A religious order united in 1255 following the monastic teaching and rule of St Augustine; also known as the Augustinian or Austin Friars; in full, the Order of the Hermit Friars of St Augustine (OSA). It established missions and monasteries throughout the world, and was responsible for founding many famous hospitals. There are also Augustinian nuns of second or third orders (tertiaries).
The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430), are several Roman Catholic monastic orders and congregations of both men and women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of Saint Augustine.
The five main branches of the order internationally
The Augustinian family worldwide is made up of five main branches
The Order of the Hermit Friars of Saint Augustine; the friars subject to the jurisdiction of the Prior General (International leader) other Augustinian orders not under the jurisdiction of the Prior General of the friars. religious congregations of apostolic life (active congregations of men or women) Augustinian nuns or sisters of contemplative life (enclosed nuns) lay fraternities and societies established under the name and teaching of Saint Augustine.Some of the most visible contemporary groups of Augustinians include:
The Order of the Hermit Friars of Saint Augustine
The O.S.A.'s , formerly called Augustinian Hermits, but today known as Augustinian Friars or Austin Friars, are a mendicant order. It is headed by the international Prior-General in Rome, and while spiritually and historically connected is now canonically separate from the other Independent Augustinian Communities such as the Canons Regular, Discalced Augustinians, Augustinian nuns, Premontres, Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception, Augustinian Recollects and the Dominicans.
The modern order of friars (Under the Prior General in Rome) is associated with the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization and maintains a full-time representative to the United Nations. Worldwide there are nearly 2,800 Augustinian friars working in:
Algeria Argentina Austria Australia Belgium Benin Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Czech Republic Dominican Republic England Ecuador France Germany Guinea India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Kenya Korea Madagascar Malta Mexico Netherlands Nicaragua Nigeria Panama Papua Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Scotland Spain Tanzania Togo U.S.A. Uruguay Vatican City Venezuela ZaireAround 1,500 women live in Augustinian enclosed convents in:
Bolivia Chile Ecuador Italy Kenya Malta Mexico Netherlands Panama Peru Philippines Spain Switzerland U.S.AAugustinian 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 the monastic vows, but offer support to the work of the Augustinian order through voluntary work, gifts of money and goods, and the study and promotion of Augustine and Augustinian teaching. The Brotherhood of the Virgin Mary of the Belt in Italy, the Friends of Augustine in the Philippines, the Augustinian Lay community and the Augustinian Friends in Australia are some examples of Augustinian lay societies.
Aggregated communities
Other orders and groups belong within the Augustinian family either because they follow the Rule of Augustine or have been formally aggregated through their constitutions into the worldwide Augustinian Order. Some of these include:
The Sisters of St Rita, The Augustinian Sisters of Mercy of Jesus (South Africa), The Augustinians of the Assumption (which includes Byzantine Rite congregations), The Alexian Brothers (located in the USA, Europe, England, Ireland the Philippines and India), the Brothers of the Assumption (in the Congo), the Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation (Philippines), the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions, the Hospitallers of the Mercy of Jesus (Canada), the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word (who established the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas), and the Sisters of St Joan of Arc (in Quebec, United States, and Rome) are just some of the Augustinian family of orders.The Augustinian Rule
The ancient Rule of life formally constituted for the hermits around 1243, had its origins established soon after St. Augustine was converted by Ambrose in Milan around the year 384 AD. Probably, Augustine didn't compose a formal monastic rule despite the extant Augustinian Rule . Augustine's hortatory letter to the nuns at Hippo Regius (Epist., ccxi, Benedictine ed.) is not considered a formal Monastic rule by some scholars . However, the present rule has strong consonance with the existing writings and teaching of Augustine of Hippo.
Three sets of the "Augustinian Rule" have been attributed to Augustine's authorship (texts in Holstenius-Brockie, Codex regularum monasticarum, ii, Augsburg, 1759, 121-127), the longest of which, a medieval compilation from certain pseudo-Augustinian sermons in 45 chapters, is the one commonly known as the regula Augustini, and served as the constitution of the Augustinian Canons and many societies imitating them, as, for example, the Dominicans.
The extant Augustinian orders claim lineage from the communities founded by Augustine of Hippo, and while the history of ideas is evident, historic continuity is not conclusively proven according to the standards of contemporary historical method. A form of Augustine's Rule was later used as a basis for the reform of monasteries and cathedral chapters during the 11th century. Clare of Montefalco was one of the first abbesses to adopt the formally constituted Augustinian rule in her monastery in 1291.
