(6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715) and the
Duke of Burgundy|290x290px weighing souls,
stained glass (1876/1916)
Coutances Cathedral, France The Institution was first established on 13 May 1924 by
Archbishop Jean-Arthur Chollet (21 November 1913 – 2 December 1952) as a ramification of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai itself erected in the late 6th century (
Latin:
Archdiocesis Cameracensis;
French:
Archidiocèse de Cambrai) and placed under its aegis. It was formerly known as the
Little Religious Seminary (French: Petit Séminaire Saint-Michel de Solesmes). In the early
Middle Ages, the
Diocese of Cambrai (
Lotharingia) was first ruled by
West Frankish sovereign Charles the Bald in accordance with the
implementation of the
Treaty of Meerssen (870). Throughout History, it has been governed and regimented by such figures as the
German king Henry the Fowler (925) or the
Duke Gilbert of Lorraine (939). All
immunities that had so far been granted to the
Bishops of Cambrai were ratified by
King Otto the Great (23 November 912 – 7 May 973). In the early 1000s, this
Bishopric was elevated to
Imperial State by
Emperor Henry II, to
protectorate by
Maximilian I of Habsburg in the late 15th century, was united to the
Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle in 1512 and integrated into the
See of Mechelen in 1559 by
Philip II of Spain. It was finally declared French under the
Roi Soleil under the
Treaty of Nijmegen (1678) following the
Siege of Cambrai the preceding year. It was affiliated to the
Nord through the Napoleonic
Concordat of 1801. Among, the plethora of
Diocese of Cambrai' most conspicuous individuals are found
Charles the Good (1084–1127); poet and author
François de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651–1715);
French Academy philosopher
Gratry (1805–1872) and composer
Guillaume Dufay (1397–1474). The Institution remained called the
Little Religious Seminary up until 1965 when the
boarding school opened its doors to external boys and subsequently to girls in 1968. The institution's eponymous Patron is
Saint Michael known in the
Old Testament as chief opponent of
Satan and commander of the
Army of God who is alone mentioned in the
Litany of the Saints which omitted Saint
Gabriel and Saint
Raphael.
Celebrations '', by
Jacopo Vignali, 17th century|305x305px • The
Russian Orthodox community established in
Le Cateau-Cambresis was yearly invited to celebrate a
mass of
Byzantine Rite which differed with the
Roman Rite in that they were two-hour-long services with songs in
Russian without
organ accompaniment, the consuming oscillating
censers were held at the end of imposing chains and
communion was under both species, bread and wine. • From the 1940s to the 1960s, on 24 December, students would be waking up to
canticles and
hymns through loud-speakers and would be treated to an ameliorated breakfast with
brioche and
hot chocolate. •
Carols such as
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht! or classics from German musicologist
Michael Praetorius' (1571–1621)
Syntagma Musicum (1614-1620) and
Hymnodia Sionia (1611;
Advent: 5.
Alvus tumescit virginis &
Christmas: 26.
A solis ortus cardine; 27.
Summo Parenti gloria), would be sang during the
Midnight Mass. The
Christmas Day was really a holiday. After the
Low Mass and the
Solemn Mass, students were gifted an improved meal with
baptized wine.
Declamations From the 1940s to the 1970s, students were alternately required to
chant or read aloud from the official
academic corpora unanimously agreed upon by the institution's on-site officiating
abbots and
priests. They were standing in front of a
lectern in the small
refectory and the
dining hall on which books were placed following
liturgical traditions. Being designated
cantor or
precentor was also used as
punishment for misbehaving pupils. Main works were: •
''General Baron de Marbot's Memoirs'' (1891) by
Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcellin Marbot (18 August 1782 – 16 November 1854).
Bombing of May 1944 Each year, Saint-Michel's students commemorate the
Armistice of May 8, 1945 but also the bombing of
Solesmes on May 9, 1944 which greatly impacted the institution. From February to June 1944, the Allies intensified their destructive efforts on roads and rails to isolate the
Normandy landings and to dupe the Germans into believing that this landing would take place in the nearer
Pas-de-Calais.
General Eisenhower encapsulated those successful bombings "
as the greatest contribution to the success of Overlord" (June 6, 44). On May 9, 1944; the
416th Bomb Group successfully destroyed the
Aarschot railway station between
Brussels and
Antwerp with several
Douglas Boston III Havocs each carrying four 250-kg bombs and the 409th Bomb Group caused death and destruction in
Solesmes with the same equipment. On May 9, at around 8:15 am, the air alert loud sirens prompted all children who went to school to go back home and around 10:15, two explosions were heard as four bombs were accidentally detached from the freight deck of an aircraft and landed on the Chemin de
Vertigneulof the Institution Saint-Michel causing the first victims. A fifth bomb will not explode and will be destroyed a few days later by the Germans, near Chant des Oiseaux.
Seventy bombs exploded in the city-center
killing fifty-eight people including twenty-two children and the destruction of ninety-seven buildings while the wounded were transferred to the hospital of
Le Cateau. The town of
Solesmes received the
Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France). Historians revealed that it was the train station that was targeted with its ramifications to the sugar refinery and the electro-tubes. The American airmen had orders; when they were not carrying out their mission; to drop their bombs on secondary targets. Moreover, at 3500 m altitude the accuracy of a shot was 1 km but there was barely 500 meters between the station and the city-center.'''' == International ==