Saint Israel of Le Dorat

Full of charity towards his brethren, and animated by a holy zeal for decency in the celebration of sacred rites, Israel willingly took the place and eagerly fulfilled the office of the canons who were obliged to be absent from the choir at the time of ceremonies. His true homeland was the house of God; his mind was never at fault there, nor was his thought distracted: chants to be performed, lessons to be read, ceremonies to be observed, he foresaw everything and provided for every detail with such care and maturity that the slightest prescription of the ceremonial was accomplished in its place and at its hour with perfect propriety. Thanks to his vigilance, the celebration of the offices in the church of Le Dorat left nothing to be desired by the most regular and learned clerics.

The young canon was animated by that spirit of God which elevates and vivifies all actions, even the humblest. Far from coming into the holy place with an empty soul and a mute heart, Israel was, from his adolescence, penetrated by the great thought that inspired his whole life: to procure, through prayer and works, the salvation of the people of these regions. It was this that ceaselessly brought him back into the sanctuary, it was this that sustained and multiplied his strength.

His happiness was to be near God, and to prepare his soul through prayer for the great battles he was preparing to wage throughout his life against the misery and ignorance of this iron age. Thus, public prayer was full of attractions for him, and the great solemnities of the Church had the gift of moving him deeply, so much did they harmonize with the ardor of his desires and the vivacity of his faith. In this life so well filled with elevated thoughts, so intimately consecrated to the glory of God and the relief of men, care for the body found little place: Israel reduced it to the attentions strictly necessary for the preservation of strength and health; he gave to nature, with extreme parsimony and sobriety, only what was indispensable for him to sustain himself and to repair his losses.

This rigor towards himself, far from hardening him to the spectacle of the sufferings of others, had only given him more penetration to understand them, and more charity to relieve them. Rarely is one who has not suffered, either by a free choice of his will or by the necessities of his condition, endowed with that tact and devotion required by the heroic works of charity: Saint Israel had made it a second nature, and he had only too many occasions to exercise his love towards the suffering members of Jesus Christ. To the indigent and the strangers, to the ignorant and the sick of both sexes, Israel lavished his time, his labors, and his resources of all kinds. His great love for the poor, animated by the liveliest faith, inspired in him practices of mortification that had the most useful results. They were fruitful, because they did not allow any portion of the time or activity that God had allotted to his servant to be spent on the satisfactions of the senses, and they were moralizing, because the heroism of this conduct was like a continuous sermon in the eyes of the men of that time, most of whom were blind slaves to their frivolous interests. Saint Israel added to this a practice that must have been a salutary lesson for the other canons as well as for all the people of the province. He had retained the free disposition of the goods he held from his family, at the same time that he enjoyed the income of his canonical prebend. Taking from his private resources the little that was needed for his maintenance, he did not want to appropriate any of the dishes that were served to him in the refectory, at the common table; but, considering everything that belonged to the monastery as the patrimony of the poor, he had the portion served to him liberally distributed to the indigent and the sick, while taking care to season it with very useful instructions.

Having become provost of the monastery, each time he rose from the table, he took advantage of the community's presence to say a few words in favor of the two great works he held most dear: the spiritual advancement of his religious and the relief of the poor. He would gently warn and rebuke those who had been guilty of infractions of the rule, and he strongly urged all the regular canons to a diligent observance of the canonical institutions. Then, speaking in favor of the indigent, for whom he had just set aside the portion served to him in the name of the community, he recommended that alms be given to them with care, and that no one be neglected. He always had in his memory and often on his lips this beautiful word of Solomon: "He who does not close his eyes to the poor and has compassion on them lends at interest to Our Lord." He loved to repeat this word of the Gospel: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven!" However, whether out of humility and love for this word of the Savior: "Let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing," or from the conviction that it was more opportune to provide for the pressing needs of the sick during those hours of the night when they are most abandoned, Israel devoted the time of rest to the accomplishment of works of charity: immediately after having celebrated with great devotion the office of nocturns, at the moment when the other canons returned to their beds and when everything in the city was asleep, except for pain and need, alone, in the middle of the night, he went here and there, seeking the dwellings of the sick, lavishing his care and advice upon them, and distributing to them the remedies, alms, and aid of every kind with which he had taken care to provide himself. After having exhausted everything, he would eagerly inquire about what might still be necessary, and he never failed to send it without delay.

