The Rule of St. Augustine

"Before all else, beloved, love God and then your neighbor, for these are the chief commandments given to us." Thus begins the Rule of St. Augustine. Many are not aware that St. Augustine wrote a rule for his monks and that he was a monk. Father Adolar Zumkeller, O.S.A. writes, "Modern Christians think of St. Augustine as a God-seeker, a bishop, a theologian, but have for the most part forgotten his life as a monk." The Rule of St. Augustine is a short one but filled with profound teaching such as —

• "The main purpose for your having come together is to live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God with one heart and one soul."
• "Therefore call nothing your own, but let everything be yours in common."
• "Let all of you live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually honoring in yourselves God whose temples you have become."
• "Be assiduous in prayer at the hours and times appointed."

Many religious communities of men and women follow the Rule of St. Augustine. We are privileged to strive to follow a Rule by a Father and Doctor of the Church, perhaps the Church's greatest theologian, a Bishop, a Saint and a monk.