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Canon regular
Canon regular
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The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule (Latin: regula and κανών, kanon, 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 a partly similar terminology. As religious communities, they have laybrothers as part of the community.

At times, their Orders have been very popular: in England in the 12th century, there were more houses of canons (often referred to as an abbey or canonry) than monasteries of monks.[1]

Preliminary distinctions

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All canons regular are to be distinguished from secular canons who belong to a resident group of priests but who do not take public vows and are not governed in whatever elements of life they lead in common by a historical rule. One obvious place where such groups of priests are required is at a cathedral, where there were many Masses to celebrate and the Divine Office to be prayed together in community. Other groups were established at other churches which at some period in their history had been considered major churches, and (often thanks to particular benefactions) also in smaller centres.[2]

As a norm, canons regular live together in communities that take public vows. Their early communities took vows of common property and stability. As a later development, they now usually take the three public vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, although some orders or congregations of canons regular have retained the vow of stability.

By 1125 hundreds of communities of canons had sprung up in Western Europe. Usually, they were quite independent of one another and varied in their ministries.[2] For example, the Arrouaisians had restrained lifestyles along Cistercian lines, while the Premonstratensians were more austere.

Visitation memento mori, painter unknown, c.1500, juxtaposing pregnancy and death, with four Augustinan canons regular of the Chapter (Abbey) of Sion. Left, with little lion, is Jerome; right, holding a heart, is Augustine. Rijksmuseum[3]

Especially from the 11th century, among the canons regular, various groupings called congregations were formed, which partly resembled religious orders in the general modern sense. This movement parallelled in some respects the kind of bonds established between houses of monks. Among these congregations of canons regular, most adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, hence taking their name from St. Augustine, the great Doctor of the Church, "for he realized in an ideal way the common life of the Clergy".[4] They became known as Augustinian Canons, and sometimes in English as Austin Canons (Austin being a form of Augustine). Where it was the case, they have also been known as Black Canons, from their black habits. There have always been canons regular who have not adopted the Rule of St. Augustine: all Augustinian Canons are canons regular, but not all canons regular are Augustinian Canons.

In Latin, terms such as Canonici Regulares Ordinis S. Augustini (Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine) were used, whereby the term order (Latin ordo) referred more to a form of life or a stratum of society, reminiscent of the usage of the equestrian order or senatorial order of Roman society, rather than to a religious order in the modern sense of a closely organized body. Furthermore, among the Augustinian Canons, some groups acquired a greater degree of distinctiveness in their style of life and organization, to the point of being in law or in effect autonomous religious orders. Examples include the Premonstratensian or Norbertine Order, sometimes known in English as White Canons, from their white habits. Yet another such order is that of the Crosiers. Encouraged by the general policies of the Holy See, especially from the late nineteenth century, some of these separate orders and congregations of Augustinian Canons have subsequently combined in some form of federation or confederation.

All the different varieties of canons regular are to be distinguished not only from secular canons but also from:

Writing at a time before the foundation of the mendicant orders (friars), Pope Urban II (died 1099), said there were two forms of religious life: the monastic (like the Benedictines and Cistercians) and the canonical (like the Augustinian Canons). He likened the monks to the role of Mary, and the canons to that of her sister, Martha.[2]

  • The Friars of Saint Augustine, sometimes called simply Augustinians or in English Augustinian friars or Austin friars, who are one of the mendicant orders. The mendicants are called "friars", not "monks" nor "canons" and were originally itinerant preachers like the Franciscans or Dominicans, living on what the people gave them in food and alms. The Augustinian friars were a galaxy of dispersed religious groups, many of them hermits who in the 13th century were formed by the popes and church councils into a religious order with structures that followed the model of the mendicant orders. The Augustinian friars drew their inspiration from the ancient and flexible Rule of St. Augustine, hence their name. However, they did not combine this with the structures or manner of life of the canons regular.
  • Clerks regular (clerics regular) are for the greater part priests who take religious vows and have an active apostolic life. While they live in communities, they belong to the order as such rather than to a particular house and their prime focus is on pastoral work rather than a choral office. In the modern sense they are a category of priests of male religious orders constituted from the 16th century, examples being the Theatines or the Barnabites.

Background

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According to St. Thomas Aquinas, a canon regular is essentially a religious cleric. "The Order of Canons Regular is necessarily constituted by religious clerics, because they are essentially destined to those works which relate to the Divine Mysteries, whereas it is not so with the Monastic Orders." This is what constitutes a canon regular and what distinguishes him from a monk. The clerical state is essential to the Order of Canons Regular, whereas it is only accidental to the Monastic Order. Erasmus, himself a canon regular, declared that the canons regular are a "median point" between the monks and the secular clergy.[5] The outer appearance and observances of the canons regular can seem very similar to those of the monks. This is because the various reforms borrowed certain practices from the monks for the use of the canons.[6]

According to St. Augustine,[7] a canon regular professes two things, "sanctitatem et clericatum". He lives in community, he leads the life of a religious, he sings the praises of God by the daily recitation of the Divine Office in choir; but at the same time, at the bidding of his superiors, he is prepared to follow the example of the Apostles by preaching, teaching, and the administration of the sacraments, or by giving hospitality to pilgrims and travellers, and tending the sick.[5] In fact, traditionally canons regular have not confined themselves exclusively to the functions of the canonical life. They have also given hospitality to pilgrims and travelers on the Great St. Bernard and on the Simplon, and in former times the hospitals of St. Bartholomew's Smithfield, in London, of Santo Spirito, in Rome, of Lochleven, Monymusk and St. Andrew's, in Scotland, and others like them, were all served by canons regular. Many houses of canons worked among the poor, the lepers, and the infirm. The clerics established by St. Patrick in Ireland had accommodation for pilgrims and the sick whom they tended by day and by night. And the rule given by Chrodegang to his canons enjoined that there should be a hospital near their house for this purpose.[5]

History

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Ordo Antiquus

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Augustine of Hippo (354–430), also known as Saint Augustine, did not found the canons regular, not even those who are called Augustinian Canons. Although Augustine of Hippo is regarded by the canons as their founder, Vincent of Beauvais, Sigebert, and Peter of Cluny all state that the canonical order traces back its origin to the earliest ages of the Church. In the first centuries after Christ, priests lived with the bishop and carried out the liturgy and sacraments in the cathedral church. While each could own his own property, they lived together and shared common meals and a common dormitory.[8]

From the 4th to the middle of the 11th century, communities of canons were established exclusively by bishops. The oldest form of canonical life was known as "Ordo Antiquus". In Italy, among the first to successfully unite the clerical state with the common life was St Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli and St Zeno, Bishop of Verona and St Ambrose of Milan did similarly.

Saint Augustine

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It was under St Augustine that the "canonical life" reached its apotheosis. None of the Fathers of the Church were as enthusiastic about the community life of the Apostolic Church of Jerusalem (Acts 4:31–35) or as enthralled by it as St. Augustine. To live this out in the midst of like-minded brethren was the goal of his monastic foundations in Thagaste, in the "Garden Monastery" at Hippo and at his bishop's house. The "rules" of St. Augustine intended to help put the vita apostolica into effect for the circumstances of his time and the community of his day.[7]

From the time of his elevation to be Bishop of Hippo in 395 AD, he transformed his episcopal residence into a monastery for clerics and established the essential characteristics-the common life with renunciation of private property, chastity, obedience, the liturgical life and the care of souls: to these can be added two other typically Augustinian characteristics —a close bond of brotherly affection and a wise moderation in all things. This spirit permeates the whole of the so-called Rule of St. Augustine and at least in substance can be attributed to Augustine personally.[4]

The invasion of Africa by the Vandals destroyed Augustine's foundation, which likely took refuge in Gaul.[4] The prescriptions which St. Augustine had given to the clerics who lived with him soon spread and were adopted by other communities of canons regular not only in Africa, but in Italy, in France and elsewhere. Pope Gelasius, about the year 492, re-established the regular life in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. From there the reform spread till at length the rule was universally adopted by almost all the canons regular.

Chrodegang and the Rule of Aachen

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Bishop Chrodegang of Metz

Over time abuses crept into clerical life, including those of concubinage and independent living with the scandals and disedification of the faithful which followed. Vigorous reforms were undertaken during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne (AD 800).[6] Important milestones for the Ordo Antiquus form of canonical life include the reform and rule of the Benedictine Bishop of Metz, Chrodegang (763), and the Synods of Aachen (816–819), which established a rule of life for canons in the Carolingian Empire.

The ecclesiastical constitution or ordinance of Chrodegang, the Regula vitae communis (Rule of Common Life), was at once a restoration and an adaptation of the Rule of St. Augustine, and its chief provisions were that the ecclesiastics who adopted it had to live in common under the Bishop's roof, recite common prayers, perform a certain amount of manual labour, keep silence at certain times, and go to confession twice a year. They did not take the vow of poverty and they could hold a life interest in property. Twice a day they met to hear a chapter from the rule of their founder, hence the meeting itself was soon called "chapter". This discipline was also recommended shortly after by the Councils of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) (789) and Mainz (813).

In 816 the Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis was drawn up at the Council of Aachen.[9] This included a rule of 147 articles, known as the Rule of Aix-la-Chapelle, to be applied to all canons. These statues were held as binding.[10] The principal difference between Chrodegang's Rule and that of Aachen was their attitude toward private property. Both permitted the canons to own and dispose of property as they saw fit, but while Chrodegang counselled a renunciation of private property, the Aachen Synod did not, since this was not part of the tradition of the canons. It is from this period that there dates the daily recitation by the canons of the Divine Office or canonical hours.[11]

Reforms

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In the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, laxity crept in: community life was no longer strictly observed, the sources of revenue were divided and the portions were allocated directly to the individual canons. This soon led to differences of income, and consequently to avarice, covetousness, and the partial destruction of the canonical life.[11]

In the 11th century the life of canons regular was reformed and renewed, chiefly owing to the efforts of Hildebrand of Sovana (c. 1020–1085), later Pope Gregory VII, culminating in the Lateran Synod of 1059. Here for the first time the Apostolic See officially recognized and approved the manner of life of the religious clergy as founded by bishops and others. Gregory VII's reform resulted in a distinction being made between clerics who lived in separate houses and those who still preserved the old discipline.

