“ In the Roman Church there are several kinds of associations for religious purposes known by the generic name of “congregation”; such are: (1) those branches of a particular order, which, for the stricter practice of the rules of their order, group themselves together under a special form of government and discipline,—thus the Trappists are a congregation of the Cistercians, the monks of Cluny and St Maur are congregations of the Benedictines; (2) communities of religious under a common rule; persons belonging to such communities have either taken no vows, or have not taken “solemn” vows ”

“ All statutes must be passed by this congregation before introduction in convocation, and it alone has the power of amending statutes (see Oxford) . At Cambridge University congregation is the term used of the meeting of the senate. In Scottish history, from the fact that the word occurs, in the sense of “church,” frequently in the national covenant of 1537, the name of “congregation” was used of the Reformers. Generally and similarly the title of “lords of the congregation” was given to the signatories of the covenant. ”