172-455: The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( Latin : regula and κανών, kanon , in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders , differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular , designated by a partly similar terminology. As religious communities, they have laybrothers as part of
344-462: A heuristic device , Augustine thought the actual event of creation would be incomprehensible by humans and therefore needed to be translated. Augustine also does not envision original sin as causing structural changes in the universe, and even suggests that the bodies of Adam and Eve were already created mortal before the Fall . Apart from his specific views, Augustine recognized that interpreting
516-530: A "Superior General". Each Benedictine congregation is autonomous and governed by an abbot or abbess. The autonomous houses are characterised by their chosen charism or specific dedication to a particular devotion. For example, In 1313 Bernardo Tolomei established the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet . The community adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict and received canonical approval in 1344. The Olivetans are part of
688-538: A busy schedule made up of preparing sermons and preaching at other churches besides his own. When serving as the Bishop of Hippo, his goal was to minister to individuals in his congregation and he would choose the passages that the church planned to read every week. As bishop, he believed that it was his job to interpret the work of the Bible. He wrote his autobiographical Confessions in 397–398. His work The City of God
860-450: A canon regular, declared that the canons regular are a "median point" between the monks and the secular clergy. The outer appearance and observances of the canons regular can seem very similar to those of the monks. This is because the various reforms borrowed certain practices from the monks for the use of the canons. According to St. Augustine, a canon regular professes two things, "sanctitatem et clericatum". He lives in community, he leads
1032-521: A classic of Christian theology and a key text in the history of autobiography . This work is an outpouring of thanksgiving and penitence. Although it is written as an account of his life, the Confessions also talks about the nature of time, causality, free will, and other important philosophical topics. The following is taken from that work: Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I
1204-400: A common dormitory. From the 4th to the middle of the 11th century, communities of canons were established exclusively by bishops. The oldest form of canonical life was known as "Ordo Antiquus". In Italy, among the first to successfully unite the clerical state with the common life was St Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli and St Zeno, Bishop of Verona and St Ambrose of Milan did similarly. It
1376-708: A day they met to hear a chapter from the rule of their founder, hence the meeting itself was soon called "chapter". This discipline was also recommended shortly after by the Councils of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) (789) and Mainz (813). In 816 the Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis was drawn up at the Council of Aachen. This included a rule of 147 articles, known as the Rule of (Aix-la-Chapelle), to be applied to all canons. These statues were held as binding. The principal difference between Chrodegang's Rule and that of Aachen
1548-736: A disappointing meeting with the Manichaean bishop, Faustus of Mileve , a key exponent of Manichaean theology, started Augustine's scepticism of Manichaeanism. In Rome, he reportedly turned away from Manichaeanism, embracing the scepticism of the New Academy movement. Because of his education, Augustine had great rhetorical prowess and was very knowledgeable of the philosophies behind many faiths. At Milan, his mother's religiosity, Augustine's own studies in Neoplatonism , and his friend Simplicianus all urged him towards Christianity. This
1720-567: A few different places, namely the sacristy , which contained books for the choir and other liturgical books, the rectory , which housed books for public reading such as sermons and lives of the saints, and the library , which contained the largest collection of books and was typically in the cloister. The first record of a monastic library in England is in Canterbury . To assist with Augustine of Canterbury 's English mission , Pope Gregory
1892-415: A greater good. Eventually, Augustine concludes that it was the good of the "companionship" between him and his accomplices that allowed him to delight in this theft. At the age of 17, through the generosity of his fellow citizen Romanianus, Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric , though it was above the financial means of his family. Despite the good warnings of his mother, as
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#17327661145242064-461: A historical rule. One obvious place where such groups of priests are required is at a cathedral , where there were many Masses to celebrate and the Divine Office to be prayed together in community. Other groups were established at other churches which at some period in their history had been considered major churches, and (often thanks to particular benefactions) also in smaller centres. As
2236-576: A hunting lodge, was officially returned to the Benedictines four hundred years later, in 1928. During the next few years, so-called Prinknash Park was used as a home until it was returned to the order. St. Lawrence's Abbey in Ampleforth, Yorkshire was founded in 1802. In 1955, Ampleforth set up a daughter house, a priory at St. Louis, Missouri which became independent in 1973 and became Saint Louis Abbey in its own right in 1989. As of 2015,
2408-437: A large community of Christians against different political and religious factors which had a major influence on his writings. Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. Possidius also described Augustine's personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned
2580-560: A life according to the example of Augustine as was known from his numerous writings. From that time the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, as it was already beginning to be called, increased rapidly. A great number of congregations of canons regular sprang into existence, each with its own distinctive constitutions, grounded on the Rule of St. Augustine and the statutes which Blessed Peter de Honestis gave to his canons at Ravenna about
2752-657: A life of exploitation, others dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament such as the one established by Catherine de Bar (1614–1698). In 1688 Dame Mechtilde de Bar assisted Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien , queen consort of Poland, to establish a Benedictine foundation in Warsaw . Abbeys were among the institutions of the Catholic Church swept away during
2924-472: A literal 1,000-year kingdom prior to the general resurrection , but later rejected the belief, viewing it as carnal. During the medieval period, the Catholic Church built its system of eschatology on Augustinian amillennialism , where Christ rules the earth spiritually through his triumphant church. During the Reformation , theologians such as John Calvin accepted amillennialism. Augustine taught that
3096-657: A mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict . Initiated in 529 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church . The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks , especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits . Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like
3268-490: A monastic manner of life, drawing on the Vulgate 's use of conversatio as indicating "citizenship" or "local customs", see Philippians 3:20. The Rule enjoins monks and nuns "to live in this place as a religious, in obedience to its rule and to the abbot or abbess." Benedictine abbots and abbesses have jurisdiction over their abbey and thus canonical authority over the monks or nuns who are resident. This authority includes
3440-585: A norm, canons regular live together in communities that take public vows. Their early communities took vows of common property and stability. As a later development, they now usually take the three public vows of chastity, poverty and obedience , although some orders or congregations of canons regular have retained the vow of stability. By 1125 hundreds of communities of canons had sprung up in Western Europe. Usually, they were quite independent of one another and varied in their ministries. Especially from
3612-423: A particular foundation in a particular location. Not being bound by location, the mendicants were better able to respond to an increasingly "urban" environment. This decline was further exacerbated by the practice of appointing a commendatory abbot, a lay person, appointed by a noble to oversee and to protect the assets of the monastery. Often, however, this resulted in the appropriation of the assets of monasteries at