Israel, meditating day and night on the law of the Lord, barely took the sleep necessary for his tired limbs. When he was thought to be asleep, he continued his vigils, persevering with new ardor in study and in the union of the soul with God through prayer. Sometimes even, interrupting his study to go and offer it even in the sanctuary to Him for whose love he prolonged his vigils, he would leave the dormitory without a sound, and go to pray in the church, taking the precaution of covering the floor with a woolen cloth, so that the sound of his footsteps would not disturb the rest of his brothers. To be useful to the greatest number, he wrote, either in Latin or in the language familiar to the people of Le Dorat, a series of proses, hymns, and canticles on the principal features of the Old Testament and those of the New, up to the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Matured in the silence and humility of his retreat through prayer and study, Saint Israel was called to exercise in the broad daylight of public life the virtues and talents he had cultivated with modest and tireless courage in solitude.

Upon the accession of Hilduin to the episcopal see of Lim Limoges Possible birthplace of the saint and origin of the woman who received the miracle. oges, wisdom and learning already surrounded the brow of Israel with a halo of glory and fame, whose rays, spreading from place to place, cast a brighter light each day. No one in the region was unaware of the merits of the humble canon, and, more than any other, Hilduin had heard the qualities of Israel celebrated and had experienced their value and solidity for himself. He hastened to bring this light into the open, and to make it shine on a larger stage. In order to attract him more surely to the city of Limoges, he entrusted him with a position that was admirably suited to the tireless zeal and the expansive nature of Israel's talent: he attached him to his person as a professor and master in the school of the episcopal palace.

Hilduin had only to congratulate himself on his choice: Saint Israel taught in the city of Limoges, to the great glory of the episcopal school and to the great advantage of the many disciples who came to gather his lessons. His eloquent and easy speech charmed them; the wisdom and profound learning of his teachings elevated their minds and hearts. Witness to these services rendered to the Church of God and to science, touched by this well-deserved renown that he saw shining more brightly and purely every day, the bishop judged him so capable by his talents, his learning, and his eloquence of fulfilling the highest ecclesiastical dignities, and so worthy, by his modesty, by the uprightness of his spirit, and by the purity of his morals, of being honored with them, that he did not wish to leave him a simple canon and a simple cleric; but he had him enter his council for the management of the various affairs of the diocese; and, conferring upon him successively the various degrees of the clergy, he raised him to the dignity of the priesthood. Ordained a priest, subjected to new duties and to harsher labors, Saint Israel did not neglect the graces of light and doctrine, the gifts of the Holy Spirit that he had received through the laying on of hands by his bishop. But, according to the counsel of the Apostle, always attentive to watching over himself and to advancing, while making others advance, in the science of divine things, he prolonged his meditations and his prayers, and multiplied more and more the simple and familiar exhortations that he was accustomed to address to the faithful.

The piety of Saint Israel in the fulfillment of the functions of the priesthood, the purity of intention, the spirit of justice and integrity that presided over each of his acts, which inspired each of his steps, are, says the historian of his life, superior to all that human power could have attained. It is because, in fact, far from trusting in his own strength, he always had his mind and heart turned toward God, from whose goodness he obtained, through his prayers, a redoubling of vigor and energy that procured him new successes. All these virtues, and many more, made Israel more precious to his bishop every day. Already filled with esteem for his talents, this prelate conceived for the character and for the virtues of the eloquent professor the most vivid and the most holy affection: not content with having opened his council to him and having called him to the administration of his diocese, he wished to attach him more closely to his person, and he made him his chaplain, but with episcopal attributions, like those of the chorepiscopi of that era.

