Canons Regular The
Canons Regular follow the more ancient form of religious life which developed toward the end of the first
millennium and thus predates the founding of the friars. They represent a clerical adaptation of monastic life, as it grew out of an attempt to organize communities of clerics to a more dedicated way of life, as St. Augustine himself had done. Historically it paralleled the lay movement of
monasticism or the
eremitical life from which the friars were later to develop. In their tradition, the
canons added the commitment of
religious vows to their primary
vocation of
pastoral care. As the canons became independent of the
diocesan structures, they came to form their own monastic communities. Orders of Augustine canons regular include the Canons Regular of Premontre, the Canons Regular of the Lateran, the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross and
Canons Regular of St. Augustine (CRSA).
Augustinian Friars (1483–1546), in the habit of the Augustinian Order. Luther was an Augustinian friar from 1505 until his
excommunication in 1520. Luther would later renounce his religious vows and marry
Katharina von Bora in 1525. (1822–1884) The 2008 Constitutions of the
Order of St. Augustine states that the Order of Saint Augustine is composed of the following: :a) friars, whether professed or novices, who are members of the various Circumscriptions of the Order (meaning a Province, Vicariate, or Delegation). :b) the contemplative
nuns belonging to the monasteries of the order. :c) the members of the Augustinian Secular Fraternities, legitimately established by the Prior General. In addition to these three branches, the Augustinian family also includes other groups: a)
religious institutes, both male and female, formally aggregated to the order by a decree of the Prior General (this would include the
Augustinians of the Assumption, the
Sisters of St. Rita, etc.); b) other groups of lay Augustinians; c) lay faithful affiliated to the Order. The Augustinian, or Austin, friars (OSA), are a
mendicant order. As consecrated religious, they pray the
Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day. This
Latin Church order, while a contemplative Order, differs from traditional monastic orders in three ways. 1) They do not take vows of stability, meaning that they can live in one house (called a friary or sometimes a monastery) typically for several years before being moved into a different community of the order. 2) They are engaged in
apostolic activity, such as mission work, education, prison ministries, etc. The order is under the supervision of a
Prior General in Rome, and as an international order they are divided into various Provinces throughout the world, with each Province being led by a Prior Provincial. (3) As an order, they have a special commitment to
corporate poverty as opposed to simply the poverty professed by the individual friar. While this is not currently legislated as it was in the origins of the order, this is to be a distinguishing mark of their lives as a community. As consecrated religious, Augustinians profess the
evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. They follow the Rule of St. Augustine, written sometime between 397 and 403 for a monastic community Augustine founded in
Hippo (in modern day Algeria), and which takes as its inspiration the early Christian community described in the
Acts of the Apostles, particularly Acts 4:32: "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common." (NAB). By decree of the Holy See, the Augustinian Order was historically granted what was known as exempt status, which made it directly dependent on the Pope, meaning that bishops had no jurisdiction with regard to the internal affairs of the order. This is now expressed by saying that the order is an institute of pontifical right.
History of the Friars The Augustinian friars originated after the older
Canons Regular. The friars represented part of the
mendicant movement of the 13th century, a new form of religious life which sought to bring the religious ideals of monastic life into an urban setting which allowed the religious to serve the needs of the people in an
apostolic capacity. At this time a number of
eremitical groups lived in such diverse places as
Tuscany,
Latium,
Umbria,
Liguria, England, Switzerland, Germany, and France. The
Fourth Council of the Lateran of 1215 issued the decree
Ne nimium to organise these small groups of religious people by requiring them to live in community, to hold elective chapters, to be under obedience to a major superior and to adopt one of the Rules of community life that were approved by the Church.
