CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO - The oldest codex of the Rule of St. Augustine, originating from Corbie (late 8th-early 9th century) - Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, cod. lat., 12.634, fol. 9.
CANONICI REGOLARI DI SANT'AGOSTINO. - These are clerics who, living in community according to the so-called rule of St. Augustine, attend to the pastoral ministry with the obligation of choir office.
SUMMARY:
I. Origin and development
II. Principal extinct Congregations
III. Congregations still existing: 1. Congregation of the Lateran C. r. of the Most Holy Savior. - 2. Austrian Congregation of the Lateran C. r. - 3. Hospitaller Congregation of the C. r. of the Great St. Bernard. - 4. Swiss Congregation of the C. r. of St. Maurice of Agaune.I. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.
This Order, which has precedence over the others (CIC, can. 491) and is composed of autonomous congregations, developed from groupings of clerics living in common or from cloister chapters that arose in every part during the late ancient and medieval periods through the work of zealous bishops. It is named after St. Augustine because, at the earliest origins of the institution, he realized this form of life in an ideal way, and because from the 12th century onwards the so-called rule of St. Augustine was adopted by the Order. This Order, therefore, unites and fuses together the office proper to canons, that is, solemn liturgical worship, with religious life, associated with various activities of the pastoral ministry, predominantly parish work. The C. r. of S. A. differ from the Premonstratensian and Crosier Canons Regular, which constitute orders with a particular denomination, albeit on the common basis of canonical life, and which have their own founder and organization.
The origin of the name "canon" and of the related regular institution has not always had a satisfactory and uniform explanation. The "canon," which for Charisius meant a "grammatical rule" and in the Theodosian Code the system of contributions in kind of the various provinces (canon frumentarius), in ecclesiastical language was soon used to indicate prescriptions concerning the discipline of clerics and the faithful. The canon, a name first encountered in St. Basil and in the decrees of the Council of Laodicea, therefore originally represents a cleric, instituted and living according to the sacred "canons," often to distinguish him from "vagantes" clerics or those attached to a private church, without a true relationship with the bishop. In this sense one understands a canon of the Council of Clermont of 535 which prescribes that those priests who are neither "canons" in the episcopal city nor in the rural parishes, but who dwell scattered near private oratories, must go to the cathedral at least on major feasts. St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, in a letter to Pope Zacharias, referring to the decay of the clergy in the Frankish kingdom, declares that he has obligated himself to help only bishops and canon priests (MGH, Epistulae, III, p. 368).
Over time, however, the term "canon" came to be attributed almost by antonomasia to those clerics who lived in monasteries near cathedrals or other distinguished churches, but uncertainty persisted for a long time; thus, while the "regula canonicorum" of St. Chrodegang is written precisely for the cloister chapter of Metz, it features "clerici canonici qui extra claustra in civitate commorantur" (c. 21). From the 8th century onwards, rules appear for canons whose conventual life is modeled, albeit in a milder and more elastic way, on that of monks; one speaks of "abbates canonici," distinct from the "abbates regulares" of the monks.
The C. r., as they were called after the division of canons into secular and reformed that occurred in the 11th century, represent in the first millennium—even before the word "canon" assumed the specific meaning of cloistered canon—that part of the clergy which, under the obedience of the bishop, lived in common near a church, observing a form of religious life. Of the existence of these groupings of clerics who, following the example of monks, practiced this tenor of life—the three religious vows are not distinctly spoken of until the time of the Mendicant Orders—we have precise testimony. The first is provided by St. Ambrose (Ep. 63: PL 16, 1253-60), according to whom St. Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, was the first in the West to introduce among the clergy of his church the common life of monks, which he had known during his exile in the East. The same is attested of St. Zeno, bishop of Verona, who lived monastically together with the clerics of his cathedral (PL 11, 498).
