Saint Thuriaf

He made his way towards D ol, Dol Episcopal see and central monastery in the life of the saint. and having lost his way, he was met by a charitable man, who took him into his home and gave him his flocks to guard. But as the holy child had vowed a more essential service to the King of Ages, he wished, in order to make himself capable of it, to be instructed in letters. An ecclesiastic, whom he asked to trace the characters for him on tablets, rendered him this service. He soon learned them, as well as grammar and the elements of the Latin language. He added to this the science of singing, which he loved all the more because he had a brilliant and melodious voice. The pleasure he took in using it to make the praises of God resound on all sides gave him the opportunity to be known by the bishop of Dol, named T hiarmail Thiarmail Bishop of Dol and mentor to Thuriaf. or Armael, who, touched by the excellent qualities he found in this child, adopted him as his son, took him to Dol, gave him all his care, and taught him the sacred letters.

The progress of this young disciple was so great that the bishop found no difficulty in ordaining him a priest and placing him at the head of the clergy of his Church. Thuriaf, raised to this dignity, made new efforts to surpass himself, and to become by his virtues the living rule for others. Thiarmail had reason to presume that his choice was approved by God, when he saw the virtues of his dear disciple accompanied by the rare and precious gift of miracles. The confidence given to him by heavenly approval engaged him, following the example of some of the holiest of his predecessors, to put Thuriaf in his place, to exercise there the arduous functions of the episcopate, which, because of his too advanced age, was becoming for him henceforth a burden too difficult to sustain. The extraordinary merit of Thuriaf made his election and ordination very agreeable to the other bishops of Brittany, to the clergy, and to the people, who flattered themse lves to see saint Samson Bishop of Dol and educator of Budoc. Sain t Samson and S saint Magloire Predecessor of Budoc in the bishopric of Dol. aint Magloire live again in this new prelate, already so favored by heaven. As for him, he had already put everything to use as soon as he had entered the ecclesiastical career to acquire the perfection of the virtues of his holy state. His Acts report that he was distinguished above all by a profound humility, an indefatigable zeal for the salvation of souls, an ardent charity, and an admirable simplicity, joined to a great innocence of manners. He spent the day instructing his people, and almost the entire night in prayer.

The enemy of man, who always watches to trouble the Church and sow disorder and division there, took advantage, shortly after the ordination of Thuriaf, of the violent inclinations of a local lord named Rivallon, and led him to Rivallon Violent lord converted by the saint. set fire to a monastery dependent on the bishopric, located seven or eight leagues from Dol. It was immediately announced to Thuriaf that the church, the sacred books, the ornaments, and the precious vessels had been looted or reduced to ashes; only the missal was spared by a miracle. Filled with grief, he took twelve of his religious with him and went on foot to Rivallon, at the place called Kanfrut or Lan-Kafrut, which appears to be the same as the one where this violent man had just burned the monastery. Rivallon, upon seeing him, felt moved to repentance and, throwing himself trembling at his feet, made him such advantageous offers for the reparation of the evil he had committed that Thuriaf, who sought only his conversion, did not refuse him the remedy of penance. Thuriaf, satisfied, returned to his Church, and Rivallon, aided by the princes of the land, repaired sevenfold all the damage he had caused, to which he devoted the seven years of penance that his prelate had imposed upon him.

It is reported that he performed several miraculous healings and that he brought back to life the only daughter of a local lord, after having set himself to prayer with all his clergy.

Saint Thuriaf, after having fulfilled all the duties of a good pastor, died holily, at a very advanced age, on July 13, and his body was buried in his cathedral church. It was later transported to France, at the time when the Normans were ravaging Brittany, and deposited in Paris, in the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which kept it until 1793, at which time it was destroyed. This holy body was not entirely there; the cathedral church of Chartres possessed a part of it, enclosed since the year 1230 in a very curious vermeil reliquary. This part was also destroyed during the revolution. There perhaps no longer remains of the relics of Saint Thuriaf anything but a bone fragment, which is found in the parish church of Quintin, a town in the diocese of Saint-Brieuc; this fragment is enclosed in a silver head-reliquary. The holy bishop, named in this region Saint Thurian, is the patron of th saint Thurian Bishop of Dol in the 8th century. is church. The ancient Breviaries of Saint-Meen, Saint-Brieuc, Nantes, and Léon, all place the feast of Saint Thuriaf on the same day, July 13.

He is depicted: 1° in shepherd's attire, to recall his early years; 2° with a dove on his shoulder: he had begun to pray for a wayward lord, who offered to do penance, when a dove rested on his shoulder as if to tell him that the sinner would obtain his pardon if he kept his promises.

Acta Sanctorum; Sarius. — Cf. Vies des Saints de Bretagne Vies des Saints de Bretagne Work by Dom Lobineau serving as a source. , by Dom Lebineau.