Prosper Guéranger

Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger OSB ( born April 4, 1805 in Sablé- sur -Sarthe, † January 30, 1875 located in Solesmes, 5 km from Sablé -sur -Sarthe ) was the founder of a new liturgical movement from the mid- 19th century and the first abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Solesmes refounded.

Life

On October 7, 1827 he was ordained priest. Already in 1832 he acquired a many years abandoned Maurinerpriorat at Solesmes. After nearly a year of renovation, he was able to open the monastery on 11 July 1833. Six years later - on July 26, 1837 - he laid in St. Paul in Rome, the profession and became Pope Gregory XVI. appointed as the first abbot of Solesmes and at the same time Superior General of the still to be reformed French Benedictine Congregation on 1 September of the same year. He also sought a tradition -oriented reform of the Congregation.

From the mother abbey of Saint Pierre in Solesmes from the monastery were founded at the sanctuary of Martin of Tours in Ligugé (1853 ), St. Marie -Madeleine in Marseille (1865) and the nuns at Solesmes Abbey St. Cécile (1866 ). The highly qualified, influential and reform- zealous liturgists Guéranger strove successfully to replace the liturgical special forms and individual rites of all French dioceses through the establishment of which came already with the Apostolic seal letter Pope Pius V on 14 July 1570 force the Roman rite. This seal letter banned all rites that were not there at least 100 years or immemorial. On the question of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary ( 1854 was carried out by Pope Pius IX. ) Guéranger was involved in the consultation process of the French episcopate. He promoted the dogma in France very much and defended it then later also in numerous small magazines. Prosper Guéranger was considered Ultramontanist. This is especially in his extremely vehement - partly polemical - defense in 1870 adopted at the First Vatican Council and also dogmatic infallibility of the Pope expressed. Gueranger also promoted the establishment of an ideally on strict monastic style of Solesmes oriented German Benedictine Congregation, which was then implemented by Beuron from 1863.

Restitution of Gregorian chant

Since the mid-19th century, Prosper Guéranger relied heavily one for the restitution of the Gregorian chant, in particular by his brothers Paul and Joseph Pothier Jausions instructed to collect old Neumenhandschriften and compare. As a result of this work was created in 1864 in his abbey the Directory Chori, the first hymn book of restitution is an important milestone in the rediscovery of the significance of the neumes.

Process of beatification

2005, the Vatican accepted the beatification process for Guéranger.

Writings

• The life of St.. martyr Cecilia
• The liturgical year or the liturgical year (L' Année Liturgique )
• The highest teaching authority of the Pope, Mainz, Kirchheim 1870
• The church year, complete in 15 volumes, Authorized translation, Mainz, Kirchheim 1874-1902 The holy season of Advent, in the series: The Church Year, Volume 1, Mainz, Kirchheim, 1904, 3rd edition
• The sacred pre-Lenten ( Septuagesima ), in the series: The Church Year, Volume 4, Mainz, Kirchheim 1876
• The holy Lent, in the series: The Church Year, Volume 5, Mainz, Kirchheim 1877.
• The Passions and the Passion Week [ Holy Week ], in the series: The Church Year, Volume 6, Mainz, Kirchheim 1877
• The paschal time, complete in 3 volumes / Departments: I, II and III. Division in the series: The Church Year, Volume 7-9, Mainz, Kirchheim 1878-80
• The time after Pentecost I. division, in the series: The Church Year, Volume 10, Mainz, Kirchheim 1899, 2nd edition
• The time after Pentecost II division, in the series: The Church Year, Volume 11, Mainz, Kirchheim, 1904, 2nd edition

Works in German authorized translation published 1870-1900 with Franz Kirchheim, Mainz.