This exemplary life did not remain an isolated fact, because other prelates and their clergy imitated II. Among all, those who shared this kind of life with Augustine at Hippo stood out. If the genial Augustinian institution fell under the persecution stirred up against the African Church by the Vandal invasion, it was nevertheless not forgotten: many appreciated it as an ideal of sanctity and also proposed to imitate II. Proof of this is the short work De vita contemplativa by Julianus Pomerius (PL 59, 415-520), long attributed to Prosper of Aquitaine, and a Vademecum for the clergy, entirely imbued with Augustinian doctrine. The author, who presided over a community of clerics in Arles, also reports maxims concerning the common life of the clergy. He reproaches those who, in congregatione viventes and possessing property, claim to be maintained by the church (II, 10). Instead, he praises the one who leaves his possessions to relatives or to the church, or, having sold everything, distributes the proceeds to the poor in order to be a voluntary poor person (II, 11). In the second half of the 5th century we thus find ecclesiastics in Gaul with a common life without total detachment from property, while others, certainly less numerous, as voluntary poor fully followed the Augustinian ideal. Proponents in the 6th century were St. Caesarius of Arles and St. Gregory the Great. When, shortly after 742, Chrodegang was elected bishop of Metz, he, who had previously professed monastic life, found a very relaxed life among the clergy of his cathedral. The reform of these closest cooperators of his, called Canons, was one of his first pastoral cares. For them he composed
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO
a rule of common life in 34 chapters (W. Schmitz, S. Chrodegangi Metensis Episc. regula Canonicorum, Hannover 1889) which is the first of its kind. In the prologue preceding the chapters he declares that the rule would have been superfluous had the pastors and subjects observed the existing canons regarding their duties. This proves that until then the Canons did not have a rule of their own. Therefore Chrodegang is to be considered the author of the first canonical rule, which contains norms for the common life, daily occupations, and the duties of the Canons. These practices are largely derived from the life of the monks and adapted for the Canons. Anyone wishing to become part of the chapter had to donate immovable property to the Church, retaining the usufruct; they remained owners of movable property, and at death one half was assigned to the Canons and the other to the poor. He recalls that Canons should implement the ideal of perfection (total renunciation), and orders the bishop to provide the necessary maintenance for those who do so. The rule was adopted by other Canons and subsequently expanded into 80 chapters (PL 89, 1057-1098). But regarding the faculty of owning property, the new redaction represents a worsening, because it permits Canons immovable and movable goods. However, Chrodegang's prescription regarding voluntary poor is maintained. Yet the improvement in life achieved with the reform of Metz was not long-lasting. Another attempt to raise the fortunes of the canonical institute was made by Louis the Pious at the Imperial Synod of Aachen in 816. The set of statutes intended for the Canons of the Frankish realm, called the imperial rule of Aachen (PL 105, 811-34), consists of 145 chapters, of which 118 contain many canons and disciplinary decrees of ancient councils and African synods, as well as excerpts from the works of the Fathers. The others concern the practices of the common life and are derived from the rule of Metz. In ch. 112 Canons are reminded of the state of perfection to be achieved through total detachment from property; whereas, in a strange anomaly, ch. 115 destroys the common life, similar to the monastic and that of St. Augustine, by permitting Canons to possess property. The improvement promoted by Louis the Pious was partly achieved, but it was very ephemeral. The lack of the vow of poverty and of external equality among those who lived in house and board communities led to serious abuses. Private property greatly contributed to the relaxation of the rule: hence in the course of time many chapters degenerated (G. Hergenröther, Storia universale della Chiesa, trad. it., III, Florence 1905, p. 218). The institution encountered better days only when the supreme authority of the Church effectively promoted the regular common life of the Canons. Indeed, the Popes and their zealous cooperators, having understood that the main cause of the relaxed life of the Canons was the possession of goods and money, opposed the right of property admitted by the rule of Aachen. This occurred at the Lateran Synod of 1059 under Nicholas II, where, in the presence of 113 bishops, Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII, delivered a speech of harsh criticism against such license (J. Mabillon, Annales Ordinis s. Benedicti, IV, Lucca 1739, p. 689). Even the daily ration of 2 pounds of bread and 5 pounds of wine or beer granted by the rule (ch. 122) was judged excessive and unbecoming to ecclesiastical persons. The 4th canon of the Synod ordered Canons that, besides obedience and chastity, they should also observe the common life with total renunciation of property as befits religious clerics (Mansi, XIV, 898). Another promoter of reform, St. Peter Damian, criticized with even harsher words chs. 115 and 122 of the same rule (Opusc., 24, Contra Clericos Regulares proprietarias: PL 145, 479 ff.). The severity of judgment of the reformers against the imperial rule was justified by the tenacity of the Canons in defending it to evade reform. Many chapters proved refractory, but the reform achieved notable successes from the beginning in Rome and elsewhere. Hildebrand was able to state in the aforementioned speech that some of the clerical order professed common life with the vow of poverty in tantum ut nil sibi reservassent proprii. This example was imitated by the Canons of S. Martino di Lucca at the time of Leo IX and Victor II. These latter, however, did not persevere and opposed any further reform. In com-
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO
and disappeared through the process of division from which the two named classes arose. At the same time, the new denomination of Order appears in documents to designate the collectivity of all reformed chapters, both those of the cathedrals and those of new foundation. All of them, although independent of one another, taken together constituted the Order of the C. r. called of S. Augustine since, in the course of the 12th century, they adopted the so-called rule of S. Augustine. The large collegiate churches in France and England preferred the title of abbey; that of provostship in Germany and that of priory in Italy and England. Collegiate churches such as those of S. Frediano of Lucca, S. Maria in Porto in Ravenna, and SS. Vittore and Giovanni in Monte of Bologna were priories. On the other hand, S. Croce of Mortara was a provostship. These collegiate churches and many others abroad experienced a flourishing development in numerous dependencies of priories and parishes, without, however, altering their primitive juridical constitution. Only later did some adopt the form of a congregation with a central superior direction and with houses juridically equated among themselves.
