PREMONSTRATENSIANS
392
PRESBYTERIANISM
Congregation of Norbertine Sisters; mother-house
at Duffel, Belgium, with branch houses.
Heimbuchee, Orden und Kongregationen (Paderborn, 1907).
F. M. Geddens.
Premonstratensians. See Premonstratensian Canons.
Premontre, Abbey of, about twelve miles west of Laon, Department of Aisne, France; founded by St. Norbert. The land had belonged to the Abbey of St. Vincent, to whom it had been given by a former Bishop of Laon. Religious of St. Vincent's had tried in vain to cultivate it. As shown in the charter of donation the place was called Prcemonslralus, or pralum monstralum, Prc-montre, probably from a clearing made in the forest, but the name has easily lent itself to the adapted meaning of locus prwmon- stratus, a place foreshown, as for example in the life of St. Godfrey, one of St. Norbert's first disciplea (1127): "Venit ad locum vere juxta nomen suum, a Domino prsemonstratum, electum et pra?destinatum" (Acta SS., II January). A venerable tradition says that the Bishop of Laon and St. Norbert visited Premontre about the middle of January and that the bishop gave the white habit to St. Norbert on 25 January, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. At the conclusion of the Council of Liege (1131), Inno- cent II and St. Norbert came to Laon and remained with Bishop Bartholomew. They also visited the Abbey of Premontre and were rejoiced to see some five hundred religious — priests, clerics, and lay- brothers — all united in the observance of their duties under Abbot Hugh of Fosse. In the general chapter of 1141 it was decided to remove the convents of nuns to at least one league's distance from the abbeys of men. Hugh died on 10 Feb., 1161, and was succeeded by Philip, then Abbot of Belval in Argonne. John II founded in 1252 a college or house of studies for Nor- bertine clerics at the University of Paris.
At the death of Virgilius, forty-third Abbot General of Pr^montrtS Cardinal Francis of Pisa had intrigued 80 much at the Court of Rome that he succeeded in being named commendatory Abbot of Premontre, and in 1535 took possession of the abbey and all its rev- enues. Cardinal Francis was succeeded by Cardinal d'Este, the pope's legate in France, who held the ab- bey in commcndam until he died in 1572. Taice ("Etude sur Premontre", Laon, 1S74, 210) calls these two cardinals les fleaux de Premontre. After the death of Cardinal d'Este a free election was held and Jean Des Pructs, Doctor of the Sorbonne, an earnest and zealous priest, was electetl, and his election con- firmed by Gregory XIII, 14 Dec, 1572. With ad- mirable zeal and prudence Des Pruets undertook the difficult task of repairing the financial losses and of promoting conventual discipline at Premontre and other houses of the order. He died 15 May, 1596, and was succeeded by two zealous abbots, Longprfi and Gosset; but the latter was succeeded by Cardinal Richelieu, as commendatory abbot. The last abbot general, L'Ecuy, was elected in 1781. At the French Revolution the confiscated Abbey of Pri5montr6 was bought by a certain Cagnon, who demolished several buildings and sold the material. Having passed through several hands, the property was bought by Mgr de Garsignies, Bishop of Laon and Soissons, whose successor sold it to the Department of Aisne, bv whom the buildings were converted into an asylum. Of the old abbey as it was from the twelfth to the six- teenth century hardly anything remains, but three large buildings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are still standing. A part of one of these buildings is used as a church, dedicated to St. Norbert.
Hcoo. Armales Prirmonslratenses (Nancy): Madklainf,, Hittoire de St-Norberl (Lille. 1886); GErDE.vs, Life of SI. Norbert (London, 1886); TaS^e. Premonlrl, Elude sur V .Abbaye (Laon, 1872); Madelaine, LWhbaye de Prf.monlrl en 1SS2 (Caen); Valibsant, Uistoire de Prtmonlr6 (Laon. 1876).
F. M. GEnDENS.
Prendergast, Edmund. See Philadelphia, Arch-
diocese OF.
Preparation, Dat of. See Parasceve.
Presanctified, Mass of the. See Good Friday; Holy Week.
Presbyterianism in a wide sense is the system of church government by representative assemblies called presbyteries, in opposition to government by bishops (episcopal system, prelacy), or by congrega^ tions (congregationahsm, independency). In its strict sense, Presbyterianism is the name given to one of the groups of ecclesiastical bodies that represent the features of Protestantism emphasized by Calvin. Of the various churches modelled on the Swiss Ref- ormation, the Swiss, Dutch, and some German are known as the Reformed; the French as Huguenots (q. v.); those in Bohemia and Hungary by their national names; the Scotch, English, and derived churches as Presbyterian. There is a strong family resemblance between all these churches, and many of them have given their adherence to an "Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the World holding the Presbj-terian System", formed in 1876 with the special view of securing interdenominational co- operation in general church work.
I. Distinctive Principles. — The most important standards of orthodox Presbyterianism are the " West- minster Confession of Faith" and "Catechisms" of 1647 (see Faith, Protestant Contessions of). Their contents, however, have been more or less modified by the various churches, and many of the formulas of subscription prescribed for church officials do not in practice require more than a qualified ac- ceptance of the standards. The chief distinctive features set forth in the Westminster declarations of belief are Presbyterian church government, Calvinistic theology, and absence of prescribed forms of worship.
A. Polily. — Between the episcopal and congrega- tional systems of church government, Presbyterianism holds a middle position, which it claims to be the method of church organization inchcated in the New Testament. On the one hand, it declares against hierarchical government, holding that all clergymen are peers one of another, and that church authority is vested not in indivnduals but in representative bodies composed of lay (ruling) elders and duly ordained (ruling and teaching eklers). On the other hand, Presbyterianism is opposed to Congregational independency and asserts the lawful authority of the larger church. The constitutions of most of the churches provide for four grades of administrative courts: the Session, which governs the congregation; the Presbj-tery, which governs a number of congrega- tions within a limited territory; the Synod, which governs the congregations within a larger territory; and the General Assembly, which is the highest court. Generally the church officers include, besides the pastor, ruling elders and deacons. These officers are elected by the congregation, but the election of the pastor is subject to the approval of the presbytery. The elders with the pastor as presiding officer form the session which supervises the spiritual affairs of the congregation. The deacons have charge of cer- tain temporalities, and are responsible to the session.
B. Theology. — The Westminster Confession gives great prominence tot he ([uestion of predestination, and favours the infralap.-iarian view of reprobation. It teaches the total dejiravity of fallen man and the ex- clusion of the non-elect from the benefits of Christ's atonement. But within the last thirty years there has been a tendency to mitigate the harsher features of Calvinistic theology, and nearly all the important Prcsliylerian churches have ollicially disavowed the doctrines of total dcjjravity and limited redemption.