Shortly thereafter, Saint Israel saw his obligations and labors increase. The grand cantor of the church of Le Dorat having died, Israel was canonically elected to his place by the unanimous suffrage of the entire chapter of canons, around the year 991. This new dignity did not make him proud, says the author of his life, but more than ever he practiced humility, held avarice in horror, and displayed the greatest generosity in all circumstances. Thus, no one could say with what holiness he discharged this office: shining in the midst of the other canons with the brilliance of all virtues, surpassing them all by his talent, he was nevertheless in the midst of his inferiors as one of them through his simplicity and his tireless ardor to obey all the prescriptions of the canonical rule.

Saint Israel, having accompanied his bishop to the court of France, was personally known there by the king, who had the highest esteem for his eminent qualities and for his holiness. His fame soon spread throughout all of Cisalpine Gaul. Scarcely had he returned when he was requested by the great lords and the people to be the restorer and the first provost of the church of Saint-Junien. Saint Israel hastened to reopen h Saint-Junien Church and monastery restored by Saint Israel. is school, to re-establish regular observance, and to deploy all the resources of a penetrating mind, all the zeal and all the vigilance of a tireless soul. The church of Saint-Junien soon became as flourishing as the church of Le Dorat, which served as its model, and whose statutes and regulations Israel had brought to Saint-Junien. At the same time that he directed the personnel and watched over the spiritual renewal of his community, Saint Israel rebuilt the walls of the ancient church of Saint-Junien; for the material edifice, too, had been deeply ravaged and almost entirely destroyed.

When he had restored the walls of the sanctuary, when he had made order and discipline flourish again, Saint Israel occupied himself with securing the future of his work. To this end, he attached the chapter of Saint-Junien to that of Le Dorat by close ties, so that, serving each other as both example and support, these two churches might more surely preserve their regularity and their fervor. He neglected none of the means that Providence had placed at his disposal to achieve this, and, for this purpose, he placed at the head of both churches two brothers, Amelius and Arnulph, remarkable among his other disciples for their talent and their piety.

In 994, a terrible plague, called the Mal des Ardent Mal des Ardents Medieval epidemic treated by Adalberon II in Epinal. s, fell upon the region to which he had dedicated his life. Our Saint, far from being discouraged by the severity of the evil, saw in it only a providential opportunity to exercise his tireless zeal. He welcomed with the greatest humanity the sick who came to seek his care and prayers, and lavished upon them all the care that their condition required: his food, even his bed, belonged to them. Among those who had the good fortune to approach him, some felt revived by his care; others, more fortunate, returned safe and sound to their homes, after having been entirely healed by his intercession. Carried on the wings of gratitude, the name of Israel spread far and wide, more brilliant and more venerated.

In 1006, Saint Israel had reached his fifty-sixth year. Too many ties bound the holy provost to Le Dorat for the chapter, which had previously made the greatest entreaties to retain him, not to make new efforts to enjoy at least his final years. Amelius, who had replaced him as sub-chanter at Le Dorat, having died, this loss renewed all the sorrow that the people and the canons felt at the absence of Saint Israel. They would no longer suffer him to discharge his former duties through the ministry of a delegated canon, and they demanded the presence of their venerable chanter. The combined entreaties of the inhabitants of Le Dorat were so intense that Saint Israel had to yield and come to live once more in the cloister that had sheltered his youth, and which had been the confidant and witness of his first labors. The return of Saint Israel among them brought this spiritual prosperity to its peak, and it was an invaluable grace of Providence for these young men that their common life and mutual bond were under the direction of a master who held Christian virtue and holiness in such high regard.

It was thus that the holy old man was led to spend the last eight years of his life (1006-1014) near his cradle, and to devote all the strength of his old age to this apostolate of teaching, from which nothing had been able to turn him aside during the course of his entire life. Amidst these labors, he completed and perfected each day this troop of saintly and learned young men who were the cherished work of his heart, the object of his life's ambition; it was to be his most beautiful title in heaven, and it was on earth the noblest inheritance that the man of God could leave to the churches of Le Dorat and Saint-Junien, which never tired, throughout the following centuries, of celebrating its memory.