It does not appear from the documents that a determined rule was imposed upon the C. r. The reformers demanded from them the practice of the common life with total detachment from property; each chapter therefore freely adopted the statutes suited to foster this practice. Thus various rules, adaptations of statutes, or particular customs came into being. Nor was it forbidden for them to make use of the norms contained in the two ancient canonical rules not contrary to the spirit of the new life embraced. Such norms had not been censured in the Roman Synod of 1059. This explains how in the first phase of the Order's development, from 1050 to ca. 1130, various rules are found which may be called primitive in relation to another that replaced them at a later time.
The official rule of the Canons, namely that of Aachen, was at first not abandoned, but amended and expanded. This is attested by the additions to the rule itself existing in 11th-century codices: Ottoboni, 38 and Vat. lat. 4885 and 1351 of the Vatican Library (C. Egger, De antiquis regulis Canonic. reg., in Ordo Can., 1 [1946], pp. 44-48), which contain the entire rule of Aachen apart from the chapters incriminated by the Synod of 1059, and many taken from the Rule of St. Benedict and St. Chrodegang (A. Werninghoff, Die Beschlüsse des Aachener Concils im Jahre 816, in Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, 27 [1902], pp. 40-45; C. Egger, loc. cit., p. 48). They would be two parts of a common text from which they were copied: the chapters of the imperial rule appear there, with the exception of those contrary to total renunciation of property, which is inculcated along with other precepts. This proves that the rule thus amended served the reformed Canons. Another rule certainly used by C. r. is the one bearing the title: Regula ss. Patrum Augustini, Hieronymi, Gregorii, Prosperi (Pomerius) atque Isidori. The 62 chapters are the very text of the chapters of the Aachen rule and of the expanded rule of Chrodegang: only the text is amended in what concerns perfect renunciation of property. The codex was the liber capitularis of the provostship of S. Michele of Cameri (Pavia) and is located today in the Civic Museum of Pavia (Inv.: martyrology of Usuard, B. 28, no. 146). There is also codex Ottoboni 175, which represents a further and freer elaboration of the rule of Aachen, where many sayings of the Holy Fathers on the discipline of the clergy and some chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict have been inserted. It is interesting that a passage from the so-called rule of St. Augustine appears there for the first time, cited simply as an authority.
Other compilers followed the spirit of the two ancient rules of the Canons in composing the new text of the rule. This was done by Peter, called the Sinner, founder and first prior of S. Maria in Porto (Ravenna). The Portuense rule was approved by Paschal II in 1116. The same method was observed by Manegold of Lauterbach, first provost of the collegiate church of Marbach, founded in 1089. This rule was also approved by Callistus II.
To these various rules adopted by ide Order in the first
phase of development, one must add the so-called rule of St. Augustine. It is not yet ascertained where it first made its appearance, whether in some collegiate church in France, Germany, or elsewhere. The present-day text of the rule, with the exception of the beginning: Ante omnia... principaliter nobis data, is recognized by all as the work of Augustine. It has also been claimed by historians that the text was written as a rule intended for men. Instead, recent authors hold that it was originally a letter (211) addressed to the holy virgins of Hippo. It would have been transcribed with adaptation for the male sex during the 7th century, probably in Gaul. This is attested by the 7th-century Corbie codex, which contains the oldest manuscript of the rule adapted for men, which, it appears, served as spiritual reading for monks (cf. A. Casamassa, Il più antico codice della regola monastica di S. Agostino, in Rendiconti Pont. Acc. rom. arch., 1 [1923], pp. 25-105).
