The Solesmes Congregation is an association of monasteries within the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Confœderatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monasti ...

headed by the

Abbey of Solesmes Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes (''Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes'') is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes (Sarthe, France), famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Gu ...

History

The congregation was founded in 1837 by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

as the French Benedictine Congregation, with the then newly reopened

Solesmes Abbey Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes (''Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes'') is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes (Sarthe, France), famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Gu ...

, founded by Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B., who wished to re-establish France's ancient and rich presence of monastic life, which had been wiped out by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. The first foundation of the new congregation in 1853 was

Ligugé Abbey Ligugé Abbey, formally called the Abbey of St. Martin of Ligugé (french: Abbaye Saint-Martin de Ligugé), is a French Benedictine monastery in the Commune of Ligugé, located in the Department of Vienne. Dating to the 4th century, it is the sit ...

, founded by St.

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as th ...

in 361. In course of time other daughterhouses were founded from Solesmes: in 1880 the

Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey ( es, Abadía del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Santo Domingo de Silos in the southern part of Burgos Province in northern Spain. The monastery is named after t ...

in Spain, Glanfeuil in 1892, and Fontenelle in 1893. These four were old monasteries restored.Alston, George Cyprian. "Abbey of St. Solesmes." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 March 2015
/ref> The congregation's first monastery of women was

St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes (''Abbaye Sainte-Cécile de Solesmes'') is a Benedictine monastery of nuns, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper Guéranger, the restorer of Benedictine life in France after the destruction of the revolution. It is located in ...

, founded in 1866 by Guéranger and Cécile Bruyère. Some of the monasteries of the congregation, specially in France, use the pre-conciliar

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

liturgy, and most of them focus on

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

. One of its abbeys, Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, became internationally famous when an album its monks recorded in 1973, ''

Chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of note ...

'', became a huge hit when re-released in 1994, peaking at #3 on the U.S. album charts.

List of houses

(with dates of establishment within the congregation)

Monks

(1833) *

(1853) *Marseilles Priory, now Ganagobie Abbey (1856) * Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, Spain (1880) * Wisques Abbey 1889 * Sainte-Marie Abbey, Paris (1893) * St. Wandrille's Abbey (1894) * Clervaux Abbey, Luxembourg (1890) * Kergonan Abbey (1897) * St Benoît du Lac Abbey, Quebec (1912) *

Quarr Abbey Quarr Abbey (French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr'') is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor" (rhyming with "for"). It belongs to the Cathol ...

, England (1922) * Montserrat Priory, Madrid, 1939 *Schoelcher Priory, Martinique 1947 * Fontgombault Abbey, 1948 * St. Benedictusberg Abbey, Netherlands, 1951 *Leyre Abbey, Spain, 1954 *

Valle de los Caidos The Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Valle de los Caídos; ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. Dictator Fra ...

Abbey, Spain, 1958 * Keur-Moussa Abbey, Senegal 1961 *

Randol Abbey Randol Abbey (''Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Randol'') is a Benedictine monastery situated at Randol near the village of Saint-Saturnin, Puy-de-Dôme department, in the Auvergne mountains of France. History It was founded in 1971 as a priory of Fontgo ...

, 1971 * Triors Abbey, 1984 *

Gaussan Abbey Gaussan Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame de Gaussan) is a Benedictine monastery situated at Bizanet in the Aude, France. Cistercians The site was originally established in the 12th century by the Cistercians as a grange of the nearby Fontfroid ...

, 1994 * Palendriai Priory, Lithuania, 1998 *

Clear Creek Abbey Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey or Clear Creek Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey in the Ozark Mountains near Hulbert in Cherokee County, Oklahoma. It is located in the Diocese of Tulsa. Origins The monastery traces its roots to th ...

, USA, 1999

Nuns

1866 *Wisques Abbey, 1889 * St. Michael's Abbey, Kergonan, 1898 * Ste Marthe sur le Lac Abbey, Quebec 1936 *

St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde is an abbey of Benedictine nuns in the Isle of Wight, England. Monastic life Founded in 1882 and dedicated to the Peace of the Heart of Jesus, St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde, Isle of Wight, belongs to the Benedictine Ord ...

, England 1950 * Keur-Guilaye Priory, Senegal 1970 * Le Carbet Priory, Martinique 1977 *

Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary The Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a Benedictine abbey located in Westfield, Vermont. History The Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was founded in 1981 by nuns from the Abbaye Sainte-Marie des Deux-Montagnes in Sainte-Mar ...

, USA, 1981

References

Sources

Solesmes Congregation (website of Solesmes Abbey)
{{Authority control Benedictine congregations Religious organizations established in 1837 1837 establishments in France