Augustinian Spirituality

[Era Might]

Augustinian spirituality seems like one of the less popular major spiritual traditions. I don't think Catholics usually think of Augustine as a spiritual charism tradition, he's more of just a great Saint and theologian. But I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on Augustinianism as a spirituality along the lines of Carmelites, Franciscans, etc.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Era Might

[Gabriela]

I love Augustinian spirituality. A theologian once told me that part of the goal of Vatican II was to return the Church to a state more like that of the early Church Fathers. They saw that the world had "regressed", in a sense, to be more similar to the world the early Church Fathers lived in, relative to the Middle Ages, so they looked to the early Church Fathers for how to live, how to structure the Church, etc., in modern times. That's quite counter to the usual impression of Vatican II as breaking with all tradition. It actually sought to return to an earlier tradition that better matches our world today than the Middle Age tradition does.

That being said, I think more people ought to look into Augustinian spirituality, because it seems particularly well adapted to our times.

[nikita92]

When I was looking at communities a few years back... The one that caught my attention was of Augustinian spirituality!! I wish there was more of them!!! (Like there is Benedictine etc) 

[beatitude]

The Rule of St Augustine is actually the most common rule used by religious communities, even if the communities don't explicitly call themselves Augustinian. So his spirituality percolates religious life in the church. I think this demonstrates its adapatable quality and the way it speaks to many time periods, as Gabriela says.

[dUSt]

I am going to look into this.

[NadaTeTurbe]

The Assumptionnist lives according to the rule of St Augustin, and they are amazing. I think the Augustinians brothers in the USA have had good vocations. 

There was a conference on augustinian life in France. There's pictures here : http://www.mondaye.com/mondaye/nouveau-a-mondaye/1070-xxx To see the pictures, click on the two sisters in the last pictures.