Augustinians?

[Era Might]

I've never quite been sure who the Augustinians are, as St. Augustine was not a monk. Anyone want to explain. Today's the feast of St. Monica, which got me curious (and I also read a story about the Pope going to speak with a gathering of Augustinians).

[He is Risen!]

I could be wrong on this, but I think that Augustinians are canons (clerical), ie priests that live in community and report to a bishop.

[BigJon16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustinians

 

 

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430), applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:

 

(1) Several mendicant Orders of friars, who lived a mixed religious life of contemplation and apostolic ministry and follow the Rule of St. Augustine, a brief document providing guidelines for living in a religious community. The largest and most familiar, originally known as the Hermits of Saint Augustine (O.E.S.A. - Ordo Eremitarum sancti Augustini) and also as the Austin friars, is now simply referred to as the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.).

Two other Orders, the Augustinian Recollects and the Discalced Augustinians, were once part of the Augustinian Order under a single Prior General. The Recollect friars, founded in 1588 as a reform movement of the Augustinian friars in Spain, became autonomous in 1612 with their first Prior General, Enrique de la Sagrada. The Discalced friars became an independent religious congregation with their own Prior General in 1592, and were raised to the status of a separate mendicant Order in 1610.^[1]

(2) Various congregations of clerics, known as canons regular, who also follow the Rule of St. Augustine, and embrace the evangelical counsels and lead a semi-monastic life, while remaining committed to pastoral care, appropriate to their primary vocation as priests. They generally form one large community, which might serve parishes in the vicinity, and are organized into autonomous religious congregations, which normally are distinct by region.

 

 

 

 

http://www.augustinian.org/home

 

http://augustinians.net

 

I believe the Alexians also follow the Augustinian Rule. http://www.alexianbrothers.org

 

 

Edited August 27, 2013 by BigJon16

[Deus te Amat]

St. Augustine wrote a letter to a community of women religious, outlining a basic rule of life for them to follow. It is quite simple and beautiful.

 

Not all followers of the rule are Augustinians, however. St. Dominic chose his rule as it was the most adaptable for his purposes (the popes at the time had forbade the writing of new rules), and the Dominican communities still read it at table every week to this day.

[Basilisa Marie]

Yes, Augustinians are people who follow a rule based on Augustine.  It isn't always the rule outlined by Augustine, but it's based on his teachings. 

[Era Might]

Is there an official text of the rule?

[Deus te Amat]

http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/AUGRULE.TXT

 

This is similar to the text we heard, but a slightly more archaic translation, I think. I'm not sure if there is one "official" translation, so to speak. 

[Era Might]

http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/AUGRULE.TXT

 

This is similar to the text we heard, but a slightly more archaic translation, I think. I'm not sure if there is one "official" translation, so to speak. 

 

Thanks. By "official" I wasn't sure if the rule was just based on an informal letter from Augustine or if he actually wrote it as an actual rule.

[Deus te Amat]

Ah. He wrote it as a mode of life for a particular community. So, he did write it to be their "rule". I'm not sure if he intended it to become the "official" rule of thousands of other men and women religious. 

[Seven77]

http://www.augustinian.org/who-we-are/the-augustinians

[Era Might]

The charism of Augustinians is love of God and love of neighbor, which are the foundation of the gospel of Christ and which Saint Augustine enunciates time and again in his writings, especially in his Rule. For Augustine and Augustinians, the interior manifestation of this charism is the life that his followers lead in common and the bonds of friendship that hold them together. It is externalized by the hospitality that Augustinians extend to others, our service to the world, recognizing that each member of our community and each person with whom we come in contact is a temple of God. Dii estis, "You are gods," (Pslam 82:6) is Augustine's famous phrase.

 

And so the gospel imperative of love of God and neighbor-which Augustine sees as one, since we love our neighbor in God and our God in our neighbor-becomes for the followers of Augustine their particular charism in friendship and hospitality. No human being is a stranger to an Augustinian.

http://www.augustinian.org/who-we-are/the-augustinians

 

:)