St. Turiaf, Bishop of Dol, in Brittany


[Called often Turiave, sometimes Thivisiau.] HE was born in the diocess of Vannes, in the neighbourhood of the abbey of Ballon, near which Charles the Bald was defeated by the Britons in 845; in which war this monastery seems to have been destroyed. Turiaf went young to Dol, was instructed in piety and learning, and promoted to holy orders by St. Thiarmail, abbot of St. Samson’s and bishop of Dol. This prelate afterwards appointed him his vicar and chorepiscopus, and at his death, probably in 733, our saint was placed in that episcopal chair. Admirable was the austerity of his life, his zeal, his charity, his watchfulness, his fervour in prayer, and his firmness in maintaining discipline. A powerful lord named Rivallon having committed many acts of violence, the bishop went to his castle at Lanncafrut, and by his strong remonstrances made him sensible of the enormity of his crimes. By the bishop’s injunction he underwent a canonical penance during seven years, and repaired all injustices and oppressions by a sevenfold satisfaction. St. Turiaf died on the 13th of July, probably about the year 749, though even the age is not certain. In the wars of the Normans his relics were brought to Paris and are still kept in the abbey of St. Germain-des-Prez. The new Paris breviary mentions that dreadful fires have been sometimes miraculously extinguished by them. The life of St. Turiaf, written in the tenth century, is a confused eulogium, in which prodigies take place of facts. The notes of the Bollandists are incomparably more valuable than the text, ad 13 Jul. p. 614; see Barrali, Chronic. Lirin. t. 2, p. 186; Lobineau, Vies des SS. de Bret. p. 177.	1

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