The Maurists
A congregation of Benedictine monks in France, whose history
extends from 1618 to 1818. It began as an offshoot from the famous
reformed Congregation of St-Vannes. The reform had spread from
Lorraine into France through the influence of Dom Laurent Benard,
Prior of the Coll�ge de Cluny in Paris, who inaugurated the reform
in his own college. Thence it spread to St-Augustin de Limoges to
Nouaille, to St-Faron de Meaux, to Jumieges, and to the Blancs-
Manteaux in Paris. In 1618 a general chapter of the Congregation
of St-Vannes was held at St-Mansuet de Toul, whereat it was
decided that an independent congregation should be erected for the
reformed houses in France, having its superior residing within
that kingdom. This proposal was supported by Louis XIII as well as
by Cardinals de Retz and Richelieu; letters patent were granted by
the king, and the new organization was named the Congregation of
St-Maur in order to obviate any rivalry between its component
houses. It was formally approved by Pope Gregory XV on 17 May,
1621, an approval that was confirmed by Urban VIII six years
later. The reform was welcomed by many of great influence at the
Court as well as by some of the greater monastic houses in France.
Already, under the first president of the congregation, Dom Martin
Tesni�re (1618-21), it had included about a dozen great houses. By
1630 the congregation was divided into three provinces, and, under
Dom Gregoire Tarisse, the first Superior-General (1630-48), it
included over 80 houses. Before the end of the seventeenth century
the number had risen to over 180 monasteries, the congregations
being divided into six provinces: France, Normandy, Brittany,
Burgundy, Chezal-Benoit, and Gascony.
In its earlier years, however, the new congregation was forced, by
Cardinal Richelieu, into an alliance with the Congregation of
Cluny. Richelieu desired an amalgamation of all the Benedictines
in France and even succeeded in bringing into existence, in 1634,
an organisation that was called the "Congregation of St. Benedict"
or "of Cluny and St-Maur". This arrangement, however, was short-
lived, and the two congregations were separated by Urban VIII in
1644. From that date the Congregation of St-Maur grew steadily
both in extent and in influence. Although the twenty-one superior-
generals who succeeded Dom Tarisse steadily resisted all attempts
to establish the congregation beyond the borders of France, yet
its influence was widespread. In several of its houses schools
were conducted for the sons of noble families, and education was
provided gratuitously at St- Martin de Vertou for those who had
become poor. But from the beginning the Maurists refused to admit
houses of nuns into the congregation, the only exception being the
Abbey of Chelles, where, through Richelieu's influence, a house
was established with six monks to act as confessors to the nuns.
The congregation soon attracted to its ranks many of the most
learned scholars of the period, and though its greatest glory
undoubtedly lies in the seventeenth century, yet, throughout the
eighteenth century also, it continued to produce works whose
solidity and critical value still render them indispensable to
modern students. It is true that the Maurists were not free from
the infiltration of Jansenist ideas, and that the work of some of
its most learned sons was hampered and coloured by the fashionable
heresy and by the efforts of ecclesiastical superiors to eradicate
it. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, also, there had
crept into at least the central house, St-Germain-des-Pres, a
desire for some relaxation of the strict regularity that had been
the mark of the congregation; a desire that was vigorously opposed
by other houses. And, though there is reason to believe that the
laxity was much less serious than it was represented to be by the
rigorists, the dissensions caused thereby and by the taint of
Jansenism had weakened the congregation and lowered it in public
esteem when the crash of the Revolution came. Yet, right up to the
suppression of the religious orders in 1790, the Maurists worked
steadily at their great undertakings, and some of their
publications were, by general consent, carried on by learned
Academies after the disturbance of the Revolution had passed. In
1817 some of the survivors of those who had been driven from
France in 1790 returned, and an attempt was made to restore the
congregation. The project, however, did not meet with the
approbation of the Holy See and the congregation ceased to exist.
The last surviving member, Dom Brial, died in 1833. In 1837, when
Gregory XVI established the Congregation of France under the
governance of the Abbey of Solesmes, the new congregation was
declared the successor of all the former congregations of French
Benedictines, including that of St-Maur.
