CONGREGAZIONE DEL CORPO DI CRISTO
Monastic institution founded in 1328 by the Blessed Andrea di Paolo (d. c. 1345), Marquis of Torre Andrea (near Assisi), who, after spending several years in the Benedictine abbey of Monte Subasio, obtained permission from the Blessed Alessandro Vincioli, Bishop of Nocera Umbra, to live according to the Cistercian Rule near Gualdo Tadino. There he built a monastery called the *Corpus Domini*, which became the center of the Congregation and the residence of the Abbot General, to whom twelve other monasteries were subject.
The members of this Congregation were called White Monks, from their habit, or Brothers of the Most Holy Sacrament, from their office, because their institute was entirely oriented toward the Eucharist: to preserve it with decorum, to prepare the faithful to receive it worthily, to carry it (by privilege) in processions, and especially to solemnize the feast of *Corpus Domini* with its octave, proclaiming the spiritual privileges granted by Urban IV and Martin V. Their coat of arms consisted of a chalice surmounted by a host held by adoring angels. In 1377 they received approval from Gregory XI. In 1395 Boniface IX transferred the dignity of Abbot General to the superior of Santa Maria in Campis in Foligno, because the *Corpus Domini* monastery in Gualdo Tadino had been almost destroyed by war. In Foligno, toward the end of the 14th century, the female community of Santa Maria di Betlemme was established, which aligned its purposes with those of the Congregation, under whose General it remained until 1461, when it was placed under episcopal jurisdiction. The Congregation enjoyed nearly three centuries of life and developed only in Umbria (Gualdo Tadino, Nocera Umbra, Perugia, Umbertide, Todi, Foligno), with the exception of Camerino. In 1582, at the request of the Abbot General, the Congregation was united by Gregory XIII to the Olivetans, who had had a monastery in Foligno since 1319. The last monk of the Congregation died in 1643. In Gualdo Tadino, in the municipal art gallery, a panel by Matteo da Gualdo is preserved, depicting the founder of the Congregation kneeling behind the Virgin.
CONGREGAZIONE DELLA MISSIONE
Act of association of the first missionaries (4 Sept. 1626).
Paris, archives of the Casa-madre della Missione.