Career

Born in 1835 at Bouzemont, France, Dom Joseph Pothier was ordained a priest in the diocese of Saint-Dié in 1858, before immediately joining Street Peter"s Abbey, Solesmes under Abbot Dom Prosper Guéranger. Dom Pothier later was made subprior (1862-1863 and 1866-1893) of Solesmes, then claustral prior (1893-1894) of Street Martin"s Abbey, Ligugé, a former deserted priory which had been resettled by Solesmes, and superior (1895-1898) of the colony of monks from Ligugé being in turn repeopling the monastery of Street Wandrille (Fontenelle), an ancient and abandoned Benedictine abbey - also suppressed during the French Revolution - in Saint-Wandrille-Rançon, Normandy. Pope Leo XIII having restored the abbatial title of Fontenelle specially for him, Dom Pothier was eventually raised to the dignity of Abbot of Street Wandrille"s Abbey (installed on 24 July 1898) - becoming the first abbot of the monastery since the French Revolution and its first regular abbot since the 16th century - and the Cardinal-Archbishop of Rouen (primate of Normandy), assisted by the abbots of Solesmes and Ligugé as co-consecrators, conferred the abbatial blessing upon him on 29 September 1898, in the presence of three other prelates and 150 priests.

Dom Pothier moved from France to Belgium with his exiled community in 1901, following the French "Association Laws" against religious congregations passed by Minister Waldeck-Rousseau.

Achievements

• Besides being the composer of many Gregorian songs (Officium Defunctorum, 1887) and the writer of a huge amount of articles, Dom Pothier was also the head and editor of the Revue du Chant Grégorien (1892–1914) - supervising the publication of several works (Hymnes, Christmas office, Antifonario, Cantus mariales) -, the founder of the Paléographie ale publication for the dissemination of medieval liturgical manuscripts, and the author of a new edition of the choir books based on manuscripts of the Gregorian chant and of several studies on the plainchant, including Les mélodies grégoriennes d"après la tradition (Gregorian Melodies According to the Tradition), 1880, his chief work which became the standard work on the subject.