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#17327661145243784-401: A reference to ritual purification , which is inspired by Benedict's encouragement of bathing . Benedictine monks have played a role in the development and promotion of spas . Benedictine monasticism differs from other Christian religious orders in that as congregations sometimes with several houses, some of them in other countries, they are not bound into a unified religious order headed by
3956-538: A rhetoric professor. Augustine won the job and headed north to take his position in Milan in late 384. Thirty years old, he had won the most visible academic position in the Latin world at a time when such posts gave ready access to political careers. Although Augustine spent ten years as a Manichaean, he was never an initiate or "elect", but an "auditor", the lowest level in this religion's hierarchy. While still at Carthage
4128-429: A small Numidian city about 31 kilometres (19 miles) south of Thagaste. There he became familiar with Latin literature , as well as pagan beliefs and practices. His first insight into the nature of sin occurred when he and a number of friends stole pears from a neighbourhood garden. He tells this story in his autobiography, Confessions . He realises that the pears were "tempting neither for its colour nor its flavour" - he
4300-443: A teenage heiress. By the time he was able to marry her, however, he had decided to become a Christian priest and the marriage did not happen. Augustine was, from the beginning, a brilliant student, with an eager intellectual curiosity, but he never mastered Greek – his first Greek teacher was a brutal man who constantly beat his students, and Augustine rebelled and refused to study. By the time he realized he needed to know Greek, it
4472-620: A template for explaining child deaths. According to historian Joe Hillaby, the blood libel of Harold was crucially important because for the first time an unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity by local Christian churchmen: "they established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France." The forty-eighth Rule of Saint Benedict prescribes extensive and habitual "holy reading" for
4644-524: A villa outside of Milan where he gathered with his followers, and described it as Christianae vitae otium – the leisure of Christian life. In late August of 386, at the age of 31, having heard of Ponticianus's and his friends' first reading of the life of Anthony of the Desert , Augustine converted to Christianity. As Augustine later told it, his conversion was prompted by hearing a child's voice say "take up and read" ( Latin : tolle, lege ). Resorting to
4816-645: A wide influence. During the 15th and 16th centuries the Lateran Congregation added to the Order's luster by its spirituality and scholarship. In the 17th and 18th centuries the French Congregation of Saint Genevieve and later the Congregation of Our Savior founded by Saint Peter Fourier (1566–1640), responded to new needs by combining the religious life with pastoral work. Finally, in the 19th century Adrien Grea (1828–1917), founder of
4988-725: A wise moderation in all things. This spirit permeates the whole of the so-called Rule of St. Augustine and at least in substance can be attributed to Augustine personally. The invasion of Africa by the Vandals destroyed Augustine's foundation, which likely took refuge in Gaul. The prescriptions which St. Augustine had given to the clerics who lived with him soon spread and were adopted by other communities of canons regular not only in Africa, but in Italy, in France and elsewhere. Pope Gelasius , about
5160-551: A young woman in Carthage. Though his mother wanted him to marry a person of his class, the woman remained his lover. He was warned by his mother to avoid fornication (sex outside marriage), but Augustine persisted in the relationship for over fifteen years, and the woman gave birth to his son Adeodatus (372–388), which means "Gift from God", who was viewed as extremely intelligent by his contemporaries. In 385, Augustine ended his relationship with his lover in order to prepare to marry
5332-421: A youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits. The need to gain their acceptance encouraged inexperienced boys like Augustine to seek or make up stories about sexual experiences. Despite multiple claims to the contrary, it has been suggested that Augustine's actual sexual experiences were likely with members of the opposite sex only. It
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5504-428: Is Ora et Labora "pray and work". Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times. Such details, like other aspects of the daily routine of a Benedictine house are left to the discretion of the superior, and are set out in its customary ,
5676-401: Is a three-dimensional object composed of the four elements, whereas the soul has no spatial dimensions. Soul is a kind of substance, participating in reason, fit for ruling the body. Augustine was not preoccupied, as Plato and Descartes were, in detailed efforts to explain the metaphysics of the soul-body union. It sufficed for him to admit they are metaphysically distinct: to be a human
5848-736: Is elected by all the congregations and serves for a six-year term, works to foster contact and mutual cooperation among the diverse communities of canons regular in the Catholic Church. On 11 October 2016, Jean-Michel Girard, Abbot of the Congregation of St. Nicholas and St. Bernard of Mont Joux (Great St. Bernard, Switzerland) was elected as the 10th abbot primate of the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St Augustine. The order has houses in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada,
6020-596: Is known by various cognomens throughout the many denominations of the Christian world, including Blessed Augustine and the Doctor of Grace ( Latin : Doctor gratiae ). Hippo Regius , where Augustine was the bishop , was in modern-day Annaba , Algeria . Augustine was born in 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras , Algeria ) in the Roman province of Numidia . His mother, Monica or Monnica,
6192-519: Is necessarily constituted by religious clerics, because they are essentially destined to those works which relate to the Divine mysteries, whereas it is not so with the monastic Orders." This is what constitutes a canon regular and what distinguishes him from a monk. The clerical state is essential to the Order of Canons Regular, whereas it is only accidental to the Monastic Order. Erasmus, himself
6364-744: Is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Lutheran churches , and the Anglican Communion . He is also a preeminent Catholic Doctor of the Church and the patron of the Augustinians . His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. His thoughts profoundly influenced
6536-413: Is regarded by the canons as their founder, Vincent of Beauvais , Sigebert , and Peter of Cluny all state that the canonical order traces back its origin to the earliest ages of the Church. In the first centuries after Christ, priests lived with the bishop and carried out the liturgy and sacraments in the cathedral church. While each could own his own property, they lived together and shared common meals and
6708-522: Is that of the Crosiers . Encouraged by the general policies of the Holy See , especially from the late nineteenth century, some of these separate orders and congregations of Augustinian Canons have subsequently combined in some form of federation or confederation. All the different varieties of canons regular are to be distinguished not only from secular canons but also from: Writing at a time before
6880-579: Is the monastery of Black Canons which St. Columba founded), though this is clearly anachronistic. According to Smith and Ratcliff there was a homogeneity among the Augustinian houses in Scotland before 1215 which had much to do with King David I who gave them a common economic policy, and Robert , Bishop of St Andrews , himself a former Augustinian canon at the Priory of St. Oswalds, at Nostell and
7052-404: Is titled an abbot . Smaller communities are headed by a prior or provost . The distinctive habit of canons regular is the rochet , worn over a cassock or tunic , which is indicative of their clerical origins. This has evolved in various ways among different congregations, from wearing the full rochet to the wearing of a white tunic and scapular . On 4 May 1959 Pope John XXIII founded
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7224-423: Is to be a composite of soul and body, with the soul superior to the body. The latter statement is grounded in his hierarchical classification of things into those that merely exist, those that exist and live, and those that exist, live, and have intelligence or reason. Like other Church Fathers such as Athenagoras , Tertullian , Clement of Alexandria and Basil of Caesarea , Augustine "vigorously condemned
7396-511: The sortes biblicae , he opened a book of St. Paul's writings (codex apostoli, 8.12.29) at random and read Romans 13: 13–14: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." He later wrote an account of his conversion in his Confessions ( Latin : Confessiones ), which has since become
7568-515: The Benedictine Confederation . Although Benedictines are traditionally Catholic, there are also other communities that follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. For example, of an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican religious (1,080 men and 1,320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some have adopted the Rule of Benedict. Likewise, such communities can be found in Eastern Orthodox Church , and Lutheran Church . Members of