History of the Grand Union
The year 1256 is usually quoted as the date of the Grand Union that brought the modern order into existence, but there is some scholarly discussion over the exact date of the formal constitution of the Augustinian order, as it occurred in stages. By the 11th century there had appeared historically identifiable groups of clerics in various part of Europe who renounced private property and lived together in community following the Rule of St. Augustine described above.
The Augustinian Hermits (who are generally meant by the name "Augustinians", one branch of which Martin Luther belonged to) became the last of the great mendicant orders to be formally constituted in the thirteenth century. It is historically verifiable that Innocent IV, by the bull issued 16 December 1243 united a number of small hermit societies with Augustinian rule, especially the Williamites, the John-Bonites, and the Brictinans.
Alexander IV (admonished, it was said, by an appearance of Saint Augustine) called a general assembly of the members of the new united order under the presidency of Cardinal Richard of Saint Angeli at the monastery of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome in March, 1256, when the head of the John-Bonites, Lanfranc Septala, of Milan, was chosen general prior of the united orders. The new order was thus finally constituted with Italian, Hungarian, French, English, Belgian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swiss, Austrian and German Augustinian friars united into one international order. A bull of Pius V in 1567 had already assigned to the Hermits of Saint Augustine the place next to the last (between Carmelites and Servites) among the five chief mendicant orders.
The Augustinian ethos
The teaching and writing of Augustine, the Augustinian Rule, and the lives and experiences of Augustinians over 16 centuries help define the ethos of the order, sometimes "honoured in the breach".
As well as telling his disciples to be "of one mind and heart on the way towards God" Augustine of Hippo taught that "Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love" (Victoria veritatis est caritas}, and the pursuit of truth through learning is key to the Augustinian ethos, balanced by the injunction to behave with love towards one another.
Augustine spoke passionately of God's "beauty so ancient and so new" , and his fascination with beauty extended to music. He taught that "to sing once is to pray twice" (Qui cantat, bis orat) , and music is also a key part of the Augustinian ethos. Contemporary Augustinian musical foundations include the famous Augustinerkirche in Vienna where Orchestral Masses by Mozart and Schubert are performed every week, as well as the boys' choir at Sankt Florian in Austria, a school conducted by Augustinian Canons, a choir now over 1,000 years old.
History in Europe
In its most flourishing state at the beginning of the 14th century C.E., the order in Europe had forty-two provinces (besides the two vicariates of India and Moravia) with 2,000 monasteries and about 30,000 members . The Canons Regular and the Augustinian Recollects also have considerable history in Europe. These provinces produced significant Augustinian leaders and reformers. These included the most famous German Augustinian theologian before the Augustinian Martin Luther: Andreas Proles (d.
Reforms were also introduced into the extra-German branches of the order, but a long time after Proles's reform and in connection with the Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Augustinian credentials of Martin Luther did not prevent anti-clerical attacks on the order during the Reformation, and neither did it enhance the order's political influence within the Catholic church during the Counter-Reformation.
Spanish-speaking and French-speaking lands
The order of friars in Spain and France has had an eventful history, from being part of the Grand Union, through the periods of extensive Spanish colonisation, the French Revolution, the effects of the Napoleonic wars, the War of the Spanish Succession, suppression of the order, the Spanish Civil War, and then Franco.
Historically, the other most important of the observant Augustinian congregations are the Spanish Augustinian tertiary nuns, founded in 1545 by Archbishop Thomas of Villanova at Valencia; the "reformed" Augustinian nuns who originated under the influence of Augustinian educated Carmelite St Theresa after the end of the sixteenth century at Madrid, Alcoy, and in Portugal;
A significant Augustinian missionary college was established at the former Spanish capital of Valladolid in 1759 - and this house was exempted from the suppression of monastic houses in Spain c.1835, later becoming the centre of restoration for the order in Spain. The modern Augustinian province of Spain was refounded in 1926- largely through Spanish and Philippino friars from the Philippines- but that was not the end of difficulty for the order in Spain. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) sixty five Augustinian friars from the Escorial alone were executed.
As of 2006 there were 177 Spanish Augustinian friars, with 23 in simple profession.
