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We have seen that the New Pope has been strongly influenced during his lifetime, by Augustinians.  It appears that the most important factor we have seen so far is his commitment to Augustinian beliefs and practices.  So, let us look into what that entails.
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early 12c., “religious recluse, one who dwells apart in a solitary place for religious meditation,” from Old French hermit, ermit “hermit, recluse,” from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally “person of the desert,” from eremia “a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste,” from erēmos “uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft,” from PIE *erem- “to rest, be quiet” (source also of Sanskrit ramate “to rest;” Lithuanian rimti“to be quiet,” Gothic rimis “rest,” Old Irish fo-rimim “to set, lay”). The unetymological h- first appeared in Medieval Latin heremite.   From what we know of monasteries, nunneries, and hermitages – the meaning that applies is certainly not rest.Transferred sense of “person living in solitude” is from 1799. Related: Hermitic; hermitical. The hermit crab (1735) is said to be so called for its seeking out and dwelling in a solitary cell.
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Monasticism

What Is Monasticism?

By Jack Zavada

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The term comes from the Greek word monachos, which means a solitary person. Monks are of two types: eremitical, or solitary figures; and cenobitic, those who live in a family or community arrangement.

Early Monasticism

Christian monasticism got its start in Egypt and North Africa (that ought to tell you something, right there) about 270 AD, with the desert fathers, hermits who went into the wilderness and gave up food and water to avoid temptation. One of the earliest recorded solitary monks was Abba Antony (251-356), who retreated to a ruined fort to pray and meditate. Abba Pacomias (292-346) of Egypt is regarded as the founder of the cenobitic or community monasteries.

In early monastic communities, each monk prayed, fasted, and worked on his own, but that began to change when Augustine (354-430), bishop of Hippo in North Africa, wrote a rule, or set of directions for the monks and nuns in his jurisdiction. In it, he stressed poverty and prayer as the foundations of monastic life. Augustine also included fasting and labor as Christian virtues. His rule was less detailed than others that would follow, but Benedict of Nursia (480-547), who also wrote a rule for monks and nuns, relied heavily on Augustine’s ideas.

Monasticism spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, largely due to the work of Irish monks. By the Middle Ages, the Benedictine Rule, based on common sense and efficiency, had become widespread in Europe.

Communal monks worked hard to support their monastery. Often the land for the monastery was given to them because it was remote or thought to be poor for farming. With trial and error, monks perfected many agricultural innovations. They were also involved in such tasks as copying manuscripts of both the Bible and classical literature, providing education, and perfecting architecture and metal work. They cared for the sick and poor, and during the Dark Ages, preserved many books that would have been lost. The peaceful, cooperative fellowship inside the monastery often became an example for the society outside it.

By the 12th and 13th centuries, abuses began to set in. As politics dominated the Roman Catholic Church, kings and local rulers used monasteries as hotels while traveling, and expected to be fed and housed in royal fashion. Demanding rules were imposed on young monks and novice nuns; infractions were often punished with floggings.  There was rampant sexual abuses, torture and murder!

Some monasteries became wealthy while others could not support themselves. As the political and economic landscape changed over the centuries, monasteries held less influence. Church reforms eventually moved monasteries back to their original intent as houses of prayer and meditation.

Present-Day Monasticism

Today, many Roman Catholic and Orthodox monasteries survive throughout the world, varying from cloistered communities where Trappist monks or nuns take a vow of silence, to teaching and charitable organizations that serve the sick and poor. Everyday life usually consists of several regularly scheduled prayer periods, meditation, and work projects to pay the community’s bills.

Monasticism is often criticized as being unbiblical. Opponents say the Great Commission commands Christians to go into the world and evangelize. However, Augustine, Benedict, Basil and others insisted that separation from society, fasting, labor, and self-denial were only means to an end, and that end was to love God. The point of obeying the monastic rule was not performing works to gain merit from God, they said, but rather was done to remove worldly obstacles between the monk or nun and God.

