Dom Prosper Gueranger

In presenting this translation of that most valuable work, commonly known as "R glement," from the prolific pen of the learned and ascetic Abbot Dom Prosper Gu ranger, it is our aim to meet, to some extent, a long-felt necessity and oft-expressed desire that it be made accessible to our English-speaking brethren. Though our labor may not be crowned with the same success as that of the renowned author, we hope, nevertheless, that this work will find a hearty welcome and approval. May God graciously accept it as an instrument for showering His richest blessings on all who faithfully seek Him in the religious state.

Prosper Louis Pascal Gu ranger (1805-1875), in founding the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, reestablished within its walls the observation of the Rule of Saint Benedict, half a century after its previous community, the Congregation of Saint Maur, had been destroyed in the French Revolution. Dom Gu ranger was soon to be hailed as the restorer of the Order of Saint Benedict, not only in France, but in the British Isles as well. The remoteness of his abbatial retreat did not prevent him from making his voice heard "on the housetops". Combining the scholarly tradition of the Maurists with a renewed sense of the liturgical life, which has had a profound influence far beyond the walls of the cloister, Dom Gu ranger wrote prolifically across the disciplines of history and philosophy in defence of the Church and her traditions.