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of the French Oratory’s church shows that the fathers incorporated a number of architectural
features associated with Catholic reform while at the same time remaining sensitive to traditional
French ecclesiastical styles. The combination of sources suggests that the fathers did not have a
single purpose that they hoped to achieve by applying a specific style of architecture. As this
analysis of the building will demonstrate, the Oratorians instead wanted to create a building that
represented their dual interests, showing their desire for reform while also acknowledging the
congregation’s French origins. The inadvertent result of their efforts was a structure that Louis
XIII would later appropriate for his own political goals.
The primary objective of the French Oratory was to restore the priesthood to the purity of
the first years of the Church and to make it a virtuous institution devoid of luxury, ambition, and
ignorance. 5 The founding members believed that the disheveled state of the secular clergy had
left too many citizens of France without legitimate preachers. 6 They found that in addition to a
lack of seminaries, priests baptized without making unction, performed marriages without having
the proper authority, and practiced the sacrament of reconciliation without knowing the formula
of absolution. To address these issues, the congregation dedicated itself to the instruction of
priests.
The French Oratory developed from the Italian movement of fifteenth-century lay
confraternities, groups which were eventually joined by members of the clergy and became
congregations of clerks regular. 7 One of the organizations to have a direct influence on Bérulle
was the Oblates of St. Ambrose, founded in 1581 by Charles Borromeo, whose constitution
became a model for the Oratorians in France. 8 The Roman Oratory, whose approach to
preaching and instructing parishioners provided a model for other priests, inspired Bérulle’s
future course. 9 The French congregation, however, remained entirely distinct from the Italian
religious foundations. In addition to its members not taking solemn vows, the Oratoire de France
differed from the other groups primarily in its organization. It was a centralized congregation
governed by a superior general, a position first held by Pierre de Bérulle, and all of the members
were dependent upon the local bishop for the exercise of their ecclesiastical functions.
The French Oratory’s first house was the pre-existing Hôtel de Petit-Bourbon in the
faubourg Saint-Jacques, on the left bank and outskirts of Paris. 10 Although the house had a
chapel and was in an area that was popular with religious orders, the growing size of the
congregation and a desire for a place closer to the center of the city prompted Bérulle to look for
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