eyes were opened to behold the light, and its first rays
discovered to him the darkness that reigned within. Well nigh did he despair of
pardon and salvation, when he remembered the renunciation of his Baptism and
the contract which made him the slave of Satan; but the better teaching of
childish days returned upon him in that hour of grace, and a thought of the Lord
who had died for him was strong enough to save him from despair. There was
indeed a bloody compact, which sola him body and soul to the powers of hell;
but he remembered another purchase-deed made long before, and now again
renewable, sprinkled over, ana signed, and sealed with the precious Blood of
Christ. The morning light found him still plunged in these conflicting
thoughts: he looked round him, and saw scattered about the room the books of
magic which had been his study the night before; and seizing them hastily, as a
first sacrifice and token of his returning vassalage to God, he cast them into
the flames. He determined to leave the scene of his sins at once and for ever;
and, returning to Spain, to seek admission into some strict order of religious
penance. His journey was a sad and painful one; tormented with remorse, his
nights were spent without sleep, and his days absorbed in melancholy
reflections. Distress of mind so preyed on him that it brought on a low fever;
yet he would not rest in his journey till, entering Spain, he arrived at the
city of Valencia, where the new Order of Friars-Preachers were just
established, and were engaged in the erection of their convent. Egidius, weary
ana worn out in body and mind, paused by the building and watched the brethren
at their work. With modest and humble yet cheerful looks they passed to and
fro, carrying stones and mortar, all busy in raising the walls of their happy
retreat. Something in the sight touched his heart? perhaps it contrasted with
the unholy labours of his own solitary life. Every tongue was full of the
sanctity of the new religious, of their rigour, their poverty, and their heroic
work for God. He made a rapid and wise resolution; and presenting himself to
the prior, told him the story of his life in the sacred tribunal of confession.
The prior treated him with charity and gentleness, and did not doubt to receive
him to absolution; for he saw that his contrition was true and unfeigned. What
a weight was lifted from his heart! the chains that had so Jong bound him fell
off, and he saw the happiness of serving God, and the bondage of a life of sin.
One day of these new feelings and desires was enough for the impetuous nature
of Egidius. He returned to the convent; and casting himself at the feet of the
prior, besought him to suffer him to receive the habit. “Yesterday,” he said, u
you saw at your feet the greatest sinner of the world; I thought to find in you
a severe judge; I found only a loving father, whose tears of pity joined with
mine to wash away the stains of my guilt. That spirit of love which you
breathed over me yesterday has brought me back today to crave a new favour. I
have sinned enough; admit me to your angelic brotherhood, and teach me how to
sanctify the soul so long drowned in the deep waters of iniquity.” The prior
embraced him, and promised him his request should be granted; and in a few days
Egidius had dismissed his servants and attendants, and, sending word to his
father of his change of intention, received the holy habit with sentiments “of
the deepest fervour and contrition. The Convent of Valencia was then in the
early vigour of its foundation. The brethren led a life of incredible
mortification and uninterrupted labour: during the day they preached and heard
confessions, and assisted in the actual building of their church and convent;
whilst the night was given as much to prayer and watching as to sleep. Their
food was as coarse and scanty as that of the ancient fathers of the desert.
Prompt obedience, strict
silence, charity, peace of soul, and hard work, such were the elements of the
new life to which Egidius found himself so wonderfully called. It was a holy
paradise; yet it proved at first a hard struggle to a nature so long accustomed
to indulgence and habits of luxury as was his. His conversion was indeed
sincere; but the old man is not so quickly laid aside as to render so severe a
change at once sweet and supportable. Those seven years of noviceship to Satan
had, moreover, to be expiated by long and sore travail of spirit in the service
of God. The remembrance of the past was a continual agony; the rigour of the
present seemed often more than he could bear. Yet in these struggles of the
flesh against the spirit Egidius bore himself well and manfully; with continued
labour and hard austerities he quelled the rebellion of the senses, whilst that
tongue, so long given to an idle and worldly volubility, was now restrained
with so rigorous a law of silence, that Blessed Humbert, who was afterwards his
companion and fellow-student, has left it on record in his memoirs, that he
never once heard him speak an idle word. He studied how to mortify himself even
in ways which his rule did not touch; and refused to exercise or pursue his
darling study of medicine, save under obedience; as though he desired to turn
his back on every association of his past life.