7740-483: The Benedictine Rule . Rule 38 states that 'these brothers' meals should usually be accompanied by reading, and that they were to eat and drink in silence while one read out loud. Benedictine monks were not allowed worldly possessions, thus necessitating the preservation and collection of sacred texts in monastic libraries for communal use. For the sake of convenience, the books in the monastery were housed in
7912-524: The Camaldolese community. The Cistercians branched off from the Benedictines in 1098; they are often called the "White monks". The dominance of the Benedictine monastic way of life began to decline towards the end of the twelfth century, which saw the rise of the mendicant Franciscans and nomadic Dominicans . Benedictines by contrast, took a vow of "stability", which professed loyalty to
8084-493: The Edict of Caracalla in 212. Augustine's family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born. It is assumed that his mother, Monica, was of Berber origin, on the basis of her name, but as his family were honestiores , an upper class of citizens known as honorable men, Augustine's first language was likely Latin. At the age of 11, Augustine was sent to school at Madaurus (now M'Daourouch ),
8256-1069: The English Reformation . A stone's throw from Marble Arch , the Tyburn Convent is now the Mother House of the Congregation. Benedictines are thought to have arrived in the Kingdom of Poland in the 11th-century. One of the earliest foundations is Tyniec Abbey on a promontory by the Vistula river. The Tyniec monks led the translation of the Bible into Polish vernacular. Other surviving Benedictine houses can be found in Stary Kraków Village , Biskupów , Lubiń . Older foundations are in Mogilno , Trzemeszno , Łęczyca , Łysa Góra and in Opactwo , among others. In
8428-638: The Ever-Virgin Mary as the Mother of God , believing her to be "full of grace" (following earlier Latin writers such as Jerome ) on account of her sexual integrity and innocence. Likewise, he affirmed that the Virgin Mary "conceived as virgin, gave birth as virgin and stayed virgin forever". Benedictines The Benedictines , officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( Latin : Ordo Sancti Benedicti , abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ), are
8600-773: The French Revolution . Monasteries and convents were again allowed to form in the 19th century under the Bourbon Restoration . Later that century, under the Third French Republic , laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. Thus in 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901. In 1898 Marie-Adèle Garnier, in religion, Mother Marie de Saint-Pierre, founded in Montmartre ( Mount of
8772-534: The Manichaean religion , to which he had formerly adhered. He preached around 6,000 to 10,000 sermons when he was alive; however, there are only around 500 sermons that are accessible today. When Augustine preached his sermons, they were recorded by stenographers. Some of his sermons would last over one hour and he would preach multiple times throughout a given week. When talking to his audience, he would stand on an elevated platform; however, he would walk towards
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#17327661145248944-759: The Middle Ages the city of Płock , also on the Vistula, had a successful monastery, which played a significant role in the local economy. In the 18th-century benedictine convents were opened for women, notably in Warsaw's New Town. A 15th-century Benedictine foundation can be found in Senieji Trakai , a village in Eastern Lithuania . Kloster Rheinau was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in
9116-461: The Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia , a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica , possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit . They retained a close relationship until her death. Despite being called an order,
9288-479: The Rule of St. Augustine . The revival also counteracted the decline of religious discipline which had set in among Irish monasteries. St Malachy, archbishop of Armagh, was a prime mover in the reform movement in the Irish Church in the 12th century and by the time of his death in 1148, there were forty-one Augustinian houses. It is not improbable that at the outbreak of the dissolution by Henry VIII , some of
9460-508: The Vatican and to the world. Benedictine nuns are given the title Dame in preference to Sister . The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Benedict of Nursia c. 529, was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino . There is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes
9632-723: The Vatican and to the world. The headquarters of the Benedictine Confederation and the Abbot Primate is the Primatial Abbey of Sant'Anselmo built by Pope Leo XIII in Rome . The Rule of Saint Benedict is also used by a number of religious orders that began as reforms of the Benedictine tradition such as the Cistercians and Trappists . These groups are separate congregations and not members of
9804-409: The true church . He was strongly influenced by the Platonist belief that true reality is invisible and that, if the visible reflects the invisible, it does so only partially and imperfectly (see Theory of Forms ). Others question whether Augustine really held to some form of an "invisible true Church" concept. Augustine originally believed in premillennialism , namely that Christ would establish
9976-507: The vita apostolica into effect for the circumstances of his time and the community of his day. From the time of his elevation to be Bishop of Hippo in 395 AD, he transformed his episcopal residence into a monastery for clerics and established the essential characteristics-the common life with renunciation of private property, chastity, obedience, the liturgical life and the care of souls: to these can be added two other typically Augustinian characteristics —a close bond of brotherly affection and
10148-417: The 11th century, among the canons regular, various groupings called congregations were formed, which partly resembled religious orders in the general modern sense. This movement parallelled in some respects the kind of bonds established between houses of monks. Among these congregations of canons regular, most adopted the Rule of St. Augustine , hence taking their name from St. Augustine, the great Doctor of
10320-446: The Augustinian Eremites . In the East , his teachings are more disputed and were notably attacked by John Romanides , but other theologians and figures of the Eastern Orthodox Church have shown significant approbation of his writings, chiefly Georges Florovsky . The most controversial doctrine associated with him, the filioque , was rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other disputed teachings include his views on original sin,
10492-441: The Augustinians guardians of the tomb of Augustine (called Arca ), which was remade in 1362 and elaborately carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine's life, created by Giovanni di Balduccio . In October 1695, some workmen in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia discovered a marble box containing human bones (including part of a skull). A dispute arose between the Augustinian hermits (Order of Saint Augustine) and
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#173276611452410664-452: The Benedictine Confederation. Other specialisms, such as Gregorian chant as at Solesmes in France, or Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Sacrament have been adopted by different houses, as at the Warsaw Convent, or the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre at Tyburn Convent in London. Other houses have dedicated themselves to books, reading, writing and printing them as at Stanbrook Abbey in England. Others still are associated with
10836-452: The Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries and convents, some known as abbeys . The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation , an organization set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to
11008-465: The British Isles in the course of the 12th century the canons regular, known there as the "Black Canons", were the most prolific. At the heart of their existence was the vita apostolica, but even more than other groups the canons regular became involved in active spiritual care of local populations. Perhaps as a result of this feature they also enjoyed sustained support from founders, patrons and benefactors, and new foundations continued to be made long after
11180-407: The Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778. The abbey of Our Lady of the Angels was founded in 1120. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations. Through the influence of Wilfrid , Benedict Biscop , and Dunstan , the Benedictine Rule spread rapidly, and in the North it was adopted in most of the monasteries that had been founded by