Setbacks in Europe
Many European Augustinian priories and foundations suffered serious setbacks (including suppression and destruction) from the various periods of anti-clericalism during the Reformation and other historical events such as the French Revolution, the Spanish civil war (among more than 6,000 clergy, 155 Spanish Augustinians were killed) , the two World Wars and Communist repression.
Latest statistics in Europe
As of 2006 there were 148 active Augustinian priories in Europe, including Germany, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Malta, Spain and Spanish houses in the Philippines.
The order is in numerical decline in Europe.
History in England
In England and Ireland of the 14th century the Augustinian order had had over 800 friars, but these priories had declined (for other reasons) to around 300 friars before the anti-clerical laws of the Reformation Parliament and the Act of Supremacy. The partial List of monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England alone includes 18 Augustinian houses such as Bath Abbey, Bourne Abbey, Newstead Abbey and Waltham Abbey, the last one dissolved under him, but not the last to be destroyed.
History in Ireland
The English Province of the Order of Saint Augustine founded their first house in Dublin some time before 1280, and for a considerable time the Augustinians of Ireland were all English, effectively serving the English settlers in Ireland. He favoured the order, and soon established an Augustinian professor of theology based at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and the Irish then order grew significantly until the time of the English Reformation.
In Ireland after the Reformation Parliament that began in 1529, the Augustinian houses in Leinster, Munster, Dublin, Dungarvan and Drogheda were soon suppressed. By decree in 1542 the English parliament had allowed the Augustinian community at Dunmore in County Galway, Ireland to continue. Irish Augustinian students were sent to the Continent to study, and the Irish Augustinians continued their work in Ireland under the harsh English Penal laws designed to protect the establishment of the Church of England. In 1751 Augustine Cheevers O.S.A, an Irish Augustinian, was made Bishop of Ardagh.
Contemporary Ireland is undergoing rapid change, and this presents challenges to the order there. Many Irish emigrants (including Augustinian friars) are now returning.
Measuring the growth or decline of the Augustinian Order internationally
Given that the Roman Catholic church in the Western world has been experiencing a decline in vocations to the priesthood and religious life since the 1960s, a relatively simple way to assess the vigour of this order is to compare the numbers of those in solemn profession (vows) with those in simple profession. Ordination is considered a separate matter, and though most are, the Augustinian friar may or may not be ordained priest or deacon. Likewise, the growth of lay organisations of Augustinian spirituality is another (less-precise) way of measuring the vigour of the order.
History in the New World: North America
The North American foundation of the order happened in 1796 when Irish friars founded Olde St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia. While Malvern Preparatory School was founded in 1842 alongside the University, by 1909 two Augustinian houses and a school had been established in Chicago, 1922 in San Diego, by 1925 a school in Ojai and Los Angeles;
The Order's 20th century establishment in Canada was one result of both poverty and political trouble being experienced by German Augustinians.
Latest statistics for the United States and Canada
As of 2006 there were more than 70 Augustinian priories in the United States and Canada with 386 friars in solemn vows and 16 in simple vows, numerically the order is in decline.
History in the New World: Central and South America
Sent by their Provincial St.Thomas of Villanova, the first group of Spanish/Castillian Augustinians arrived in Mexico in 1533. The Augustinian Province of Holland later also founded houses in Bolivia from 1930.
The Augustinian Recollects are also present in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.
Latest statistics for Central and South America
In Central and South America, the Augustinians remain established in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela as well three Peruvian Vicariates of Iquitos, Apurimac and Chulucanas. Besides the early Portuguese Augustinians, other Augustinian missionaries have since followed to Africa from America, Ireland, Belgium and Australia.
Latest statistics for Africa
As of 2006, there were more than 30 other Augustinian priories in Nigeria, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Algeria, with over 85 friars in solemn vows, and more than 60 in simple vows.
The order is growing in Africa.
History in Asia
The Philippines
The Augustinians were the first Christian missionaries to arrive in Asia's (now) only Christian nation, and the leader of these first missionaries was the navigator Andrés de Urdaneta (b. June 3, Mexico, 1568), an Augustinian friar. San Agustín Church and Monastery in Manila became the centre of Augustinian efforts to evangelise the Philippines. Many Spanish Augustinians were forced to leave the country for Spain or Latin America, repopulating the Augustinian houses in Spain and reinforcing Augustinian missionary work in South America.
In 1904 the Filipino members of the order established the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Philippines. In 1968 Filipino friars re-established the Augustinian presence on the Indian subcontinent.
