Purpose and Basis of Common Life

Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor, because these are the chief commandments given to us.

1. The following are the precepts we order you living in the monastery to observe.

2. The main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart.

3. Call nothing your own, but let everything be yours in common. Food and clothing shall be distributed to each of you by your superior, not equally to all, for all do not enjoy equal health, but rather according to each one's need. For so you read in the Acts of the Apostles that they had all things in common and distribution was made to each one according to each one's need (4:32,35).

4. Those who owned something in the world should be careful in wanting to share it in common once they have entered the monastery.

5. But they who owned nothing should not look for those things in the monastery that they were unable to have in the world. Nevertheless, they are to be given all that their health requires even if, during their time in the world, poverty made it impossible for them to find the very necessities of life. And those should not consider themselves fortunate because they have found the kind of food and clothing which they were unable to find in the world.

6. And let them not hold their heads high, because they associate with people whom they did not dare to approach in the world, but let them rather lift up their hearts and not seek after what is vain and earthly. Otherwise, monasteries will come to serve a useful purpose for the rich and not the poor, if the rich are made humble there and the poor are puffed up with pride.

7. The rich, for their part, who seemed important in the world, must not look down upon their brothers who have come into this holy brotherhood from a condition of poverty. They should seek to glory in the fellowship of poor brothers rather than in the reputation of rich relatives. They should neither be elated if they have contributed a part of their wealth to the common life, nor take more pride in sharing their riches with the monastery than if they were to enjoy them in the world. Indeed, every other kind of sin has to do with the commission of evil deeds, whereas pride lurks even in good works in order to destroy them.And what good is it to scatter one's weath abroad by giving to the poor, even to become poor oneself, when the unhappy soul is thereby more given to pride in despising riches than it had been in possessing them?

8. Let all of you then live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually honoring God in yourselves, whose temples you have become.

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1. Be assiduous in prayer (Col 4:2), at the hours and times appointed.

2. In the Oratory no one should do anything other than that for which was intended and from which it also takes its name. Consequently, if there are some who might wish to pray there during their free time, even outside the hours appointed, they should not be hindered by those who think something else must be done there.

3. When you pray to God in Psalms and hymns, think over in your hearts the words that come from your lips.

4. Chant only what is prescribed for chant; moreover, let nothing be chanted unless it is so prescribed.

The Augustinians of the Midwest are members of the Order of Saint Augustine, an international Catholic religious community which was juridically founded in 1244.

We trace our spiritual roots to St. Augustine of Hippo, a fifth century Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He established a form of religious community life. The influential Rule of St. Augustine sets down his ideals and serves as a guide. Augustinians are guided today by the ideals and spirit of St. Augustine.

Our 100 friars (priests and brothers) work as active contemplatives in preaching and teaching, in spiritual direction and counseling; in parish, campus and hospital ministries; in theological research, and in the arts and sciences. We also serve as missionaries in Peru and Japan. We minister in high schools and universities, and are also involved in retreat work. Where there's a need, we'll share our life as community in witness to the love of Christ.

The Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel (Augustinians of the Midwest), established in 1941, is located in the central part of the United States.

....was the first permanent establishment of the Augustine order in the U.S. Such notables as President George Washington, Commodore John Barry and merchant Stephen Girard contributed to the building funds of the original church on this site.

Father Matthew J. Carr began St. Augustine's in 1796 to serve the increasing number of German and Irish immigrants who settled in the northern sections of the city. Designed by Douglas Fitzmaurice Fagan and completed in 1801, it stood as the largest Church in the city at that time. The bell tower, added in 1829, was the work of William Strickland, who designed a similar tower for Independence Hall. Father Carr also established St. Augustine's Academy in 1811, one of the earliest efforts in Catholic efforts in secondary education, which was the forerunner of Villanova University.

By 1838, St. Augustine had 3,000 parishioners. In the 1840's, sentiment against the growing number of Irish Catholic immigrants was inflamed by the press. The recently created Native American Party, later known as the "No Nothings", complained against the naturalization of immigrants. On May 8, 1844, after three days of anti-Catholic rioting, the mob burned the church and rectory. Also destroyed was one of the finest theological libraries in the United States, containing 3,000 volumes. The Augustinian Church sued in court and rebuilt the church with the funds awarded. This case was one of the first tests of the rights of citizens to religious freedom under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, thereby affirming William Penn's 1701 Charter of privileges.

The present church, completed in 1847, was designed by Napoleon LeBaron, the architect of such Philadelphia landmarks as the Academy of Music and the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.