Editing Augustinians

{{Short description|Members of religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine}}
{{Redirect|Augustines|the American rock band|Augustines (band)}}
{{Augustine}}

'''Augustinians''' are members of several [[Religious order (Catholic)|religious order]]s that follow the [[Rule of Saint Augustine]], written about 400 A.D. by [[Augustine of Hippo]]. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in [[Catholic religious order]]s dating back to the 12th–13th centuries:<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02079b.htm Besse, Jean. "Rule of St. Augustine." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.{{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>McBrien, Richard. "Rule of St. Augustine", The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (1995). p.112.</ref>
* Various congregations of [[Canons Regular]] also follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, embrace the [[evangelical counsels]] and lead a semi-monastic life, while remaining committed to [[pastoral care]] appropriate to their primary vocation as [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priests]]. They generally form one large community which might serve parishes in the vicinity, and are organized into autonomous congregations.
* Several orders of [[friar]]s who live a mixed religious life of contemplation and apostolic ministry. The largest and most familiar is the [[Order of Saint Augustine]] (OSA), founded in 1244 and originally known as the Hermits of Saint Augustine (OESA). They are commonly known as the Austin Friars in England. Two other orders, the [[Order of Augustinian Recollects]] and the [[Discalced Augustinians]], were once part of the OSA under a single prior general. The Recollects, founded in 1588 as a [[Reform of a Religious Order|reform movement]] in Spain, became autonomous in 1612. The Discalceds became an independent [[Religious congregation|congregation]] in 1592, and were raised to the status of a separate mendicant order in 1610.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oadnet.webs.com/storia.htm |title=Ordine degli Agostiniani Scalzi|access-date=2012-08-03 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326190749/http://oadnet.webs.com/storia.htm |archive-date=2012-03-26 }}</ref>

There are also some [[Anglican religious order]]s created in the 19th century that follow Augustine's rule. These are composed only of women in several different communities of [[Augustinian nuns in the Anglican Communion|Augustinian nuns]].

[[Image:Ruin of Augustinians' cloister in Police-Jasienica S5000806.jpg|thumb|Ruins of Jasienice Abbey, a former Augustinian priory in [[Jasienica, Police]], Poland (14th century).]]

==Charism==
In a religious community, "charism" is the particular contribution that each religious order, congregation or family and its individual members, embodies.<ref>[http://www.augustinian.org/who-we-are/the-augustinians "The Augustinians", Province of St. Thomas of Villanova] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217200906/http://www.augustinian.org/who-we-are/the-augustinians |date=February 17, 2015}}</ref> The teaching and writing of Augustine, the ''Augustinian Rule'', and the lives and experiences of Augustinians over sixteen centuries help define the [[ethos]] and special charism of the order.

The pursuit of truth through learning is key to the Augustinian ethos, balanced by the injunction to behave with love towards one another. These same imperatives of affection and fairness have driven the order in its international missionary outreach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.agustinasmisioneras.net/quienesingles.htm|title=San Agustín|date=2008-02-14|access-date=2017-12-12|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214082245/http://www.agustinasmisioneras.net/quienesingles.htm|archive-date=2008-02-14}}</ref> This balanced pursuit of love and learning has energised the various branches of the order into building communities founded on mutual affection and intellectual advancement.

Augustine spoke passionately of God's "beauty so ancient and so new",<ref>Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 10, 27</ref> and his fascination with beauty extended to music. He taught that "whoever sings prays twice" (''Qui cantat, bis orat'')<ref>Augustine of Hippo Sermons 336, 1 PL 38, 1472</ref> and music is also a key part of the Augustinian ethos. Contemporary Augustinian musical foundations include the [[Augustinian Church, Vienna|Augustinerkirche]] in Vienna, where orchestral masses by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]] are performed every week, as well as the boys' choir<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061218130318/http://www.florianer.at/site_en/ Sankt Florian boys' choir]</ref> at [[Sankt Florian]] in Austria, a school conducted by Augustinian canons, a choir now over 1,000 years old.

