Solesmes Congregation

Keur Moussa Abbey, near Thiès, Senegal.

The Solesmes Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation was founded in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI as the French Benedictine Congregation, with the then newly reopened monastery of Solesmes Abbey under Dom Prosper Guéranger at its head. The Congregation's first nunnery was St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper and Madame Cécile Bruyère.

The Congregation uses the pre-conciliar Latin liturgy and focuses particularly on Gregorian chant. One of its abbeys, Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, temporarily became internationally famous when an album its monks recorded in 1973, Chant, became a huge hit when re-released in 1994, peaking at #3 on the U.S. album charts.

List of houses

with dates of foundation:

• Solesmes Abbey 1833
• Ligugé Abbey 1853
• Marseilles Priory, now Ganagobie Abbey 1856
• Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey, Spain, 1880
• Wisques Abbey 1889
• St. Mary's Abbey, Paris 1893
• St. Wandrille's Abbey 1894
• Clervaux Abbey, Luxembourg 1890
• Kergonan Abbey, 1897
• St Benoît du Lac Abbey, Quebec, 1912
• Quarr Abbey, England 1922
• Montserrat Priory, Madrid, 1939
• Schoelcher Priory, Martinique 1947
• Fontgombault Abbey, 1948
• Vaals Abbey, Netherlands, 1951
• Leyre Abbey, Spain, 1954
• Valle de los Caidos Abbey, Spain, 1958
• Keur-Moussa Abbey, Senegal 1961
• Randol Abbey, 1971
• Triors Abbey, 1984
• Gaussan Priory, 1994
• Palendriai Priory, Lithuania, 1998
• Clear Creek Abbey, USA, 1999

Nunneries:

• St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes 1866
• Wisques Abbey, 1889
• St. Michael's Abbey, Kergonan,
• Ste Marthe sur le Lac Abbey, Quebec 1936
• St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde, England 1950
• Keur-Guilaye Priory, Senegal 1970
• Le Carbet Priory, Martinique 1977
• Westfield Priory, USA, 1981

Sources

• Solesmes Congregation (website of Solesmes Abbey)