Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious Congregation within the Roman Catholic Church, was founded in 1856 in Paris by Saint Peter Julian Eymard. It is an apostolic Congregation of Pontifical right, composed of priests, deacons, and brothers, with members in 29 countries on 5 continents. The Congregation is structured into Provinces and Regions and a central government, the General Council, which is based in Rome. Every six years a General Assembly, the General Chapter, which is the highest authority in the Congregation, is held. It takes the necessary decisions to foster its mission and elects the General Superior and the members of his Council. Every four years a chapter is help in each province. The chapter elects the Provincial and his council for the local leadership of the Congregation in a particular province. The Congregation follows a Rule of Life, which was approved by the Holy See in 1984. The total number of its members is around 868. The official name of the Congregation is Congregatio Sanctissimi Sacramenti and the members put the abbreviation SSS behind their name. Originally, “SSS” was from what Father Eymard founded us as, Societas – or a Society. In the current Canon Law of the church, updated in 1983, Societies and Congregations were aligned in different ways depending on how their institutes live the vow of poverty. So originally, Father Eymard called our religious order “Societas Sanctissimi Sacramenti,” and wished for us to be using the church’s official language of Latin rather than French, hoping for our institute to grow past the borders of France and Europe. That was Saint Eymard’s dream and it is our reality now!