Augustinians have also produced a formidable body of scholarly works.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:70206|title=Collection Items: Contributions from Augustinian Theologians and Scholars|website=digital.library.villanova.edu|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref>

==Background==
Augustinian friars believe that [[Augustine of Hippo]], first with some friends and afterward as bishop with his [[clergy]], led a [[monastic]] community life. Regarding the use of property or possessions, Augustine did not make a virtue of poverty, but of sharing. Their manner of life led others to imitate them. Instructions for their guidance were found in several writings of Augustine, especially in ''De opere monachorum'', mentioned in ancient codices of the eighth or ninth century as the "[[Rule of St. Augustine]]".<ref name=Heimbucher/> Between 430 and 570 this life-style was carried to Europe by monks and clergy fleeing the persecution of the [[Vandals]].<ref name=augustinemonk>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210512083216/https://www.theaugustinians.com/sermons "Augustine's Monasticism", The Order of Saint Augustine]}}</ref> In the thirteenth century, the various eremitical groups that composed the Augustinian Hermits faced the threat of suppression by the papacy based on their lack of antiquity. To overcome this, the friars forged a historical connection to St Augustine, and made an especial point to demonstrate that they received the Rule directly from Augustine himself.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Forging the Augustinian Past: The Rule-Giving of St Augustine in a Duecento Gradual |journal=Gesta |date=2023 |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=95–126 |doi=10.1086/723217}}</ref> The Augustinian rule was in use by a wide range of groups across early and high medieval Europe, and there is no historical evidence that the Augustinian Friars were in any way founded by St Augustine himself. Rather, the friars invented these links after the Order was threatened with suppression in 1274 at the Second Council of Lyons.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Forging the Augustinian Past: The Rule-Giving of St Augustine in a Duecento Gradual |journal=Gesta |date=2023 |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=95–126 |doi=10.1086/723217}}</ref>

While in early medieval times the rule was overshadowed by other Rules, particularly that of [[Rule of Saint Benedict|St. Benedict]], this system of life for cathedral clergy continued in various locations throughout Europe for centuries, and they became known as [[Canons regular]] (i.e. cathedral clergy living in community according to a rule). Augustine's Rule appears again in practice in the eleventh century as a basis for the reform of monasteries and cathedral chapters.<ref name=augustinemonk/>

Several groups of canons were established under various disciplines, all with the Augustinian Rule as their basis. It was adopted by the Canons Regular of the [[Abbey of Saint-Victor, Paris|Abbey of St. Victor]] in Paris,<ref name=augustinemonk/> as well as the [[Norbertines]]. The instructions contained in Augustine's Rule formed the basis of the [[monastic rule|Rule]] that, in accordance with the decree of the [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran]] [[Synod]] of 1059, was adopted by [[canon (priest)|canon]]s who desired to practice a common apostolic life, hence the title of [[Canons Regular of Saint Augustine]].

==Orders, groups, and societies==

===Canons Regular===
{{Main|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03288a.htm|author=Anthony Allaria|title=Canons and Canonesses Regular|website=New Advent |publisher=Catholic Encyclopedia|access-date=2017-12-12}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> 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 [[hermit|eremitical]] life from which the friars were later to develop. In their tradition, the [[canon (priest)|canons]] added the commitment of [[religious vows]] to their primary [[vocation]] of [[pastor]]al care. As the canons became independent of the [[diocese|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#Canons Regular of Saint Augustine|Canons Regular of St. Augustine]] (CRSA).<ref>[https://www.stift-klosterneuburg.at/en/monastery-and-order/order/history-of-the-order/ "History of the order", Stift Kloster Neuburg]</ref>

===Augustinian Friars===
{{Main|Order of Saint Augustine}}
[[Image:GNM - Luther als Mönch.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Martin Luther]] (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.]]
[[Image:Gregor Mendel Monk.jpg|thumb|200px|Abbot [[Gregor Mendel]] (1822–1884)]]
The 2008 Constitutions of the [[Order of Saint Augustine|Order of St. Augustine]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://augustinians.net/|title=Augustinians – Order of Saint Augustine|website=augustinians.net|access-date=2017-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707061702/https://augustinians.net/|archive-date=2019-07-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 institute]]s, 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|Sisters of St. Rita]], etc.); b) other groups of lay Augustinians; c) lay faithful affiliated to the Order.<ref>Rule and Constitutions, Order of St. Augustine, Rome, Augustinian General Curia, 2008</ref>