11352-442: The Catholic Church, that of the Augustinian Canons (Canons Regular of St. Augustine, Canonici Regulares Sancti Augustini , CRSA) cannot be traced back to an individual founder or to a particular founding group. They are more the result of a process that lasted for centuries. Because of their manifold roots they have assumed various forms in medieval and modern Europe. Though they also follow the Rule of St. Augustine, they differ from
11524-405: The Celtic missionaries from Iona. Many of the episcopal sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines, and no fewer than nine of the old cathedrals were served by the black monks of the priories attached to them. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak and homeless. The monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of
11696-408: The Church are the successors of the Apostles , and their authority in the Church is God-given. The concept of Church invisible was advocated by Augustine as part of his refutation of the Donatist sect, though he, as other Church Fathers before him, saw the invisible Church and visible Church as one and the same thing, unlike the later Protestant reformers who did not identify the Catholic Church as
11868-417: The Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII . His feast day is 28 August, the day on which he died. He is considered the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. He is invoked against sore eyes. Augustine is remembered in the Church of England 's calendar of saints with a lesser festival on 28 August. According to Bede 's True Martyrology , Augustine's body
12040-442: The Church, "for he realized in an ideal way the common life of the Clergy". They became known as Augustinian Canons , and sometimes in English as Austin Canons ( Austin being a form of Augustine ). Where it was the case, they have also been known as Black Canons , from their black habits. Nevertheless, there have always been canons regular who never adopted the Rule of St. Augustine. In a word, canons regular may be considered as
12212-473: The Church, who are either dead, sinful members or elect predestined for Heaven). The former is the institutional body established by Christ on earth which proclaims salvation and administers the sacraments, while the latter is the invisible body of the elect, made up of genuine believers from all ages, who are known only to God. The Church, which is visible and societal, will be made up of "wheat" and "tares", that is, good and wicked people (as per Mat. 13:30), until
12384-495: The Confederation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine with his apostolic letter "Caritatis Unitas" on the 900th anniversary of the First Lateran Synod. The Confederation is a "union of charity" which binds nine congregations of canons regular together for mutual aid and support. The initial four congregations were: Subsequently, other congregations of canons regular joined the confederation: The abbot primate, who
12556-488: The Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, in his writing put in its proper perspective the ecclesial dimension of the canonical life. In their independence and their local character, the canons regular had some resemblance to the Benedictine monks, as they did in their maintaining the vow of stability to a particular house. The individual houses often have differences in the form of the habit, even within
12728-674: The Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, England, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Peru, Porto Rico, Spain, Taiwan, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay. Other orders sprang up which followed the Rule of St. Augustine and the canonical life. As canons regular became separated into different congregations they took their names from the locality in which they lived, or from
12900-504: The Dead, section 5 (420) he exhorted respect for the body on the grounds it belonged to the very nature of the human person . Augustine's favourite figure to describe body-soul unity is marriage: caro tua, coniunx tua – your body is your wife . Initially, the two elements were in perfect harmony. After the fall of humanity they are now experiencing dramatic combat with one another. They are two categorically different things. The body
13072-699: The English Congregation consists of three abbeys of nuns and ten abbeys of monks. Members of the congregation are found in England, Wales, the United States of America, Peru and Zimbabwe. In England there are also houses of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation : Farnborough, Prinknash, and Chilworth: the Solesmes Congregation , Quarr and St Cecilia's on the Isle of Wight, as well as a diocesan monastery following
13244-690: The Great gave him nine books which included the Gregorian Bible in two volumes, the Psalter of Augustine, two copies of the Gospels , two martyrologies , an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles, and a Psalter . Theodore of Tarsus brought Greek books to Canterbury more than seventy years later, when he founded a school for the study of Greek. The first Benedictine to live in the United States
13416-464: The Holiness of the Catholic Church . That year, also, Adeodatus and Augustine returned home to Africa. Augustine's mother Monica died at Ostia , Italy, as they prepared to embark for Africa. Upon their arrival, they began a life of aristocratic leisure at Augustine's family's property. Soon after, Adeodatus, too, died. Augustine then sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. He only kept
13588-672: The Hospice of Saint Bernard of Mont Joux in Switzerland, and the Austrian Abbeys. The high point of the canons regular can be situated in the first half of the 12th century. During this time they contributed series of popes – Honorius II, Innocent II, Lucius II, as well as Hadrian IV shortly after mid-century and finally Gregory VIII in the second half of the century. In the Middle Ages, some cathedrals were given over to
13760-599: The Immaculate Conception at Epping , Harlow , Milton Keynes , Daventry and now Luton . Besides the occupations of the regular life at home and the public recitation of the Divine Office in choir, they are chiefly employed in parish ministry, preaching retreats, supplying for priests who ask their service, and hearing confessions, either as ordinary or extraordinary confessors to convents or other religious communities. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dated to 565 A.D., relates that Columba, Masspreost (Mass-Priest), "came to
13932-592: The Irish canons regular retired to houses abroad. By 1646 the Irish canons regular on the Continent were sufficiently numerous to be formed by Innocent X into a separate "Congregation of St. Patrick", which the pope declared to inherit all the rights, privileges and possessions of the old Irish canons. In the year 1698 the Irish Congregation, by a Bull of Pope Innocent XII , was affiliated and aggregated to
14104-452: The Lateran Congregation. Like the Order of St. Benedict , it is not one legal body, but a union of various independent congregations. The Canons Regular of Saint Augustine ( C.R.S.A. or Can.Reg. ), also referred to as "Augustinian Canons" or "Austin Canons" ('Austin' being an anglicisation of 'Augustine'), is one of the oldest Latin Church orders. In contrast to many other orders of
14276-555: The Lateran Synod of 1059. Here for the first time the Apostolic See officially recognized and approved the manner of life of the religious clergy as founded by bishops and others. Gregory VII's reform resulted in a distinction being made between clerics who lived in separate houses and those who still preserved the old discipline. Toward the end of the 11th century, the more cathedral and other chapters of canons opted for
14448-625: The Martyr ), Paris a Benedictine house. However, the Waldeck-Rousseau 's Law of Associations , passed in 1901, placed severe restrictions on religious bodies which were obliged to leave France. Garnier and her community relocated to another place associated with executions, this time it was in London , near the site of Tyburn tree where 105 Catholic martyrs—including Saint Oliver Plunkett and Saint Edmund Campion had been executed during
14620-557: The Picts to convert them to Christ". St Columba (Columbanus, Colmcille) was the disciple of St. Finnian , who was a follower of St. Patrick . Both Columba and Finnian embraced the regular life which Patrick had established in Ireland. Tradition places the first landing of Columba on leaving Ireland at Oronsay, and Fordun (Bower) notices the island as "Hornsey, ubi est monasterium nigrorum Canonicorum, quod fundavit S. Columba" (where
14792-711: The Rule of Saint Benedict: The Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury. Since the Oxford Movement , there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo. In 1168 local Benedictine monks instigated the anti-semitic blood libel of Harold of Gloucester as
14964-562: The Septuagint. His view was based on the Aristotelian distinction "between the fetus before and after its supposed 'vivification ' ". Therefore, he did not classify as murder the abortion of an "unformed" fetus since he thought it could not be known with certainty the fetus had received a soul. Augustine held that "the timing of the infusion of the soul was a mystery known to God alone". However, he considered procreation as "one of
