Congregation of France

The Congregation of France was a congregation of houses of canons regular in France.. Its members were called Génovéfains, coming from the motherhouse of the congregation, the Abbey of St Genevieve. The religious habit was white, covered by a linen rochet, and a black cloak for outside the abbey.

It was founded by Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld, commendatory abbot of the motherhouse. The congregation was aimed to restore the Augustinian abbey's rigorous observance promoted by the Church following the Council of Trent.

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

Sources

• Pierre Féret (1883): L'Abbaye de Sainte-Geneviève et la Congrégation de France: précédées de la vie de la patronne de Paris, d'après des documents inédits