After so many labors, the mission of Saint Israel was drawing to a close: the end of his days was approaching. Weighed down by the years that had seen him increase his merits each day, illustrious for his holiness and his doctrine, the man of God found himself ripe for heaven. His body was emaciated by fatigue and privations, and all his flesh, as it were, consumed; but his soul still overflowed with ardor and life. Finally, overwhelmed by old age and especially by vigils and mortifications, admirably prepared for the final journey, provided in advance with the sacraments of the Church, sustained by the prayers of his companions, and continually absorbed in prayer, he rendered his beautiful soul to God on December 31, 1014.

Saint Israel is depicted in bas-relief on the front of the altar of the chapel of the church of Le Dorat. Two of the main features of his life form the subject of the medallions of the stained-glass window. In the first medallion, Saint Israel is teaching. He is seated, in profile, nimbate, his left hand resting o Saint Théobald Disciple of Saint Israel at Le Dorat. n a book, his right raised. Saint Theobald and Saint Walter, nimbate, listen to his lessons, having before them two other children also nimbate, and to the right the young Bernard, seated on a stool. Through the school window, one can glimpse the town of Le Dorat with the steeples of the collegiate church and the seminary. In the second medallion, Saint Israel visits a sick person surrounded by his family; he is accompanied by Saint Theobald and another figure. One can also see in the sky of the medallion the town with its numerous steeples.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The body of Saint Israel was placed in a tomb, to the east of the monastery, with all the honors due to his rank and all the veneration due to his holiness. The inhabitants of Le Dorat erected a wooden chapel in honor of the Saint over his tomb, which soon became the scene of numerous miracles that made it popular throughout the province of La Marche. The holiness of Israel being thus attested by a great number of wonders, the canons of Le Dorat began, shortly after his death, with the consent of the bishops of Limoges, to celebrate his memory through a religious cult. The body of Saint Israel rested, until 1136, in the oratory raised by the piety of the faithful; it has since been replaced by a stone chapel. On January 27, 1130, the body of the Saint was raised from the ground amidst a great gathering of people, transported in procession to the basilica dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles, and deposited in the underground crypt which took the name of the Sepulcher. Several miracles performed on the day of this translation increased the veneration of the faithful toward Saint Israel.

A Confraternity having been established at Le Dorat "to keep watch in prayer near the relics of the Saint during the duration of the Ostension," it was confirmed on July 22, 165 9, by Pope Al Alexandre VII Pope reigning at the end of Olier's life. exander VII, and enriched with precious indulgences by Pop Pie IX Pope who canonized Josaphat in 1867. e Pius IX on February 16, 1869. The main feast of the Confraternity takes place on September 13, the day of the Saint's feast.

On March 20, 1659, through the care and at the prayer of the canons and the entire town of Le Dorat, Mgr de La Fayette, Bishop of Limoges, granted Mgr de Salaignac, Bishop of Sarlat, the authorization to transport the holy relics from the crypt to the upper church, and to place them in a gilded reliquary beside the high altar, where they were transported on September 13 of the same year with the greatest solemnity. The chapter of Le Dorat sent a rib bone of Saint Israel to the canons of Saint-Junien.

The office of Saint Israel was inserted for the first time in 1669 into the Proper of the diocese of Limoges. It was also placed in that of the Regular Canons of the Congregation of France, on February 8.

In 1793, the relics were saved from profanation; they were lowered into the crypt, and, after being placed in an excavation below the middle chapel, they were carefully covered. In 1802, the reliquary was removed from the place where it had been deposited to be replaced near the altar. On June 12, 1862, the relics were examined and recognized as authentic. The tomb of Saint Israel, empty of its precious deposit, was transported in 1825 to the cemetery chapel of Le Dorat, which had just been rebuilt on the ruins of the old one; and finally, on June 28, 1871, it was once again returned to the sight and veneration of the faithful, in the chapel recently consecrated to the cult of Saint Israel and Saint Theobald: it can be seen on the left side (Gospel side).

Excerpt from the Life of Saint Israël and Saint Théobald, by A bbé Raugerie, abbé Raugerie Author of the life of Saint Israel and professor at Le Dorat. professor of philosophy at the minor seminary of Le Dorat.