The Augustinian, or Austin, friars (OSA), are a [[mendicant orders|mendicant]] order.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://augustinians.net/index.php?page=charism|title=Charism – Order of Saint Augustine|website=augustinians.net|access-date=2017-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705053010/http://augustinians.net/index.php?page=charism|archive-date=2017-07-05|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 [[apostle|apostolic]] activity, such as mission work, education, prison ministries, etc. The order is under the supervision of a [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|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 Regius|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 regards to the internal affairs of the order. This is now expressed by saying that the order is an institute of pontifical right.<ref>See BONIFATIUS PP. VIII, Sacer Ordo vester, 21.I.1298; Inter sollicitudines nostras, 16.I.1302, en Bullarium, 44–45. 50–52. CLEMENS PP. VI, Ad fructus uberes, 19.VIII.1347, Ibid., 64–65. Lumen Gentium 45.</ref>

====History of the Friars====
The Augustinian friars originated after the older [[Canons Regular]]. The friars represented part of the [[Mendicant orders|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 [[apostolate|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 [[papal bull|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 regards 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.<ref>Rano, Balbino, ''Augustinian Origins, Charism, and Spirituality'', Villanova, Augustinian Press, 1994, 29</ref>

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 [[John the Good (bishop of Milan)|St. John the Good]]) The [[Brothers of Penitence|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.<ref name="Heimbucher">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07281a.htm|first=Max |last=Heimbucher|title=Hermits of St. Augustine |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |via=New Advent |access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref> The belted, black tunic of the Tuscan hermits was adopted as the common [[religious habit]], and the [[staff of office|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.<ref>{{cite book|title=The other friars: the Carmelite, Augustinian, Sack and Pied Friars in the Middle Ages |last=Andrews |first=Frances|publisher=The Boydell Press|year=2006}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Heimbucher/> Almost from the beginning the term "hermits" became a misnomer for they ranked among the friars, and became the fourth of the mendicant orders. The observance and manner of life was mild relative to those times, meat being allowed four days in the week.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Augustinian Hermits|volume=2|page=911}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Webster>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15644b.htm Webster, Douglas Raymund. "Williamites." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 30 May 2021 {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name=Heimbucher/>

The early years in the order's history featured a great devotion to learning, to study, to prayer, to service of the poor, and to defense of the Pope and the Church – a particular charism of the Order rooted in the fact that it is the only Order in the history of the Church to be founded directly by a Pope. In his work ''The Life of the Brothers'', the 14th-century Augustinian historian and friar Jordan of Saxony writes:"It is certain that in its modern state the Order is principally founded on spiritual works, those that pertain to the contemplative life. These are as follows: the singing of the divine office; the service of the altar; prayer; psalm singing; devotion to reading or study of sacred scripture; teaching and preaching the word of God; hearing confessions of the faithful; bringing about the salvation of souls by word and example.".<ref>[http://augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=758&iparentid=757 "Jordan of Saxony", ''Augnet''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006133942/http://augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=758&iparentid=757 |date=October 6, 2011}}</ref>

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]] ([[Kingdom of Candia|medieval Candia]]) where they attempted to use the cult of Nicholas of Tolentino to appeal to the local Greek-speaking population.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Recovering the Augustinian Convent of San Salvatore in Venetian Candia |journal=Journal of Ecclesiastical History |date=2021 |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=276–279 |doi=10.1017/S0022046920000755}}</ref> 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 [[Beatified|blessed]] by the Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.midwestaugustinians.org/saints-and-blesseds/ |title= Augustinian Saints, Blesseds, and Feast Days |website=Midwest Augustinians |access-date=2017-12-12}}
</ref> The Prior General [[Sebastiano Martinelli]] was the latest member of the order to be elevated to the cardinalate from 1901 to 1912.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

====Privileges of the order====
[[Ecclesiastical privileges]] were granted to the order almost from its beginning. [[Pope Alexander IV|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 [[Palace of the Vatican|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 (ecclesiastical)|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 (worship)|oratory]] a [[Blessed Sacrament|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 (liturgy)|Mass]] and administered the [[sacraments]]. He lived at the Vatican with a sub-sacristan and three [[lay brother]]s 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 [[University of Rome La Sapienza|Sapienza University]], and one of the [[consultor]]ships in the [[Congregation of Rites]].{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

====Discalced and Recollect friars====
[[Image:Megerle1.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Abraham a Sancta Clara]] (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.<ref name=Heimbucher/> Today, the Order follows the Constitutions approved in the Ordinary General Chapter of 2007.