Little Union In 1243 the Tuscan hermits petitioned
Pope Innocent IV to unite them all as one group. On 16 December 1243 Innocent IV issued the
bull Incumbit Nobis, an essentially pastoral letter which, despite its brevity, basically served as the
magna carta initiating the foundation of the Order as it is known today. This papal bull exhorted these hermits to adopt the
Rule and way of life of
Augustine of Hippo, to profess this Augustinian manner of life in a way that they themselves would decide with regard to their specific charism and
apostolate, and to elect a Prior General. The bull also appointed Cardinal
Riccardo Annibaldi as their
Cardinal protector. The importance of this man in the foundation of the Order cannot be overstated. As decreed by the bull
Praesentium Vobis, the Tuscan hermits came together for a general chapter in March 1244, a chapter presided over by Cardinal Annibaldi. At this chapter the Order formally adopted the Rule of St. Augustine and determined to follow the Roman office with the
Cistercian psalter, and to hold
triennial elections of the Prior General. The first Prior General was Friar Matthew, followed by Adjutus and Philip. In the papal bull
Pia desideria, issued on 31 March 1244,
Pope Innocent IV formally approved the foundation of the Order.
Grand Union of 1256 In 1255 Innocent's successor,
Pope Alexander IV, issued the papal bull
Cum Quaedam Salubria summoning all the various groups of Augustinian hermits and the
Hermits of Saint William to send two representatives to Rome for a General Chapter, again to be held under the supervision of his nephew, Cardinal Annibaldi. During this chapter the following groups of hermits,
inter alia, were amalgamated to the Order, which up to then had only consisted of the groups of the Tuscan hermits (including the Hermits of the Holy Trinity): • the Hermits of Saint William • the Brittin (named after St. Blasius de Brittinis) • the Bonites (named after
St. John the Good) The
Fratres Saccati in Italy, and some of the houses of the
Poor Catholics united with the Bonites. By 1256 the Bonites possessed eleven monasteries. At this Chapter Lanfranc Settala, the leader of the Bonites, was elected Prior General. The belted, black tunic of the Tuscan hermits was adopted as the common
religious habit, and the
walking sticks carried by the Bonites in keeping with eremitical tradition—and to distinguish themselves from those hermits who went around begging—ceased to be used. The 12-year-old religious Order of friars now consisted of 100 or more houses. On 9 April 1256 Pope Alexander IV issued the bull
Licet Ecclesiae catholicae (Bullarium Taurinense, 3rd ed., 635 sq.) which confirmed the integration of the Hermits of John the Good (Rule of St. Augustine, 1225), the Hermits of St. William (Rule of St. Benedict), the Hermits of Brettino (Rule of St. Augustine, 1228), the Hermits of Monte Favale (Rule of St. Benedict), other smaller congregations, and the Tuscan Hermits into what was officially called the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine. In August 1256, a number of Williamite houses withdrew from the newly formed mendicant order and were allowed to continue as a separate congregation under the Benedictine rule. The Order expanded beyond Europe to the eastern Mediterranean, briefly acquiring a convent in Acre just prior to its conquest in 1291. In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Augustinian Friars acquired the large convent of San Salvatore in Venetian
Heraklion (
medieval Candia) where they attempted to use the cult of Nicholas of Tolentino to appeal to the local Greek-speaking population. The building stood on Kornaros Square until its demolition in 1970. The Augustinians count among their number over a dozen saints and numerous members declared
blessed by the Church. Bishop Robert Prevost was the latest member of the order to be elevated to the cardinalate until his election as
Pope Leo XIV in 2025.
Privileges of the order Ecclesiastical privileges were granted to the order almost from its beginning.