Toward the end of the 11th century, the more cathedral and other chapters of canons opted for the apostolic life after the example of St. Augustine, the more urgent became both a separation from worldly life and measures regarding those canons who held to private ownership, in contradistinction to Benedictine monasticism, which till then was the mainstay of the Gregorian Reform. Pope Urban II deserves the credit for having recognized the way of life of the "canonici regulares" as sharply distinguished from the principles of the "canonici saeculares", and at the same time as a way of communal perfection equal to monasticism. In granting numerous privileges to reformed houses of canons he clearly emphasized the nature and goal, the rights and duties of the canons regular. Thus from the renewal of the canonical life there inevitably arose a new "order"—which initially had not been the intention. The privileges of Pope Urban II are the first to officially use the name Canonici secundum regulam sancti Augustini viventes, which would give the new ordo of canonical life a distinctive stamp.[7]

The norm of life of the canons regular was concretized from the last third of the 11th century by a general following of the vita apostolica and the vita communis of the early Church based more and more on the precepts handed down by Augustine. Secundum regulam Augustini vivere, an expression first employed in Rheims in 1067, signified a life according to the example of Augustine as was known from his numerous writings.[10]

From that time the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, as it was already beginning to be called, increased rapidly. A great number of congregations of canons regular sprang into existence, each with its own distinctive constitutions, grounded on the Rule of St. Augustine and the statutes which Blessed Peter de Honestis gave to his canons at Ravenna about the year 1100. In some houses the canonical life was combined with hospitality to travelers, nursing the sick and other charitable works. Often a number of houses were grouped together in a congregation. One of the most famous houses was the Abbey of Saint Victor, founded in Paris in 1108, celebrated for its liturgy, pastoral work and spirituality. Also worth mention are the Abbey of Saint Maurice of Agaune, the Hospice of Saint Bernard of Mont Joux in Switzerland, and the Austrian Abbeys.[12]

The high point of the canons regular can be situated in the first half of the 12th century. During this time they contributed series of popes – Honorius II, Innocent II, Lucius II, as well as Hadrian IV shortly after mid-century and finally Gregory VIII in the second half of the century.[10]

In the Middle Ages, some cathedrals were given over to the care of canons regular, as were certain places of pilgrimage. The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England was just such a shrine, and the cathedrals of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Salzburg and Gurk in Austria, Toledo and Saragossa in Spain, St. Andrew's in Scotland, were among many others to be reformed by canons regular. The canons also took a leading role in the intellectual life of the Church by founding cathedral and collegiate schools throughout Europe. For example, the University of Paris finds part of its ancestry in the famous Abbey school of St. Victor.[8]

Later, congregations properly so called, governed by a superior general, were established within the order so as to maintain uniformity of particular observances. Among these congregations, which gave new life to the order, were the Windesheim Congregation, whose spirituality (known as the "Devotio Moderna") had a wide influence. During the 15th and 16th centuries the Lateran Congregation added to the Order's luster by its spirituality and scholarship. In the 17th and 18th centuries the French Congregation of Saint Genevieve and later the Congregation of Our Savior founded by Saint Peter Fourier (1566–1640), responded to new needs by combining the religious life with pastoral work. Finally, in the 19th century Adrien Grea (1828–1917), founder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, in his writing put in its proper perspective the ecclesial dimension of the canonical life.[12]

In their independence and their local character, the canons regular had some resemblance to the Benedictine monks, as they did in their maintaining the vow of stability to a particular house. The individual houses often have differences in the form of the habit, even within the same congregation.[8]

Already in the Middle Ages canons regular were engaged in missionary work. Saint Vicelin (c. 1090 – 1154) took the Gospel to the pagan Slavs of Lower Germany; his disciple Meinhard (died 1196) evangelized the people of eastern Livonia. In the 16th century the Portuguese Congregation of Saint John the Baptist took the good news of salvation to the Congo, Ethiopia and India. At the general chapter of the Lateran Congregation held at Ravenna in 1558, at the request of many Spanish canons, Don Francis de Agala, a professed canon regular from Spain, who for some ten years had already laboured in the newly discovered country, was created vicar-general in America, with powers to gather into communities all the members of the canonical institute who were then dispersed in those parts, and the obligation to report to the authorities of the order. Especially from the 19th century onwards, the order has undertaken the work of evangelization.[12]

Ordo Novus

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By the 13th century, there was widespread adherence to the Rule of St. Augustine. This came in piecemeal fashion. There were in fact three different rules of St. Augustine from which to choose:

  • Regularis informatio or Regula sororum: Often considered to be the oldest rule of St. Augustine, it was composed for a convent of nuns and attached to Letter 211. Its content and style is very close to the Praecepta.
  • Ordo Monasterii or Regula secunda: This may have been a preface to the Praecepta, but it is unclear whether it is from the hand of St. Augustine or not. It is stricter than the Praecepta and differs in style, tone and vocabulary.
  • Praecepta or Regula tertia: While this may in fact be the oldest of the three rules, the Praecepta clearly belongs to the Augustinian corpus. Its spirit and content are clearly Augustinian and fits his other writings on the common life.

England

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Of all the new monastic and religious groups to settle in the British Isles in the course of the 12th century the canons regular, known there as the "Black Canons", were the most prolific.[13] At the heart of their existence was the vita apostolica, but even more than other groups the canons regular became involved in active spiritual care of local populations. Perhaps as a result of this feature they also enjoyed sustained support from founders, patrons and benefactors, and new foundations continued to be made long after the main force of the expansion of the monastic orders had declined.

In England, in the 12th century there was a great revival of canons regular, in the wake of various congregations newly found in France, Italy and the Low countries, some of them reaching England following the Norman invasion. In England alone, from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry II, no fewer than fifty-four houses of canons regular were founded. The first of these was at Colchester in 1096, followed by Holy Trinity, Aldgate, in London, established by Queen Maud, in 1108. From 1147, Andrew of St. Victor served as abbot of the newly founded abbey at Wigmore. The first General Chapter of the Augustinian Canons in England, intended to regulate the affairs of the Order, took place in 1217.[2]

In the 12th century the Canons Regular of the Lateran established a priory in Bodmin. This became the largest religious house in Cornwall. The priory was suppressed on 27 February 1538.[14] In England houses of canons were more numerous than Benedictine monasteries. The Black Death left the canons regular seriously decimated, and they never quite recovered. In the early stages of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII several larger monasteries converted to colleges of canons.[15] Between 1538 and 1540, the canonical houses were suppressed, and the religious dispersed, according to Cardinal Gasquet's computation, ninety-one houses in all.

In the early 20th century, the canons regular were represented in England by the Premonstratensians at Crowley, Manchester, Spalding and Storrington and currently Chelmsford; the Canons Regular of the Lateran Congregation at Bodmin, Truro, St Ives, and Newquay, in Cornwall; at Spetisbury and Swanage, in Dorsetshire; at Stroud Green and Eltham, in London; the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception at Epping, Harlow, Milton Keynes, Daventry and now Luton. Besides the occupations of the regular life at home and the public recitation of the Divine Office in choir, they are chiefly employed in parish ministry, preaching retreats, supplying for priests who ask their service, and hearing confessions, either as ordinary or extraordinary confessors to convents or other religious communities.

Scotland

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The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dated to 565 A.D., relates that Columba, Masspreost (Mass-Priest), "came to the Picts to convert them to Christ". St Columba (Columbanus, Colmcille) was the disciple of St. Finnian, who was a follower of St. Patrick. Both Columba and Finnian embraced the regular life which Patrick had established in Ireland. Tradition places the first landing of Columba on leaving Ireland at Oronsay, and Fordun (Bower) notices the island as "Hornsey, ubi est monasterium nigrorum Canonicorum, quod fundavit S. Columba" (where is the monastery of Black Canons which St. Columba founded), though this is clearly anachronistic. According to Smith and Ratcliff there was a homogeneity among the Augustinian houses in Scotland before 1215 which had much to do with King David I who gave them a common economic policy, and Robert, Bishop of St Andrews, himself a former Augustinian canon at the Priory of St. Oswalds, at Nostell and the founding prior of Scone, united the houses of canons through his patronage and by engaging them as his advisors.[16]

At the time of the Reformation the chief houses were:

  • Scone, founded by King Alexander I of Scotland. Tradition says that the Culdees were at Scone before Alexander brought canons regular from Nostall Priory in 1115.
  • St. Andrews, the Metropolitan see of Scotland, founded by Angus, King of the Picts. The church was at first served by Culdees, but in 1144 Bishop Robert, former Augustinian prior of Scone, established there members of his own order. The prior was mitred and could pontificate.
  • Holyrood, which King David I founded in 1128 for canons regular.

Many of the houses which claimed to have been founded by St. Columba remained in the possession of canons regular till the Reformation, including Oronsay and an alleged foundation at an unidentified locality in the Western Isles named as Crusay.

Ireland

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Ballybeg Priory, founded in 1229 by Philip de Barry for the Canons Regular of St Augustine

The Augustinian canons regular established 116 religious houses in Ireland in the period of church reform early in the 12th century. The role of the Augustinian Canons within the population was the main reason for their being the largest single order in Ireland. The canons regular did not practise the isolation from the general population operated by the Cistercians, and participated in a great variety of pastoral activities in parishes, hospitals and schools, as permitted by the Rule of St. Augustine. The revival also counteracted the decline of religious discipline which had set in among Irish monasteries. St Malachy, archbishop of Armagh, was a prime mover in the reform movement in the Irish Church in the 12th century and by the time of his death in 1148, there were forty-one Augustinian houses.[17]

It is not improbable that at the outbreak of the dissolution by Henry VIII, some of the Irish canons regular retired to houses abroad. By 1646 the Irish canons regular on the Continent were sufficiently numerous to be formed by Innocent X into a separate "Congregation of St. Patrick", which the pope declared to inherit all the rights, privileges and possessions of the old Irish canons. In the year 1698 the Irish Congregation, by a Bull of Pope Innocent XII, was affiliated and aggregated to the Lateran Congregation.

Present-day organization

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Like the Order of St. Benedict, it is not one legal body, but a union of various independent congregations.

Canons Regular of Saint Augustine

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The Canons Regular of Saint Augustine (C.R.S.A. or Can.Reg.), also referred to as "Augustinian Canons" or "Austin Canons" ('Austin' being an anglicisation of 'Augustine'), is one of the oldest Latin Church orders. In contrast to many other orders of the Catholic Church, that of the Augustinian Canons (Canons Regular of St. Augustine, Canonici Regulares Sancti Augustini, CRSA) cannot be traced back to an individual founder or to a particular founding group. They are more the result of a process that lasted for centuries. Because of their manifold roots they have assumed various forms in medieval and modern Europe.[18]

Though they also follow the Rule of St. Augustine, they differ from the friars in not committing themselves to corporate poverty, which is a defining element of the mendicant orders. Unlike the friars and like monks, the canons are generally organized as one large community to which they are attached for life with a vow of stability. Their houses are given the title of an abbey, from which the canons then tend to various surrounding towns and villages for spiritual services. The religious superior of their major houses is titled an abbot.[19] Smaller communities are headed by a prior or provost.

The distinctive habit of canons regular is the rochet, worn over a cassock or tunic, which is indicative of their clerical origins. This has evolved in various ways among different congregations, from wearing the full rochet to the wearing of a white tunic and scapular.