The government of the order is as follows: At the head is the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|Prior]] General, elected every six years by the [[General Chapter]]. The Prior General is aided by six assistants and a secretary, also elected by the General Chapter. These form the ''Curia Generalitia''. Each province is governed by a [[Provincial superior|Prior Provincial]], each [[commissariat]] by a [[Commissary General]], each of the two congregations by a [[Vicar General]], and every monastery by a [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|Prior]] (only the Czech monastery of [[St Thomas's Abbey, Brno|Alt-Brunn]] in [[Moravia]] is under an [[abbot]]) and every college by a [[Rector (academia)|Rector]]. The members of the Order number both [[priest (Catholic Church)|priests]] and [[lay brother]]s. The Augustinians, like most religious orders, have a [[Cardinal Protector]].

The Augustinians follow the rule of St. Augustine which is divided into 8 chapters (purpose and basis of common life, prayer, moderation and self-denial, safeguarding chastity and fraternal correction, the care of community goods and treatment of sick, asking for pardon and forgiving others, governance and obedience, and observance of the rule).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.midwestaugustinians.org/roots-of-augustinian-spirituality/|title=Roots of Augustinian Spirituality|website=Midwest Augustinians|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref> 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 [[Dominican Order|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,"<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210604153616/https://www.theaugustinians.com/copy-of-spirituality "Charism", The Augustinians: Curia Generalizia Agostiniana]}}</ref> with a contemplative dimension.

===Aggregated communities===
Other orders and groups belong within the Augustinian family either because they follow the Rule of Augustine,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sssa-us.org/|title=Priestly Society of Saint Augustine|date=2011-11-23|access-date=2017-12-12|url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123182344/http://www.sssa-us.org/|archive-date=2011-11-23}}</ref> exist as independent societies,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aihmfriars.net/index.php/our-history|title=Our History|last=Nicholas|first=Friar Shane|website=www.aihmfriars.net|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-12-12|archive-date=2017-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213093347/http://www.aihmfriars.net/index.php/our-history|url-status=dead}}</ref> or have been formally aggregated through their constitutions into the worldwide Augustinian Order.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ksaugustinians.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109155243/http://ksaugustinians.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 9, 2016|title=The Society of St. Augustine|website=The Society of St. Augustine|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref> 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 [[cleric]]s relatively accessible and verifiable. Some of these include:
* The [[Hieronymites]], the [[Ursulines]], the [[Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.augustines.org/|title=Soeurs – Augustine de la miséricorde de Jésus|website=www.augustines.org|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref>, the [[Augustinians of the Assumption]] (which includes a [[Byzantine Rite]] [[ecclesiastical province|province]]), the [[Alexian Brothers]], the Brothers of the Assumption (in the Congo), the Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation and [[San Guillermo Parish Church (Bacolor)|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]]<ref>''The Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament'', New York: Schwartz, Kirwin, and Fauss, 1893, pp. 33–35.</ref> (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.

The primary among these are the [[Third Order]]s associated with the various branches of the mendicant Orders. These are the Augustinian Lay Community<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.augustinians.org.au/laygroups/community.html |title=Augustinian Lay Groups – Lay Community |date=19 August 2006 |work=augustinians.org.au |url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819135856/http://www.augustinians.org.au/laygroups/community.html |archive-date=19 August 2006 }}</ref> and the [[Secular Augustinian Recollects]]. They make a formal and public commitment as [[laity]] to follow as best 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.santaritadacascia.org/agostiniani/famigla_agostiniana_confra-en.htm |title=Basilica di Santa Rita da Cascia: The Brotherhood |date=18 July 2007 |work=santaritadacascia.org |url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070718142516/http://www.santaritadacascia.org/agostiniani/famigla_agostiniana_confra-en.htm |archive-date=18 July 2007 }}</ref> in Italy, the Friends of Augustine in the Philippines, and the Augustinian Friends<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.augustinians.org.au/laygroups/friends.html |title=Augustinian Lay Groups – Augustinian Friends |date=19 August 2006 |work=augustinians.org.au |url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819024240/http://www.augustinians.org.au/laygroups/friends.html |archive-date=19 August 2006 }}</ref> in Australia.