Having made his
profession in 1221, he was soon after sent to the Convent of Santarem, in his
native country of Portugal. There he led a life of the same persevering
fervour; but the peace of his soul was still wanting. One thought ever preyed
on his mind — the recollection of that horrible compact, signed with his own
blood, which bound him to Satan as his slave and bond-servant. Many a night did
he lie prostrate before the altar, drowned in bitter tears, and imploring the
Divine power to deliver him from his servitude to the powers of evil; then
sometimes, feeling that prayer from such as he was could not reach the throne
of God, he would have recourse to the sure refuge of sinners — the most loving
and merciful Mary — ana call on her to be his advocate, and to free him by the
omnipotence of her intercession. There was in the convent church of Santarem a
devout image of the Virgin Mother; and to this spot Egidius would fly for refuge
from his own tormenting thoughts. It was the silent witness of his long nights
of prayer, of his tears and discipline to blood; and so for many years did the
anguish of his soul remain unabated, whilst he wore out in penance the scars of
his unforgotten sins. The devil, too, enraged at the loss of his victim,
assaulted him with incessant temptations to despair. Often he appeared to him
in hideous forms, and claimed him as his own; and the unhappy penitent, so
hardly tried, knew no better protection at such times than in the repetition of
the messed Name of Jesus. Yet never once did his faith or constancy fail.
Exhausted with bodily and mental suffering, he would drag himself to the foot
of the crucifix, and strive to regain strength and courage at the sight and
touch of those pierced feet. Thus seven years were spent in one uninterrupted
conflict with the exterior assaults of Satan and interior temptations to
despair. The time at last came when the vessel, cleansed and purified by so
long a fire, was to be filled with the sweet and odoriferous oil of the Holy
Spirit. One night he was at his usual post before that image of the Mother of
God, whose presence had a power over his soul like the cool mountain breeze as
it passes over the dry and parched desert. Infernal voices called in his ears,
and told him his prayers were vain, and there was no hope or mercy for him; yet
still he knelt and prayed. “Star of hope!” he cried, “it is all true. My sins
are heavier than they say; yet they cannot weigh down the Blood which was shed
for me on the Cross. Ah, sweet fountain of mercy! take the cause into thine own
hands; for I am tired out with these struggles, and can do no more.” And, as he
lay prostrate and exhausted, an invisible force scattered the hosts of hell, and
a clear and horrible voice cried aloud: “There, take with my bitterest curse
thy written bond; but know this, that never would I have given it up to thee,
had I not been compelled by the power of her who stands on that altar, and whom
you call the Mother of God.”
Egidius raised his
weeping eyes, and saw falling through the opening of the roof where the
bell-ropes of the church passed, the paper he had signed at Toledo; whilst
through the same opening a strange and hideous form was escaping with a gesture
of baffled malice. The paper fell on the pavement at his feet; he grasped it
once more in his own hands, and felt he was free, and free through the
intercession and patronage of Mary. Wherefore, kneeling again before her image,
he entered into a new compact; and bound himself for the rest of his life as
slave to that sweet Mother who had broken the bonds of his servitude and
restored his soul to peace. From that hour the darkness and temptation he had
so long endured vanished. In his after-life he tasted some oi the deepest of
those spiritual consolations with which God is wont to favour His chosen
servants; and his chronicler, in narrating some of his ecstasies and miracles,
and the unearthly rapture into which the very sound of the holy Name of Jesus was
wont to cast him, observes: “A stronger magic, surely, were these things, than
aught that ever he learned in the caves of Toledo.”
He was long Provincial of
Spain, and died in the year 1265, being universally considered the greatest man
of his order during the time in which he lived. The circumstances of his
conversion, as given above, are found in most of the early chronicles; and
though omitted by Touron in his biographical notice of his life, yet he assigns
no other reason for the omission than the “unlikeliness” of the whole history;
an argument which can hardly be admitted as of much weight in treating of the
supernatural displays of God’s power.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/catholic-legends-the-legend-of-blessed-egidius-or-giles/
Beato Egidio da
Vauzela Domenicano
Festa: 15 maggio
Vauzela, 1190 - Santarem,
1265
Nato a Vaozela in
Portogallo da una nobile famiglia, fu presto avviato alla carriera
ecclesiastica, cumulando diversi benefici e spendendone le rendite in una vita
tutt'altro che religiosa. Studiò a Parigi medicina, nel cui esercizio acquistò
una notevole fama. Nel 1220 o nel 1225 distribuì tutti i suoi averi ai
familiari e ai poveri ed entrò nell'Ordine dei Frati Predicatori. Compì i suoi
studi filosofici e teologici e conobbe da vicino il b. Giordano di Sassonia e
Umberto de Romans. Nel 1229 fece ritorno in patria dove si dedicò
all'insegnamento e alla predicazione. Nel 1233 fu eletto provinciale di Spagna,
ufficio che ricoprì due volte. Ancora vivente acquistò fama di santità oltre
che di dottrina. Morì a Santarem nel giorno dell'Ascensione, il 15 maggio.
