Canons Regular of the Lateran

The Canons Regular of the Lateran, formally titled Canons Regular of St. Augustine of the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior at the Lateran is an international religious order of priests and lay Brothers in the Catholic Church.

History

These canons trace their origins to the reforms in the 4th century of St. Martin of Tours in France and St. Eusebius of Vercelli in Italy of the clergy. These and other bishops sought to model the accepted lifestyles of their clergy in a domestic model, based on the communal pattern followed by the first Christians, as depicted in the Acts of the Apostles. The premier example of this effort was the life and work of the great figure St. Augustine of Hippo, who himself lived as a monk before being called to take up the office of bishop for his North African city. He later wrote a small Rule to guide a community of women who wanted to live the monastic ideal. This document became the official guide for the earliest of the religious communities to emerge in the Church in later centuries, in parallel to that of the Rule of St. Benedict. From this comes the title 'regular,' meaning one following a Rule (Latin: Regula).

Under the guidance of Cardinal Hildebrand (later to become Pope Gregory VII), the Lateran Synod of 1059 organized and recognized these developing communities and recommended them as the preferred pattern of clerical life, at a time when mandatory celibacy was being made a universal requirement for the clergy of the Roman Church.

This congregation traces its roots to three ancient communities:

The Congregation of the Most Holy Savior was formed in 1419 by the union of the communities of the Canons of St. Mary of Reno in the region of Bologna with that of the Canons of St. Ambrose in Gubbio.

The clergy serving the Lateran Basilica in Rome for much of the Middle Ages comprised a community with this title. They later left, to be replaced by secular canons in the 17th century.

In 1823, following the devastation of many religious communities in the Napoleonic invasions, the survivors of these two congregations were joined into this one congregation, at which time it acquired its present title.

The distinctive feature of their habit is that it is composed of a totally white cassock, sash, shoulder cape (mozzetta) and skull cap (zucchetto), identical to what is worn for his daily attire by the pope.

Present

The congregation is based near the ancient Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, where the current Abbot General lives with the General Curia of the Order. Provinces exist in Italy, England, Spain and the United States.

External links

Website of the Italian Province: http://www.lateranensi.it/