Confederation

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On 4 May 1959 Pope John XXIII founded the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine with his apostolic letter "Caritatis Unitas" on the 900th anniversary of the First Lateran Synod. The Confederation is a "union of charity" which binds nine congregations of canons regular together for mutual aid and support.[8] The initial four congregations were:

  • The Canons Regular of the Lateran, officially styled "Congregatio SS. Salvatoris Lateranensis", takes its origin from the Roman Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the pope's own cathedral. Pope Sylvester I established in the basilica clergy living in common after the manner of the Primitive Church. In the year 492, Gelasius, a disciple of St. Augustine, introduced in the patriarchal basilica the regular discipline which he had learnt at Hippo. At the request of St. Peter Damian, Alexander II, called some canons from St. Frigidian at Lucca a house of strict observance, to the Lateran. The reform spread, till at length the houses that had embrace it were formed into one large congregation. The canons regular served the Lateran Basilica until secular canons were introduced. There are houses belonging to the Lateran Congregation in Italy, Poland, France, Belgium, England, Spain and America. Their work is essentially the recitation of the Divine Office in church, the administration of the Sacraments and preaching. In Italy they have charge of parishes in Rome, Bologna, Genoa, Fano, Gubbio and elsewhere. In England they were a major force in the re-establishment of the Catholic Church there during the late 19th century, staffing many of the new parishes being established, until the number of secular clergy native to the country could be developed.
  • The Congregation of St. Nicholas and St. Bernard of Mont Joux (Great St. Bernard, Switzerland) is representative of the hospitaller movement by which canons responded to the call to care for travelers and pilgrims. They were founded by St. Bernard of Menthon, the archdeacon of Aosta, about the year 1050, under the patronage of St. Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of travelers.[20] Communities of canons served the poor and the sick throughout Europe, through both nursing and education. They include the canons of the Great St. Bernard Hospice at Great St. Bernard Pass in the Alps on the border of Switzerland, where they have served travelers since the mid-11th century. This community is the one which developed the familiar breed of St. Bernard to assist the canons in their ability to find travelers buried by avalanches.[21] There are currently (2012) about 35 professed canons and lay brothers under the Abbot-Provost of the congregation, with the general administration of the congregation at Martigny, Switzerland. In addition to the original hospice, they also serve at another hospice established by their founder at the Little St. Bernard Pass. Some canons have charge of the hospice on the Simpion Pass founded at the command of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801. They also provide pastoral care to several parishes in the Canton of Valais. The canons' past services have included a hospice in the Val d'Aosta which they administered from 1991 to 2011. Due to their unique position as a Swiss congregation and their work in the heights of the Alps, a community of canons went to Tibet to form a community of native clergy, arriving there in 1936. The community had to withdraw from the country after its occupation by the People's Republic of China in 1949. One canon, Maurice Tomay [fr], perished during the ensuring chaos in the course of his efforts to assist the Dalai Lama, when Tomay was ambushed and shot to death by a group of lamas at the Choula Pass on the Tibetan-Chinese border. He was declared a martyr for the faith and beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993.[22]
  • The Congregation of St. Maurice of Agaunum (Canton Valais, Switzerland) is probably the oldest continuously inhabited abbey in the West. The first Bishop of Valais, St. Theodorus, founded around 370 a shrine which commemorated the martyrdom of St. Maurice and companions. In 515 King Sigismund, a convert to the Catholic faith, endowed a monastery near the shrine to St. Maurice. The life of the monks was centered on the continual choral office and became the model for monks throughout Western Europe. Charles Martel imposed one of his generals on the abbey as superior. It seems that canons replaced the monks sometimes around 820–830. These canons probably lived under the Rule of St. Chrodegang as mitigated by the Synod of Aachen, which had been held just a few years earlier at the capital of the Frankish empire. Until the middle of the 12th century, canons of the Aachen observance and Augustinian canons lived side by side, seemingly harmoniously. This was typical in many houses of the canons of the Ordo Antiquus model. As the Aachener canons died off, the community became fully "regular". On 20 July 1642, Peter IV Mauritius Odet (1640–1657) was consecrated abbot. As a reformer, he was supported vigorously by the Congregation of Our Savior, founded by St. Peter Fourier. At the opening of the 21st century, the canons continue to witness to Christ through the common life for priests and pastoral service to the Church through parish work and the secondary school run at the abbey.[8]
  • The Austrian Congregation of Canons Regular was formed in 1907, composed of the various ancient monasteries, abbeys, and collegiate churches of canons regular in Austria: St. Florian's Priory, Klosterneuburg Priory, Herzogenburg Priory, Reichersberg, Vorau and Neustift (now in Italy). The Austrian Congregation looks after scores of parishes in Austria as well as one in Norway.[23] The Austrian congregation, as an example, wears a sarozium, a narrow band of white cloth—a vestige of the scapular—which hangs down both front and back over a cassock for their weekday wear. For more solemn occasions, they wear the rochet under a violet mozzetta.

Subsequently, other congregations of canons regular joined the confederation:

  • The Windesheim Congregation (Paring, Germany) originated with Gerard Groot's, Brethren of the Common Life. A preacher and reformer of the 14th century, at Deventer in the Low Countries, many poor clerical students gathered around him and, under his direction, "putting together whatever they earned week by week, began to live in common." Groot resolved to place this new institute under the spiritual guidance of the canons regular. The execution of this resolve was left by Gerard Groot, at his death, to his disciple, Florentius Radwyn. The foundation of the first house was at Windersheim, near Zwolle. This became the mother-house of the congregation, which, only sixty years after the death of Groot, possessed in Belgium alone more than eighty monasteries, some of which, according to the chronicler John Buschius, contained as many as a hundred, or even two hundred residents. The congregation continued until the devastations of the Reformers drove it from its native soil, and it was at last utterly destroyed during the French Revolution.[24] The revival of the congregation was proposed under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Permission for this was granted by Pope John XXIII in 1961. The motherhouse of the restored congregation, St. Michael's Priory is now in Paring Abbey, in Bavaria, Germany.
  • Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception (Rome, Italy) was founded in 1871 by Adrien Gréa, Vicar-General of St. Claude in France. The laws of separation of Church and State in France in 1904 made it difficult for most of the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception to stay in France. A new home was found for the congregation who moved to Italy, where it increased its base. The early period of this congregation saw missions established in Canada and Peru, where there are still houses today. The canons regular have houses in Brasil, Canada, England, France, Italy, Peru and the United States. Before their expulsion from France they served the ancient Abbey of St. Anthony in the Dauphiné. Their habit is a white cassock, with leather girdle, linen rochet, black cloak and hood, and black biretta.[25]
  • Congregation of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer (La Cotellerie, France)
  • Congregation of the Brothers of the Common Life (Maria Brunnen, Germany)
  • Congregation of St. Victor (Champagne, France) traces its heritage to the Victorine Canons founded in 1109 by William de Champeaux, former Archdeacon of Paris, established at the Abbey of St. Victor near the city, a school which drew students from many parts. So great was the reputation of the monastery built by William that houses were soon established everywhere after the model of St. Victor's, which was regarded as their mother-house. Numerous religious houses of canons regular were reformed by its canons. Ste. Geneviève (Paris) 1148, St. James (Wigmore, diocese of Hereford) around 1148, St. Augustine's (Bristol) 1148, St. Catherine's (Waterford) 1210, St. Thomas's (Dublin) 1192, St. Peter's (Aram, Naples) 1173 were of the number.[26] The Monastery was destroyed during the French Revolution and the community dispersed.[27] In the mid-20th Century, a successor congregation was founded in Champagne, France, which serves in France and Tanzania.[28]

The abbot primate, who is elected by all the congregations and serves for a six-year term, works to foster contact and mutual cooperation among the diverse communities of canons regular in the Catholic Church. On 11 October 2016, Jean-Michel Girard, Abbot of the Congregation of St. Nicholas and St. Bernard of Mont Joux (Great St. Bernard, Switzerland) was elected as the 10th abbot primate of the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St Augustine.

The order has houses in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, England, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Peru, Porto Rico, Spain, Taiwan, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay.

Other orders

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Other orders sprang up which followed the Rule of St. Augustine and the canonical life. As canons regular became separated into different congregations they took their names from the locality in which they lived, or from the distinctive habit they wore, or from the one who led the way in remodelling their lives. Hence the White Canons of Prémontré; the White Canons of Saint John Lateran; the Black Canons of St. Augustine; the Canons of St. Victor at Paris and also at Marseilles.[11]

The Norbertines

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The Premonstratensian Order was founded at Prémontré, near Laon, in Picardy (northern France), by St. Norbert in the year 1120. The order received formal approval from Pope Honorius II in 1126, the same year in which Norbert was appointed Archbishop of Magdeburg.[29] According to the spirit of its founder, this congregation unites the active with the contemplative life, the institute embracing in its scope the sanctification of its members and the administration of the sacraments. It grew large even during the lifetime of its founder, and now has charge of many parishes and schools, especially in the Habsburg provinces of Austria and Hungary. The Premonstratensians wear a white habit, white biretta with white cincture. They are governed by an abbot general, vicars and visitors.

The Crosiers

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The origin of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross appears to be uncertain, although all admit its great antiquity. It has been divided into four chief branches: the Italian, the Bohemian, the Belgian and the Spanish. Of this last very little is known. The branch once flourishing in Italy, after several attempts at reformation, was finally suppressed by Alexander VII in 1656. In Bohemia there are still some houses of Crosier Canons, as they are called, who, however, seem to be different from the well known Belgian Crosiers, who trace their origin to the time of Innocent III and recognize for their Father Blessed Theodore de Celles, who founded their first house at Huy, near Liège. These Belgian Croisier Canons have a great affinity with the Dominicans. They follow the Rule of St. Augustine, and their constitutions are mainly those compiled for the Dominican Order by St. Raymond of Penafort. Besides the usual duties of canons in the church, they are engaged in preaching, administering the sacraments, and teaching. Formerly they had houses in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Until about 1900 they also served missions in North America, they had five monasteries in Belgium, of which St. Agatha is considered the mother-house. To these Croisier Canons belongs the privilege, granted to them by Pope Leo X and confirmed by Leo XIII, of blessing beads with an indulgence of 500 days. Their habit was formerly black, but is now a white soutane with a black scapular and a cross, white and red on the breast. In choir they wear in summer the rochet with a black almuce.[30]

Canons Regular of St. John Cantius

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The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius were founded in 1998 by C. Frank Phillips, C.R., and are active in the United States and Canada, principally in the area of parish ministry.[31]

Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

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The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem are a congregation who solely use the preconciliar, Tridentine rites which is based in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.[32]

Canons Regular of St. Thomas

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A monastery sui juris following the Rule of St. Augustine in the tradition of canons regular, and entirely devoted to the ancient Latin liturgy of the Roman rite. The idea for the community was conceived in 2012 at the invitation of Francis R. Reiss, then a Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit and received the endorsement of Allen H. Vigneron the Bishop of Detroit. In 2019 the community relocated on the invitation of Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield to establish a permanent monastery. On the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel in 2020 Bishop Paprocki formally approved the Statutes of the Canons Regular of Saint Thomas Aquinas and canonically established their residence.[33]

Extinct congregations

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  • Canons of the Holy Sepulchre: It is the opinion of Helyot and others that no Canons of the Holy Sepulchre existed before 1114,[5] when some canons regular, who had adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, were brought from the West and introduced into the Holy City by Godfrey of Bouillon. On the other hand, Suarez and others recognize the tradition of the order, which maintains that Saint James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, established clerics living in common in the Holy City, where also, after the crusades, flourished the "Congregation of the Holy Sepulchre". After the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin, the canons sought refuge in Europe, where they had monasteries, in Italy, France, Spain, Poland and the Low Countries. In Italy they seem to have been suppressed by Innocent VIII, who, in 1489, transferred all their property to the Knights of Malta. The rest continued to exist until the French Revolution. The men's congregation is now extinct, but is still represented by the Sepulchrine Canonesses, who have convents in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and England.
  • The Gallican Congregation developed from the Canons of St. Victor in 1149. This group was established at the Sainte-Geneviève Abbey, which in its turn became very numerous and, reformed as the Gallican Congregation, in the 16th century, by a holy man called Charles Faure; and had, at the outbreak of the French Revolution, no fewer than one hundred abbeys and monasteries in France.
  • The Gilbertines were founded by St. Gilbert of Sempringham. It was the only religious order of distinctly English origin. Having completed his studies in England and in France, he returned to the diocese of Lincoln, where he became a parish priest. At first he established a small community of enclosed, contemplative nuns, assisted by lay sisters. To this were added lay brothers to work the land, and later canons to serve the community and assist with administration. Gilbert tried to associate his order with the Cistercians, who refused to accept them and advised him to produce his own Rule. The monasteries were largely double houses of male and female religious (with strictly separate quarters), with some houses for men alone. A great friend of Ss. Aelred and Bernard, Gilbert composed his Rule drawing on Cistercian, Premonstratensian and Benedictine models, but used the Rule of St. Augustine for his male religious. The Gilbertine Order spread especially in the North of England, and at the time of the general Dissolution of the Monasteries, it had twenty houses and one hundred and fifty-one religious. Unusually it was the prioress of the monastery who was the actual superior of the house, with a Master General elected by the male and female superiors in General Chapter.

