 On March 21, 1834, Chabrat was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown and Titular Bishop of "Bolina" by Pope Gregory XVI.He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 20 from Bishop Flaget, with Bishops John Baptist Mary David, P.S.S., and Richard Pius Miles, O.P., serving as co-consecrators.He assumed much of the administration of the diocese for the aged Flaget, including the move of the episcopal see to Louisville in 1841.