==Devotional practices==
[[File:Our Lady of Good Counsel by Pasquale Sarullo.jpg|thumb|left|Our Lady of Good Counsel by Pasquale Sarullo]]
The particular devotional practices connected with the Augustinian Order, and which it has striven to propagate, include the veneration of the Blessed Virgin under the title of "Mother of Good Counsel" ([[Our Lady of Good Counsel|Mater Boni Consilii]]), whose miraculous picture is to be seen in the Augustinian church at Genazzano in the Roman province. This devotion has spread to other churches and countries, and confraternities have been formed to encourage it.<ref>Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390<cite>[https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/o/our-lady-of-good-counsel.php Udayton.edu]</cite>
</ref> Several periodicals dedicated to the honour of Our Lady of Good Counsel are published in Italy, Spain and Germany by the Augustinians. The Augustinians, with the approbation of [[Pope Leo XIII]], also encourage the devotion of the [[Scapular]] of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
 
Besides this devotion, the order traditionally fostered the Archconfraternity of [[Our Lady of Consolation]]. Members customarily wear a blessed sash or belt leather in honour of [[Saint Augustine of Hippo|Saints Augustine]], [[Saint Monica|Monica]] and [[Nicholas of Tolentino]], recite daily thirteen [[Lord's Prayer|Our Fathers]] and [[Hail Mary]]s and the [[Salve Regina]], fast strictly on the eve of the feast of St. Augustine, and received Holy Communion on the feasts of the three above-named saints. This confraternity was founded by [[Pope Eugene IV]] at San Giacomo, [[Bologna]], in 1439, made an [[archconfraternity]] by [[Gregory XIII]], in 1575, aggregated to the Augustinian Order.