Supporters of Christian monasticism stress Jesus Christ‘s teachings about wealth being a stumbling block for people. They claim John the Baptist‘s strict lifestyle as an example of self-denial and cite Jesus’ fasting in the desert to defend fasting and a simple, restricted diet. Finally, they quote Matthew 16:24 as a reason for monastic humility and obedience: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (NIV)
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All of the teachings about WEALTH in the Bible are there to help us to recognize that the pursuit of WEALTH/MAMMON will lead us to sin.  But, for the believer, ALL that we have comes from GOD.  Some people are chosen by God to create wealth in order to further the Kingdom and help the poor.  God gives each of His Children all that they need

John the Baptist was CALLED to live the way he did.  There is no one who could live his lifestyle unless GOD empowers them to do so.  What God calls you to, he empowers you to do.  We all have our own “desert” times in our life.  God has a way of getting us alone with Him when needed.  But, we are not meant to live in the DESERT.  We are called to live in the blessing and POWER provided by the BLOOD of JESUS, and the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT.

When Jesus said deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him, He was talking about leaving behind your own goals of building you kingdom what ever that might be for you.  He meant that we were to emulate HIM by putting the WILL of GOD in our lives ahead of our own WILL.  He meant that we should find God’s Plan for our own life and pursue it whole heartedly.  Jesus said he never did anything that he did not hear first from the Father.  THAT is the kind of life we are called to live.  God wants to fill our lives with GOOD THINGS, if we will only follow HIM.

Two of Augustine’s works are considered classics of Western literature: Confessions, which is deemed the first autobiography in the West, and City of God. Augustine left a catalogue that contains 113 books, 218 letters, and 500 sermons. His writings are among the most complicated of the Church Fathers because over the course of his life, he went back to a theological concept to update it as his thoughts evolved and he matured.

Early Life

Augustine was born in 354 CE in Thagaste, North Africain the Roman province of Numidia, most likely in a family of Berber lineage.His father, Patrick, was a pagan, but his mother Monica, was a devout Christian. This was very common in the late Roman Empire.We do not know much about Patrick, but Monica was very ambitious for her sonand admonished him to become a Christian to elevate his status.
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Berber 1820 (n.); 1832 (adj.), from the Arabic name for the peoples living in the mountains and deserts of North Africa west of Egypt; perhaps ultimately from Greek barbaros “barbarians” (see Barbary). By 1854 as the name of their Hamitic language. Hamitic(adj.) of or pertaining to the language group that includes ancient Egyptian, Berber, Galla, etc.; 1842, from Ham/Cham, name of the second son of Noah (Genesis ix.18-19), whose four sons were popularly believed to have populated Egypt and adjacent regions of Africa. Hamite(n.) 1854, “a descendant of Biblical Ham“ (see Hamitic), with -ite (1). Used in reference to Egyptian and other peoples of north and northeast Africa; but popularly, “a black African, a negro.” Barbary c. 1300, “foreign lands” (especially non-Christian lands), from Latin barbaria “foreign country,” from barbarus “strange, foreign” (see barbarian (n.)). The meaning “Saracen nations on coastal North Africa” is attested from 1590s, via French (Old French barbarie), from Arabic Barbar, Berber, ancient Arabic name for the inhabitants of North Africa beyond Egypt.Perhaps a native name, perhaps an Arabic word, from barbara “to babble confusedly,” but this might be ultimately from Greek barbaria. “The actual relations (if any) of the Arabic and Gr[eek] words cannot be settled; but in European langs. barbaria, Barbarie, Barbary, have from the first been treated as identical with L. barbaria, Byzantine Gr[eek] barbaria land of barbarians” [OED].

He must have been among what we deem the upper classes. Augustine had an excellent education in rhetoric, and education in schools of philosophy indicated leisure and funds to pursue such goals.

rhetoric(n.) early 14c., rethorike, “the art of eloquence and persuasiveness in language, the art of using language to influence others,” from Old French retorike, rethorique (Modern French rhétorique) and directly from Latin rhetorice, from Greek rhētorikē tekhnē “art of an orator,” from rhētōr (genitive rhētoros) “speaker, master speaker, orator; artist of discourse; teacher of rhetoric,” especially (in the Attic official language), “orator in public.” This is related to rhesis “speech,” rhema “word, phrase, verb,” literally “that which is spoken” (from PIE *wre-tor-, from root *were- (3) “to speak;” see verb). Since classical times with a derogatory suggestion of “artificial oratory” as opposed to what is natural or unaffected, “ostentatious declamation.”

