The Congregation of France (French: ''Labaye de Sainte Genevieve et la Congregation de France'' lit: The Abbey of Sainte Genevieve and the Congregation of France) was a

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

of houses of

canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

in France.. Its members were called ''Génovéfains'' after the Abbey of St Genevieve, the

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow memb ...

of the congregation. The religious clothes that they wore were white, covered by a linen

rochet A rochet () is a white vestment generally worn by a Roman Catholic or Anglican bishop in choir dress. It is unknown in the Eastern churches. The rochet in its Roman form is similar to a surplice, except that the sleeves are narrower. In its Angl ...

, and a black cloak for outside the abbey. The congregation was founded by Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld, commendatory abbot of the motherhouse. The congregation was aimed to restore the Augustinian abbey's rigorous observance promoted by the Catholic Church following the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

. In the eighteenth century the order had 107

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

and over 1300 canons, who primarily cared for the sick in their hospitals and almshouses.

References

Sources

* Pierre Féret (1883): ''L'Abbaye de Sainte-Geneviève et la Congrégation de France: précédées de la vie de la patronne de Paris, d'après des documents inédits'' Christian organizations based in France Christian organizations established in the 17th century Canons regular {{RC-society-stub