French Congregation of the Oratory
Founded in Paris at the beginning of the seventeenth
century by Cardinal Pierre de Berulle (q.v.), who, in
Bossuet's words, "made glisten in the Church of France
the purest and most sublime lights of the Christian
priesthood and the ecclesiastical life". It was
precisely to work more effectively towards the
rehabilitation of the ecclesiastical life that Cardinal
de Berulle founded (in 1611) the new congregation,
which he named after that of St. Philip Neri, adopting
also in part the rules and constitutions of the latter.
To meet the special needs of the Church in France at
the period, however, and because of the tendency toward
centralization which "especially from this period forms
one of the dominant characteristics of the French
national spirit" (Perraud), he made one very important
modification; whereas in the Italian congregation the
houses were independent of one another, de Berulle
placed the government of all the houses in the hands of
the superior-general. On 10 May, 1613, Paul III issued
a Bull approving the new institute, which now made
great progress. During the lifetime of its founder,
more than fifty houses were either established or
united to the Oratory, subsequently there were more
than twice this number divided into four provinces. As
St. Philip had wished, so also the French Oratory was
solely for priests; the members were bound by no vows
except those of the priesthood, and had for sole aim
the perfect fulfillment of their priestly functions.
The Congregation of the Oratory is not a teaching
order; Oratorians have directed many colleges, notably
de Juilly; but neither this nor instruction in
seminaries was ever the sole object of the
congregation, though it was the first to organize
seminaries in France according to the ordinances of the
Council of Trent. The congregations of M. Bourdoise,
St. Nicolas du Chardonnet, Saint-Sulpice and Saint-
Lazare were all inspired by the idea of Cardinal de
Berulle. The definite aim and characteristic of the
French Oratory is in the words of Cardinal Perraud "the
pursuit of sacerdotal perfection". The supreme
authority of the congregation is vested in the
superior-general (elected for life) and in the general
assemblies convoked regularly every three years -- or
extraordinarily immediately on the resignation or death
of a general. These assemblies are composed of members
who have been seven years in the congregation and three
in the priesthood; the number of members is one out of
every twelve Oratorians thus qualified, and they are
elected by all Oratorian priests three years in the
congregation. The general assemblies appoint all the
officers -- a superior general (if necessary), his
three assistants, the visitors, the procurator general,
and the secretary general. They also examine and decide
upon all questions of any importance concerning the
congregation in general; the general and his
assistants, in the interval between the Assemblies,
exercise only ordinary administration. The founder, who
died at the altar in 1629, was succeeded by Father
Charles de Condren, who, like Father de Berulle, was
imbued with the spirit of the Oratorians from his
youth. Even during his life, Saint Jeanne de Chantal
wrote of him that "it would seem that Father de Condren
was capable of teaching the angels"; St. Vincent de
Paul's was wont to say that "there had never been a man
like him". Father de Condren governed the Oratory most
wisely, completing its organization according to the
intentions of its founder. Among his works must be
specially remembered the part he played in the
institution of Saint-Sulpice, whose founder, the
saintly and celebrated Olier (q.v.), was under his
direction. He died in 1641; his remains, recovered by
the present writer in 1884, are now preserved in the
choir of the chapel of the college of Juilly. The
succeeding generals were:
* Bourgoing (q.v.; 1641-62);
* Fran�ois Senault (1662-72), a celebrated preacher;
* Abel-Louis de Saint-Marthe, who resigned in 1696,
only to die the following year. During his generalship
the congregation was greatly disturbed by the troubles
of Jansenism.
* There was the same disturbance under his successor,
Father Pierre d'Arerez de la Tour (1696-1733), who
began by appealing against the Bull "Unigenitus", with
the Archbishop of Paris and a large part of the French
clergy. Later however, having a better knowledge of the
facts he revoked his appeal, and also obtained the
submission of Cardinal de Noailles -- which shows that
his difficulty was not a doctrinal one, but arose
rather from considerations of discipline and
opportuneness. Many Oratorians have been calumniated on
this point by prejudiced or ignorant historians. Father
d'Arerez de la Tour was one of the most esteemed
spiritual directors of his time.