Egidio nacque da nobili genitori a Vauzela, in Portogallo nel 1190. Fin dai primi anni fu applicato agli studi di medicina, ai quali si dedicò con ardore. Abbracciato lo stato ecclesiastico fu provveduto dai nobili parenti di ricchi benefici ecclesiastici. L’incauto giovane non pensò allora che a procurarsi onori e piaceri nella più larga misura. Per giungere là, dove sognava la sua smodata ambizione, e rendersi celebre nell’arte della medicina, firmò un patto occulto col demonio, al quale sì dette anima e corpo. Giunto in fondo all’abisso d’ogni vizio, il Signore, come un altro San Paolo, l’atterrò sulla via della perdizione con una terribile visione. Svegliato come da un sonno di morte, Egidio ebbe orrore di se stesso e, seguendo quella meravigliosa luce, incominciò la sua laboriosa riabilitazione. Lasciò l’infausta Parigi e s’incamminò verso la Spagna. A Palenza, nel 1224, dato un addio a tutte le cose, si fece Frate Predicatore. Iniziò così l’aspra penitenza che terminò solo con la morte. Il demonio prese le sue rivincite e per sette anni lo assalì con orribili tentazioni di disperazione, finché la Madonna, in segno del divino perdono, gli fece rendere quella scritta infernale con cui s’era donato al nemico. L’abbondanza delle divine grazie cominciò a fluire nell’anima di questo grande penitente, che parve vivere più in cielo che in terra. Svolse così un apostolato fecondissimo e resse santissimamente la sua Provincia dal 1233 al 1245. Mori ottuagenario, senza agonia, consunto dal divino amore nel convento di Santarem il 14 maggio 1265, Solennità dell’Ascensione. Segni e profumi celesti ornarono la sua tomba. Le sue reliquie si conservano oggi a San Martino do Porto, presso Lisbona, in una casa privata. Il suo culto popolare è stato confermato da Papa Benedetto XIV il 9 maggio 1748.
Autore: Franco Mariani
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90771
Gil de Santarem, Beato
Dominico, 14 de mayo
Por: . | Fuente: op.org.ar
Presbitero
Martirologio Romano: En
Santarem, en Portugal, beato Gil de Santarem o de Portugal, presbítero, que,
docente de medicina en París, abandonó la vida disoluta que llevaba y, tras
ingresar en la Orden de Predicadores, con lágrimas, oración y sacrificios,
superó todas las tentaciones. († 1265)
También es conocido como: Gil de Vouzela
También es conocido como: Gil de Portugal
También es conocido como: Egidio de ...
Fecha de beatificación: El
Papa Benedicto XIV aprobó su culto el 9 de mayo de 1748.
Breve Biografía
Gil nace en el pueblo de
Vouzela, diócesis de Viseo (Portugal) hacia el 1190, siendo su padre el noble
Rodrigo Pelagio de Valadares.
Era ya profesor de medicina en París cuando -según se cree- por una
intervención de la Virgen María abandonó su vida disoluta y entró: en la Orden
de Predicadores hacia el año 1224 junto con el venerable MO fray Humberto de
Romans.
Tuvo una gran familiaridad con el beato Jordán de Sajonia siendo ya Maestro de
la Orden. De él habla abundantemente fray Gerardo de Frachet en Las Vidas de
los frailes (parte IV, c. 3 y 16; parte V, c. 3, n. 7).
fuente: «Vidas de los
santos», Alban Butler
Uno de los más íntimos consejeros del rey de Portugal Sancho el Grande, fue
Rodrigues de Vagliaditos, gobernador de Coimbra. De los hijos del gobernador,
el tercero, llamado Gil o Egidio, fue destinado por su padre al servicio de la
Iglesia. Gil estudió en Coimbra, donde se distinguió mucho por su brillante
inteligencia.
El rey le concedió una canonjía y otros beneficios. Pero el joven se interesaba
más por las ciencias experimentales que por la teología y decidió estudiar
medicina en París. Poco después de emprender el viaje, le alcanzó por el camino
un forastero (el beato pensaba más tarde que era el demonio en persona), quien
le invitó a ir a Toledo en vez de proseguir el viaje a Francia. Gil se quedó,
pues, en Toledo, donde no sólo estudió alquimia y física, sino que se interesó
también por las artes de magia. Según parece, se entregó ahí a todos los vicios
y llegó incluso a hacer un pacto con el diablo, firmado con su propia sangre.
Siete años después, pasó a París, donde practicó la medicina con gran éxito.
