The Solesmes Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation was founded in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI as the French Benedictine Congregation, with the newly reopened monastery of Solesmes Abbey under Dom Prosper Guéranger at its head. The Congregation's first nunnery was St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper and Madame Cécile Bruyère.
The Congregation focuses particularly on the traditional Latin liturgy and on Gregorian chant. One of its abbeys, Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, became internationally famous when an album its monks recorded in 1973, Chant, became a huge hit when re-released in 1994, peaking at #3 on the U.S. album charts.
Read more about Solesmes Congregation: List of Houses
Famous quotes containing the word congregation:
“In 1862 the congregation of the church forwarded the church bell to General Beauregard to be melted into cannon, “hoping that its gentle tones, that have so often called us to the House of God, may be transmuted into war’s resounding rhyme to repel the ruthless invader from the beautiful land God, in his goodness, has given us.””
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)