15136-545: The University of Paris finds part of its ancestry in the famous Abbey school of St. Victor. Later, congregations properly so called, governed by a superior general, were established within the order so as to maintain uniformity of particular observances. Among these congregations, which gave new life to the order, were the Windesheim Congregation, whose spirituality (known as the " Devotio Moderna ") had
15308-483: The abbeys of Alpirsbach (1099), Ettenheimm ünster (1124) and Sulzburg ( c. 1125 ), and the priories of Weitenau (now part of Steinen , c. 1100 ), Bürgel (before 1130) and Sitzenkirch ( c. 1130 ). Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire , Loiret was founded in about 640. It is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses
15480-526: The ancient Faith". In his youth he was drawn to the Manichaean faith , and later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism . After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin and made significant contributions to
15652-485: The apostolic life after the example of St. Augustine, the more urgent became both a separation from worldy life and measures regarding those canons who held to private ownership, in contradistinction to Benedictine monasticism, which till then was the mainstay of the Gregorian Reform. Pope Urban II deserves the credit for having recognized the way of life of the "canonici regulares" as sharply distinguished from
15824-442: The audience during his sermons. When he was preaching, he used a variety of rhetorical devices that included analogies , word pictures, similes , metaphors , repetition , and antithesis when trying to explain more about the Bible. In addition, he used questions and rhymes when talking about the differences between people's life on Earth and Heaven as seen in one of his sermons that was preached in 412 AD. Augustine believed that
15996-549: The autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of a knowledge of Benedictine monasticism. Copies of Benedict's Rule survived; around 594 Pope Gregory I spoke favorably of it. The rule is subsequently found in some monasteries in southern Gaul along with other rules used by abbots. Gregory of Tours says that at Ainay Abbey , in
16168-485: The best and brightest rhetoricians practised, in 383. However, Augustine was disappointed with the apathetic reception. It was the custom for students to pay their fees to the professor on the last day of the term, and many students attended faithfully all term, and then did not pay. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus , who had been asked by the imperial court at Milan to provide
16340-405: The brethren. Three primary types of reading were done by the monks in medieval times. Monks would read privately during their personal time, as well as publicly during services and at mealtimes. In addition to these three mentioned in the Rule, monks would also read in the infirmary. Monasteries were thriving centers of education, with monks and nuns actively encouraged to learn and pray according to
16512-592: The care of canons regular, as were certain places of pilgrimage. The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England was just such a shrine, and the cathedrals of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Salzburg and Gurk in Austria, Toledo and Saragossa in Spain, St. Andrew's in Scotland, were among many others to be reformed by canons regular. The canons also took a leading role in the intellectual life of the Church by founding cathedral and collegiate schools throughout Europe. For example,
16684-416: The code adopted by a particular Benedictine house by adapting the Rule to local conditions. According to the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law , a Benedictine abbey is a " religious institute " and its members therefore participate in consecrated life which Canon 588 §1 explains is intrinsically "neither clerical nor lay." Males in consecrated life, however, may be ordained. Benedictines' rules contain
16856-414: The community. At times, their Orders have been very popular: in England in the 12th century, there were more houses of canons (often referred to as an abbey or canonry) than monasteries of monks. All canons regular are to be distinguished from secular canons who belong to a resident group of priests but who do not take public vows and are not governed in whatever elements of life they lead in common by
17028-439: The consciousness of his African heritage, at least geographically and perhaps ethnically. For example, he refers to Apuleius as "the most notorious of us Africans," to Ponticianus as "a country man of ours, insofar as being African," and to Faustus of Mileve as "an African Gentleman ". Augustine's family name, Aurelius, suggests his father's ancestors were freedmen of the gens Aurelia given full Roman citizenship by
17200-514: The contemporary ideas of ages (such as those of certain Greeks and Egyptians) that differed from the Church's sacred writings. In The Literal Interpretation of Genesis , Augustine argued that God had created everything in the universe simultaneously and not over a period of six days. He argued the six-day structure of creation presented in the Book of Genesis represents a logical framework , rather than
17372-543: The creation story was difficult, and remarked that interpretations could change should new information come up. Augustine developed his doctrine of the Church principally in reaction to the Donatist sect. He taught there is one Church, but within this Church there are two realities, namely, the visible aspect (the institutional hierarchy , the Catholic sacraments , and the laity ) and the invisible (the souls of those in
17544-638: The daughter of the first Christian King of Kent . Currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Five of the most notable English abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey , The Abbey of St Edmund, King and Martyr commonly known as Douai Abbey in Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berkshire, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London, and Worth Abbey . Prinknash Abbey , used by Henry VIII as
17716-438: The day of a medieval monk. In the Middle Ages monasteries were often founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, through appointed priors. One of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald , who founded
17888-642: The development of just war theory . When the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God , distinct from the material Earthly City. The segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine's On the Trinity . Augustine
18060-668: The distinctive habit they wore, or from the one who led the way in remodelling their lives. Hence the White Canons of Prémontré; the White Canons of Saint John Lateran; the Black Canons of St. Augustine; the Canons of St. Victor at Paris and also at Marseilles. St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( / ɔː ˈ ɡ ʌ s t ɪ n / aw- GUST -in , US also / ˈ ɔː ɡ ə s t iː n / AW -gə-steen ; Latin : Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine ,
18232-685: The doctrine of grace, and predestination . Though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is still considered a saint and has influenced some Eastern Church Fathers, most notably Gregory Palamas . In the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches , his feast day is celebrated on 15 June. The historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has written: "Augustine's impact on Western Christian thought can hardly be overstated; only his beloved example, Paul of Tarsus , has been more influential, and Westerners have generally seen Paul through Augustine's eyes." Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine or Saint Austin ,
18404-549: The earlier codes. By the ninth century, however, the Benedictine had become the standard form of monastic life throughout the whole of Western Europe, excepting Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where the Celtic observance still prevailed for another century or two. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane , it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire. Monastic scriptoria flourished from
18576-700: The early 20th century, the canons regular were represented in England by the Premonstratensians at Crowley, Manchester , Spalding and Storrington and currently Chelmsford ; the Canons Regular of the Lateran Congregation at Bodmin , Truro , St Ives , and Newquay , in Cornwall; at Spettisbury and Swanage , in Dorsetshire; at Stroud Green and Eltham , in London; the Canons Regular of
18748-681: The end of time. This concept countered the Donatist claim that only those in a state of grace were the "true" or "pure" church on earth, and that priests and bishops who were not in a state of grace had no authority or ability to confect the sacraments. Augustine's ecclesiology was more fully developed in City of God . There he conceives of the church as a heavenly city or kingdom, ruled by love, which will ultimately triumph over all earthly empires which are self-indulgent and ruled by pride. Augustine followed Cyprian in teaching that bishops and priests of