During the 12th century, the Rule of St. Augustine became the official Rule of the Order, although its text was not yet fixed. This is evident from the codices and is clear proof that it was freely chosen by the Canons. In various collegiate churches, such as by the Canons of St. Victor in Paris and those of Marbach, only the genuine text was accepted as a rule. In others, this was preceded by another text, now universally considered spurious, which begins with the aforementioned words: Ante omnia, exactly as it is found in the Codex Corbiense from the beginning of the 8th century. Other chapters removed from the spurious text the entire paragraph concerning the Divine Office, manual labor, and other monastic practices unsuited to Canons, leaving only the beginning. Elsewhere, this opening appears in the title of the rule, and in the genuine text it is recalled in the following manner: Haec sunt quae praecipimus observari, et in canonico habitantes post principalia praecepta Dei et proximi, caritatis vinculum custodiatur. Similar variants are found in codices up to the end of the 15th century. When the text of the Rule of St. Augustine was definitively established, the precept of charity, recommended by the opening words of the spurious rule, was retained in the Augustinian rule, which was defined as the rule par excellence of charity to be practiced in the common religious life. With the spread of this rule among the Can. reg., the Order is mentioned in papal bulls as constituted: secundum Deum et s. Augustini regulam.
With the observance of the perfect common life, divine worship flourished with solemn liturgical functions and the daytime and nocturnal office. To this primary purpose the Canons consecrated the greater part of their daily activity.
Many collegiate churches, especially if founded by zealous bishops, remained subject to their jurisdiction at first. Later, the Can. reg. obtained the protection of the Holy See and other privileges, not excluding that of electing their own prelate. Popes and bishops also granted parish benefices to many chapters. Beneficence in favor of the poor and pilgrims was soon practiced by the Can. reg. Outside the enclosure of the cloister, a room called an hospitium or hospitale existed for this purpose. The care of those sheltered was entrusted to a canon called the magister hospitii. This beneficence, widely practiced from the 11th century to the present day, was rendered most meritoriously by the Canons of the Great St. Bernard, the Can. reg. of the Holy Sepulchre, who survived until the 19th century, and the Can. reg. of St. Anthony and of the Holy Spirit, which had one of its two central houses in Rome that still retains the name (hospital of Santo Spirito). To remedy the lack of general governance in the Order and the possible laxity of regular discipline, the Fourth Lateran Council under Innocent III (1215) prescribed that the Can. reg. and the Benedictines should celebrate triennial provincial chapters. In these, they were to appoint visitors and certain prelates to carry out the canonical visitation of the various houses. The need for reform was felt in the following century. Benedict XII ordered it with the Constitution of May 25, 1339 (Bullarium romanum, Turin 1857 ff., p. 424). The document contains provisions for the reception and education of the young, the daytime office, offices, food, clothing, the administration of property, libraries, and archives. The Order then comprised four provinces in Italy,
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO
five in France, and seven in other countries. After an ephemeral improvement, regular discipline worsened with the appearance of the schism and the system of commendatory abbacies; secularization continued, and of the cathedral chapters only a few remained regular in name until the 17th century. Another general reform was not attempted again; however, on several occasions, innovative currents manifested themselves, infusing new life into the institution. In this way, almost always through the work of the canons themselves, the Congregations arose. The canonical houses, hitherto independent of one another, were united into a single body with a central direction, constituted by a superior general with a few counselors. These Congregations also adopted the celebration of general chapters, annual at first, triennial afterwards. Some, alongside these innovations, maintained the primitive characteristics of the Order, the perpetuity of prelacies and the stability of individuals, uniting at times to form a Congregation on the model of monastic ones.
A particularity of the Order is its spiritual schools:
1. The School of St. Victor: its main representatives, Hugh, Richard, Adam, Achard, Thomas Gallus, are rather speculative in nature and under the influence of Pseudo-Dionysius. All of creation, historical events, and Holy Scripture in particular contain a "divine nucleus" that is known through intuitive meditation. From this one rises to contemplation, which is an affective consideration of divine truth, free from the "smoke of passions."
