Saint Leonore

The desire to be useful to his compatriots, who, having formed settlements in the lands of Vannes and Quimper, were in need of spiritual aid; perhaps also the desire to follow his virtuous brother Tugdual, and to find a more peaceful abode than Great Britain was at that time, occupied almost entirely by the Saxons, determined Leonore to leave Cambria and cross into Armorica, in order to live there in great er seclus Armorique Place of Guigner's first exile. ion, for which the forests found there offered great convenience. The grace of the Holy Spirit and his particular inclination led him effectively to this kind of life; for his episcopal dignity did not prevent him from always living as a solitary, and it even appears that he had no particular see, and that, without obliging him to leave his monastery, he was conferred the dignity of bishop for the spiritual good of the neighboring peoples; which seems to have been very common for the Breton nation in the land of Cambria. Leonore, wishing like Abraham to leave everything to follow the interior inspiration that called him out of his homeland, embarked with seventy-two disciples and some servants, to come to Armorican Brittany, of which Childebert was sovereign. It was in the north that he landed, on the coast that is between the rivers of Rance and Arguenon, and no sooner had he arrived in this country than he and his companions settled in this place which was granted to them by his brother Hoel or Jona, second of the name, who then reigned in Brittany. Leonore, having found a ruined oratory in this place, restored it and placed there an altar he had brought with him. He then devoted himself with zeal to the ministry of preaching. The inhabitants of the neighborhood, touched by his discourses and edified by his virtues, decided by common consent to clear for him the forest in which he was located, so that he could build a monastery there.

King Childebert, Le roi Childebert King of the Franks who supported the saint. having been informed of the admirable life of these holy solitaries, and especially of Leonore, invited him in a very pressing manner to come and see him in Paris. The Saint went there followed by some of his disciples, and was received by the King and Queen Ultrogotha with great testimonies of esteem and veneration. He did not remain long at court, because he was too honored there, and the crowd of those who addressed themselves to him prevented him from attending freely to his spiritual exercises. It was during his stay in Paris that the cruel assassination of his brother Hoel II, also named Jona, occurred in 547. When Leonore had returned to his retreat, he spent his days in work and his nights in prayer; and, living less as a man than as an angel, he edified by his conduct and animated by his exhortations his holy community.

Léonore's monastery was not far from the residence of the sovereigns of Brittany, where Conao or Conomor, murdere Conomor Usurper and murderer, antagonist of the saint. r of Jona, was then staying with the widow of that prince, whom he had married. J udual, Judual Breton prince restored to his throne thanks to Samson. son of Jona, took refuge in the monastery of Léonore, his uncle, who did not deem it right to keep him in his house, where he saw clearly that the young prince would not be safe. But, taking other measures to save the life of his legitimate lord, whom the usurper, finally unmasked, was seeking to put to death, he had Judual embark for Great Britain, without fearing to expose himself to all the fury of Conao. He was not content with having pulled the innocent from peril; he even braved the persecutor by showing him the ship in which Judual was sailing at full sail.

The usurper, however, did not put Saint Léonore to death, whether because he did not like to commit crimes unless he could derive some advantage from them, or because he feared this time to dip his hands in the blood of his brother, or because he feared losing himself entirely in the minds of the king and queen, and the people, who loved and honored the holy bishop as a man entirely divine. The legend of Saint Léonore says that Conao slapped him, and that after this insult, completely beside himself, he spurred his horse; that the horse took off with such impetuosity that he could not stop at the edge of a precipice, where he broke his neck; that Conao broke his thigh in three places from this fall, could never be cured of it, and finally died miserably after having suffered very cruel pains for a long time. But this fact is not certain; it appears on the contrary that this wicked prince, having supported Cramne, who had revolted against Clotaire, his father and King of France, perished in 560 with this rebellious son.

The death of Conao having given Judual the possibility of returning to Brittany, Saint Léonore, who joined to the natural affection he had for his nephew the charity with which the Saints are animated, applied himself with all his power to have him return to the possession of his States. He did not survive this last event by much, and ended, by a death precious in the eyes of God, his holy career, at the age of about fifty-one, around the year 560.

Saint Léonore is represented: 1° with a bell in his hand. King Childebert had granted him, it is said, as much land as the sound of the Saint's bell could reach. The Saint called the royal stewards and climbed a hill from where he rang his bell. The witnesses testified that it had been heard for four miles around, and the taking of possession was established on this fact. — 2° Plowing with twelve stags, for lack of oxen. The Bollandists report that at the moment when, in the company of his disciples, our Saint was going to his lands to plow them, they saw a stag of extraordinary size lying on the ground. Saint Léonore ordered it to be skinned and its hide alone was used to make reins. At the same instant, twelve other stags appeared before their astonished eyes; lowering their heads, they allowed themselves to be attached to the yoke, and for five weeks and three days, they went regularly to the Saint's lands to help him cultivate them; only on Sundays did they remain in the neighboring forest. The work being finished, they all came together to beg their master to let them go: he then blessed them with his hand and dismissed them. — 3° Hanging his cloak on a sunbeam. The same hagiographers claim that one day King Childebert asked our Saint to celebrate the holy mysteries before him and his entire court. The servant of God, before putting on his priestly vestments, took off his cloak and wanted to hang it somewhere; as he was looking to hook it, suddenly a sunbeam entered through the window of the room where he was and took it upon itself, to the great surprise of the spectators, to support this precious burden.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The ancient breviary of Léon marks the feast of Saint Léonore on July 1st and provides the office in nine lessons. The ancient breviary of the abbey of Saint-Méco commemorates him on the same day. This commemoration was also observed in Paris until 1607, at which time it was suppressed. His name is still found in the Parisian martyrology on July 1st. His feast was celebrated in Dol on February 16th, in Saint-Malo on July 16th, and in Coutances on the 3rd of the same month. There is a parish near Saint-Malo that bears the name of the Saint, wher e he is calle Saint-Lunaire Parish and site of the saint's tomb. d by corruption Saint-Lunaire. One can see his tomb in the parish church, raised two feet from the ground, and his relics were kept there, the head separately in a silver reliquary, and the other bones in two ebony reliquaries. Another portion had been taken to Paris in the 10th century along with those of other Breton sain ts, and subsequen Beaumont-sur-Oise Location of the transfer of a portion of the relics. tly to Beaumont-sur-Oise, where Saint Léonore was honored in a priory that bore his name, and had been founded in 1185 by Mathieu, Count of Beaumont; this lord had obtained the relics of the Saint at that time. They were burned by the Calvinists in the 16th century. In addition to his feast which the church of Saint-Malo celebrated on July 1st, another was held there on October 13th, under the name of Translation. There was a chapel dedicated to Saint Léonore in the church of Rennes, and several parishes recognize him as their patron, some under the names of Lunaire, Lourmel, and Launeuc.

We have drawn this biography from the *Vies des Saints de Bretagne*, by Dom Lobineau. — Cf. The ancient Breviary of Léon; the Bollandists, volume 1 of July; the *Propres de Dol* and *Saint-Malo*, and the Breviary of Coutances of 1741.