Order of St. Augustine

Introduction

Every religious order, even those established by a founder, was not developed in a few days but it took time to reach maturity and spread. This applies also to the Augustinian Order. The Augustinian lifestyle goes back to the 4th and 5th century, when after his conversion, St. Augustine put aside every thought he had about his career and decided to serve God together with his friends. In Tagaste as a lay and in Hippo as a priest, he introduced the religious life as practiced by the first apostles, that is, sharing amongst them all that they possessed and considering everything to belong to all the community. This lifestyle made a huge impact on the people, so that St. Augustine not only attracted many people to live with him but as time passed, more communities started to emerge, all following the lifestyle as prescribed by this African bishop.

On this basis established by St. Augustine, in the 13th century, the Holy See encouraged various groups of hermits to form one order, as explained and requested in Pope Innocence’s two papal decrees “Incumbit nobis” and “Praesentium vobis”, both of which were issued on 16th December 1243. This call was accepted and for this reason, the Pope grouped them in one order under the Rule of St. Augustine and under the principles which were considered proper to religious life, according to the wishes of the bishop of Hippo. In March 1244, the hermits took part in the chapter of the founding of the order in Rome under the guidance of Cardinal Richard Annibaldi and so, the union took place. A prior general was chosen from amongst them and they produced a set of constitutions, as the Pope had ordered. Thus, one can say that the history of the Order of St. Augustine began at this exact moment . Approximately eleven years later, the Order of hermits of St. Augustine continued to grow, after the integration of more groups of hermits. The Grand Union made up of delegates who came from every hermitage, took place in the church and priory of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, under the direction of Cardinal Annibaldi. Although nobody knows the exact date when this General Chapter took place, according to serious calculations, the meeting was held in March 1256. This was an important step in the reformation of the church as with regards to religious life. By means of it, the Pope made certain that the confusion which had cropped up through a large number of small religious groups and which led the spiritual forces to an apostolate of predication and pastoral care with the increase of cities in Europe, would finish. The unity of the Church was being threatened once again by heresies and new challenges arose due to economic and intellectual changes in society. For this reason, the Augustinians took their place as mendicant friars, together with the Dominicans, Franciscans and later the Carmelites. These friars were sent directly to developing commercial centres, in order to preach to expanding social groups and to pass on the spirituality of the Gospel to the people.

The emergence and the aim of the Augustinian Order can be better specified by means of the Papal documents, Constitutions of the Order, definitions of the General Chapter and from known traditions handed over to us by the first writers of the Order in the 14th century. The name itself – “Order of St. Augustine”, brings out the two fundamental characteristics of this new order, that is, the apostolic Fraternity and Augustinianism. The apostolic Fraternity is the community of brothers who live as part of the people of God while offering them an example of witness, charity and evangelical poverty and evangelising a sound doctrine. Augustinianism presents the main difference which distinguishes us from other orders. For this reason, one can conclude that the aim of the Augustinian Order is that which the same St. Augustine requests in the beginning of his Rule, when he states that “the main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart”, meaning that we Augustinians search for God with an entire spirit and brotherly love, strengthened by each other’s love and the study on God and all that takes us to Him, in an attitude of prayer, so that by means of our apostolate we can reach and lead others towards God.