2. The School of Windesheim: better known under the name of "Devotio moderna." This indicates precisely a new spiritual current which, through the Can. reg. of Windesheim and the Brethren of the Common Life, spread to the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and Spain.
3. The Lateran School: the Lateran Congregation, in the fervor of reform, produced a literature very rich in an ascetic nature, not infrequently inspired by the "Devotio moderna"; without complex schemes, it insists on renunciation of the world and one's own will, giving less importance to austerities than to filial and intimate prayer and the frequent reception of the Sacraments. Among the authors, who also have the merit of usually having used the vernacular, are: Paolo Maffei, Serafino da Fermo, Pietro da Lucca, Serafino da Bologna, Alessandro Torre, Nicola Bambacari.
In the missionary field, the Can. reg. of St. A. rendered themselves meritorious, in the 12th and 13th centuries, in the evangelization of certain Slavic tribes of northern Germany and the Baltic peoples. The canon regular St. Vicelin preached the gospel to the Wagrians, and St. Meinard crowned his missionary activity in the Baltic with his death. The Portuguese Congregation of St. John the Evangelist later brought the good news to the Kingdom of Congo, Abyssinia, and India; Spanish Can. reg. collaborated in 1500 in the conversion of the American Indians.
The contribution of the Order to culture and civilization is considerable. We note first of all the theological school of St.
Victor of Paris with Hugh, Richard, Godfrey, Walter, Robert of Flamesbury, Peter of Poitiers, and the biblical scholars Andrew and Peter Comestor. The college of Can. reg. of Val des Ecoliers was part of the theological faculty of the University of Paris. In the theological field we also note Gerhoh of Reichersberg, Martín de Azpilcueta, known as Navarrus, Giovanni Crisostomo Trombelli, and Eusebio Amort, the last two, together with Gabriele Pennotto, also distinguished historiographers of the Order. Throughout the Middle Ages, St. Ivo of Chartres and Stephen of Tournai were famous as canonists. For oriental and biblical studies, limiting ourselves, as above, to a few representative figures, Ambrose Theseus, Agostino Steuco, Sebastian Seemiller, and Giovanni Crisostomo Mitterrutzner should be named. For medieval Latin poetry, Andrew of St. Victor is celebrated, and in humanist poetry, Girolamo Vida, Basilio Zanchi, Jean-Baptiste Santeul (Santolius). Alessandro Marino can be called the founder of the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome.
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO - The grand dome of the Abbey of Klosterneuburg. Begun by Donato D'Allio in 1730, finished by Joseph Kornhäusel in 1836-42 - Austria.
to mention those that still exist today.
10. The Congregation of the Most Holy Savior, also called the Rhenish Congregation
It was so named after the church of the Savior in Bologna, near which, in the mid-14th century, the C. r. of S. Maria di Reno moved. This renowned collegiate church had arisen at the beginning of the 12th century near the Reno torrent in the territory of Bologna; but the beginning of the Congregation was the work of Stefano Agazzari, prior of the recently founded C. r. in S. Ambrogio di Gubbio. He obtained from Martin V in 1418 the union of S. Ambrogio with S. Salvatore, and the following year the Congregation was founded. Other canonries joined them, and by the end of the following century they reached the number of forty, among which were the Roman ones of S. Pietro in Vincoli, S. Lorenzo fuori le mura, and S. Agnese. The Congregation produced many men distinguished for virtue and learning, including b. Arcangelo Canetoli, Agostino Steuco, card. Andrea Galli, and Archbishop Vincenzo Garofali. Suppressed in 1810, it was restored in the years 1814-19 and united with the Lateran Congregation in 1823.2. The Congregation of S. Giorgio in Alga-Venice. — S. Giorgio was an ancient priory of C. r., reduced in 1404 to a single prior with two "tacite professi" laymen. The priory was suppressed, and a very observant collegiate church of secular canons leading a common life was established at S. Giorgio. It was approved by Gregory XIII in 1407. Among the early canons were the Pope's nephews, Antonio Correr and Gabriele Condulmer (later Eugene IV), and s. Lorenzo Giustiniani. They had several houses in Italy, including S. Salvatore in Lauro in Rome. They became regulars when Pius V imposed solemn vows upon them in 1570. Clement IX suppressed them in 1668, and their property passed to the republic for the war against the Turks.