* The seventh general was Father Thomas de la Valette
(1733-72);
* the eighth, Father Louis de MuIy (1773-9),
* the ninth, Father Sauve Moisset (1779-90).
On the death of this last, at the height of the French
Revolution, the congregation was unable to meet in a
general assembly to elect a successor, and was soon
engulfed in the revolutionary storm, which overwhelmed
the Church in France; but, in dying, the Oratory again
attested to its faithful attachment to the Chair of
Peter. If some of the Oratorians at this time supported
Constitutionalism, the great majority remained faithful
to the Catholic Faith, and a certain number among them
paid for their fidelity by their lives.
It was only in 1852 that the French Congregation of the
Oratory was restored by Father Gratry (q.v.) and Father
Petetot, the latter, who was earlier pastor of Saint-
Roch de Paris, becoming first superior-general of the
revived institute. In 1884 he resigned and was repIaced
by Father (later Cardinal) Perraud. Father Petetot died
in 1887. Father Perraud's successor, Father Marius
Nouvelle, took charge of the congregation, which,
greatly weakened by the persecution which reigns in
France, numbers only a few members residing for the
most part in Paris.
The French Oratory at various stages in its history has
given a large number of distinguished subjects to the
Church; preachers like Lejeune (q. v.), Massillon
(q.v.), and Mascaron; philosophers like Malebranche
(q.v.); theologians like Thomassin (q.v.), Morin
(q.v.); exegetes like Houbigant (q.v.), Richard Simon,
Duguet. One must note, however, that the last two were
forced to leave the congregation where they had been
trained -- the former on account of the rashness of his
exegesis, the latter in consequence of his Jansenistic
tendencies.
Naturally, the Oratory of France exerted little direct
influence in foreign countries. except through its
houses, St. Louis-des-Fran�ais in Rome, Madrid, and
Lisbon. In connexion with England, Father de Berulle's
mission with twelve of his confreres at the court of
Henrietta of France (1625), wife of the unfortunate
Charles I, must be remembered. Among the Oratorians
were Father Harlay de Sancy, Father de Balfour, the
latter of an old English family, and Father Robert
Philips, a Scotchman and theologian of great merit, who
entered the Oratory in 1617 after having been tortured
for the Faith in his own country. When Protestant
intolerance forced the other Oratorians to leave
England, Father Philips remained as confessor to the
queen, and in 1644 returned with her to France, where
he died in l647. Later other English ecclesiastics
joined the Oratory. Among the best known are: Father
William Chalmers of Aberdeen (d. about 1660), who
entered the Oratory in 1627, author of "Disputationes
philosophicae" (1630) and an edition of various
patristic works (1634). After leaving the Oratory in
1637, he published several other works, including "A
Brief History of the Church in Scotland" (1643). Father
John Whyte, of Loughill in Ireland, entered the Oratory
in 1647 and died a member in 1678. He was also a noted
theologian and published "Theoremata ex universa
theologia" (1670). A still more distinguished member of
this period was Father Stephen Gough of Sussex. At
first chaplain to the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury
and doctor and Oxford, he was converted to Catholicism
by the Oratorians of the court of Henrietta of France,
whom we mentioned above, and in 1652 entered the
Oratory of Paris, at the age of twenty-seven. The
general of the Oratory, Father Bourgoing, stationed him
at Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, near Paris, at the head of a
seminary for English Catholic priests which he had
founded, and for which the English clergy thanked the
Oratory in a beautiful letter of congratulation. From
1661 Father Gough lived in Paris as almoner of the
Queen of England. He died of apoplexy in 1682, without
publishing the commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul
with immediate reference to the Protestant controversy,
which he had been preparing for many years. In contrast
to this illustrious convert is Father Levassor of
Orleans, who entered the Oratory in 1667. A man of
ability, but, according to Batterel, "too fond of sport
and good cheer", he ended by leaving the Oratory and
apostatizing, and died in England in 1718, a canon in
the Established Church.
A. M. P. Ingold ]
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright �
1996 by New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver,
Colorado, USA, 80228. (
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Taken from the New Advent Web Page
(www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia
Project, an effort aimed at placing the entire
Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 edition on the World Wide
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