Extinct congregations also include the Order of Saint Rufus, founded in 1039, and once flourishing in Dauphiné; that of Aroasia (Diocese of Arras, in France), founded in 1097; Marbach (1100); of the Holy Redeemer of Bologna, also called the Renana (1136), now united to the Lateran Congregation; of the Holy Spirit in Sassia (1198); of St. George in Alga, at Venice (1404); of Our Saviour in Lorraine, reformed in 1628 by St. Peter Fourier.

Canonesses regular

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Abbess Joanna van Doorselaer de ten Ryen, Waasmunster Roosenberg Abbey.

As well as canons regular, there are also canonesses regular, the claim of an origin in the Apostolic Age being common to both. Communities of canonesses regular developed from the groups of women who took the name and the Rule of life laid down for the various congregations of canons regular. As with regard to origin and antiquity the same is to be said of orders of women both in general and in particular as of orders of men. St. Basil in his rules addresses both men and women.[5] Augustine of Hippo drew up the first general rule for communities of women in the year 423.[34]

The occupations of the canonesses down the centuries has consisted in the recitation of the Divine Office, the care of the church vestments, and the education of the young, often particularly the daughters of the nobility. For the most part, the canonesses regular follow the Rule of St. Augustine.[34]

Some congregations still extant include:

  • Congrégation de Notre-Dame de chanoinesses de Saint Augustin, instituted in 1597.[35]
  • Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre founded in the 14th century as a branch of the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre.[36]
  • Canonesses of St Victor d'Ypres who trace their foundation to William de Champeaux, founder of the Congregation of St Victor of Paris (Victorines), (1108).[37]
  • Augustinian Canonesses of the Mercy of Jesus have their roots in a group who, more than 700 years ago, began serving the needy and distressed in the expanding French fishing port of Dieppe.[38][39]
  • Canonesses Regular of St Augustine Windesheim Congregation tracing its origin to Louvain, 1415. St Ursula's, Louvain, was one of the first women's communities sprung from Windesheim (founded 1387).[40]

Influence

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Among the orders which sprang from the canonical life were the Order of Preachers or Dominicans, as well as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, or Trinitarians. St. Anthony of Padua started his religious life as a canon regular in Portugal before becoming a Franciscan friar.[8] St. Bruno was originally a canon living under the Rule of Aachen for over 20 years when, at the age of 51, he and several companions founded a new community at the Grande Chartreuse, and founded the Carthusian Order.

Saints, Blesseds, and other holy people from its various Congregations

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Source:[41]

Saints

Blesseds

  • Olegario Bonestruga (c. 1060 – 6 March 1137), Archbishop of Tarragona from the (now extinct) Order of Saint Rufus, beatified on 25 May 1675
  • Hartmann of Brixen (1090 - 23 December 1164), Bishop of Brixen from the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, beatified on 11 February 1784
  • Ponce de Faucigny (c. 1100 - 26 November 1178), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Abondance, beatified on 15 December 1896
  • Bonifacio di Valperga (died 25 April 1243), Bishop of Aosta from the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, beatified on 28 April 1890
  • Emerico di Quart (c. 1250 - 1 September 1313), Bishop of Aosta from the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, beatified on 14 July 1881
  • Jan van Ruusbroec (c. 1293/1294 – 2 December 1381), Dutch mystic and professed priest from the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, beatified on 9 December 1908
  • Louis Aleman (c. February 1390 – 16 September 1450), Archbishop of Arles and Cardinal from the now-extinct Canons Regular of Saint Joseph, beatified on 9 April 1527.
  • Michał Giedroyć (c. 1420 - 4 May 1485), priest of the (now extinct) Canons Regular of the Penance of the Blessed Martyrs, beatified on 7 November 2018
  • Arcangelo Canetoli (c. 1460 - 16 April 1513), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Santa Maria di Reno, beatified on 2 October 1748
  • Alix Le Clerc (2 February 1576 – 9 January 1622), founder of the Canonesses of Saint-Augustin of the Notre-Dame Congregation alongside St. Pierre Fourier, beatified on 4 May 1947
  • Alain de Solminihac (25 November 1593 – 31 December 1659), Bishop of Cahors from the (now extinct) Canons Regular of Saint Augustine of Chancelade, beatified on 4 October 1981
  • Marie-Catherine de Saint-Augustin (3 May 1632 – 8 May 1668), French missionary to Canada from the Canonesses Regular of Saint Augustine, beatified on 23 April 1989
  • Jean-Charles-Marie Bernard du Cornillet (4 August 1759 – 3 September 1792), professed priest from the Canons Regular of Saint Victor, martyred during the French Revolution, beatified on 17 October 1926
  • Jean-François Bonnel de Pradal (5 September 1738 – 3 September 1792), professed priest from the Canons Regular of the Congregation of France, martyred during the French Revolution, beatified on 17 October 1926
  • Claude Ponse (c. 1729 – 3 September 1792), professed priest from the Canons Regular of the Congregation of France, martyred during the French Revolution, beatified on 17 October 1926
  • Marie Lhullier (18 November 1744 - 25 June 1794), professed religious from the Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus, martyred during the French Revolution, beatified on 19 June 1955
  • Gabriel Pergaud (29 October 1752 - 21 July 1794), professed priest from the Canons Regular of the Congregation of France, martyred during the French Revolution, beatified on 1 October 1995
  • Anne Catherine Emmerich (8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824), professed religious from the Canonesses Regular of Saint Augustine (Windesheim Congregation), beatified on 3 October 2004
  • Maurice Tornay (31 August 1910 – 11 August 1949), professed priest from the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, martyred in Tibet, beatified on 16 May 1993

Declared Blessed by popular acclaim

Venerables

  • Tommasina (Battistina) Vernazza (c. 1497 - 9 May 1587), professed religious from the Canonesses Regular of the Lateran of Saint Augustine, declared Venerable on 22 June 1972
  • António of the Conception Borges da Cunha de Leytoa (2 May 1522 - 12 May 1602), Portuguese priest from the now extinct Canons Regular of Saint John the Evangelist, declared Venerable on 15 June 1834[48]
  • Giovanni Battista (Egidio) Laurent (12 September 1884 - 30 December 1941), professed religious from the Canons Regular of the Lateran, declared Venerable on 14 May 1991[49]

Servants of God

  • Ailbertus van Antoing (c. 1060 - 19 September 1122), Dutch professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, declared as a Servant of God in 2013
  • Alexandre-Baldovin Nisse (5 May 1752 - 8 July 1793), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Cambrai[50]
  • Phllibert Fraisse (c. 1725 - 1 January 1794), professed priest of the (now extinct) Canons Regular of Saint Augustine of Saint Anthony, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Lyon, declared as Servant of God on 20 June 2023[51]
  • Marguerite Rosalie Gouanne (c. 1768 - 10 February 1794), professed religious from the Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Lyon, declared as Servant of God on 20 June 2023[51]
  • Jacques-Philippe-Xavier (Augustin) Laignel (7 December 1732 - 24 April 1794), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Cambrai[52]
  • Druon-Joseph Lefrançois du Fétel (24 September 1720 - 30 June 1794). professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Cambrai[52]
  • Anne van Derwick (26 December 1748 - 30 June 1794), professed religious from the Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Cambrai[52]
  • Cyprien Leblan (c. 1759 - 10 July 1794), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, martyred during the French Revolution[52]
  • Yves-Jean Baptiste Delaunay (18 March 1725 - 3 August 1794), professed priest of the Canons Regular of Saint Genevieve, martyred during the French Revolution from the Archdiocese of Rennes[53]
  • Salvatore Luigi Zola (12 April 1822 - 28 April 1898), Bishop of Lecce from the Canons Regular of the Lateran[54]
  • María Dolores de los Ángeles of the Child Jesus Dávila Sestelo (8 November 1899 - 15 July 1988), professed religious from the Canonesses Regular of Saint Augustine, declared as Servant of God on 17 February 1998[55]

Other notable figures

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See also

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References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Canons regular are members of certain religious orders within the , comprising ordained priests who live in community according to a rule—most commonly the Rule of St. Augustine—and are dedicated to the liturgical life, preaching, administration of sacraments, and pastoral service. They occupy a position intermediate between , who focus on contemplative enclosure, and , who serve individually without communal vows, emphasizing both clerical duties and regular observance. The canonical life draws its inspiration from the communal practices of the early as described in the , with formal structures emerging in the Western Church by the 4th century. It was systematically organized in 763 by St. Chrodegang, Bishop of , through his Regula vitæ communis, which adapted St. Augustine's Rule for cathedral chapters of clerics living together and reciting the Divine Office daily. By the 9th century, these chapters had become models of regular life, though periods of laxity in the 9th to 11th centuries led to reforms, including those decreed by in 1059 and the in the , which standardized their roles, rights, and emphasis on and episcopal assistance. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the movement experienced a significant revival, spreading across Europe with the establishment of independent congregations such as the Canons Regular of the Lateran (approved in 1059) and the founded by St. Norbert in 1120. These orders adopted vows of , , and obedience, often including stability to a particular house, and wore distinctive habits like the over a . Canons regular historically managed parishes, provided hospitality to pilgrims, and cared for the poor and sick, with notable expansions to regions like , where St. Patrick established many monasteries of the canonical institute, with a total of 231 houses belonging to canons regular over time, and (54 houses after the ). The led to suppressions, such as the dissolution of 91 English houses between 1538 and 1540, but surviving congregations continue today, including the Norbertines and Augustinian Canons, active in education, , and missionary work.

Definitions and Distinctions

Canonical Life and Rule

A is a who belongs to a religious community of living under a rule, primarily the Rule of St. Augustine, which emphasizes communal life oriented toward the active while incorporating elements of monastic discipline. This integrates the sacred ministry of the with the religious state, focusing on the service of Divine worship and the care of souls through preaching, , and sacramental administration. The term "canon regular" originates from the Greek word kanōn, meaning a rule or , combined with the Latin regularis, denoting one who adheres to such a rule in community life, distinguishing these clerics from secular canons who follow only diocesan norms without . Central to their life is the Augustinian Rule, a concise guide written by St. Augustine around 397 AD, which promotes harmony, common ownership of goods, and mutual charity as foundational to priestly service. Canons regular profess solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, binding them perpetually to their community and rule, though adapted to allow for external pastoral engagements rather than strict . Key elements of canonical life include the choral recitation of the Divine Office, which forms the heartbeat of their daily rhythm and is performed with liturgical solemnity to honor God; the practice of common life, where all possessions are shared and decisions are made collegially; and the evangelical counsels observed in a manner suited to clerical duties, fostering poverty through renunciation of personal property, chastity for undivided devotion to Christ and the Church, and obedience to superiors for ordered ministry. Specific practices encompass structured hours for liturgical prayer and study of theology and scripture, alongside active outreach such as hearing confessions, visiting the sick, and providing hospitality, enabling canons to extend their communal witness into the world. Unlike contemplative monks bound primarily to enclosure and manual labor, canons regular maintain a semi-cloistered existence that prioritizes both prayer and priestly action.

