GUÉRANGER, PROSPER

Benedictine scholar, liturgist; b. Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France, April 4, 1805; d. Solesmes, Jan. 30, 1875. Guéranger was largely responsible for setting in motion the modern liturgical revival by his prodigious literary campaign in defense of Roman ritual forms. He must also be credited with having had a central role in the rejuvenation of contemporary Benedictine monasticism.

Ordained for the Diocese of Le Mans on Oct. 7, 1827, Guéranger fulfilled several pastoral assignments there. While studying for the secular priesthood, he already had developed a lasting interest in divine worship, convinced that Catholic spirituality must be linked closely and continuously with Catholic worship in order to develop normally and fruitfully. His desire was to unite liturgy and monasticism in order to restore each. Guéranger secured permission from his bishop to devote himself exclusively to this apostolate. In 1833, with the help of friends, he purchased the ancient and long since deserted priory of solesmes, just an hour's walk from his birthplace. There, with five other priests, he began to live in strict accordance with the Rule of St. Benedict, in which everything revolved around the daily chanting of the Divine Office in choir.

With the support of his bishop, Guéranger began negotiations with the Holy See to incorporate his community canonically into the Order of St. Benedict and to obtain approval of his new, and somewhat revolutionary, constitutions. His requests were granted by Pope gregory xvi in a papal brief, Sept. 1, 1837; by it, Solesmes was constituted an abbey. Guéranger was elected its first abbot on October 30, having already made profession on July 26 of the same year at St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls in Rome.

Despite financial hardships, the new foundation progressed rapidly. It soon became the center and rallying point for the liturgical revival and kindred movements throughout France and won the esteem of intellectual leaders, both clerical and lay. As the legitimate heir of Cluny, St. Vannes, and St. Maur, Solesmnes dedicated itself to the best scholarly and liturgical traditions of the Order of St. Benedict.

Guéranger was indefatigable in propagating his ideas through the written word. The best-known and most influential of his publications are his Institutions liturgiques, 3 v. (Paris 1840–52), a polemic against the prolixity of local diocesan liturgical usages in France, and his L'année liturgique, a commentary on the feasts and seasons of the Church year. Despite several incorrect historical arguments that it advanced, the first of these works eventually brought about the elimination of the evil that it attacked. The second treatise, a series of 15 volumes that began to appear in 1841, was completed by L. Fromage in 1866 and has undergone numerous translations and editions.

Guéranger's monastic followers subsequently upheld and propagated the ideals that he stood for, both in the realm of liturgical scholarship and in that of a liturgically oriented Christian life. The influence of his monastic program is exemplified in the Beuronese congregation; along with its many establishments in Germany and Belgium, it owes much to the advice and inspiration Guéranger gave to its founder, Maurus Wolter, in 1860.

Bibliography: p. delatte, Dom Guéranger, abbé de Solesmes (Solesmes, 1984). c. johnson, Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875): A Liturgical Theologian: An Introduction to His Liturgical Writings and Work (Rome 1984). r. w. franklin, "Guéranger and Pastoral Liturgy: A Nineteenth-Century Context," Worship 50 (1976) 146–162. l. soltner, Solesmes et Dom Guéranger 1805–1875 (Solesmes 1974).

[m. ducey]