philosophy(n.) c. 1300, philosophie, “knowledge, learning, scholarship, scholarly works, body of knowledge,” from Old French filosofie “philosophy, knowledge” (12c., Modern French philosophie) and directly from Latin philosophia, from Greek philosophia “love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; systematic investigation,“ from philo- “loving” (see philo-) + sophia “knowledge, wisdom,” from sophis “wise, learned;” a word of unknown origin [Beekes]. With many spelling variants in Middle English (filozofie, phelosophie, etc.).From mid-14c. as “the discipline of dealing in rational speculation or contemplation;” from late 14c. as “natural science,” also “alchemy, occult knowledge;” in the Middle Ages the word was understood to embrace all speculative sciences. The meaning “system a person forms for conduct of life” is attested from 1771. The modern sense of “the body of highest truth, the science of the most fundamental matters” is from 1794.

Upon Patrick’s (his Father)death in 370 CE, Augustine became a professor of rhetoric in Carthage. Joining some other intellectuals, he became interested in the Christian sect of the Manichaeans. A Persian Christian prophet, Mani (d. 254 CE), emphasized the polarity of good and evil along Zoroastrian and Gnostic philosophical principles. Although officially declared a heresy, the Manichaeans remained a popular sect in the Roman Empire and in the East along the Silk Road.

What may have drawn Augustine to this group was the allowance of two tiers of participants. Mani only required celibacy and diet restrictions from the leaders. The second tier, the ‘hearers’ of Mani, did not have to become ascetics. At this time, Augustine began a 15-year relationship with a woman. There were still class restrictions involving marriage in late antiquity. You could marry into a different class, but ideally, it had to be marrying up, never down. Apparently, this woman was of a lower class. They had a son together, Adeodatus (“gift of God”), who died young.

Disillusioned with his circle at Carthage, Augustine and Monica moved to Milan, Italy, where he won the position of rhetoric professor. Monica began negotiations for a marriage contract with a girl from a better family. Waiting for the girl to reach puberty, he established a relationship with another woman, as he later said, “because I was a slave to lust.” It was in this period when he wrote, “Give me chastity and continence, but not just yet” (Confessions, Book 8.7).

Conversion

Augustine’s conversion to Christianity in 386 CE became famous because he wrote about it in detail in the later Confessions (397 CE), a psychological retrospective of his life. An older Augustine analyzed the decisions he had made over time. Modern scholars tend to describe Augustine’s search for meaning in life as an intellectual pursuit, rather than an emotional one. Nevertheless, the Confessions embodies a personal and spiritual struggle that is familiar to all humans.

The bishop of Milan was Aurelius Ambrose (339-397 CE), a prominent and famous theologian. Augustine was intellectually interested in Ambrose’s sermons, and would later adapt much of this teaching in his ideas. After the sermon, he would sit on a bench outside waiting for his mother. One day he heard what he thought was a child playing a sing-song game, ‘Take up and read.” When he did not see anyone, he realized that it was a supernatural calling. He said he found a New Testament and opened it to Paul‘s letter to the Romans. It changed his life and he became a Christian.

Monica was delighted. However, Augustine was a perfectionist. If he was going to be a Christian, then he was going to be a celibate Christian. Canceling the marriage negotiations, Monica then died. This was traumatic for Augustine and perhaps contributed to what became his metaphysics of guilt (reatus), the basic idea of which was that God made everything from nothing, and each created thing is good, with natural faculties. All owe a debt to God for their creation. When they misuse their faculties (sin), this misuse results in guilt because of the debt.

Bishop of Hippo

In Hippo, Augustine was elected bishop, built his own monastery, and became renowned for his sermons and teaching. He often presented public debates in town hall meetings, where he addressed continuing heresies in the province. He renounced his former connections and debated against the Manichaeans.

