Augustinian nuns - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Augustinian nuns are the most ancient and continuous segment of the Roman Catholic Augustinian religious order

Augustinians

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...

under the canons of contemporary historical method. The Augustinian nuns, named after Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

(died AD 430

430

Year 430 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...

), are several Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

enclosed monastic orders of women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of St. Augustine. Prominent Augustinian nuns include Italian composer Vittoria Aleotti

Vittoria Aleotti

Vittoria Aleotti , believed to be the same as Raffaella Aleotti was an Italian Augustinian nun, a composer and organist.-Personal Life and Musical Growth:...

, Italian mystic St. Clare of Montefalco, German mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich

Anne Catherine Emmerich

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich was a Roman Catholic Augustinian nun, stigmatic, mystic, visionary and ecstatic....

and St. Rita of Cascia

Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita of Cascia is an Italian Augustinian saint.-Early life:St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy....

Origins

Though Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

probably didn't compose a formal monastic rule (despite the extant Augustinian Rule), his hortatory letter to the nuns at Hippo Regius (Epist., ccxi, Benedictine ed.) is the most ancient example on which the beginnings of this Augustinian Rule are based.

The nuns regard as their first foundation the monastery for which St. Augustine wrote the rules of life in his Epistola ccxi (alias cix) in 423. It is certain that this epistle was called the Rule of St. Augustine for nuns at an early date, and has been followed as the rule of life in many female monasteries since the 11th century. These monasteries were not consolidated in 1256, like the religious communities of Augustinian monks.

Each convent was independent and was not subject to the general of the order. This led to differences in rule, dress, and mode of life. Only since the 15th century have certain Augustinian Hermits reformed a number of Augustinian nunneries, become their spiritual directors, and induced them to adopt the Constitution of their order. Henceforth, there were female members of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine in Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and later in Germany, where, however, many were suppressed during the Reformation, or by the secularizing law of 1803. In the other countries many nunneries were closed in consequence of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. The still existing houses in the early 20th century, except Cascia

Cascia

Cascia is a town and comune of the Italian province of Perugia in a rather remote area of the mountainous southeastern corner of Umbria. It is about 21 km from Norcia on the road to Rieti in the Lazio .-History:...

, Renteria (Diocese of Vitoria), Eibar (Diocese of Vittoria) and Cracow, were under the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese. Many convents are celebrated for the saints whom they produced, such as Montefalco

Montefalco

Montefalco is a town and comune in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia, on an outcrop of the Colli Martani above the flood plain of the Clitunno river, 7 km SE of Bevagna, 11 km SW of Foligno, and 9 km NW of Trevi.-History:The town has been actively settled since...

in Central Italy, the home of St. Clare of the Cross (or St. Clara of Montefalco, d. 1308), and Cascia

Cascia

, near Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

, where St. Rita died in 1457. In the suppressed German convent of Agnetenberg near Dulmen

Dülmen

Dülmen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems river to the east...

, in Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

, lived Anne Catherine Emmerich

Anne Catherine Emmerich

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich was a Roman Catholic Augustinian nun, stigmatic, mystic, visionary and ecstatic....

celebrated for her visions.

Mention should also be made of the monastery of the so-called Augustinians delle Vergini, at Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, founded in 1177 by pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...

after his reconciliation with Holy Roma Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, whose daughter Julia, with twelve girls of noble birth, entered the monastery and became first abbess. Doge

Doge of Venice

The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...

Sebastiano Zani, who had endowed the institution, was appointed patron

Patrón

Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...

, with the privilege of approving the election of the abbess before the granting of the papal confirmation. On the French occupation in the 18th century the religious went to America, where they devoted themselves to the work of teaching and the care of the sick. Later they established monasteries in Italy and in 1817 in Paris. Towards the end of the 16th century communities of female Discalced Augustinians appeared in Spain. The first convent, that of the Visitation, was founded at Madrid, in 1589, by Prudencia Grillo, a lady of noble birth, and received its Constitution from Father Alfonso of Orozco. Juan de Ribera, Archbishop of Valencia (d. 1611), founded a second Discalced Augustinian congregation at Alcoy

Alcoy

Alcoy may stand for:* Alcoy, Spain , a municipality in the province of Alicante, Spain* Alcoy, Cebu, province of Cebu, Philippines....

, in 1597. It soon had houses in different parts of Spain, and in 1663 was established at Lisbon by Queen Louise of Portugal. In addition to the Rule of St. Augustine these religious observed the exercises of the Reformed Carmelites of St. Teresa. In the convent at Cybar, Mariana Manzanedo of St. Joseph instituted a reform which led to the establishment of a third, that of the female Augustinian Recollects. The statutes, drawn up by Father Antinólez, and later confirmed by Paul V, bound the sisters to the strictest interpretation of the rules of poverty and obedience, and a rigorous penitential discipline. All three reforms spread in Spain and Portugal, but not in other countries.

A congregation of Augustinian nuns under the title "Sisters of St. Ignatius" was introduced into the Philippines and South America by the Discalced Augustinian Hermits. They worked zealously in aid of the missions, schools and orphanages in the island, and founded the colleges of Our Lady of Consolation and of St. Anne at Manila, and houses at Neuva Segovia

Segovia

Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...

, Cebú and Mandaloya on the Pasig, where they have done much for the education of girls.