Differences from Monastic and Secular Orders

Canons regular differ from monks primarily in their lack of strict cloistering and their emphasis on active ministry alongside communal , rather than a predominant focus on and withdrawal from the world. Unlike monks, who profess a of stability binding them to a single for life, canons regular take solemn vows of , , and obedience without such a stability , allowing greater mobility while remaining attached to their community or order. This distinction enables canons to engage directly in the care of souls, such as preaching and parish administration, while monks typically limit their to within the monastic . In contrast to friars of the , such as the Dominicans and , canons regular predate these groups, having developed as a form of religious life in the , whereas arose in the 13th century to address urban pastoral needs through itinerant preaching. Canons regular adhere to a canonical rule, often the Rule of St. Augustine, prioritizing liturgical in and stable community life over the mendicants' strong emphasis on evangelical and reliance on for sustenance. While friars embrace voluntary and mobility for apostolic work, canons maintain of goods within their house, supporting their fixed role in serving attached churches or parishes without begging. Compared to secular clergy, canons regular pursue a vowed communal life under a religious rule, fostering shared prayer, meals, and resources in a canonical house, whereas secular priests operate individually under diocesan authority without such vows or obligatory community structure. Secular clergy receive assignments directly from bishops for parish or diocesan duties, lacking the formal enclosure or choral office that defines canons' daily rhythm, though both serve the active needs of the faithful. Within the broader category of canons, regular canons differ from any historical canons—such as certain early Augustinian groups that adopted practices—by maintaining non- status with of temporal goods to sustain their liturgical and commitments, rather than depending on . This approach aligns with their foundational identity as clerical communities bound by the but oriented toward stable service rather than itinerant poverty.

Historical Origins

Early Christian Roots

The early roots of the canon regular tradition emerged in the 4th and 5th centuries from clerical communities attached to cathedrals and basilicas in the , where bishops sought to foster a disciplined, shared life among to enhance effectiveness and moral integrity. These groups represented an adaptation of apostolic communal ideals to the needs of urban church centers, blending liturgical service with elements of ascetic discipline. A pivotal influence came from Eastern , particularly through Athanasius of Alexandria's Life of St. Anthony (c. 360), which popularized the eremitic model in the West and inspired bishops to integrate monastic practices into clerical life. In , Bishop (d. 371) founded the first known priestly coenobium, where clergy lived together under a common rule, sharing prayer, meals, and resources while serving the cathedral, thereby modeling apostolic poverty and unity amid the Arian controversies. Concurrent Western clerical reforms, driven by figures like Eusebius, addressed lax discipline among by promoting separation from familial ties and to prioritize ministry. In , Bishop (d. 397) established a similar community near Tours, drawing his priests into a monastic-style house dedicated to evangelization and common observance, which helped standardize clerical conduct in rural and urban settings. Foundational texts supporting these developments include the , attributed to (c. 215), an early church order that detailed clerical ordination, roles, and ethical expectations, implicitly encouraging shared responsibilities and resources within the episcopal household as a norm for church governance. Early ecumenical and regional councils further mandated aspects of communal clergy life; for instance, the Council of Nicaea (325) prohibited from maintaining unrelated women in their households (Canon 3), effectively promoting cohabitation in church-supervised settings to safeguard purity and collective accountability. These regulations, echoed in local synods like (c. 305), emphasized clerical continence and detachment from secular entanglements, laying the groundwork for fully communal structures. As the collapsed in the 5th century, these clerical communities proved essential in preserving during barbarian invasions, particularly in and . Attached to enduring basilicas in , they sustained daily Eucharistic celebrations, scriptural recitation, and sacramental administration amid social upheaval, acting as stable centers of that transmitted traditions to emerging Germanic kingdoms. In regions like and the Gallic provinces, where invasions by and disrupted civic life after 410, such groups under bishops like Leo the Great in contributed to maintaining ecclesial unity and liturgical practices during times of .

Augustinian Foundations

St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE), born in in , established a monastic of clerics upon his as in in 391 CE, securing a garden for this purpose from Valerius. As from 396 CE, Augustine directed this , which served as a model for clerical communal life, emphasizing shared amid pastoral responsibilities. This group, drawn from his lay followers and aspiring , lived according to principles derived from apostolic ideals, fostering a disciplined yet fraternal environment in the episcopal household. The Rule of St. Augustine, likely composed around 397 CE as the Praeceptum for his Hippo community and later adapted in Letter 211 (423 CE) for nuns, outlines a concise guide to communal living. It stresses unity "of one mind and heart on the way to God," urging members to love one another with humility and prefer others in honor. Key provisions mandate the sharing of all goods in common, with no private ownership, and the equitable distribution of food, clothing, and labor by superiors to avoid inequality. Prayer is central, requiring zeal at appointed hours in a dedicated oratory free from distractions, complemented by moderated fasting, manual work, and care for the sick, all rooted in charity and obedience. Following Augustine's death, the Rule saw early adoption by clerical communities in the , continuing its use in North African monasteries influenced by his legacy, such as those preserving his teachings amid Vandal invasions. In Europe, it spread to southern , where St. (d. 542 CE) incorporated elements from Letter 211 into rules for both nuns at Sainte-Croix in and his own clerical household, marking an initial transmission to continental groups. By the mid-6th century, Augustine's framework exerted dominant influence on Western religious life, adopted by emerging canons for its adaptability to group discipline. Theologically, the Rule balances the active and contemplative dimensions of clerical life, allowing priests to engage in pastoral ministry—preaching, sacraments, and service—while prioritizing communal and interior conversion as paths to divine union. Drawing from Augustine's of Scripture, such as Acts 4:32 on shared goods, it integrates vita apostolica for , harmonizing external duties with the and charity essential for , distinguishing it from purely monastic withdrawal. This synthesis, evident in sermons 355 and 356, provided a flexible basis for canons, emphasizing and neighbor as the rule's animating spirit.

Medieval Development

Rule of Aachen and Chrodegang

In the mid-8th century, St. Chrodegang of (c. 712–766), serving as from 742 until his death, introduced significant reforms to the life of cathedral in response to the lax standards among secular priests in the Frankish kingdom. He composed the Regula canonicorum around 755–760, the first systematic rule for canons, which mandated a communal lifestyle modeled partly on monastic ideals but adapted for non-monastic . Key provisions included living together in a designated residence separate from the , sharing common meals and sleeping quarters, and abstaining from personal property to foster poverty in common. The rule emphasized clerical discipline through requirements for celibacy, sobriety, and avoidance of worldly entanglements, while prioritizing the daily recitation of the Divine Office and participation in the . Building on Chrodegang's foundation, the Synods of (816–819), convened under Emperor , represented a pivotal Carolingian effort to standardize across the . These assemblies produced the Instituta Aquisgranensia, a comprehensive decree for canons that expanded and refined Chrodegang's rule, making it obligatory for all chapters. The synods explicitly addressed the need for separation from lay influences, prohibiting canons from residing with families or engaging in secular business, and reinforced the communal recitation of the eight daily offices alongside liturgical duties. Clerical was further codified through mandates for regular , mutual correction among canons, and oversight by the to ensure moral and spiritual rigor. These reforms had a profound impact on unifying canonical life throughout the , transforming disparate local practices into a cohesive framework that bridged the divide between monastic communities and . By enforcing the Instituta via imperial missi dominici who inspected chapters, the synods centralized under royal , promoting liturgical uniformity and elevating the role of canons as imperial agents of reform. This standardization not only curbed abuses like and but also laid the groundwork for the later development of orders of canons regular, drawing on earlier Augustinian traditions of communal clerical life.

Ordo Antiquus Expansion

The 11th century witnessed a notable revival of canonical communities in the high Middle Ages, spurred by the Gregorian reform movement and the influence of Cluniac ideals that promoted stricter communal discipline and liturgical observance among the clergy. Although primarily Benedictine, the Cluniac reforms extended their impact to canons regular by encouraging a return to apostolic poverty, shared life, and separation from secular entanglements, fostering new foundations across Europe, particularly in Germany where local bishops and nobility supported the renewal of ancient canonical traditions. This revival reinvigorated the Ordo Antiquus, the older, more moderate form of canonical life rooted in early medieval precedents. Key establishments during this expansion included Rottenbuch Abbey, founded in 1073 by Duke Welf I of as a house of Augustinian canons regular in , which quickly became one of the most influential centers for the order in . Similarly, Springiersbach Abbey was established around 1102 in the region from a bequest by Benigna von Daun, under Bruno of , adopting the Augustinian rule and serving as a model for communal priestly life amid the reformist fervor. These houses exemplified the growth of the Ordo Antiquus, attracting seeking a balanced religious that integrated with active ministry, and they proliferated under episcopal patronage in regions like and the . Papal intervention further solidified the Ordo Antiquus through the Second Lateran Council of 1139, convened by , which issued decrees regulating canons regular alongside monks, including prohibitions on (Canon 7) and engagement in lucrative secular professions like or (Canon 9), thereby defining their distinct status as vowed clerics bound by the Augustinian rule. These measures affirmed the order's legitimacy and distinguished it from both and stricter monastic forms. The characteristics of the Ordo Antiquus centered on a moderate adherence to the Rule of St. Augustine, emphasizing communal living without extreme austerity, such as forgoing personal property and manual labor while upholding chastity, obedience, and liturgical purity. Unlike the more severe Ordo Novus, it prioritized priestly functions and pastoral care, allowing canons to engage in preaching, sacramental ministry, and episcopal service, thus blending monastic stability with active apostolic work in cathedrals and parishes.

Reform Movements

Pre-Reformation Reforms

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Canons Regular underwent significant internal renewals aimed at revitalizing communal discipline and apostolic zeal, building on the foundations of the Ordo Antiquus. These efforts responded to growing concerns over clerical laxity and sought to reinforce the Augustinian rule through stricter communal practices. A pivotal moment came with the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, which issued decrees including Canon 12 mandating general chapters every three years for abbots and priors, with provisions for visitations to inspect houses and correct deviations, thereby promoting rigorous adherence to poverty, chastity, and obedience; the council extended these requirements to canons regular. By the , responses to persistent laxity intensified with papal interventions enforcing stricter and observance. Pope Benedict XII's constitution Ad decorem (1339) ordered a comprehensive of the Canons Regular, dividing them into 22 provinces across —including regions like , , and —and mandating regular visitations to eliminate abuses such as private property ownership and irregular liturgical practices. These measures emphasized from worldly distractions, compelling canons to reside in cloistered communities and focus on the Divine , thereby countering tendencies toward that had crept into some chapters. A notable example of devotional renewal emerged in the late with the Windesheim Congregation, founded by the reformer Gerard Groote (or Groot) as an offshoot of the . This group stressed interior piety, frequent reception of the sacraments, and rigorous common life, expanding to over 80 houses in the by the and influencing broader canonical spirituality through its "New Devotion" movement. Windesheim's emphasis on personal devotion and preaching helped restore fervor among canons, serving as a model for pre-Reformation revitalization. Regional variations marked these reforms, with Italian communities favoring centralized congregations like the , which by the 18th century encompassed 45 abbeys and stressed liturgical uniformity under papal oversight. In contrast, Northern European efforts, particularly in and the , focused on decentralized expansions and anti-laxity visitations; numerous houses were established in during the 12th century, adapting reforms to local pastoral needs while combating feudal influences on clerical life.