Pero la voz de su conciencia empezó, por fin, a hacerse oir. Una noche Gil tuvo
un sueño en el que un espectro gigantesco le gritó: «¡Cambia de vida!»
«¡Cambiaré de vida!», exclamó Gil al despertar. Y cumplió su palabra, ya que al
punto quemó los libros de magia, destruyó los frascos de ungüentos y emprendió,
a pie, el viaje a Portugal.
Con los pies ensangrentados y medio muerto de fatiga, llegó al fin a la ciudad
de Valencia, donde los dominicos le recibieron hospitalariamente. Gil aprovechó
la ocasión para confesarse. Poco después, tomó el hábito. El resto de su vida
fue de lo más edificante. Naturalmente, no le faltaron ataques del demonio y el
recuerdo del pacto que había hecho con él le hacía temer mucho por su
salvación; pero, con la gracia de Dios, perseveró en la oración y la
mortificación. Siete años después, tuvo una visión en la que Nuestra Señora le
devolvió el pacto que había firmado con su sangre y, a partir de entonces,
vivió en paz. Poco después de su profesión, los superiores le enviaron a la
ciudad portuguesa de Santarem. Más tarde, estuvo en un convento de París, donde
se hizo muy amigo de Humberto de Romans, futuro maestro general de la Orden de
Predicadores. Fue elegido provincial de su orden en Portugal, pero su avanzada
edad le obligó a renunciar pronto a ese cargo. Pasó sus últimos años en
Santarem, donde Dios le favoreció con frecuentes éxtasis y con el don de
profecía.
Vuelto a su patria se dedicó a la predicación con gran asiduidad, llevando una
vida ejemplar con lo que atrajo a muchos, especialmente a los más descarriados,
al camino de la salvación. Fue prior provincial de la provincia de España dos
veces entre los años 1233-1249. Al momento de su muerte pidió ser revestido de
cilicio y puesto sobre el pavimento y así dirigió a los frailes palabras de
mucho consuelo.
Murió en el convento de Santarem el 14 de mayo día de la Ascensión, del 1265.
Sus reliquias se encuentran hoy en San Martino do Porto, cerca de Lisboa, en
una casa particular. Su culto muy popular y extendido desde el primer momento
fue confirmado por Benedicto XIV el 9 de mayo de 1748.
SOURCE : https://www.es.catholic.net/op/articulos/37209/gil-egidio-de-santarem-beato.html#modal
Beato Gil de Santarem
Siendo profesor de
medicina en París, entró en la Orden de Predicadores. Dejó atrás una vida
disoluta para llevar una vida ejemplar, dedicándose asiduamente a la
predicación. Fue Provincial de la Provincia de España entre 1233 y 1249.
Gil nace en el pueblo de
Vaozela, diócesis de Viseo (Portugal) hacia el 1190, siendo su padre el noble
Rodrigo Pelagio Valladares. Era ya profesor de medicina en París cuando —según
se cree— por una intervención de la Virgen María abandonó su vida disoluta y
entró en la Orden de Predicadores hacia el año 1224 junto con el venerable MO
fray Humberto de Romans.
Tuvo una gran
familiaridad con el beato Jordán de Sajonia siendo ya Maestro de la Orden. De
él habla abundantemente fray Gerardo de Frachet en Las Vidas de los frailes
(parte IV, c. 3 y 16; parte V, c.3 n. 7).
Vuelto a su patria se
dedicó a la predicación con gran asiduidad, llevando una vida ejemplar con lo
que atrajo a muchos, especialmente a los más descarriados, al camino de la
salvación. Fue prior provincial de la provincia de España dos veces entre los
años 1233-1249. Al momento de su muerte pidió ser revestido de cilicio y puesto
sobre el pavimento y así dirigió a los frailes palabras de mucho consuelo.
Murió en el convento de
Santarem el 14 de mayo día de la Ascensión, del 1265. Sus reliquias se
encuentran hoy en San Martino do Porto, cerca de Lisboa, en una casa
particular. Su culto muy popular y extendido desde el primer momento fue
confirmado por Benedicto XIV el 9 de mayo de 1748.
Oración de laudes:
Oh Dios, te pedimos con
insistencia que nos ayudes por tu misericordia y, del mismo modo que con ella
llevaste al bienaventurado Gil al camino de una vida santa, así también nos
saques a nosotros de la servidumbre de la muerte en el pecado para conducirnos
a la libertad y a la vida verdaderas. Por nuestro Señor Jesucristo.
SOURCE : https://www.dominicos.org/predicacion/evangelio-del-dia/16-5-2014/beato-gil-de-santarem/
