SOLMINIHAC, ALAIN de, venerable. — Bishop of Cahors, one of the restorers of French Catholic life in the 17th century, born on 25 November 1593 in the ancestral castle of Belet, died on 31 December 1659 in the episcopal castle of Mercués.
Having received a brief humanistic education at the castle of Belet (Périgord), at the age of 21 he became abbot of the monastery of Chancelade, belonging to the Canons Regular, through the resignation of his uncle. Alain resolved to live as a religious and to restore the fortunes of the abbey, which had been destroyed by the Huguenots. After completing his intellectual formation at the University of Paris, where he formed friendships with s. Vincenzo de' Paoli and l'Olier, he rebuilt the conventual buildings at Chancelade and restored the regular life there, accompanied only by one of the old canons, according to the new Constitutions he had written, with an accentuated rigor of ascetic practices.
Many monasteries of Canons Regular asked Alain to extend his reform to them as well, but this expansion was obstructed by the LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, FRANÇOIS DE (v.) to unite all the Canons Regular in the single « Congregation of France ». Through S.’s energy, the abbey of Chancelade remained autonomous and continued as such until the Revolution. In 1636, compelled to accept the bishopric of Cahors, he continued to live as a religious together with five of his Canons Regular; indeed, he increased his austerity.
In accordance with the spirit of the Council of Trent, he provided for the reform of his diocese; he carried out the pastoral visitation uninterruptedly, preceded by his Canons Regular, who preached missions at his expense; he rebuilt hospitals, opened orphanages, and came to the aid of the people’s needs, pouring out all his income during periods of famine or plague. He wrote a rhymed catechism so that the faithful might learn the truths of the faith more easily. Every year he convoked the synod; he compelled parish priests to reside in their parishes, founded the Seminary, and imposed on the clergy a monthly retreat and annual spiritual exercises. Extremely vigilant against the Protestant danger, he supervised books, preachers, and teachers, removing from positions of responsibility all those suspected of heresy. He did not rest until he saw Jansenism condemned and the Traité des droits et libertés de l'Eglise gallicane of the Dupuy brothers proscribed. His body rests in the cathedral of Cahors. Always universally exalted as a great saint, the people invoke him by the strange title of « bienheureux Jérusalem ». Pius XI proclaimed the heroic nature of his virtues on 19 June 1927.