11. The Congregation of Windesheim
It was founded in 1386 at Windesheim near Zwolle by Florentius Radewijns and six Brothers of the Common Life, and approved by Boniface IX and Martin V. It spread rapidlyCANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO
in the Netherlands and Germany. Especially in the 15th century, it rendered high service to the reform of the canonical life. It disappeared with the Napoleonic suppression. At the beginning of that century, various houses of C. r. were aggregated to it, along with the principal house of Groenendael built by b. John Ruysbroeck. In 1432, another twelve canonries, together with the principal one of Neuss in the diocese of Cologne, joined II. The provostship of Marbach, stripped and ruined by the Armagnacs, also rose to new life in 1464 through incorporation into the Congregation. At its greatest development, it counted as many as a hundred and twenty houses, many of which perished with the Reformation. In the 17th century, there was also an attempt to unite with the Lateran Congregation. It disappeared definitively with the Napoleonic suppression.
4. The Congregation of S. Vittore and S. Genoveffa of Paris. — The Abbey of S. Victor, founded by William of Champeaux, was approved by Paschal II in 1114. It soon became a renowned center of culture. Among the illustrious Victorine canons are Hugh, Richard, and Adam. The abbey had many priories and parishes as dependencies. After years of splendor, it was swept away by the revolutionary whirlwind. At the end of the 15th century, an attempt to unite with the Congregation of Windesheim failed. In 1515, it associated with the new Congrégation réformée de France, which was named after S. Victor. But in 1544 the Victorines returned to independence. The series of commendatory abbots began. The government of the abbey was entrusted to vicar priors until 1641; these then became triennial priors. In 1634, another reform promoted by prior Carlo Faure of the Abbey of S. Geneviève and by card. de la Rochefoucauld gave rise to the Congregation of S. Geneviève. Numerous abbeys and priories of France and some of the Netherlands were part of it, but it too was swept away by the revolutionary whirlwind. Among the last canons of these Parisian abbeys to die as martyrs were b. Carlo Maria Bernard, librarian of S. Victor, and the bbs. Jean-François Bonnet de Pradal and Claude Ponce of S. Geneviève.
12. The Congregation of the Most Holy Savior Our Lord
It was founded by s. Peter Fourier, regular canon of the Abbey of Chaumousey and parish priest of Mattaincourt in Lorraine. The saint had already given life to the Congregation of the Canonesses Regular of Our Lady when (in 1623) he undertook the reform of the canonical life in the abbeys of his region. By 1628 the reform had been accepted by eight houses, which Urban VIII, by a bull of August 28 of the same year, united into a Congregation. At the same time, he granted it the privilege that the superior general be elected for life. It propagated especially in Lorraine and Savoy and rendered distinguished service in the sacred ministry and in the instruction and education of male youth.6. The Congregation of S. Croce of Coimbra in Portugal. — It was so named from the central house erected in 1132 by Tellone, archdeacon of the Cathedral. The canons adopted the customs of those of S. Rufo of Valence. St. Anthony of Padua lived among them in Coimbra before entering the Franciscan Order. From a reform promoted by King John II, the Congregation arose in 1527 with various houses scattered throughout the Lusitanian kingdom.
### III. CONGREGATIONS STILL IN EXISTENCE.
1. Congregation of the Lateran C. r. of the Most Holy Savior. — It traces its origins back to the ancient C. r. who until 1299 officiated at the most distinguished temple of Christianity. Canonical and cloistered life was introduced there, it appears, as early as the 9th century and reformed in the 11th under the pontificate of Alexander II. The C. r. of this reform came from the priory of S. Frediano in Lucca. The Lateran priory possessed various churches, including S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, castles, and estates. Prior Bernardo, who later became cardinal-bishop of Porto, wrote before 1145 the Ordo Officiorum Ecclesiae Lateranensis (ed. L. Fischer, Munich 1916), which, besides prescriptions concerning conventual life, contains interesting information on the liturgy of the Lateran Basilica, which was different and more ancient than that followed by the Curia.