In 2004 the all-Filipino Augustinian Province of Cebu celebrated its twentieth year of existence.
The order of friars is once again growing in the Philippines. The Augustinian Recollects are also present in the Philippines.
Japan
Despite a vigorous early Christian foundation in Nagasaki by Jesuits, Franciscans and Philippino Augustinians and the many 17th century Japanese Augustinian martyrs, the earlier Augustinian mission attempts eventually failed after the repression of Tokugawa Hidetada (ruled 1605-1623;
However, American Augustinian friars returned to Japan in 1954, symbolically establishing their first priory in 1959 at Nagasaki (also site of the second atomic bomb dropped on August 13th, 1945). As of 2006, there are seven United States Augustinian friars and five Japanese Augustinian friars.
Early Japanese Augustinian leaders, including St Magdalen of Nagasaki and St Thomas Jihyoe are venerated as saints.
Indonesia
Two Dutch Augustinian friars re-established the order in Papua (now Indonesia) in 1953 while it was still a Dutch colony. As of 2006, the Augustinian Vicariate of Indonesia has 15 friars in solemn profession, and 7 in simple vows.
Korea
The Augustinian Recollects are also present in Korea, but for the Augustinian friars, the Region of Korea was founded in 1985 by Australian, English and Scottish friars.
India
After an extensive period of expansion in India from the 15th century the Portuguese Augustinians had not only established the order but also provided sixteen Indian bishops between 1579 and 1840.
However, the Augustinians were re-established by Filipino friars in 1968 at Cochin, and the Indian Augustinians took on further responsibilities in Kerala in 2005 .
China
The first Western major work on the history of China was by Augustinian friar Juan González de Mendoza. It was a description of a visit to China by three others (including another Augustinian friar), and included the first known depiction of Chinese characters in Western publishing.
In about 1681, the Philippino Augustinian Alvaro de Benevente arrived in China and established the first of the Augustinian houses in China at Kan-chou. The Augustinian missionaries had success in propagating Catholicism, but in 1708, during the Chinese Rites controversy they were forced to withdraw from China. and Agostino Villanueva O.S.A) entered China to re-establish an Augustinian mission. By 1910 the Augustinian mission had 24 members of the Order, two were indigenous Chinese.
Latest information on China
Since the re-unification of the former colonies of Macau and Hong-Kong with the central Chinese government and further developments in government religious policy, Roman Catholicism in China - including clergy, Roman Catholic bishops, and a Cardinal - once again exists openly alongside the members of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and their co-religionists in the continuing underground Church.
The Augustinian have recently re-established friendly relations with Chinese educational organisations through school-placement programmes as well as through the University of the Incarnate Word Chinese campus founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
While there are Chinese Augustinian friars, there is not yet a priory in mainland China re-established.
Other Augustinians in Taiwan
The Augustinian Recollects are established in Taiwan, at Kaohsiung. The Canons Regular of Saint Augustine are also present in Taiwan.
Latest statistics for Asia
As of 2006 (and not counting Spanish Augustinian priories) there were more than 21 other Augustinian houses across the Philippines, India, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia, with more than 140 friars in solemn vows and more than 40 in simple vows.
The order of friars is growing in Asia.
History in Australia
Irishman James Alipius Goold O.S.A, was the first Augustinian to arrive in the Australian colonies in 1838. He had been convinced to go to Australia by William Bernard Ullathorne (then the Benedictine Vicar-General of New Holland) after a chance meeting on the steps of the Roman Augustinian church at the monastery of Santa Maria del Popolo. Despite's Goold's initial desire to establish immediately an Australian branch of the order, the first Australian Augustinian was not ordained until 1940, and the Australian Province was not formally established as separate from its Irish founding province until 1952.
The order presently conducts parishes, two schools (one established 1948 in Brisbane, the other established 1956 in Sydney), St John Stone House (a centre for Augustinian Spirituality), a formation centre, and special ministries such as palliative care, HIV/AIDS ministry, and Aboriginal ministry.
Associated orders such as the St John of God Brothers (arrived Australia 1947 and established mental health services) and the Philippino Augustinian Sisters of our Lady of Consolation also established an Australian house in the 1990s.
Latest statistics for Australia
As of 2006 there were 11 other Augustinian priories in Australia with 36 friars in solemn vows, and one in simple vows.
The order is in numerical decline in Australia.
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