Constitution
The early Maurists, like the Congregation of St-Vannes from which
they sprang imitated the constitution of the reformed Congregation
of Monte Cassino. But before many years the need of new
regulations more suitable to France was recognized and Dom
Gregoire Tarisse, the first Superior-General, was entrusted with
the task of drawing them up. Dom Maur Dupont, who was elected
president in 1627, had already made an attempt to accomplish this;
but the Chapter of 1630 appointed a commission, of which Dom
Tarisse was the chief member, to reconstruct the whole work. The
result of their labours was first submitted to Dom Athanase de
Mongin in 1633, then again to Dom Tarisse and three others in
1639, and was finally confirmed by the General Chapter of 1645.
Under these constitutions the president (now styled "superior-
general") and the priors of the commendatory houses of the
congregation were to be elected every three years. They were
eligible for re-election. The superior-general was to reside at
the Abbey of St-Germain-des-Pres and was to be subject only to the
general chapter, which met every three years. With him, however,
were associated two "assistants" and six "visitors", one for each
province. These also resided at St-Germain-des-Pres, were elected
by the general chapter every three years, and constituted, with
the superior-general, the executive council of the congregation.
Besides these officials, the general chapter was composed of three
priors and three conventuals from each province. Every three
years, there were chosen from its ranks nine "definitors" who
appointed the six visitors, the heads of all the houses that
possessed no regular abbot, the novice-masters, the procurator in
curia, the preachers, professors, etc., of the congregation. Each
province also possessed its provincial chapter, which was presided
over by the visitor, and consisted of the priors and one elected
representative from each house. In each province there were to be
two novitiates. Those who desired to embrace the monastic state
spent one year as "postulants", a second as "novices", and then,
when they had completed the five years' course of philosophy and
theology, spent a "year of recollection" before they were admitted
to the priesthood. The discipline was marked by a return to the
strict rule of St. Benedict. All laboured with their hands, all
abstained from flesh-meat, all embraced regular poverty; the
Divine Office was recited at the canonical hours with great
solemnity, silence was observed for many hours, and there were
regular times for private prayer and meditation. And this
discipline was uniform throughout every house of the congregation.
None were dispensed from its strict observance save the sick and
the infirm. Until the movement towards relaxation at the end of
the eighteenth century, the Maurists were as renowned for the
austerity of their observance as for the splendour of their
intellectual achievements.
To the great body of students, indeed, the Maurists are best known
by their services to ecclesiastical and literary history, to
patrology, to Biblical studies, to diplomatics, to chronology and
to liturgy. The names of DD. Luc d'Achery, Jean Mabillon, Thierry,
Ruinart, Francois Lami, Pierre Coustant, Denys de Sainte-Marthe,
Edmond Mart�ne, Bernard de Montfaucon, Maur Francois Dantine,
Antoine Rivet de la Grange and Martin Bouquet recall some of the
most scholarly works ever produced. To these and to their
confreres we are indebted for critical and still indispensable
editions of the great Latin and Greek Fathers, for the history of
the Benedictine Order and the lives of its saints, for the "Gallia
Christiana" and the Histoire Litteraire de la France," for the De
re Diplomatica" and "L'art de verifier les dates", for
"L'antiquite expliquee et representee" and the "Paleographia
Graeca", for the "Recueil des historiens des Gaules", the "Veterum
scriptorum amplissima collectio", the "Thesaurus Anecdotorum", the
"Spicilegium veterum scriptorum", the "Museum Italicum", the
"Voyage litteraire", and numerous other works that are the
foundation of modern historical and liturgical studies. For nearly
two centuries the great works that were the result of the
foresight and high ideals of Dom Gregoire Tarisse, were carried on
with an industry, a devotion, and a mastery that aroused the
admiration of the learned world. To this day all who labour to
elucidate the past ages and to understand the growth of Western
Christendom, must acknowledge their indebtedness to the Maurist
Congregation.
LESLIE A. ST. L. TOKE
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
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 Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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