Augustine’s commitment to celibacy never bothered him in the physical sense. He now had his own body under control. But as a perfectionist, Augustine continued to be bothered by the fact that he still thought about sexual intercourse. He assumed that such thoughts would go away with old age, but when a 70-year-old parishioner announced the birth of a son, he was dismayed. His struggles with why he could not control his thoughts on this and other matters, led to a more difficult question: Why do people continue to sin when they know better (at least intellectually)? 

In one of the most famous sections of the Confessions, Augustine related an incident when he was a teenager. He and his friends broke into a neighbor’s garden and stole some pears. He thought about this incident over and over – none of them was hungry, none of them was poor. Why did they do it? Paul the Apostle had struggled with the same problem:

Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:21-25)

The Original Sin

Augustine, as a biblical exegete, and like so many other Christian intellectuals, turned to Genesis, the beginning of all creation, to analyze how evil came into the world and why humans sin. The Church Fathers of the 2nd century CE interpreted the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to claim that Eve was seduced by the serpent (now the Devil in Christian theology), who then seduced Adam into disobedience. The seduction introduced the passion of lust (and shame) into human intercourse. However, this sin of lust was a necessary evil, to populate the world (and to grow the Church).

Augustine extended the concept through an idea that we term genetics. God created human genitals, and the first commandment was to be fruitful and multiply. Augustine claimed that this human activity originally was to be a natural function of humans, like walking or eating. The first couple’s intercourse with lust produced a black stain on the soul of the first fetus, which was passed down to all humans. This introduced the Christian concept of human sexuality as sin, and without using the term, humans inherited a ‘sin gene.’ Located in the semen, it was transmitted to the woman, and so both were guilty. This was how Paul’s ‘law of sin’ (power of sin) entered the human race. This became the doctrine of Original Sin.

Augustine’s concept of Original Sin was an incredibly fatalistic view of humankind. He referred to humans as the ‘condemned masses’ because we are conceived in sin, and thus damned from the moment of conception. Baptism was required as the initiation ritual that admitted you to the Church to wash away this Original Sin, but it did not eliminate the human proclivity for evil. As he knew, baptized Christians (like himself) continued to sin in both body and mind.

Citing Paul again, he claimed that the only thing that can save humans is the grace of God (Greek: chairs, “gift”) when God sent Christ into the world. This was truly a gift because humans, being condemned, could never achieve salvation on their own merits. Humans remain unreconciled without grace. Grace can only come from God (from outside the earth) as the world is totally corrupted by evil.

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3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  2 Timothy 3

No mattter how intelligent, well-educated, and committed to study you might be you cannot know God or understand His Word using worldly wisdom. The wisdom of man is folly to God, and the Wisdom of God is foolishness to man.  God uses the foolish thing to confound the wise. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.  Proverbs 3

1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Augustine apparently had no understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit which could only be provided for us once Christ was crucified.  He sent the Power of the Holy Spirit, who leads us and guides us, reveals all truth to us, comforts us and most of all EMPOWERS us to walk FREE FROM SIN.  TO OVERCOME THE WORKS OF THE ENEMY!! 9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

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Evil arose from the human weakness of willpower in both physical and mental aspects: the desire to satisfy bodily instincts and the desire to disobey for its own sake (the way in which Augustine understood the stealing of the pears.) Sin is the inability to resist temptation. Matter itself is not evil, but overindulgence in matter and one’s attitude toward matter can be evil. Humans are held responsible for evil and will be judged by God. Because God is omniscient (all-knowing), God already knows who will be saved and who will be damned. This idea was challenged by other bishops and Christian intellectuals.

Pelagius (354-418 CE), was a British monk who taught that when God created the first humans, he gave them free will because God did not want slaves (an idea not technically stated in Genesis). Humans are free to choose good and evil because of free will, not because of their inherent evil nature from conception. Augustine argued that God had given the first couple free will, but like immortality, it was also lost in Eden. Humans only have the freedom to choose evil; in relation to the good, God through grace, chooses them. Pelagius was condemned as a heretic in 415 CE, and so Augustine won the day.   EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE BOTH WRONG! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FOLLOW MEN AND NOT GOD.  JESUS IS OUR PLUMBLINE.  EMULATE HIM AND NO ONE ELSE!

