Rule of Saint Augustine facts for kids
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The Rule of Saint Augustine is a short document written around the year 400. It has eight chapters and gives a plan for how people in religious communities should live. It is the oldest set of rules for monks and nuns in the Western Church.
This rule was created by Augustine of Hippo (354–430). It covers topics like living simply, being obedient, sharing work, and praying together. It also talks about fasting and caring for the sick. The rule became widely used from the 1100s onwards. Many religious groups still use it today, including the Dominicans and Augustinians.
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Saint Augustine's Monastic Life
In 388, Augustine returned home to Thagaste from Milan. He sold his family's property and gave the money to people in need. He only kept his estate, which he turned into a place for himself and his friends to live and pray together. Later, as a bishop, he invited his priests to live in a community with him.
Augustine followed the religious life as it was known back then. He wrote rules for monks and nuns in Roman Africa. Unlike some earlier religious leaders who lived alone and practiced very strict self-denial, Augustine had a different view. He believed that extreme isolation was not always helpful for the church. Instead, he encouraged people to live simply and kindly while still being part of a town like Hippo.
In Hippo, the people in his religious house lived together. They also carried out their duties to the community. For Augustine, loving your neighbor was the same as loving God. He felt it was necessary to serve the church, even if it meant less time for quiet thought or study. A key part of living together was having a simple lifestyle. Augustine did not just value being poor. He valued sharing everything. He wrote a lot about prayer but did not set specific rules for how to pray. However, he really liked using the psalms.
Many of his friends and students became bishops and followed his example. These included Alypius and Possidius.
What is the Rule of Saint Augustine?
The name "Rule of Saint Augustine" has been used for several different writings. These include:
- Letter 211, written to a group of women.
- Sermons 355 and 356, titled "On the Life and Practices of His Clergy."
- A part of a rule for priests called Consortia monachorum.
- A rule known as Regula secunda.
- Another rule called "De vitâ eremiticâ ad sororem liber".
The last one, "De vitâ eremiticâ ad sororem liber", was actually written by Saint Ælred, who died in 1166. The two rules before it were written by unknown authors. However, Letter 211 and Sermons 355 and 356 were definitely written by Augustine himself.
Letter 211: Rules for Nuns
Saint Augustine wrote Letter 211 in 423 to a group of nuns in a monastery in Hippo. His sister had been in charge there, and his cousin and niece lived there too. He wrote it mainly to help calm problems when a new leader was chosen. But he also used the chance to talk about important virtues and practices for religious life.
He stressed things like kindness, living simply, and being obedient. He also talked about sharing work, and how leaders and followers should treat each other. Prayer together, fasting, and caring for the sick were also important. This letter did not have super detailed rules like some other monastic rules. But Augustine wanted it to be read every week. This was so the nuns could remember the rules and fix any mistakes. He thought living simply was the base of monastic life. But he also felt that kindness and living in peace were just as important.
Augustine said the leader should share duties with other members of the community. One person would care for the sick. Another would manage supplies. Another would handle clothes. And one would be in charge of books. The nuns made their own clothes. Prayer together was a big part of their day. They prayed in the chapel at set times, using hymns, psalms, and readings. Some prayers were spoken, others were sung. Augustine didn't give tiny details about this. He left it to the local church's customs.
Fasting was suggested only if a person was strong enough. If someone couldn't wait for the evening meal, they could eat at noon. The nuns ate simple food and probably did not eat meat. The sick were cared for very kindly. People who had lived a fancy life before joining the monastery were given some special allowances. During meals, something educational was read aloud. Even though Augustine's Rule has few strict rules, it focuses a lot on religious virtues and living a simple, disciplined life. This was common for early religious rules.
Sermons 355 and 356: Sharing Goods
In his sermons 355 and 356, Saint Augustine talked about how monks should live simply and share everything. He wanted to clear up any worries people in Hippo had about the clergy (church leaders) who lived with him. They shared their belongings, just like the first Christians did. This was called "the Apostolic Rule." However, Augustine's Rule also said that people might need different things. So, not everyone received exactly the same treatment.
On the Work of Monks
Bishop Aurelius of Carthage was worried about monks who were lazy. They said they were busy thinking and praying. So, Saint Augustine wrote a paper called De opere monachorum (On the Work of Monks). In it, he used the Bible and the example of the Apostles to show that monks must work hard. He said that working to earn a living was necessary. Monks who worked in the church ministry were already following this rule. Sick monks did not have to work.
These are the most important rules for monastic life found in Saint Augustine's writings.
Augustine's Influence in Early Times
Between 430 and 570, Augustine's rule was brought to Europe. Monks and priests who were escaping attacks by the Vandals carried it with them. It was used by small groups of monks and nuns who lived like hermits. It was also used by priests who lived in church communities with their bishop.
Augustine's writings helped shape Western monasticism. Saint Benedict, who wrote another famous rule, read Augustine's Letter 211 many times. He even used parts of it in his own rule. Saint Benedict's ideas about monks working came from Augustine's paper De opere monachorum. The teachings about living simply came from Augustine's sermons "De vitâ et moribus clericorum suorum".
Augustine's influence was strongest in southern Gaul (modern-day France) in the 400s and 500s. Monks there knew Augustine's writings well. Saint Caesarius, an important church leader, used many ideas from Augustine's rule for his own monks. He also quoted a lot from Letter 211 for his nuns. Augustine's ideas also spread to women's monasteries in Gaul.
Sometimes, people even copied Augustine's entire letter to the nuns. They changed it a little to fit communities of men. This happened in many monasteries in the 500s and 600s. These adapted versions of Letter 211 became part of collections called "Rules of the Fathers." These collections were used by people starting new monasteries.
However, Augustine's rule was not widely adopted by groups of canons (priests living in community) until the 1000s. This was when new groups of priests were formed to fight against problems like buying church positions and priests having families.
For a long time, there was a disagreement between two groups, the Canons Regular and the Hermits of St. Augustine. Both claimed Saint Augustine as their founder. This argument was about who came first. Pope Sixtus IV finally ended the dispute in 1484.
How the Rule Spread in the Middle Ages
By the 1000s, some monks felt that the Rule of Saint Benedict, which had been the main rule for centuries, no longer fit the changing world. Cities were growing, more people could read, and wealth was shifting. While some groups tried to make the Benedictine Rule stricter again, other groups of priests, called 'canons', started living together in a simpler, more disciplined way. They followed the old texts known as the 'Rule of Saint Augustine'.
These priests were known by many names, like Canons Regular, 'Augustinian canons', or 'Black canons'. The Council of Lateran approved this rule for clergy in 1059. Another council in Rome approved it four years later.
The Rule of St Augustine then spread quickly across Western Europe. The Victorine Canons adopted it in 1113. In 1120, Norbert of Xanten chose the Rule of St Augustine when he started the Premonstratensian Order. It was also adopted by John of Matha in 1198 for the Trinitarian Order. At the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, it was accepted as one of the official rules of the church.
The Order of Preachers adopted it in 1216. The Order of St Augustine adopted it in 1256. The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit adopted it in 1308. And the Order of Mercy also adopted it. By the 1400s, over 4500 religious houses in Europe followed this rule. Today, more than 150 communities still use it.
See also
In Spanish: Regla de san Agustín para niños
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