Historically, the most important of the observant Augustinian congregations were the Spanish Augustinian tertiary nuns, founded in 1545 by Archbishop Thomas of Villanova

Thomas of Villanova

St. Thomas of Villanova, O.S.A. , was a preacher, ascetic, writer andSpanish friar of the Order of Saint Augustine....

at Valencia

Valencia (city in Spain)

Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...

; the "reformed" Augustinian nuns who originated under the influence of Augustinian educated Carmelite St Theresa

Teresa of Ávila

Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...

after the end of the 16th century at Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, Alcoy, and those founded in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

The Augustinian Ethos

The teaching and writing of Augustine, the Augustinian Rule, and the lives and experiences of Augustinians over 16th centuries help define the ethos of the order, sometimes "honoured in the breach".

As well as telling his disciples to be "of one mind and heart on the way towards God" Augustine of Hippo taught that "Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love" (Victoria veritatis est caritas), and the pursuit of truth through learning is key to the Augustinian ethos, balanced by the injunction to behave with love towards one another. It does not unduly single out the exceptional, especially favour the gifted, nor exclude the poor or marginalised. Love is not earned through human merit, but received and given freely by God's free gift of grace, totally undeserved yet generously given. These same imperatives of affection and fairness have driven the order in its international missionary outreach. This balanced pursuit of love and learning has energised the various branches of the order into building communities founded on mutual affection and intellectual advancement. The Augustinian ideal is inclusive.

Augustine spoke passionately of God's "beauty so ancient and so new" , and his fascination with beauty extended to music. He taught that "to sing once is to pray twice" (Qui cantat, bis orat) , and music is also a key part of the Augustinian ethos. Besides the significant musical contribution of Augustinian nun and composer Vittoria Aleotti

Vittoria Aleotti

Vittoria Aleotti , believed to be the same as Raffaella Aleotti was an Italian Augustinian nun, a composer and organist.-Personal Life and Musical Growth:...

, contemporary Augustinian musical foundations include the famous Augustinerkirche

Augustinerkirche

The Augustinian Church in Vienna is a parish church located on Josefsplatz, next to the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna. Originally built in the 14th century as the parish church of the imperial court of the Habsburgs, the harmonious Gothic interior was added in the...

of the (male) friars in Vienna where orchestral Masses by Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

and Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

are performed every week, as well as the boys' choir at Sankt Florian

Sankt Florian

Sankt Florian is a town in Upper Austria, Austria. It is 10 miles from Linz, with a population of 5,500 and an elevation of 296 meters above sea level.-St. Florian's Priory and basilica:...

in Austria, a school conducted by Canons Regular

Canons Regular

Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...

, a choir now over 1,000 years old.

Sisters but not "nuns"

Other orders and groups of women that are not enclosed and belong within the Augustinian family either because they follow the Rule of Augustine or have been formally aggregated through their constitutions into the worldwide Augustinian Order are:
The Sisters of St Rita

Sisters of St Rita

The Sisters of Saint Rita are a Roman Catholic religious order. They were founded in 1911 by Father Hugolinus Dach, an Augustinian priest from Würzburg, Germany....

, The Augustinian Sisters of Mercy of Jesus (South Africa), the Augustinian Recollects

Augustinian Recollects

-History:The Order of Augustinian Recollects or simply the Augustinian Recollects are a Roman Catholic mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. They are a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follow the same Rule of St...

and the Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation (both in the Philippines), the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions

Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions

The Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women. They were founded in Lyons, France in 1861 by Euphrasie Barbier. The Congregation's presence is felt worldwide...

, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word is the name of two Roman Catholic religious orders based in the state of Texas.- Houston Order :...

(who established the University of the Incarnate Word

University of the Incarnate Word

The University of the Incarnate Word is a private Catholic university located within the cities of San Antonio and Alamo Heights in Texas, United States....

in Texas), and the Sisters of St Joan of Arc (in Quebec, United States, and Rome) are just some of the Augustinian family of orders who are not enclosed women. The Sisters of Life

Sisters of Life

Sisters of Life is a female Roman Catholic religious order, following the Augustinian rule, that was founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, after much prayer and a visit to the remains of the Dachau concentration camp. It is both a contemplative and active religious...

are a relatively new order (founded 1991 by Cardinal O'Connor) who follow the Augustinian rule.

Women leaders and Saints who followed the Augustinian Rule

Reformer St. Juliana of Mt. Cornillon (1193–1258)
Italian mystic Clare of Montefalco
Clare of Montefalco
Saint Clare of Montefalco , also called Saint Clare of the Cross, was an Augustinian nun and abbess. Before becoming a nun, St. Clare was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis . She was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on December 8, 1881.-Life:She was born at Montefalco, in Umbria, likely in the...

(c. 1268 - 18 August 1318)
Mother and mystic St Rita
Rita of Cascia
Saint Rita of Cascia is an Italian Augustinian saint.-Early life:St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy....

(1381–1457)
Composer Vittoria Aleotti
Vittoria Aleotti
Vittoria Aleotti , believed to be the same as Raffaella Aleotti was an Italian Augustinian nun, a composer and organist.-Personal Life and Musical Growth:...

(c.1575–after 1620)
Abbess Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce
Mother and nun Blessed Helen of Udine

External links

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Origins

The Augustinian Ethos

Sisters but not "nuns"

Women leaders and Saints who followed the Augustinian Rule

See also

External links