The Donatists

After Constantine’s (ALLEGED) Conversion to Christianity in 312 CE, the bishops asked him to mediate a controversy among the churches. During the last persecution under Diocletian (302/306 CE), some bishops had committed apostasy by offering sacrifices to the gods of the Roman religion. Schism had resulted in the debate over whether or not to readmit these bishops to their former standing. Constantine made the decision to forgive and forget, in his larger goal of church unity.  That had always been the policy of Constantine’s conquest of the whole world.  Blending, bring all religion together as one.  Everyone can continue with their traditional practices as long as they change the names of their gods, goddess, Heroes and Holdays to the Roman names.  That IS the only way to unite all nations, tongues and religions.  Rome doesn’t care about your immortal soul, or the laws of GOD.  They do not recognize the God of the Bible.

 Bishop Donatus of Rome did not agree. He literally moved his community to North Africa and created separate Donatist Churches. Donatus argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. The church must be a church of saints, not sinners, and sacraments administered by any previous traditores (the compromisers) were invalid. Donatist clergy and monks, known as Circumcellions, attacked and robbed clergy living in high-life styles, distributed their money to the poor, and often attacked pagan shrines so that they would be arrested and executed to achieve martyrdom.

Augustine held a series of town hall meetings and campaigned against the Donatists. His response to the readmission of lapsed clergy was an analogy of Noah’s Ark, just as the ark had both clean and unclean animals, so the Church will always have sinners and saints. The later Council of Trent (1545-1563), utilizing Augustine, taught that the value of the sacraments does not depend on the status of the celebrant, but on the worth of the victim and on the dignity of the chief-priest, Jesus Christ himself.

