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 of houses of canons regular in France.. Its members were called ''Génovéfains'' after the

Abbey of St Genevieve The Abbey of Saint Genevieve (French: ''Abbaye Sainte-Geneviève'') was a monastery in Paris. Reportedly built by Clovis, King of the Franks in 502, it became a centre of religious scholarship in the Middle Ages. It was suppressed at the time of t ...

, the motherhouse of the congregation. The religious clothes that they wore were white, covered by a linen rochet, and a black cloak for outside the abbey. The congregation was founded by

Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

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. In the eighteenth century the order had 107 monasteries and over 1300 canons, who primarily cared for the sick in their hospitals and

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

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