18920-412: The eternal fate of the soul is determined at death, and that purgatorial fires of the intermediate state purify only those who died in communion with the Church. His teaching provided fuel for later theology. Although Augustine did not develop an independent Mariology , his statements on Mary surpass in number and depth those of other early writers. Even before the Council of Ephesus , he defended
19092-595: The expense of the community which they were intended to support. Saint Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg is believed to have been founded around the latter part of the tenth century. Between 1070 and 1073 there seem to have been contacts between St. Blaise and the Cluniac Abbey of Fruttuaria in Italy, which led to St. Blaise following the Fruttuarian reforms. The Empress Agnes
19264-414: The experience eventually produced a decreased sensitivity to pain. Augustine eventually broke off his engagement to his eleven-year-old fiancée but never renewed his relationship with either of his concubines. Alypius of Thagaste steered Augustine away from marriage, saying they could not live a life together in the love of wisdom if he married. Augustine looked back years later on the life at Cassiciacum ,
19436-399: The family house, which he converted into a monastic foundation for himself and a group of friends. Furthermore, while he was known for his major contributions to Christian rhetoric, another major contribution was his preaching style. After converting to Christianity, Augustine turned against his profession as a rhetoric professor in order to devote more time to preaching. In 391 Augustine
19608-557: The first to officially use the name Canonici secundum regulam sancti Augustini viventes , which would give the new ordo of canonical life a distinctive stamp. The norm of life of the canons regular was concretized from the last third of the 11th century by a general following of the vita apostolica and the vita communis of the early Church based more and more on the precepts handed down by Augustine. Secundum regulam Augustini vivere, an expression first employed in Rheims in 1067, signified
19780-570: The foundation of the mendicant orders (friars), Pope Urban II (died 1099), said there were two forms of religious life: the monastic (like the Benedictines and Cistercians ) and the canonical (like the Augustinian Canons). He likened the monks to the role of Mary , and the canons to that of her sister, Martha . According to St. Thomas Aquinas , a canon regular is essentially a religious cleric ; "The Order of Canons Regular
19952-629: The founding prior of Scone , united the houses of canons through his patronage and by engaging them as his advisors. At the time of the Reformation the chief houses were: Many of the houses which claimed to have been founded by St. Columba remained in the possession of canons regular till the Reformation, including Oronsay and an alleged foundation at an unidentified locality in the Western Isles named as Crusay. The Augustinian canons regular established 116 religious houses in Ireland in
20124-462: The friars in not committing themselves to corporate poverty , which is a defining element of the mendicant orders. Unlike the friars and like monks, the canons are generally organized as one large community to which they are attached for life with a vow of stability. Their houses are given the title of an abbey , from which the canons then tend to various surrounding towns and villages for spiritual services. The religious superior of their major houses
20296-508: The functions of the canonical life. They have also given hospitality to pilgrims and travelers on the Great St. Bernard and on the Simplon , and in former times the hospitals of St. Bartholomew's Smithfield , in London, of Santo Spirito, in Rome, of Lochleven, Monymusk and St. Andrew's, in Scotland, and others like them, were all served by canons regular. Many houses of canons worked among
20468-467: The general chapter of the Lateran Congregation held at Ravenna in 1558, at the request of many Spanish canons, Don Francis de Agala, a professed canon regular from Spain, who for some ten years had already laboured in the newly discovered country, was created vicar-general in America, with powers to gather into communities all the members of the canonical institute who were then dispersed in those parts, and
20640-399: The genus and Augustinian canons as the species. Otherwise put, all Augustinian Canons are canons regular, but not all canons regular are Augustinian Canons. In Latin, terms such as Canonici Regulares Ordinis S. Augustini ( Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine ) were used, whereby the term order (Latin ordo ) referred more to a form of life or a stratum of society, reminiscent of
20812-405: The goods of marriage; abortion figured as a means, along with drugs which cause sterility, of frustrating this good. It lay along a continuum which included infanticide as an instance of 'lustful cruelty' or 'cruel lust.' Augustine called the use of means to avoid the birth of a child an 'evil work:' a reference to either abortion or contraception or both." In City of God , Augustine rejected both
20984-425: The largest religious house in Cornwall. The priory was suppressed on 27 February 1538. In England houses of canons were more numerous than Benedictine monasteries. The Black Death left the canons regular seriously decimated, and they never quite recovered. Between 1538 and 1540, the canonical houses were suppressed, and the religious dispersed, according to Cardinal Gasquet's computation, ninety-one houses in all. In
21156-453: The library of the church in Hippo and all the books therein should be carefully preserved. He died on 28 August 430. Shortly after his death, the Vandals lifted the siege of Hippo, but they returned soon after and burned the city. They destroyed all but Augustine's cathedral and library, which they left untouched. Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim, and later recognized as a Doctor of
21328-494: The life of a religious, he sings the praises of God by the daily recitation of the Divine Office in choir; but at the same time, at the bidding of his superiors, he is prepared to follow the example of the Apostles by preaching, teaching, and the administration of the sacraments, or by giving hospitality to pilgrims and travellers, and tending the sick. In fact, traditionally canons regular have not confined themselves exclusively to
21500-614: The main force of the expansion of the monastic orders had declined. In England, in the 12th century there was a great revival of canons regular, in the wake of various congregations newly found in France, Italy and the Low countries, some of them reaching England following the Norman invasion. In England alone, from the Conquest to the death of Henry II Plantagenet , no fewer than fifty-four houses of canons regular were founded. The first of these
21672-531: The medieval worldview. Many Protestants , especially Calvinists and Lutherans , consider him one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace . Protestant Reformers generally, and Martin Luther in particular, held Augustine in preeminence among early Church Fathers . From 1505 to 1521, Luther was a member of the Order of
21844-410: The ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium. As a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole, active work. An anonymous writer of the ninth or tenth century speaks of six hours a day as the usual task of a scribe, which would absorb almost all the time available for active work in
22016-410: The obligation to report to the authorities of the order. Especially from the 19th century onwards, the order has undertaken the work of evangelization. By the 13th century, there was widespread adherence to the Rule of St. Augustine . This came in piecemeal fashion. There were in fact three different rules of St. Augustine from which to choose: Of all the new monastic and religious groups to settle in
22188-471: The passage of time in a physical way – it would bear a spiritual, rather than physical, meaning, which is no less literal. One reason for this interpretation is the passage in Sirach 18:1, creavit omnia simul ("He created all things at once"), which Augustine took as proof that the days of Genesis 1 had to be taken non-literalistically. As additional support for describing the six days of creation as
22360-531: The period of church reform early in the 12th century. The role of the Augustinian Canons within the population was the main reason for their being the largest single order in Ireland. The canons regular did not practise the isolation from the general population operated by the Cistercians, and participated in a great variety of pastoral activities in parishes, hospitals and schools, as permitted by
22532-418: The places where they were founded or their founders centuries ago, hence Cassinese , Subiaco , Camaldolese or Sylvestrines . All Benedictine houses became federated in the Benedictine Confederation brought into existence by Pope Leo XIII 's Apostolic Brief " Summum semper " on 12 July 1893. Pope Leo also established the office of Abbot Primate as the abbot elected to represent this Confederation at