Ordo Novus Establishments

The Ordo Novus, emerging in the early as part of the broader within the movement, represented innovations in the life of canons regular by adopting a stricter interpretation of the Rule of St. Augustine, known as the Ordo monasterii, which emphasized poverty, manual labor, and seclusion more akin to monastic practices. This contrasted with the more moderate Ordo Antiquus, which relied on the Praeceptum and allowed greater involvement in duties outside the community. The split between the two observances occurred around 1120, marking the formalization of the Ordo Novus as a distinct branch focused on internal renewal amid perceptions of laxity in earlier canonical houses. Key establishments of the Ordo Novus included the Abbey of Arrouaise in northern , founded in 1090 by Odo of Ardenne and reformed under strict Augustinian observance by 1119, which served as a model for over 30 affiliated houses emphasizing communal and liturgical rigor. Similarly, the of Springiersbach in the , established in 1107, adopted the new observance around 1120 and promoted centralized governance through provincial chapters, influencing reforms across and the . These foundations prioritized austerity, such as perpetual silence in certain hours and exclusion of , to restore the apostolic ideal of clerical life. Papal recognition solidified the Ordo Novus in the 1130s and 1140s, with issuing privileges to reformed congregations, including confirmation of the Arrouaisian customs in 1131 and broader endorsements at the of 1139, which urged stricter discipline among canons. These approvals, building on earlier support from the reform papacy under Urban II, granted exemptions from episcopal oversight and protected the new observances from local interference, enabling rapid expansion. In comparison to the Ordo Antiquus, the Ordo Novus introduced greater austerity through mandatory communal meals, limited external ministry, and enforced stability in one house, alongside more centralized structures like general chapters for uniform customs, fostering a more cohesive identity amid the 12th-century revival. This shift addressed pre-reform concerns over secular influences in canonical communities, promoting a disciplined life oriented toward and preaching.

Regional Histories

England and Scotland

The introduction of the Canons Regular to occurred in the early , aligning with a broader European revival of the Augustinian rule among clerical communities. One of the earliest foundations was the priory at Carlisle, established in 1122 by King Henry I as a house of Augustinian canons, which was elevated to status in 1133, making it the northernmost bishopric in . Similarly, St Frideswide's Priory in was refounded in 1122 by Gwymund, a royal chaplain, transforming an existing church of secular canons into an Augustinian community dedicated to the local saint; Henry I endowed it with several churches and rights to a fair. In , King David I founded in in 1128 as another key Augustinian house, reflecting the order's rapid adoption north of the border to support pastoral and royal patronage. These communities of Canons Regular, often known as Austin Canons, contributed significantly to medieval society in and by integrating clerical duties with communal life, emphasizing and charity. They patronized grammar schools and maintained almonry schools for the children of the poor, fostering and scholarly pursuits within their houses; for instance, priories like St Frideswide's served as centers of learning in emerging university towns such as . Additionally, the order was instrumental in founding and staffing hospitals, with Augustinian canons providing medical and spiritual care to the sick and travelers; notable examples include in , established in 1123 by and run by canons who accommodated dozens of patients under their rule. Such institutions underscored the canons' apostolic mission, blending poverty, prayer, and service. The Dissolution under profoundly disrupted these foundations in the 1530s, as part of the broader suppression of religious houses to fund and assert royal supremacy over the church. In , over 170 houses of Austin Canons were targeted, with assets valued at millions seized; St Frideswide's Priory was suppressed in 1524 by Cardinal Wolsey to finance his Cardinal College (later Christ Church), while Carlisle's Augustinian chapter was dissolved in 1540, its lands confiscated despite its cathedral status, leading to the replacement of canons with . Scotland's canonical communities faced even swifter eradication during the of 1560, when dismantled monasteries like Holyrood, redistributing their estates and effectively ending organized life for the Canons Regular north of the border. In the , witnessed a Catholic revival amid and Irish , prompting restorations of religious communities, though these remained modest compared to . This resurgence contributed to the broader reconfiguration of Catholic life in Britain, with surviving English houses influencing patterns of renewal.

Ireland and Continental Europe

In the , the Arrouaisian observance, a strict form of Augustinian life originating from Arrouaise Abbey in , was introduced to through the efforts of St. Malachy of Armagh following his visit there around 1140. This influence led to the establishment of several key foundations, including St. Mary's Abbey in Louth, founded by Aed Ua Cellaide, and All Hallows Priory in , established around 1162 by and confirmed by in 1186. These houses emphasized communal prayer, scholarly pursuits, and pastoral care, aligning with the broader reform movement in the Irish Church. The Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr in Dublin, founded in 1177 by order of King Henry II as an act of penance for the murder of Thomas Becket, exemplified the growing presence of Augustinian canons under continental influences, though not strictly Arrouaisian. This house, located southwest of the city, quickly became a center for canonical life, receiving royal patronage and expanding its holdings through donations. By the late 12th century, such foundations contributed to a network of approximately 120 Augustinian houses across Ireland by the 13th century, many adopting elements of the Arrouaisian rule to standardize clerical discipline and liturgical practices. On the continent, canonical communities thrived in regional hubs, particularly in and the . The Victorines, emerging from the Abbey of Saint-Victor in founded in 1108 by William of Champeaux, formed a prominent congregation known for its emphasis on theological study and mystical ; by the mid-12th century, it had expanded to dozens of houses across and beyond. In the , medieval houses such as those affiliated with the early Augustinian observances in and Brabant served as vital spiritual and economic centers. In , the Canons Regular of the formed a major congregation, while in and , houses supported missionary and pastoral work. These continental establishments often mirrored Irish developments in blending apostolic ministry with monastic rigor. During the medieval period, Canons Regular in and enjoyed significant prosperity through land grants from monarchs, nobles, and bishops, which provided economic stability and enabled expansion. For instance, Irish houses like All Hallows received extensive estates in Meath and , supporting agricultural production and almsgiving. Many communities also functioned as pilgrimage sites, offering to travelers; the Victorine houses in , such as Saint-Victor itself, attracted devotees seeking spiritual guidance, while Low Countries priories along trade routes facilitated pilgrim rest and contributed to regional devotion. This era marked a peak in canonical influence, with houses fostering and charity amid growing organization. The brought severe challenges to these communities due to the Wars of Religion, which ravaged and the with Protestant uprisings and civil strife. In , Huguenot and conflicts from 1562 to 1598 led to the destruction or of numerous Victorine and other canonical houses, including attacks on Saint-Victor Abbey itself. Similarly, in the , the Dutch Revolt and Calvinist reforms under Spanish Habsburg rule resulted in the suppression of many Augustinian priories by the late 1500s, disrupting centuries-old traditions and forcing survivors into hiding or dispersal. These upheavals significantly diminished the continental canonical presence, though some Irish houses persisted longer amid local Catholic resistance.

Modern Organization

Confederation of Canons Regular

The Confederation of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine was established on 4 May 1959 by through his apostolic letter Caritatis Unitas, commemorating the 900th anniversary of the First Synod of 1059, which is regarded as a foundational moment for the canonical movement in the . This initiative aimed to foster coordination and unity among diverse congregations of canons regular living according to the , without imposing a centralized juridical structure on the autonomous member groups. The serves as a to promote shared spiritual and apostolic goals, reflecting the Augustinian emphasis on communal life and charity. Structurally, the confederation operates through the Primatial Council, a body composed of representatives from member congregations that convenes periodically to address common concerns, such as the interpretation of the life and responses to contemporary challenges in religious formation. It lacks binding authority over individual houses or congregations, instead facilitating collaboration via general assemblies and shared initiatives, including joint programs for priestly and fraternal formation that emphasize Augustinian and training. Currently, it unites nine autonomous congregations, including the Canons Regular of the Clergy and the Austrian Congregation, encompassing over 1,000 canons with houses spanning , , , and . These members retain their distinct governance while benefiting from the confederation's framework for inter-congregational dialogue. The primary activities of the confederation focus on mutual support among its members, such as exchanging best practices in liturgical renewal and community governance, particularly in implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which encouraged greater and adaptation to modern needs in . In 1969, the Primatial issued a declaration on the Canonical Life, articulating the confederation's vision for balancing contemplative prayer with active ministry in parishes, , and mission work. This ongoing collaboration underscores the confederation's role in preserving the charism of the canons regular amid global changes, promoting fraternal charity as the bond uniting its diverse expressions of Augustinian vocation. In January 2023, addressed the Primatial , encouraging the canons to place Christ at the center of their communal life and ministry.

Canons Regular of Saint Augustine

The Canons Regular of Saint Augustine constitute the principal contemporary expression of clerical communities bound by the , emphasizing communal life, , and apostolic service within the . Established as a distinct form of religious life in the , they combine the clerical state with regular observance, focusing on the liturgical and of souls in cathedrals, parishes, and collegiate churches. Their identity is rooted in the Augustinian emphasis on unity of heart and mind, as articulated in the Rule, which guides their daily life of fraternity and ministry. Organized primarily through the Confederation of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, formed in 1959 by via the apostolic brief Caritatis unitas to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the 1059 Synod, the group unites autonomous congregations for mutual support and spiritual solidarity without hierarchical oversight. The Confederation currently encompasses nine congregations, among which the Canons Regular of the Most Holy Savior of the —dating to the and reformed in the 16th—serves as a foundational body with an international presence, including priories in , , and beyond. Successors to the historic Congregation of Windesheim, a key 14th-century reform movement known for its strict observance and influence on figures like Thomas à Kempis, persist today as the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine of the Congregation of Windesheim, maintaining a small but active centered in the with about 20 members across three houses. In their apostolic endeavors, the Canons Regular prioritize service in parishes, where they exercise priestly ministry through preaching, sacraments, and community outreach, alongside educational roles in schools and seminaries that foster intellectual and . This dual commitment to contemplation and action reflects the Augustinian heritage, as highlighted by in his 2001 address to their general congress, noting how their fraternal communities witness to charity amid modern individualism. Post-Vatican II, they have incorporated conciliar emphases on renewal by deepening involvement in ecumenical initiatives, such as dialogues with other Christian traditions on shared monastic heritage, and developing lay associations that extend Augustinian to the faithful through formation programs and collaborative apostolates. The facilitates these adaptations by sharing experiences among congregations, promoting a renewed vitality in line with the Council's call for active participation in the Church's mission. Recent developments include expanded missionary efforts since 2000, particularly in and , where individual congregations have established foundations to address local pastoral needs, such as and community building in growing dioceses. This growth underscores their ongoing relevance, with the Confederation's serving as a symbolic figure of unity to encourage such initiatives in various countries worldwide, though exact membership figures remain distributed among the autonomous groups totaling over 1,000 canons.