Hippo Regius, Numidia, North Africa

THE ORDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE RULE

The Rule of Saint Augustine
Chapter I
1. Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor, because these are the chief commandments given to us.
2. The following are the precepts we order you living in the monastery to observe.
3. The main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart.
4. 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).
5. Those who owned something in the world should be careful in wanting to share it in common once they have entered the monastery.
6. 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 them have found the kind of food and clothing which they were unable to find in the world.
7. 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.
8. 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 wealth 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?
9. Let all of you then live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually honoring God in yourselves, whose temples you have become.
Chapter II
10. Be assiduous in prayer (Col 4:2), at the hours and times appointed.
11. 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.
12. When you pray to God in Psalms and hymns, think over in your hearts the words that come from your lips.
13. Chant only what is prescribed for chant; moreover, let nothing be chanted unless it is so prescribed.
Chapter III
14. Subdue the flesh, so far as your health permits, by fasting and abstinence from food and drink. However, when someone is unable to fast, he should still take no food
outside mealtimes unless he is ill.
15. When you come to table, listen until you leave to what is the custom to read, without disturbance or strife. Let not your mouths alone take nourishment but let your hearts too
hunger for the words of God.
16. If those in more delicate health from their former way of life are treated differently in the matter of food, this should not be a source of annoyance to the others or appear
unjust in the eyes of those who owe their stronger health to different habits of life. Nor should the healthier brothers deem them more fortunate for having food which they do
not have, but rather consider themselves fortunate for having the good health which the others do not enjoy.
17. And if something in the way of food, clothing, and bedding is given to those coming to the monastery from a more genteel way of life, which is not given to those who are
stronger, and therefore happier, then these latter ought to consider how far these others have come in passing from their life in the world down to this life of ours, though they
have been unable to reach the level of frugality common to the stronger brothers. Nor should all want to receive what they see given in larger measure to the few, not as a
token of honor, but as a help to support them in their weakness. This would give rise to a deplorable disorder – that in the monastery, where the rich are coming to bear as
much hardship as they can, the poor are turning to a more genteel way of life.
18. And just as the sick must take less food to avoid discomfort, so too, after their illness, they are to receive the kind of treatment that will quickly restore their strength,
even though they come from a life of extreme poverty. Their more recent illness has, as it were, afforded them what accrued to the rich as part of their former way of life. But
when they have recovered their former strength, they should go back to their happier way of life which, because their needs are fewer, is all the more in keeping with God’s
servants. Once in good health, they must not become slaves to the enjoyment of food which was necessary to sustain them in their illness. For it is better to suffer a little want
than to have too much.
Chapter IV
19. There should be nothing about your clothing to attract attention. Besides, you should not seek to please by your apparel, but by a good life.
20. Whenever you go out, walk together, and when you reach your destination, stay together.
21. In your walk, deportment, and in all actions, let nothing occur to give offense to anyone who sees you, but only what becomes your holy state of life.
22. Although your eyes may chance to rest upon some woman or other, you must not fix your gaze upon any woman. Seeing women when you go out is not forbidden, but it is
sinful to desire them or to wish them to desire you, for it is not by tough or passionate feeling alone but by one’s gaze also that lustful desires mutually arise. And do not say
that your hearts are pure if there is immodesty of the eye, because the unchaste eye carries the message of an impure heart. And when such hearts disclose their unchaste
desires in a mutual gaze, even without saying a word, then it is that chastity suddenly goes out of their life, even though their bodies remain unsullied by unchaste acts.
23. And whoever fixes his gaze upon a woman and likes to have hers fixed upon him must not suppose that others do not see what he is doing. He is very much seen, even
by those he thinks do not see him. But suppose all this escapes the notice of man -what will he do about God who sees from on high and from whom nothing is hidden? Or
are we to imagine that he does not see because he sees with a patience as great as his wisdom? Let the religious man then have such fear of God that he will not want to be an
occasion of sinful pleasure to a woman. Ever mindful that God sees all things, let him not desire to look at a woman lustfully. For it is on this point that fear of the Lord is
recommended, where it is written: An abomination to the Lord is he who fixes his gaze (Prv. 27:20)
24. So when you are together in church and anywhere else where women are present, exercise a mutual care over purity of life. Thus, by mutual vigilance over one another
will God, who dwells in you, grant you his protection.
25. If you notice in someone of your brothers this wantonness of the eye, of which I am speaking, admonish him at once so that the beginning of evil will not grow more serious
but will be promptly corrected.
26. But if you see him doing the same thing again on some other day, even after your admonition, then whoever had occasion to discover this must report him as he would a
wounded man in need of treatment. But let the offense first be pointed out to two or three so that he can be proven guilty on the testimony of these two or three and be
punished with due severity. And do not charge yourselves with ill-will when you bring  this offense to light. Indeed, yours in the greater blame if you allow your brothers to be
lost through your silence when you are able to bring about their correction by your disclosure. If you brother, for example, were suffering a bodily wound that he wanted to
hide for fear of undergoing treatment, would it not be cruel of you to remain silent and a mercy on your part to make this known? How much greater then is your obligation to
make his condition known lest he continue to suffer a more deadly wound of the soul.
27. But if he fails to correct the fault despite this admonition, he should first be brought to the attention of the superior before the offense is made known to the others who will
have to prove his guilt, in the event he denies the charge. Thus, corrected in private, his fault can perhaps be kept from the others. But should he feign ignorance, the others are
to be summoned so that in the presence of all he can be proven guilty, rather than stand accused on the word of one alone. Once proven guilty, he must undergo salutary
punishment according to the judgment of the superior or priest having the proper authority. If he refuses to submit to punishment, he shall be expelled from your
brotherhood even if he does not withdraw of his own accord. For this too is not done out of cruelty, but from a sense of compassion so that many others may not be lost through
his bad example.
28. And let everything I have said about not fixing one’s gaze be also observed carefully and faithfully with regard to other offenses: to find them out, to ward them off, to make
them known, to prove and punish them – all out of love for man and a hatred of sin.
