Known as the Congregation of the Gentlemen of Lyon, its spiritual activities included sacraments, prayers, and retreats, combined with an apostolic mission aimed at saving souls through social and charitable action and defending the Church by re-Christianizing elites.
[2] Its activities included aid for the poor, visiting the sick at home or in hospitals, prison outreach, catechism instruction, evening classes, and literacy programs for workers.
[3] The congregation's spiritual direction was provided by Jesuits, including Pierre Roger (1802), Joseph de Jocas (1852–1880), Ambroise Monnot (1881–1895), François Varillon, and others.
Two members of the Congregation, Prosper Dugas and Baron Amédée Chaurand, founded the Lyon Circle in 1868, a legitimist institution located at Place Bellecour.
Additionally, the Congregation was active in the agrarian movement, particularly through the Union du Sud-Est des syndicats agricoles, which resisted the Republicanization of rural areas.