Norbertines (Premonstratensians)

The Norbertine Order, also known as the or Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, was founded by St. in 1120 at Prémontré, a forested valley near in northern . gathered an initial community of 14 men, who took solemn vows by 1121, marking the formal establishment of the order as a reform movement aimed at revitalizing clerical life through apostolic preaching and communal living. St. , inspired by a vision during his missionary travels, sought to address contemporary ecclesiastical abuses by forming a group of canons who would combine monastic discipline with active ministry. The Norbertines follow the Rule of St. Augustine, adapted to emphasize poverty, chastity, obedience, and a strong commitment to preaching the Gospel, often in rural and underserved areas. Their distinctive white habit, symbolizing purity and evangelical simplicity, was adopted early in the order's history and remains a hallmark of their identity among canons regular. From the outset, the order incorporated unique elements such as the role of lay brothers—known as conversi—who handled manual labor and temporal affairs, allowing the canons to focus on liturgical and pastoral duties; this structure fostered a balanced community life that integrated contemplation and action. Additionally, eucharistic devotion forms a core aspect of Norbertine spirituality, with St. Norbert himself promoting frequent celebration of the Mass and defending the Real Presence, earning him the title "Apostle of the Eucharist" in Church tradition. As of 2023, the Norbertine Order maintains a global presence with over 1,600 members, including priests, brothers, deacons, novices, sisters, and lay associates, distributed across abbeys and priories on . In the United States, notable foundations include in ; in ; and in , where communities engage in , parish ministry, and work. In , active abbeys such as the original Prémontré in , Averbode in , and Berne Abbey in the continue the order's traditions of hospitality, preaching, and social service, reflecting its enduring adaptation to local needs while preserving its canonical heritage.

Crosiers and Other Variants

The Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross, commonly known as the Crosiers (O.S.C.), represent one of the earliest variants of the canons regular tradition, founded in 1210 by Blessed Theodore de Celles and his companions in , in what is now but was then part of the . These canons adopted the Rule of St. Augustine, emphasizing communal life, liturgical prayer, and a special devotion to the Holy Cross, symbolized by the crosier (a staff topped with a ) that became their distinctive , derived from the French term croisés for those bearing the . Historically rooted in the region's spiritual fervor following the , the Crosiers focused on pastoral ministry, , and care for the sick, establishing priories across by the 13th century. Another prominent variant is the Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of (O.R.C.), established in 1131 in by St. Theotonius of and Dom Tello, a local noble, at the Monastery of the Holy Cross in . This community also follows the Augustinian Rule, with a charism centered on , missionary evangelization, and service to the poor, reflecting 's medieval expansionist spirit under the . The order spread to and during the colonial era, maintaining a balance between contemplative liturgy and active apostolate. Lesser-known variants include the Order of Grandmont, founded around 1076–1096 by St. Stephen of Muret in the forested region of Grandmont, , which adopted a severe hermit-like discipline while aligning with the canons regular through communal recitation of the Divine Office and clerical status. Similarly, the Swiss Congregation of Canons Regular of Saint Maurice of Agaune, dating to 1128 at the ancient abbey in Valais, Switzerland, exemplifies regional adaptation, preserving a federation of autonomous houses dedicated to perpetual adoration and support under the Augustinian Rule. As of 2024, the congregation has about 25 members in one house. These variants share common traits, such as adherence to regional liturgies that incorporate local feasts and devotions into the , fostering a sense of cultural rootedness, and a commitment to charitable works like operating hospices, schools, and orphanages to serve surrounding communities. In the , they face challenges including diminished membership— as of 2023 the Crosiers number approximately 400 worldwide, primarily in , the , and the , while the Coimbra canons count about 125 members across 12 houses in 10 countries—leading to strategic mergers and consolidations since the to sustain their missions amid and priest shortages.

Specialized Congregations

Canons Regular of St. John Cantius

The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius is a community of priests and brothers founded in 1998 in , , by Father C. Frank Phillips, C.R., with the approval of Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of , and the Congregation of the . In 2018, Phillips was removed from public ministry by Cardinal Blase Cupich following credible allegations of sexual misconduct with adult men; he remains prohibited from exercising ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The congregation continues under new leadership. The institute follows the Rule of St. Augustine and is affiliated with the Confederation of Canons Regular of St. Augustine. Drawing inspiration from their patron, St. John Cantius, a 15th-century Polish priest known for his devotion to the and care for the poor, the Canons emphasize communal life under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience while engaging in active apostolates. Central to their charism is the restoration of the sacred in Catholic and parish life, particularly through the solemn celebration of the traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) and sacred music traditions such as and . Their mission seeks to help Catholics rediscover a profound sense of the sacred via reverent liturgies, devotions, sacred art, and music, fostering spiritual renewal in urban parish settings. The Canons prioritize the full range of sacraments, with the Sacrament of Penance holding special prominence in their pastoral ministry to support personal conversion and communal healing. Since its inception, the congregation has grown steadily, expanding from its motherhouse at St. John Cantius Parish in to serve in additional parishes across the , including St. Stanislaus Parish in and St. Peter Parish in Volo, . By 2020, they had established multiple priorates and apostolates, attracting members from the and Canada to advance their liturgical and evangelistic goals. This development reflects their commitment to revitalizing inner-city and rural parishes through beauty and tradition.

Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem

The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem were founded on June 22, 2002, in the Diocese of La Crosse, , under the patronage of then-Bishop and with Dom Daniel Augustine Oppenheimer as the founding prior. The establishment drew inspiration from traditional monastic influences, including Benedictine liturgical practices that emphasize the integration of spiritual mystery into communal worship. Initially itinerant, the community relocated in 2011 to , within the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, where they established the of the of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The group lives according to the Rule of St. Augustine, characteristic of Canons Regular since the , which calls for communal life under vows of , , and obedience while adhering to the Church's canons for clerical conduct. Their contemplative orientation prioritizes and extended periods of silence, fostering a monastic centered on the full sung Divine Office in choir each day and the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. This inward-focused charism contrasts with more active apostolates, such as that of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, by emphasizing isolation for prayerful preparation for eternal life. The unique eschatological dimension of their identity is embodied in the name "New Jerusalem," symbolizing the as the present New Jerusalem and orienting members toward the heavenly city described in Scripture and patristic writings. As of November 2025, the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem continue as a public association of the faithful, maintaining a small of priests dedicated to this vision while pursuing canonical recognition as a full . Their extends this charism to lay members, including families, through formation in , , and eschatological readings like Books 20-22 of St. Augustine's City of God, enabling shared participation in the 's contemplative pursuits.

Extinct Congregations

Historical Extinctions

The Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, founded in the to serve the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in , experienced significant decline leading to their suppression in by in 1489, with their properties transferred to of . This marked an early instance of institutional extinction within the canonical tradition, though remnants persisted in other regions until the late . The order's houses in , such as those at and , had already been dissolved during the suppressions of the 16th century. The , originating from Arrouaise Abbey in the Diocese of Arras, , in 1097, followed a strict rule emphasizing and community life, influencing early Augustinian reforms. Their congregation gradually merged into broader Augustinian frameworks over time, but the order effectively ceased to exist as a distinct entity with the suppression of their mother house in 1790 amid the , alongside the closure of remaining priories across northern . Assets from these closures were often secularized or reassigned to local dioceses, contributing to the loss of canonical patrimony in revolutionary Europe. Similarly, the Order of Saint Rufus, established in 1039 near in the region of , represented one of the earliest organized congregations of canons regular and spread to several houses in and beyond. Facing financial difficulties by the , the order was formally suppressed following Pope Clement XIII's Pactiones de Extinguendo on August 22, 1764, with full extinction and properties secularized in 1774. This extinction highlighted the vulnerabilities of smaller congregations to state interventions in the pre-revolutionary period. The (1789–1799) accelerated the dissolution of numerous canonical houses across , particularly in , , and the , where civil authorities confiscated monastic properties and dispersed communities between 1790 and 1802. Surviving assets were frequently transferred to diocesan control or repurposed for secular use, as seen in the case of Augustinian priories in and . Documentation of these last houses, such as those of the Irish Congregation of Canons Regular, records their persistence into the early , with the final member dying around 1800–1820 in before complete extinction. Other extinct groups, such as the Victorines, had largely merged or declined by the . By the mid-1800s, no independent houses of these extinct groups remained operational in .

Factors Leading to Suppression

The suppression of numerous congregations of Canons Regular during the 16th to 19th centuries stemmed primarily from political upheavals orchestrated by monarchs seeking to consolidate power and seize ecclesiastical assets. In , King 's between 1536 and 1540 targeted religious houses, including those of the Augustinian Canons Regular, resulting in the closure of approximately 170 such houses, alongside 35 Premonstratensian houses. This act, driven by the king's break with and financial motivations, extended to , where persecution under Henry VIII and subsequent Protestant rulers reduced the order to near extinction by 1620. Similarly, in during the 1790s, the revolutionary government's and subsequent decrees abolished all monastic and canonical institutions, devastating congregations such as the Premonstratensians at Prémontré Abbey, which had 80 canons when demolished in 1790, and others like Windesheim and Sainte-Geneviève. Internal factors exacerbated these declines, particularly through lax observance of the Rule of St. Augustine and administrative abuses that eroded communal discipline. The appointment of commendatory abbots—lay or clerical appointees who held abbatial titles for financial gain without residing in the community—frequently led to mismanagement and spiritual decay, as seen in the Grandmontine congregation, where such abbots from 1471 to 1579 reduced the order to just eight canons by neglecting observance and diverting revenues. This pattern contributed to scandals and weakened adherence to , , and obedience, prompting mergers among surviving houses to preserve minimal viability, as smaller priories often became non-conventual with only a single superior. External pressures, including broader and rivalry with emerging and clerical orders, further accelerated the order's contraction. The Enlightenment-era secularizations in the 18th and 19th centuries, influenced by Josephinist reforms in the Habsburg Empire and anti-clerical policies elsewhere, confiscated properties and restricted religious communities, significantly reducing the number of Augustinian Canons Regular houses across . The rise of the Society of Jesus () in the introduced competition in and , where the Canons Regular's traditional focus on liturgical and canonical duties was overshadowed by the Jesuits' dynamic apostolic missions and scholastic innovations, diverting vocations and influence. Despite these challenges, partial revivals occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries following the in 1815, which redrew European boundaries and restored conservative monarchies sympathetic to Catholic institutions. In , the Canons Regular of the Lateran Congregation reestablished communities, such as at Beauchêne in 1872, marking a restoration after the Napoleonic suppressions. In and , weakened Josephinist controls post-Vienna enabled the return of Lateran Canons to sites like by the mid-19th century, with three new houses founded in toward its close, fostering modest recoveries through renewed emphasis on Augustinian observance.

