**AGOSTINIANI DELL'ASSUNZIONE (ASSUNZIONISTI; Pia Societas Presbyterorum ab Assumptione).** — Religious congregation founded in 1845 by Fr. ARZON (v.). Its principal purpose is to work for the restoration of higher education according to the principles of s. Agostino, to combat the enemies of the Church organized in secret societies, and to strive for the unity of the Church. To carry out this vast programme, the founder wanted his sons to be modern and monks at the same time:
modern, in their readiness to undertake whatever may contribute to the propagation of the Kingdom of God (it should be remembered that the A. were the initiators of the movement of the great pilgrimages to Lourdes, Rome, and Jerusalem), especially through the press; monks, because they link themselves, insofar as possible, to the monastic tradition, through common life, the choral office, etc.
After d'Alzon's death, Fr. Francesco Picard, his successor, gave vigorous impetus to the young congregation, developing especially the missions of the East and the Catholic press. But Freemasonry demonstrated its hostility toward the A. from the outset, denouncing them as excessively militant monks, and in 1900 induced the government to dissolve them, deceitfully declaring that only in this way would it be possible to save the other congregations. In 1903, Fr. Emanuele Bailly succeeded Fr. Picard; during his generalate (1903–17), the Congregation experienced a new flourishing.
Since 1946 it has been divided into seven provinces. Three of these have their center in France: Paris, Lyon, and Bordeaux; the other four are constituted as follows: Belgium, Holland, England, North America. The provinces of Lyon, Bordeaux, Belgium, Holland, and North America are each joined to a territory of expansion or mission, that is, a “vicariate”: Lyon with the Near East, Russia, Manchuria, and North Africa; Bordeaux with Latin America; Holland with its own missions in Brazil; Belgium with the Belgian Congo and Colombia; North America with Mexico. At present the Congregation has 1,800 religious.
For many years, the A. devoted themselves tirelessly to the East, where they founded schools, colleges, and seminaries for the training of the local clergy. In 1897, in the heart of Istanbul, they inaugurated an Eastern seminary for priests of the Greek rite. At Plovdiv (Bulgaria), religious of the Slavonic rite direct the seminary and the united Catholic parish. At Yamboli too, the A. have a Slavonic parish alongside the Latin one. Since 1924 they have been established in Romania: in Bucharest, Blaj, and Beius there is a good number of religious of the Eastern rite. The Institute of Byzantine Studies, founded in 1895 by the Assumptionist monk Luigi Petit, then superior of the convent of Chalcedon and in 1912 Latin archbishop of Athens, is still a true center of Byzantine studies, with its scholarly journal, Les Echos d'Orient, intended to make the separated Christians better known. A rich library of rare books, all relating to the Christian East, was assembled there through indefatigable work. Among the works published by those religious, we may mention L'Eglise byzantine de 527 à 547, by Fr. G. Pargoire (Paris 1905); Theologia dogmatica christianorum orientalium ab Ecclesia catholica dissidentium, 5 vols., by Fr. M. Jugie (Paris, 1926–1935); Le Schisme Byzantin, by the same author (Paris 1941); Praxis Missionarii in Oriente servata, by Fr. R. Souarn (Paris 1908). After its transfer to Bucharest, the Institute worked on the Régestes du Patriarcat de Constantinople, and published its journal under the new title Etudes Byzantines.