In 1439 Eugene IV, formerly belonging to the Congregation of S. Giorgio in Alga, instructed other Lucchese c. r., namely from the priory of S. Maria di Fregionais—which arose in the 12th century and became the center of a Congregation at the beginning of the 15th century—to resume the tradition of regular life at the Lateran. This new organization had emerged from a reform promoted by Bartolomeo da Roma, Leone da Carate, and companions, which penetrated other canonries that Martin V united into a Congregation in 1421. Installed at the Lateran, in 1446 it received the title of "Congregatio Salvatoris Lateranensis". Its stay at the Archbasilica continued under Nicholas V and Paul II, and ceased in 1471 due to the rivalry of external elements, but the Congregation retained, by the express will of Sixtus IV, the title and all the privileges annexed to its residence at the Lateran. It was also the heir of many ancient regular canonries, such as S. Frediano di Lucca, S. Croce di Mortara, S. Maria in Porto near Ravenna, S. Vittore and S. Giovanni in Monte of Bologna, and S. Andrea di Vercelli, which were gradually incorporated into II. At the beginning of the 17th century it possessed about 80 religious houses in Italy, among them many abbeys. It attained its greatest development in the 16th century with very noteworthy ascetic, cultural, and pastoral activity. Reduced to extremities following the troubles and suppressions that occurred at the end of the 18th century and during French rule in Italy, it regained new vigor by uniting in 1823 with the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior of Bologna, through the work of Abbot Vincenzo Garofali, later archbishop of Laodicea. In the decree of union of June 28, 1823, signed by Card. Pacca, the new Congregation is called: "Ordo Canonicorum Regularium Sanctissimi Salvatoris Lateranensium".
The Congregation has a centralized regime, resembling in all respects the internal constitution of the Benedictine Congregation of S. Giustina, which arose in the same climate of 15th-century cloistral reform, and is governed by an abbot general who resides in Rome. It is also divided into provinces, which however are, according to the tradition of the Order, simple geographical districts for the purpose of canonical visitation. The Congregation is dedicated to the pastoral apostolate in numerous parishes and in the missions (Belgian Congo), and to the education of youth in schools managed by II. It is also head of the Pious Unions of the Daughters of Mary, widespread throughout the world, with its central headquarters in the basilica of S. Agnese fuori le mura in Rome.
The Congregation currently has about forty convents or "canonries", located in Italy, Poland, Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, England, and Latin America, with 350 canons.
2. Austrian Congregation of the Lateran C. r. — It was established in 1907 on the model of a monastic Congregation, but the six proposts that compose it all date back to the period of reform and maximum flourishing of the canonical Order, that is, to the 11th and 12th centuries.
They are: S. Floriano in the diocese of Linz, founded in 1071; Klosterneuburg near Vienna, granted to the Order by Margrave St. Leopold in 1108; Herzogen-
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in the diocese of Brixen (1142), Reichersberg, diocese of
Linz (1084), Vorau, diocese of Seckau (1163). Some of
these provostships are true centers of culture with rich
collections of works of art, manuscripts, incunabula (in
the library of St. Florian 800 are preserved). During
the 16th and 17th centuries, a charitable union and
communication of privileges was established between these monasteries
and the Lateran Congregation of the Savior; since that time
these C. R. have been called Lateran and the provosts Lateran abbots.
According to the ancient custom of the Order, each provostship
has a certain number of parishes incorporated into it
(a total of 110 parishes throughout the Congregation), where it carries out
pastoral activity. In the provostships the C. R. apply themselves
to choral office, study, and teaching. Klosterneuburg
is famous for its "liturgical apostolate" (Volksliturgisches Apostolat),
a movement that seeks to stimulate active participation in the
sacred liturgy by the faithful. The celebrated Gerhoh of Reichersberg
belonged to this branch of C. R.
In the General Chapter, the abbot general, who presides over
the Congregation for six years, and the co-visitor, who carries out
the canonical visitation in the abbot general's own provostship,
are elected. The Congregation today counts 6 houses with 349 canons.
3. Hospitaller Congregation of the C. R. of the Great
St. Bernard. - Its origin dates back to the second
half of the 11th century. The original purpose was to provide
for the functioning of the Hospice founded by
St. Bernard, Aosta (v.), on Mount
Jove, to replace the destroyed Carolingian hospice of
Bourg-St-Pierre. It is governed by a provost (praepositus),
appointed for life by the General Chapter; he receives the abbatial
blessing and is endowed with all the prerogatives of abbots of monasteries
sui iuris and other special privileges, by virtue of the
bull that Clement XIII addressed, on Aug. 9, 1762,
to Provost Claude-Philibert Thévenot.