There are also a number of facilities dedicated to Mary under the title [[Our Lady of Grace]]. The Canadian Augustinians operate the [[Marylake Augustinian Monastery|Marylake Shrine]] of Our Lady of Grace at [[King City, Ontario]]; Our Lady of Grace Monastery is located in Nova Scotia.<ref>[https://www.marylake.com/ Marylake]</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Saints and Blesseds==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe]], Bishop (d.527)
* [[Clare of Montefalco|Saint Clare of Montefalco]], (d. 1308)
* [[John of Sahagún|Saint John of Sahagún]] (a Sancto Facundo) (d. 1479)
* [[Saint John Stone]] (d. 1539), a martyr of the English Reformation.
* [[Alonso de Orozco Mena|Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena]] (d. 1591)
* [[Bartholomew Gutierrez|Saint Bartholomew Gutierrez]] (d. 1632)
* Saint Thomas ‘Kintsuba’ Jihyoe of Saint Augustine (d. 1637)
* [[Nicholas of Tolentino|Saint Nicholas of Tolentino]] (d. 1305), 
* [[Rita of Cascia|Saint Rita of Cascia]],
* [[Thomas of Villanova|Saint Thomas of Villanova]] (d. 1555).
*  Saint Peter Zúñiga (d. 1622)
* [[Clemente da Osimo|Blessed Clemente da Osimo]] (d. 1291)
* [[James of Viterbo|Blessed James of Viterbo]], (d. 1307)
* [[Agostino Novello|Blessed Agostino Novello]] (d. 1309)
* [[Antonio Patrizi|Blessed Antonio Patrizi]] (d. 1311)
* [[Angelo da Foligno|Blessed Angelo da Foligno]] (d. 1312)
* [[Simon Rinalducci|Blessed Simon Rinalducci]] (d. 1322)
* [[Angelo da Furci|Blessed Angelo da Furci]] (d. 1327)
* [[Gregorio Celli|Blessed Gregorio Celli]] (d. 1343)
* [[Simon of Cascia|Blessed Simon of Cascia]] (d. 1348)
* [[Gundisalvus of Lagos|Blessed Gundisalvus of Lagos]] (d. 1422)
* [[William Tirry|Blessed William Tirry]] (hanged at Clonmel 1654)
* [[Anne Catherine Emmerich|Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich]] (d. 1824)
* [[Stefano Bellesini|Blessed Stefano Bellesini]] (d. 1840)
* [[Mariano de la Mata|Blessed Mariano de la Mata]] (d. 1983)
* [[Alphonse Gallegos|Venerable Alphonse Gallegos]] (d. 1991)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em| 
* [[Augustinian nuns]]
* [[Augustinian nuns in the Anglican Communion]]
* [[Holy Jesus Hospital]]
* [[Independent Augustinian Communities]]
* [[Pope Leo XIV]]
* [[Mercedarians]], the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
* [[Order of Aubrac]]
* [[Order of Augustinian Recollects]]
* [[Order of the Canons Regular of Premontre]]
* [[Our Lady of Good Counsel]]
* [[Society of Saint Augustine]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090116043125/http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=559 Bibliography for the Augustinian official website]
* Augustine of Hippo, The Rule of St Augustine ''Constitutiones Ordinis Fratrum S. Augustini (Rome 1968)''
* {{cite book | title=The Augustinians (1244–1994): Our History in Pictures | publisher= Pubblicazioni Agostiniane, Roma, Italy
}}
* {{cite book |author1=Canning |author2=R. | title=The Rule of St Augustine | publisher=Darton, Longman and Todd | year=1984}}
* {{cite book | author=Ebsworth, Rev. Walter | title=Pioneer Catholic Victoria | publisher=Polding Press | year=1973 | isbn=0-85884-096-0 }}
* {{Citation|last=Eckermann|first=Karl W.|contribution=Augustinians|year=1999|title=Encyclopedia of Christianity|editor-last=Fahlbusch|editor-first=Erwin|volume=1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch0001unse_t6f2/page/164 164–165]|place=Grand Rapids|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans|isbn=0-8028-2413-7|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch0001unse_t6f2/page/164}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Forging the Augustinian Past: The Rule-Giving of St Augustine in a Duecento Gradual |journal=Gesta |date=2023 |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=95–126 |doi=10.1086/723217}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Ilko |first1=Krisztina |title=Recovering the Augustinian Convent of San Salvatore in Venetian Candia |journal=Journal of Ecclesiastical History |date=2021 |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=259–279 |doi=10.1017/S0022046920000755}}
* {{cite book |author1=Hackett |author2=Michael Benedict |title=A Presence in the Age of Turmoil: English, Irish and Scottish Augustinians in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation |publisher=Augustinian Historical Institute, Villanova University, Pennsylvania  |year=2002 |isbn=1-889542-27-X }}
* {{cite book | author=Hickey, P. J. | title=A History of the Catholic Church in Northern Nigeria | publisher=Augustinian publications in Nigeria, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria | year=1981 }}
* {{cite book |author1=edited by Martin |author2=F. X. |author3=Clare O'Reilly  |name-list-style=amp| title=The Irish Augustinians in Rome, 1656–1994 and Irish Augustinian Missions throughout the World | publisher= St. Patrick's College, Roma, Italy}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050321185503/http://www.cassiciaco.it/ita/001ago/Agostiniani/lubin_conventi/lubin_600.htm ''Orbis Augustinianus sive conventuum O. Erem. S. A. chorographica et topographica descriptio''] Augustino Lubin, Paris, 1659, 1671, 1672.
* {{cite book |last1=Rano |first1=Balbino |title=Augustinian Origins, Charism, and Spirituality |date=1994 |publisher=Augustinian Press |location=Villanova, PA}}
* ''Règle de S. Augustin pour les réligieuses de son ordre; et Constitutions de la Congregation des Religieuses du Verbe-Incarne et du Saint-Sacrament'' (Lyon: Chez Pierre Guillimin, 1662), pp.&nbsp;28–29. Cf. later edition published at Lyon (Chez Briday, Libraire, 1962), pp.&nbsp;22–24. English edition, ''The Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament'' (New York: Schwartz, Kirwin, and Fauss, 1893), pp.&nbsp;33–35.
* {{cite book | author=Zumkeller, Adolar | title=Augustine's Ideal of the Religious Life | publisher= Fordham University Press, New York| year=1986}}
* {{cite book | author=Zumkeller, Adolar | title=Augustine's Rule | publisher= Augustinian Press, Villanova, Pennsylvania | year=1987}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Augustinians}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090501213500/http://bible.tmtm.com/wiki/Augustinians_%28Catholic_Encyclopedia%29 Catholic Encyclopaedia article]

{{Catholic religious institutes}}
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