Adrien Nocent
Adrien Nocent, OSB (2 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a Belgian monk and liturgical theologian. Biography. Nocent was born in Charleroi and entered Maredsous Abbey at the age of 19, making solemn vows in 1933. He was ordained as a priest in 1938. He studied theology at Keizersberg Abbey (French "Mont César") near Leuven, Belgium, where the Liturgical Movement began. Among his teachers were Bernard Capelle (1884–1961) and Bernard Botte (1893–1980). Nocent entered military service before his ordination and later during the Second World War when he served in a military hospital and later a military chaplain . Beginning in 1952, Nocent lectured at the "Centre international Lumen Vitae" in Brussels. He continued his studies at Louvain University and in Paris at the École pratique des hautes études. He finished his degree there in 1959 with a thesis under the direction of Gabriel Le Bras (1891–1970) and titled "Un Fragment de sacramentaire de Sens au Xe siècle. La liturgie baptismale de la province ecclésiastique de Sens dans les manuscrits du IXe au XVIe siècles." He then went to Rome to teach at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm. Together with Salvatore Marsili (1910–1983) Cipriano Vaggagini (1909–1999), and Emmanuel  Lane, he founded the Pontifical Liturgical Institute. Nocent became a consultant to the Second Vatican Council in 1964 and in 1969, consultant to the Congregation for Divine Worship. As of 1984, he served as the first editor of the liturgical periodical "Ecclesia orans". For decades, Nocent was a sought-after speaker on the topic of post-conciliar liturgical reform. He spoke in Italy, Canada, the United States, Cameroon, Senegal and Togo. Many bishops considered him to be an eminent specialist in his field. Nocent was an amateur violinist and Vice President of the Arthur Grumiaux Foundation.