Prosper Gueranger

Prosper Guéranger was a French priest and Benedictine monk, who served for nearly 40 years as the abbot of the monastery of Solesmes. He founded the monastery among the ruins of a former priory at Solesmes, and became the founder of the French Benedictine Congregation, which re-established Benedictine monastic life in France after it had been wiped out by the French Revolution. Guéranger was the author of The Liturgical Year, a popular commentary which covers every day of the Catholic Church's liturgical cycles in 15 volumes. He was well regarded by Pope Pius IX, and was a proponent of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and of papal infallibility. Guéranger is credited with reviving the Benedictine Order in France, and with promoting the adoption of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite throughout France, an important element in the Liturgical Movement, which led to further development of aspects of the Mass of the Roman Rite beyond the form practised in his day. The cause for his canonization is currently being studied by the Holy See, which has accorded him the title of Servant of God.