Before the French Revolution, there was an illustrious congregation of Benedictine monks under the patronage of Saint Maurus who was a disciple of Saint Benedict. The introduction of the monastic life into France is attributed to Saint Maurus. Today, January 15^th, is the feast day of this Saint.

This Congregation was called the Mauristes, and it was founded in 1621 and excelled for the high level of erudition of its monk scholars. By the seventeenth century, most monasteries had fallen into bad organisation and laxism, and not least the old Cluny Congregation houses. The mother house was at Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris (the church is now a parish church and the conventual buildings have disappeared). The idea was for the Congregation to distinguish itself for its literary and historical work, but also to return to a strict monastic discipline and the Opus Dei in choir. This strict monastic life was maintained until the Congregation was dissolved by the Revolution in 1790. Some forty monks were taken to the guillotine.

A good amount of material from the Maurist Constitutions was incorporated in those of the Solesmes Congregation by Dom Prosper Guéranger when he founded his community in 1833. The Solesmes or French Congregation has distinguished itself for its work in the field of Gregorian chant, and has kept most of its liturgical traditions. Some houses, like Fontgombault and Triors, use the 1962 Roman liturgy and the old Monastic Office.