CANON REGULARS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. – This order is a restoration of the ancient Canons Regular for the reinstatement in canonical life of many of the more severe practices of monastic life, undertaken by Adriano Grea in 1866 at St-Claude. After the Revolution, while Fr. Guéranger was restoring in France the Benedictine Order and Fr. Lacordaire that of the Dominicans, Fr. Adriano Grea, then vicar general of St-Claude, conceived the idea of restoring the Order of Canons Regular dedicated to the service of cathedrals and parishes. Having come to Rome for the Vatican Council in 1869 with his bishop, he presented his project to Pius IX, who encouraged and blessed it, giving the new institution the title of the Immaculate Conception. From that moment, the Canons Regular performed choral service in the cathedral alongside the Chapter. They were assisted by twelve young pupils, who gave rise to the cathedral school.
Approved by Leo XIII in 1887, the new institute soon spread to France, Switzerland, Canada, and Peru, and in 1913 Pius X defined its dual purpose: parochial care and the education of the clergy. The Canons Regular take simple perpetual vows and have a special care for the liturgy, reciting the Divine Office in choir and giving the utmost splendor to the sacred functions. In the parishes and seminaries entrusted to them, they live in community.
(from *Bollandisti della Pont. Accad. di Archeol. ven.*, 7(2), *Canonici Regolari di S. Agostino – Il più antico codice della Regola di s. Agostino, proveniente da Corbie (fine sec. VIII) – Parigi, Biblioteca Nazionale, cod. lat. 12634, fol. 4r)