Alexander IV freed the order from the jurisdiction of the bishops; Innocent VIII, in 1490, granted to the churches of the order indulgences such as can only be gained by making the Stations at Rome; Pope
Pius V placed the Augustinians among the
mendicant orders and ranked them next to the
Carmelites. Since the end of the 13th century the
sacristan of the
Papal Palace was always to be an Augustinian friar, who would be
ordained as a
bishop. This privilege was ratified by
Pope Alexander VI and granted to the Order forever by a Bull issued in 1497. The holder of the office was
Rector of the Vatican parish (of which the chapel of St. Paul is the parish church). To his office also belonged the duty of preserving in his
oratory a
consecrated Host, which had to be renewed weekly and kept in readiness in case of the pope's illness, when it was the privilege of the papal sacristan to administer the last sacraments to the pope. The sacristan had always to accompany the pope when he traveled, and during a conclave it was he who celebrated
Mass and administered the
sacraments. He lived at the Vatican with a sub-sacristan and three
lay brothers of the order (cf. Rocca, "Chronhistoria de Apostolico Sacrario", Rome, 1605). Augustinian friars, as of 2009, still perform the duties of papal sacristans, but the appointment of an Augustinian bishop-sacristan lapsed under Pope John Paul II with the retirement of
Petrus Canisius Van Lierde in 1991. In papal Rome the Augustinian friars always filled one of the Chairs of the
Sapienza University, and one of the
consultorships in the
Congregation of Rites.
Discalced and Recollect friars (1644–1709) The
Discalced Augustinians were formed in 1588 in Italy as a reform movement of the Order and have their own constitutions, differing from those of the other Augustinians. The
Augustinian Recollects developed in Spain in 1592 with the same goal. Currently, though, they are primarily found serving in
pastoral care.
Organization of the order The Augustinian Hermits, while following the rule known as that of St. Augustine, are also subject to the Constitutions, first drawn up by Augustinus Novellus (d. 1309), Prior General of the order from 1298 to 1300, and by Clement of Osimo. A revision was made at Rome in 1895. The Constitutions were revised again and published at Rome in 1895, with additions in 1901 and 1907. The Augustinians also use the charism or "gift from the Holy Spirit" to guide the communal life. The choir and outdoor dress of the friars is a
tunic of black woolen material, with long, wide sleeves, a black leather
girdle, and a large shoulder cape to which is attached a long, pointed hood reaching to the girdle. The indoor dress consists of a black
tunic and
scapular, over which the shoulder cape is worn. In many monasteries, white was formerly the color worn in areas where there were no
Dominicans. In hot climates Augustinians tend to wear white habits as they are easily distinguishable with the Dominicans (i.e. without long scapular, rosary, etc.).
Charism of the Order of St. Augustine "The foundation of Augustinian life is life in common," with a contemplative dimension.
Aggregated communities Other orders and groups belong within the Augustinian family either because they follow the Rule of Augustine, exist as independent societies, or have been formally aggregated through their constitutions into the worldwide Augustinian Order. These are not counted comprehensively in this article only because the Catholic Church's system of governance and accounting makes just the numbers of ordained
clerics relatively accessible and verifiable. Some of these include: • The
Hieronymites, the
Ursulines, the
Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus, the
Augustinians of the Assumption (which includes a
Byzantine Rite province), the
Alexian Brothers, the Brothers of the Assumption (in the Congo), the Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation and
San Guillermo Parish Church (which was buried half its 12-m height on September 3, 1994, due to the
lahar slopes of
Mount Pinatubo, Philippines), the
Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions, the
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word (who established the
University of the Incarnate Word in Texas), the
Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, and the
Bridgettines.
Augustinian lay societies The lay societies are voluntary groups, generally made up of people who are either married or single and have sympathy with, and interest in, the Augustinian approach to life. These lay people do not take monastic vows, but offer support to the work of the Augustinian Order in voluntary work, gifts of money and goods, and of study and promotion of St. Augustine and Augustinian teaching. Primary among these are the
Third Orders associated with the various branches of the mendicant Orders. These are the Augustinian Lay Community and the
Secular Augustinian Recollects. They make a formal and public commitment as
laity to follow as well as possible the life and charism of the Order. Other associations which support the spirit and work of the friars and Sisters include: the Brotherhood of the Virgin Mary of the Belt in Italy, the Friends of Augustine in the Philippines, and the Augustinian Friends in Australia. ==Devotional practices==