Today the Canons, in addition to the care of the Hospices of the Great
St. Bernard and the Simplon, stably exercise ministry
in nine parishes of the diocese of Sion and one in the diocese of Aosta.
Furthermore, since 1933 they have initiated a mission located on the borders
of Burma, Tibet, and China (Can. Maurice Tornay, slaughtered in Sept.
1949, is the first victim of the mission). The Constitutions promulgated
by Card. Juan Cervantes on May 15, 1438 are still in use
(the original manuscript is still preserved, described by L. Quaglia in Archives
héraldiques suisses, 63 [1949], pp. 26-29), adapted and completed
by the various General Chapters and now conformed to the prescriptions
of the CIC. The Congregation today counts 86 members.
4. Swiss Congregation of the C. R. of St. Maurice
of Agaune. - It seems that the monks of Agaune adopted
the Rule of St. Benedict in the 7th or 8th century, but around 824 they
were replaced by Canons who probably followed the prescriptions
of St. Chrodegang, bishop of Metz. From the mid-8th century to the mid-9th century,
the abbots were simultaneously bishops of Sion;
thereafter, the officials of the last Carolingians, then the kings
of the second kingdom of Burgundy, and finally the first counts of the house
of Savoy reserved for themselves the supremacy over this abbey,
whose title of abbot or provost they sometimes bore, or bestowed its titles
upon their relatives, archbishops of Lyons or bishops of Aosta. Upon the advice of St. Hugh,
bishop of Grenoble, Count Amadeus III of Savoy
renounced the commendation and the Canons of the abbey
adopted the Rule of St. Augustine in 1128, with the approval
of Pope Honorius II.
From the beginning of the 14th century to the middle of the 17th, the abbey
had become a collegiate church with several prebends, and
the abbot was temporal lord of many localities. By initiative
of the apostolic nuncio Girolamo Farnese, Abbot
Pierre-Maurice Odet began the restoration of regular life in 1642,
and nuncio Domenico Passionei approved the new Constitutions in 1722,
which were later revised in 1820, 1870, and 1931. King Victor Amadeus III
of Sardinia created the abbot a count in 1782, and Pope Gregory XVI
in 1840 elevated him to episcopal dignity with the title of
Bishop of Bethlehem, with the abbey church as his cathedral.
By privilege of Eugene III, according to tradition,
the Canons wear the red mozzetta; furthermore, nuncio Odoardo Cibo,
in 1675, granted the violet habit of the canons of the cathedrals of Savoy,
and Gregory XVI, in 1840, the red cappa. Since the Middle Ages, the abbey
of St. Maurice has had several parishes, and Pius XI, in 1933,
determined which ones are of nullius jurisdiction and which are
incorporated pleno iure into the abbey from the diocese
of Sion. In the Middle Ages the abbey of Agaune participated
in the foundation of the abbeys of Abondance and Filly
in the diocese of Geneva, and ruled several priories,
such as Vetroz (Valais), Aigle (Vaud), Semur and Senlis
(France), Ripaille (Savoy), the latter founded one
CANONICI REGOLARI DI S. AGOSTINO - CANONICO
by St. Louis IX, King of France, the other by Duke Amadeus VIII; it also administered various hospices, such as St. James near Agaune and another in Villeneuve (Vaud). In the course of time, the Abbey of St. Maurice concluded various compacts or spiritual alliances with the abbeys of the C. R. of Abondance and Filly, with the Benedictines of Einsiedeln, with the provostship of the C. R. of the Great St. Bernard, the Congregations of Lateran C. R., and those of St. Peter Fourier in Lorraine.
Today, the abbey is an intellectual and spiritual center of Catholic Switzerland. The Canons are dedicated to teaching and to all forms of priestly and missionary ministry. Within the abbey enclosure, about 600 students attend courses in the adjoining gymnasium-lyceum, recognized by the government of the Canton of Valais. The Canons of St. Maurice also teach in the College of St. Charles in Porrentruy (Bern) and in the commercial schools of Sierre and Bagnes (Valais). Furthermore, they exercise the sacred ministry in the apostolic prefecture of Sikkim (India), which has been entrusted to them since 1937. As of Dec. 31, 1948, the Congregation numbered 128 members.