22704-473: The poor, the lepers, and the infirm. The clerics established by St. Patrick in Ireland had accommodation for pilgrims and the sick whom they tended by day and by night. And the rule given by Chrodegang to his canons enjoined that there should be a hospital near their house for this purpose. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), also known as Saint Augustine , did not found the canons regular, not even those who are called Augustinian Canons. Although Augustine of Hippo
22876-503: The power to assign duties, to decide which books may or may not be read, to regulate comings and goings, and to punish and to excommunicate , in the sense of an enforced isolation from the monastic community. A tight communal timetable – the horarium – is meant to ensure that the time given by God is not wasted but used in God's service, whether for prayer, work, meals, spiritual reading or sleep. The order's motto
23048-527: The practice of induced abortion ", and although he disapproved of abortion during any stage of pregnancy, he made a distinction between early and later abortions. He acknowledged the distinction between "formed" and "unformed" fetuses mentioned in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 21:22–23, which incorrectly translates the word "harm" (from the original Hebrew text) as "form" in the Koine Greek of
23220-443: The preachers' ultimate goal is to ensure the salvation of their audience. In 395, he was made coadjutor Bishop of Hippo and became full Bishop shortly thereafter, hence the name "Augustine of Hippo"; and he gave his property to the church of Thagaste. He remained in that position until his death in 430. Bishops were the only individuals allowed to preach when he was alive and he scheduled time to preach after being ordained despite
23392-429: The principles of the "canonici saeculares", and at the same time as a way of communal perfection equal to monasticism. In granting numerous privileges to reformed houses of canons he clearly emphasized the nature and goal, the rights and duties of the canons regular. Thus from the renewal of the canonical life there inevitably arose a new "order"—which initially had not been the intention. The privileges of Pope Urban II are
23564-528: The regular canons ( Canons Regular of Saint Augustine ) as to whether these were the bones of Augustine. The hermits did not believe so; the canons affirmed they were. Eventually Pope Benedict XIII (1724–1730) directed the Bishop of Pavia, Monsignor Pertusati, to make a determination. The bishop declared that, in his opinion, the bones were those of Augustine. The Augustinians were expelled from Pavia in 1785, Augustine's ark and relics were brought to Pavia Cathedral in 1799. San Pietro fell into disrepair but
23736-793: The reign of the Emperor Charlemagne (AD 800). Important milestones for the Ordo Antiquus form of canonical life include the reform and rule of the Benedictine Bishop of Metz, Chrodegang (763), and the Synods of Aachen (816–819) , which established a rule of life for canons in the Carolingian Empire. The ecclesiastical constitution or ordinance of Chrodegang, the Regula vitae communis (Rule of Common Life),
23908-409: The relics of St. Benedict. Like many Benedictine abbeys it was located on the banks of a river, here the Loire . Ainey Abbey is a ninth century foundation on the Lyon peninsula. In the twelfth century on the current site there was a romanesque monastery , subsequently rebuilt. The seventeenth century saw a number of Benedictine foundations for women, some dedicated to the indigent to save them from
24080-463: The saint. Augustine's large contribution of writings covered diverse fields including theology, philosophy and sociology. Along with John Chrysostom , Augustine was among the most prolific scholars of the early church by quantity. Augustine was one of the first Christian ancient Latin authors with a very clear vision of theological anthropology . He saw the human being as a perfect unity of soul and body. In his late treatise On Care to Be Had for
24252-408: The same community), and to adopt a "conversion of habits", in Latin, conversatio morum and obedience to the community's superior. The "Benedictine vows" are equivalent to the evangelical counsels accepted by all candidates entering a religious order . The interpretation of conversatio morum understood as "conversion of the habits of life" has generally been replaced by notions such as adoption of
24424-403: The same congregation. Already in the Middle Ages canons regular were engaged in missionary work. Saint Vicelin (c. 1090 – 1154) took the Gospel to the pagan Slavs of Lower Germany; his disciple Meinhard (died 1196) evangelized the people of eastern Livonia. In the 16th century the Portuguese Congregation of Saint John the Baptist took the good news of salvation to the Congo, Ethiopia and India. At
24596-416: The same lineage. For instance the American-Cassinese congregation included the 22 monasteries descended from Boniface Wimmer. A sense of community has been the defining characteristic of the order since the beginning. To that end, section 17 in chapter 58 of the Rule of Saint Benedict specifies the solemn vows candidates joining a Benedictine community are required to make: a vow of stability, to remain in
24768-429: The sick. During the English Reformation , all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing those who wished to continue in the monastic life to flee into exile on the Continent. During the 19th century English members of these communities were able to return to England. St. Mildred's Priory , on the Isle of Thanet , Kent , was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by
24940-401: The siege. Augustine has been cited to have excommunicated himself upon the approach of his death in an act of public penance and solidarity with sinners. Spending his final days in prayer and repentance, he requested the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls so he could read them and upon which led him to "[weep] freely and constantly" according to Possidius' biography. He directed
25112-446: The sixth century, the monks "followed the rules of Basil, Cassian, Caesarius, and other fathers, taking and using whatever seemed proper to the conditions of time and place", and doubtless the same liberty was taken with the Benedictine Rule when it reached them. In Gaul and Switzerland, it gradually supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually entirely displaced
25284-430: The temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see. Shortly before Augustine's death, the Vandals , a Germanic tribe that had converted to Arianism , invaded Roman Africa . The Vandals besieged Hippo in the spring of 430 when Augustine entered his final illness. According to Possidius, one of the few miracles attributed to Augustine, the healing of an ill man, took place during
25456-869: The time of his death in 1887, Wimmer had sent Benedictine monks to Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, and Colorado. Wimmer also asked for Benedictine sisters to be sent to America by St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt , Bavaria. In 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp and two other sisters founded St. Marys, Pennsylvania . Soon they would send sisters to Michigan, New Jersey, and Minnesota. By 1854, Swiss monks began to arrive and founded St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, and they soon spread to Arkansas and Louisiana. They were soon followed by Swiss sisters. There are now over 100 Benedictine houses across America. Most Benedictine houses are part of one of four large Congregations: American-Cassinese, Swiss-American, St. Scholastica, and St. Benedict. The congregations mostly are made up of monasteries that share
25628-529: The usage of the equestrian order or senatorial order of Roman society, rather than to a religious order in the modern sense of a closely organized body. Furthermore, among the Augustinian Canons, some groups acquired a greater degree of distinctiveness in their style of life and organization, to the point of being in law or in effect autonomous religious orders. Examples include the Premonstratensian or Norbertine Order , sometimes known in English as White Canons , from their white habits. Yet another such order
25800-411: The year 1100. In some houses the canonical life was combined with hospitality to travelers, nursing the sick and other charitable works. Often a number of houses were grouped together in a congregation. One of the most famous houses was the Abbey of Saint Victor, founded in Paris in 1108, celebrated for its liturgy, pastoral work and spirituality. Also worth mention are the Abbey of Saint Maurice of Agaune,
25972-409: The year 492, re-established the regular life in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran . From there the reform spread till at length the rule was universally adopted by almost all the canons regular. Over time abuses crept into clerical life, including those of concubinage and independent living with the scandals and disedification of the faithful which followed. Vigorous reforms were undertaken during
26144-413: Was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius (now Annaba), in Algeria. He was especially interested in discovering how his previous rhetorical training in Italian schools would help the Christian Church achieve its objective of discovering and teaching the different scriptures in the Bible. He became a famous preacher (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic), and was noted for combating