29. But if anyone should go so far in wrongdoing as to receive letters in secret from any woman, or small gifts of any kind, you ought to show mercy and pray for him if he
confesses this of his own accord. But if the offense is detected and he is found guilty, he must be more severely chastised according to the judgment of the priest or superior.
Chapter V
30. Keep your clothing in one place in charge of one or two, or of as many as are needed to care for them and to prevent damage from moths. And just as you have your
food from the one pantry, so, too, you are to receive your clothing from a single wardrobe. If possible, do not be concerned about what you are given to wear at the
change of seasons, whether each of you gets back what he had put away or something different, providing no one is denied what he needs. If, however, disputes and
murmuring arise on this account because someone complains that he received poorer clothing than he had before, and thinks it is beneath him to wear the kind of clothing
worn by another, you may judge from this how lacking you are in that holy and inner garment of the heart when you quarrel over garments for the body. But if allowance is
made for your weakness and you do receive the same clothing you had put away, you must still keep it in one place under the common charge.
31. In this way, no one shall perform any task for his own benefit but all your work shall be done for the common good, with greater zeal and more dispatch than if each one of
you were to work for yourself alone. For charity, as it is written, is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:5) meaning that it places the common good before its own, not its own before the
common good. So whenever you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know that you are growing in charity. Thus, let the abiding virtue of
charity prevail in all things that minister to the fleeting necessities of life.
32. It follows, therefore, that if anyone brings something for their sons or other relatives living in the monastery, whether a garment or anything else they think is needed, this
must not be accepted secretly as one’s own but must be placed at the disposal of the superior so that, as common property, it can be given to whoever needs it. But if
someone secretly keeps something given to him, he shall be judged guilty of theft.
33. Your clothing should be cleaned either by yourselves or by those who perform this service, as the superior shall determine, so that too great a desire for clean clothing
may not be the source of interior stains on the soul.
34. As for bodily cleanliness too, a brother must never deny himself the use of the bath when his health requires it. But this should be done on medical advice, without
complaining, so that even though unwilling, he shall do what has to be done for his health when the superior orders it. However, if the brother wishes it, when it might not
be good for him, you must not comply with his desire, for sometimes we think something is beneficial for the pleasure it gives, even though it may prove harmful.
35. Finally, if the cause of a brother’s bodily pain is not apparent, you make take the word of God’s servant when he indicates what is giving him pain. But if it remains
uncertain whether the remedy he likes is good for him, a doctor should be consulted.
36. When there is need to frequent the public baths or any other place, no fewer than two or three should go together, and whoever has to go somewhere must not go with
those of his own choice but with those designated by the superior.
37. The care of the sick, whether those in convalescence or others suffering from some indisposition, even though free of fever, shall be assigned to a brother who can
personally obtain from the pantry whatever he sees is necessary for each one.
38. Those in charge of the pantry, or of clothing and books, should render cheerful service to their brothers.
39. Books are to be requested at a fixed hour each day, and anyone coming outside that hour is not to receive them.
40. But as for clothing and shoes, those in charge shall not delay the giving of them whenever they are required by those in need of them.
Chapter VI
41.You should either avoid quarrels altogether or else put an end to them as quickly as possible; otherwise, anger may grow into hatred, making a plank out of a splinter, and
turn the soul into a murderer. For so you read: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 Jn 3:15).
42. Whoever has injured another by open insult, or by abusive or even incriminating language, must remember to repair the injury as quickly as possible by an apology, and
he who suffered the injury must also forgive, without further wrangling. But if they have offended one another, they must forgive one another’s trespasses for the sake of your
prayers which should be recited with greater sincerity each time you repeat them. Although a brother is often tempted to anger, yet prompt to ask pardon from one he
admits to having offended, such a one is better than another who, though less given to anger, finds it too hard to ask forgiveness. But a brother who is never willing to ask
pardon, or does not do so from his heart, has no reason to be in the monastery, even if he is not expelled. You must then avoide being too harsh in your words, and should they
escape your lips, let those same lips not be ashamed to heal the wounds they have caused.
43. But whenever the good of discipline requires you to speak harshly in correcting your subjects, then, even if you think you have been unduly harsh in your language, you are
not required to ask forgiveness lest, by practicing too great humility toward those who should be your subjects, the authority to rule is undermined. But you should still ask
forgiveness from the Lord of all who knows with what deep affection you love even those whom you might happen to correct with undue severity. Besides, you are to love
another with a spiritual rather than an earthly love.
Chapter VII
44. The superior should be obeyed as a father with the respect due him so as not to offend God in his person, and, even more so, the priest who bears responsibility for you
all.
45. But it shall pertain chiefly to the superior to see that these precepts are all observed and, if any point has been neglected, to take care that the transgression is not
carelessly overlooked but is punished and corrected. In doing so, he must refer whatever exceeds the limit and power of his office, to the priest who enjoys greater
authority among you.
46. The superior, for his part, must not think himself fortunate in his exercise of authority but in his role as one serving you in love. In your eyes he shall hold the first place
among you by the dignity of his office, but in fear before God he shall be as the least among you. He must show himself as an example of good works toward all. Let him
admonish the unruly, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient toward all (1 Thes 5:14). Let him uphold discipline while instilling fear. And though both are
necessary, he should strive to be loved by you rather than feared, ever mindful that he must give an account of you to God.
47. It is by being more obedient, therefore, that you show mercy not only toward yourselves but also toward the superior whose higher rank among you exposes him all
the more to greater peril.
Chapter VIII
48. The Lord grant that you may observe all these precepts in a spirit of charity as lovers of spiritual beauty, giving forth the good odor of Christ in the holiness of your
lives: not as slaves living under the law but as men living in freedom under grace.
49. And that you may see yourselves in this little book, as in a mirror, have it read to you once a week so as to neglect no point through forgetfulness. When you find that you are
doing all that has been written, give thanks to the Lord, the Giver of every good. But when one of you finds that he has failed on any point, let him be sorry for the past, be
on his guard for the future, praying that he will be forgiven his fault and not be led into temptation.Translation by Robert Russell, O.S.A; Copyright 1976, Brothers of the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Property: The Foundation of All Rights