Canonesses Regular

Origins and Evolution

The origins of canonesses regular trace back to the early medieval period, particularly through the development of double monasteries where communities of men and women lived in close proximity under shared governance, often with a female superior overseeing both. These institutions emerged in the West by the 6th century, influenced by Eastern monastic traditions introduced via figures like St. Caesarius of Arles and St. Radegund, and proliferated in the 7th and 8th centuries across , , and , with notable examples including the abbeys of Remiremont and Chelles in , and Whitby under St. Hilda in . By the 9th century, under Carolingian reforms, these double houses increasingly adopted structured communal lives for women, paralleling the canonical reforms for male clergy initiated by St. Chrodegang of in the 8th century, whose Regula canonicorum (c. 763) emphasized clerical community living and influenced the regularization of female counterparts through shared liturgical and disciplinary practices. During the medieval period, canonesses regular experienced significant growth, particularly in the with the widespread adoption of the Rule of St. Augustine, which provided a flexible framework for communal life combining prayer, study, and active ministry. This expansion was part of the broader apostolic revival movement, leading to the establishment of numerous Augustinian canoness houses, especially in the , where German territories saw a proliferation of such communities amid the Gregorian reforms and local episcopal initiatives; for instance, houses like those affiliated with the Windesheim Congregation traced their roots to this era, emphasizing poverty, chastity, and obedience while adapting to regional needs. These canonesses often served as spiritual centers in rural and urban settings, fostering literacy and piety among women. Adaptations to the Augustinian Rule for canonesses highlighted a growing emphasis on to ensure separation from secular influences, particularly after 10th- and 11th-century Church decrees addressed concerns over mixed communities, leading many double monasteries to evolve into independent female houses with stricter claustration. Simultaneously, their role in the of girls became prominent, as canonesses provided instruction in reading, writing, and religious to noble and bourgeois daughters, integrating this with contemplative life while maintaining a focus on liturgical observance rather than manual labor. The Protestant Reformation brought severe challenges, resulting in widespread suppressions of canoness houses across Europe, particularly in , , and , where Henry VIII's dissolution of monasteries (1536–1541) closed numerous communities and confiscated their properties, affecting over 1,500 religious women in alone. These suppressions were more devastating for female canonical groups than for their male counterparts, as canonesses often lacked the institutional protections or economic resources of larger monastic orders, leading to fewer survivals into the post-Reformation era; for example, while some male canons regular reformed and persisted, most canoness houses in Protestant regions were secularized or disbanded, with remnants primarily enduring in Catholic strongholds like the and .

Current Status

In the early 21st century, active communities of Canonesses Regular continue to exist, though in limited numbers, primarily in with emerging foundations elsewhere. The Norbertine Canonesses of the Order of Prémontré maintain cloistered houses in countries such as , the Netherlands, , , , and the , alongside a notable U.S. community at the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph in , which comprises more than 40 sisters as of early 2025 dedicated to contemplative life. The Norbertine branch accounts for approximately 200 sisters. The Canonesses Regular of the Lateran operate 16 monasteries across (9), Italy (3), the (4), and (1), emphasizing liturgical in support of local dioceses. Similarly, the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre sustain priories in (including , , and St. Trudo Abbey), the Netherlands, , , and , fostering a tradition of and devotion. These communities focus on vocations centered on intense , , and choral , often combined with works of or in active settings. For instance, the Norbertine Canonesses prioritize manual labor and as to their spiritual discipline, while some Augustinian-affiliated groups, like the Canonesses of St. Augustine at Boarbank Hall in , incorporate welcoming guests and limited teaching roles. Post-Vatican II, Canonesses Regular communities grapple with aging membership and declining recruitment, mirroring broader trends among women religious, where numbers fell by 1.6% from 2022 to 2023. Efforts to revitalize vocations include through retreats, online presence, and formation programs tailored to younger women seeking traditional contemplative life, though challenges persist amid and fewer entrants.

Influence and Legacy

Liturgical and Spiritual Impact

The Canons Regular have played a pivotal role in the preservation and development of the , particularly through their commitment to the solemn recitation of the Divine Office. From their early establishment, these communities emphasized the choral celebration of the as a core element of their Augustinian rule, ensuring the continuity of this liturgical practice amid historical disruptions. Their service at key Roman basilicas, such as the , contributed to standardizing liturgical forms under papal oversight, influencing the evolution of the rite's structure and rubrics. Additionally, figures within the order, like Adam of St. Victor, enriched the Roman Rite by composing hymns that became integral to its liturgical repertoire, enhancing the poetic and devotional depth of worship. In the realm of spiritual , the Canons Regular produced influential writings that advanced mystical traditions within the Church. Hugh of St. Victor, a prominent 12th-century canon at the Abbey of St. Victor in , exemplified this through his works on contemplative ascent and sacramental symbolism, blending intellectual rigor with affective to guide souls toward union with . His treatises, such as those on as a symbol of spiritual journey, underscored the order's emphasis on interior integrated with communal , influencing subsequent medieval . This mystical heritage emphasized the transformative power of the sacraments and the Divine Office, fostering a where becomes a path to divine . In the modern era, the Canons Regular have significantly shaped liturgical renewal following the Second Vatican Council. Congregations like the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, founded in 1998, have focused on restoring a sense of the sacred through the reverent celebration of both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the , promoting active participation while preserving traditional elements. Their initiatives in solemn liturgies, sacred music, and have inspired broader efforts to implement the Council's call for liturgical vitality, countering trends toward minimalism and aiding the rediscovery of the Church's worship patrimony.

Contributions to Education and Society

During the medieval period, Canons Regular played a significant role in the establishment and nurturing of educational institutions that contributed to the formation of major universities in . At , the Augustinian Canons of St Frideswide's Priory, founded around 1122, served as an early center of learning, fostering scholarly activities through notable figures such as Robert of Cricklade, who produced theological and classical works, and , a theologian and whose contributions helped bridge informal schools and the emerging university structure by the late . In , the Abbey of Saint Victor, established in 1108 by William of Champeaux as a community of Canons Regular, developed a renowned school open to external students, where Hugh of St Victor (c. 1096–1141) taught from 1115 onward, authoring influential texts like the Didascalicon that outlined a comprehensive integrating , , and practical knowledge, later recognized as a by the . Canons Regular also advanced social welfare by founding hospitals and almshouses across starting in the , providing care for the sick, poor, and travelers in line with their emphasis on apostolic service. The Premonstratensian Canons, for instance, established social infrastructure including hospitals and almshouses as part of their communal mission. These institutions often combined medical aid with spiritual support, reflecting the order's dual focus on clerical duties and charity, and proliferated in urban and rural areas to address vulnerabilities exacerbated by plagues and wars. In the , Canons Regular extended their educational and charitable efforts through missions in developing countries since the early , establishing schools to promote and amid colonial and post-colonial challenges. These charitable networks underscored the order's ongoing commitment to societal upliftment, integrating medical care with to foster long-term stability and access to basic services.

Notable Figures

Saints and Blesseds

Among the Canons Regular, numerous members have been canonized or beatified for their holiness, zeal, and contributions to the Church, reflecting the order's adherence to the Rule of St. Augustine. These holy figures span various congregations, such as the Canons Regular of Prémontré (Norbertines), and the Confederation of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine (CRSA). St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) exerts an indirect yet profound influence as the author of the rule that unites all Canons Regular, emphasizing communal life, poverty, and apostolic service; his feast is celebrated on across the order.

Medieval Era (11th–15th Centuries)

The medieval period saw the flowering of the Canons Regular, with saints emerging from foundational reforms and missionary efforts. Key figures include St. Norbert of Xanten (c. 1080–1134), founder of the Premonstratensian Canons Regular in 1120 at Prémontré, ; known for his preaching against and promotion of liturgical reform, he was canonized in 1582 by , with his feast on June 6. Other notable medieval saints and blesseds, often venerated for their roles in establishing communities and defending the faith, include:
  • St. Godfrey of Cappenberg (c. 1097–1127), early Norbertine who founded monasteries in ; cult confirmed in 1728, feast January 14.
  • Bl. Hugh of Fosses (d. 1164), first of Prémontré and companion of St. Norbert; beatified 1927, feast February 10.
  • St. Frederick of Hallum (d. 1175), Norbertine founder of Mariëngaarde in the ; venerated 1728, feast February 4.
  • St. Evermode of (d. 1178), Norbertine and missionary to pagans in ; venerated 1728, feast February 17.
  • St. Isfrid of (d. 1204), Norbertine who rebuilt his see after destruction; venerated 1728, feast June 15.
  • Bl. Hroznata of Teplá (d. 1217), Bohemian noble and Norbertine founder of Teplá ; beatified 1897, feast July 14.
  • St. Siard of Mariëngaarde (d. 1230), Norbertine noted for and care of the sick; venerated 1728, feast November 14.
  • St. Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld (1150–1241), Norbertine mystic renowned for visions of the Virgin Mary; canonized 1958 by , feast May 24.
  • St. Ludolph of (d. 1250), Norbertine and killed by pagans; venerated 1728, feast April 26.
These figures' legacies emphasize the order's early commitment to preaching, community foundation, and mystical spirituality, influencing liturgical practices and eremitic traditions within the Canons Regular.

Modern Era (16th Century Onward)

Post-Reformation and during global missions, Canons Regular produced saints noted for , charity, and martyrdom. Prominent examples include Sts. Adrian of Hildesheim and James of Meersch (martyrs 1572), Norbertine canons executed in ; canonized 1867 by , feast July 9. Additional modern saints and blesseds, many from missionary contexts, comprise:
  • St. Gilbert of Neuffontaines (d. 1152, venerated 1728), early Norbertine; feast October 26.
  • Bl. Alan de Solminhac (1608–1676), CRSA bishop of and reformer; beatified 1984 by , feast January 3.
  • Bl. Maurice Tornay (1910–1949), CRSA and in ; beatified 1992 by , feast August 11.
  • Bl. James Kern (1897–1924), Norbertine priest who endured paralysis with patience; beatified 1998 by , feast October 20.
Post-1900 beatifications, such as those of Bl. Maurice Tornay and Bl. James Kern, highlight the order's enduring missionary legacy in Asia and Europe amid 20th-century challenges. The Norbertines observe the feast of all their saints on November 13, underscoring their shared Augustinian heritage of contemplative action and service to the Church.

Other Influential Members

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471), a canon regular of the Windesheim Congregation, authored The Imitation of Christ, a seminal devotional text that has influenced Christian spirituality across centuries through its emphasis on humility and interior piety. His work, drawing from the Devotio Moderna movement, provided practical guidance for personal devotion and remains one of the most translated books in history after the Bible. Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536), who professed vows as a canon regular in the Augustinian monastery at Steyn, emerged as a pivotal figure in , blending theological critique with literary innovation. His satirized ecclesiastical abuses and promoted scholarly reforms, while his editions of classical and patristic texts advanced biblical . also contributed to diplomacy, serving as counselor to Charles V and advocating for peace between and through correspondence and advisory roles. In , Gabriel Biel (c. 1420–1495), a canon regular of the Windesheim Congregation, shaped late medieval with his Collectorium super quattuor libros Sententiarum, which synthesized thought and emphasized human cooperation in salvation. His exposition on the influenced liturgical understanding and , bridging and emerging ideas. Earlier contributions include William of Champeaux (c. 1070–1121), a canon regular who founded the of St. Victor in and established the Victorine school, fostering and biblical through figures like Hugh and of St. Victor. His educational reforms emphasized dialectical method and scriptural study, impacting 12th-century intellectual life. In the , Giuseppe Ricciotti (1890–1964), an Italian canon regular of the Lateran Congregation, advanced biblical scholarship and archaeology as a professor and author of The Life of Christ, a comprehensive of the Gospels based on historical-critical methods. His work integrated patristic insights with modern , contributing to Catholic education and popular devotion.

References

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