26316-544: Was Pierre-Joseph Didier. He came to the United States in 1790 from Paris and served in the Ohio and St. Louis areas until his death. The first actual Benedictine monastery founded was Saint Vincent Archabbey , located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1832 by Boniface Wimmer , a German monk, who sought to serve German immigrants in America. In 1856, Wimmer started to lay the foundations for St. John's Abbey in Minnesota. In 1876, Herman Wolfe, of Saint Vincent Archabbey established Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. By
26488-487: Was a devout Christian; his father Patricius was a pagan who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. He had a brother named Navigius and a sister whose name is lost but is conventionally remembered as Perpetua . Scholars generally agree that Augustine and his family were Berbers , an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa, but were heavily Romanized, speaking only Latin at home as a matter of pride and dignity. In his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to
26660-477: Was a patron of Fruttuaria, and retired there in 1065 before moving to Rome. The Empress was instrumental in introducing Fruttuaria's Benedictine customs, as practiced at Cluny, to Saint Blaise Abbey in Baden-Württemberg . Other houses either reformed by, or founded as priories of, St. Blasien were Muri Abbey (1082), Ochsenhausen Abbey (1093), Göttweig Abbey (1094), Stein am Rhein Abbey (before 1123) and Prüm Abbey (1132). It also had significant influence on
26832-513: Was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia , Roman North Africa . His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy and Western Christianity , and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period . His many important works include The City of God , On Christian Doctrine , and Confessions . According to his contemporary, Jerome of Stridon , Augustine "established anew
27004-426: Was at Colchester in 1096, followed by Holy Trinity, Aldgate, in London, established by Queen Maud, in 1108. From 1147, Andrew of St. Victor served as abbot of the newly founded abbey at Wigmore. The first General Chapter of the Augustinian Canons in England, intended to regulate the affairs of the Order, took place in 1217. In the 12th century the Canons Regular of the Lateran established a priory in Bodmin. This became
27176-414: Was at once a restoration and an adaptation of the Rule of St. Augustine , and its chief provisions were that the ecclesiastics who adopted it had to live in common under the Bishop's roof, recite common prayers, perform a certain amount of manual labour, keep silence at certain times, and go to confession twice a year. They did not take the vow of poverty and they could hold a life interest in property. Twice
27348-407: Was finally restored in the 1870s, under the urging of Agostino Gaetano Riboldi , and reconsecrated in 1896 when the relics of Augustine and the shrine were once again reinstalled. In 1842, a portion of Augustine's right arm (cubitus) was secured from Pavia and returned to Annaba. It now rests in the Saint Augustin Basilica within a glass tube inserted into the arm of a life-size marble statue of
27520-424: Was forever changed. Augustine arrived in Milan and visited Ambrose, having heard of his reputation as an orator. Like Augustine, Ambrose was a master of rhetoric, but older and more experienced. Soon, their relationship grew, as Augustine wrote, "And I began to love him, of course, not at the first as a teacher of the truth, for I had entirely despaired of finding that in thy Church—but as a friendly man." Augustine
27692-458: Was later translated or moved to Cagliari , Sardinia , by the Catholic bishops expelled from North Africa by Huneric . Around 720, his remains were transported again by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand , to the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, to save them from frequent coastal raids by Saracens . In January 1327, Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Veneranda Santorum Patrum , in which he appointed
27864-407: Was neither hungry nor poor, and he had enough of fruit which were "much better". Over the next few chapters, Augustine agonises over this past sin of his, recognising that one does not desire evil for evil's sake. Rather, "through an inordinate preference for these goods of a lower kind, the better and higher are neglected". In other words, man is drawn to sin when grossly choosing the lesser good over
28036-442: Was no longer strictly observed, the sources of revenue were divided and the portions were allocated directly to the individual canons. This soon led to differences of income, and consequently to avarice, covetousness, and the partial destruction of the canonical life. In the 11th century the life of canons regular was reformed and renewed, chiefly owing to the efforts of Hildebrand (c. 1020–1085), later Pope Gregory VII, culminating in
28208-530: Was racked, and wounded, and bleeding." Augustine confessed he had not been a lover of wedlock so much as a slave of lust, so he procured another concubine since he had to wait two years until his fiancée came of age. However, his emotional wound was not healed. It was during this period that he uttered his famously insincere prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence , but not yet." There is evidence Augustine may have considered this former relationship to be equivalent to marriage. In his Confessions , he admitted
28380-418: Was shortly after the Roman emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the only legitimate religion for the Roman Empire on 27 February 380 by the Edict of Thessalonica and then issued a decree of death for all Manichaean monks in 382. Initially, Augustine was not strongly influenced by Christianity and its ideologies, but after coming in contact with Ambrose of Milan, Augustine reevaluated himself and
28552-458: Was their attitude toward private property. Both permitted the canons to own and dispose of property as they saw fit, but while Chrodegang counseled a renunciation of private property, the Aachen Synod did not, since this was not part of the tradition of the canons. It is from this period that there dates the daily recitation by the canons of the Divine Office or canonical hours . In the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, laxity crept in: community life
28724-418: Was too late; and although he acquired a smattering of the language, he was never eloquent with it. He did, however, become a master of Latin. Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste during 373 and 374. The following year he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric and remained there for the next nine years. Disturbed by unruly students in Carthage, he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed
28896-467: Was under St Augustine that the "canonical life" reached its apotheosis. None of the Fathers of the Church were as enthusiastic about the community life of the Apostolic Church of Jerusalem (Acts 4:31–35) or as enthralled by it as St. Augustine. To live this out in the midst of like-minded brethren was the goal of his monastic foundations in Thagaste, in the "Garden Monastery" at Hippo and at his bishop's house. The "rules" of St. Augustine intended to help put
29068-623: Was very much influenced by Ambrose, even more than by his own mother and others he admired. In his Confessions , Augustine states, "That man of God received me as a father would, and welcomed my coming as a good bishop should." Ambrose adopted Augustine as a spiritual son after the death of Augustine's father. Augustine's mother had followed him to Milan and arranged a respectable marriage for him. Although Augustine acquiesced, he had to dismiss his concubine and grieved for having forsaken his lover. He wrote, "My mistress being torn from my side as an impediment to my marriage, my heart, which clave to her,
29240-418: Was while he was a student in Carthage that he read Cicero 's dialogue Hortensius (now lost), which he described as leaving a lasting impression, enkindling in his heart the love of wisdom and a great thirst for truth. It started his interest in philosophy. Although raised Christian, Augustine became a Manichaean , much to his mother's chagrin. At about the age of 17, Augustine began a relationship with
29412-712: Was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odours and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace. Ambrose baptized Augustine and his son Adeodatus, in Milan on Easter Vigil , 24–25 April 387. A year later, in 388, Augustine completed his apology On
29584-506: Was written to console his fellow Christians shortly after the Visigoths had sacked Rome in 410 . Augustine worked tirelessly to convince the people of Hippo to convert to Christianity. Though he had left his monastery, he continued to lead a monastic life in the episcopal residence. Much of Augustine's later life was recorded by his friend Possidius , bishop of Calama (present-day Guelma , Algeria), in his Sancti Augustini Vita . During this latter part of Augustine's life, he helped lead
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