It is no accident that a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to justice for all protects property rights. Property is the foundation of every right we have, including the right to be free. Every right claim, after all, is a claim to some thing — either a defensive claim to keep what one is holding or an offensive claim to something someone else is holding. John Locke, the philosophical father of the American Revolution and the inspiration for Thomas Jefferson when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, stated the issue simply: “Lives, Liberties, and Estates, which I call by the general Name, Property.” And James Madison, the principal author of the Constitution, echoed those thoughts when he wrote, “as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.”

Much moral and legal confusion would be avoided if we understood that all of our rights — all of the things to which we are “entitled” — can be reduced to property. That would enable us to separate genuine rights — things to which we hold title — from specious “rights” — things to which other people hold title, which we may want for ourselves. It was the genius of the old common law, grounded in reason and custom, that it grasped that point. And the common law judges understood a pair of corollaries as well: property, broadly conceived, separates one individual from another; and individuals are independent or free to the extent that they have sole or exclusive dominion over what they hold. Indeed, Americans go to work every day to acquire property just so they can be independent.

Consistent but Controversial Pope Leo XIII’s articulation of the right to private property in 1891 caused quite a stir. Even in 1931 Pope Pius XI found the dialogue around the Church’s pronouncements on private property rights so toxic that, “there are some who calumniate the Supreme Pontiff, and the Church herself, as if she had taken and were still taking the part of the rich”. (Quadragesimo Anno, 44) However… The right to private property “has always been defended by the Church”.  (Pope St. John Paul II, 30) “The right of private ownership…has permanent validity. It is part of the natural order”. (Pope St. John XXIII, 109)

In Support of the Common Good “The first and most fundamental principle, therefore, if one would undertake to alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of private property.” (Pope Leo XIII, 15) “Redistribution and State ownership of property is “emphatically unjust” as it would “rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community.” (Pope Leo XIII, 4) Pope Leo XIII correctly foresaw that if private property was taken from rightful owners it would be workers and the poor who would suffer the most. (Rerum Novarum, 5) Private property contributes “in the most unmistakable manner to the peace and tranquility of human existence.” (Pope Leo XIII, 11)

Limits State Action Private property “is a natural right which the State cannot suppress.” (Pope St. John XXIII, 9) “History and experience testify that in those political regimes which do not recognize the rights of private ownership of goods… the exercise of freedom in almost every other direction is suppressed or stifled. This suggests, surely, that the exercise of freedom finds its guarantee and incentive in the right of ownership.” (Pope St. John XXIII, 109) Since private property “is circumscribed by the necessities of social living those who seek to restrict the individual character of ownership to such a degree that in fact they destroy it are mistaken and in error.” (Pope Pius XII, 48) So, while “the State has the right to control [private property]” it can “by no means to absorb it altogether.” (Pope Leo XIII, 47)

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