In the previous article we have given an outline of an idea: Augustinian Spirituality. In that article we tried to show how Augustinian Spirituality flows from the sacrament of baptism and therefore can also be lived by the laity. We have also shown that the historical development of Augustinian Spirituality, in Augustine's life and even in the founding of the Order of St. Augustine that "Augustinian Spirituality" as a spirituality for the laity was intended by Augustine and lived by him and his friends before his call to serve the Church transformed his lay monastery into a kind of seminary. Finally, the hermit spirituality that blossomed in the Tuscan regions of Italy from the 11th century onwards led to a movement of groups that were lay in origin (e.g. the group of St. Francis). Of these, some were incorporated into the Order of St. Augustine in 1244 and perhaps even later in 1256.
We have also seen how Augustine's choice of the Jerusalem Ideal in Acts was programmatic. He wanted to live a life in accordance with the Rule of the Apostles. The "one mind, one heart" description of Luke of the believers in the Jerusalem community of those early years became for Augustine a program of life that he wished to live with his friends and immediate family. The mode that this took -- the contours of which one can discern in the so-called philosophical writings of Augustine -- is historical. If the life that Augustine and his circle of friends resembled that of a philosophical community (e.g. Epicurean) it was because that was ideal of the times. The first lay Augustinian community had the semblance of an ongoing seminar on philosophy with Augustine as the "Professor" because the cultural climate encouraged and accepted it. Later forms of lay Augustinian groups need not take the same form; neither should these neglect the basic inspiration of the first lay Augustinian community: to be Church.
One Mind and One Heart Intent Upon God
In a workshop held some years ago, I asked a group of high school and new college students describe in a few words what they think is "Augustinian". The following responses were made:
- unity
- friendship
- openness to one another
- drive for excellence
- respect for each one's preferences
- concern for one another
Most of the members in the group were students and graduates of our school. Almost everyone agreed that these were the traits of what is "Augustinian". There were two or three however who came from other schools. One of these said: "I come from a public school and these are the same traits that our Photography and Science Club members show. Are they 'Augustinians' too?" That question triggered the discussion: "What makes the unity, friendship, openness, drive for excellence, respect, and concern 'Augustinian'?"
I wrote an article about this meeting entitled "Augustinian OR Agustin-yan?" in which I describe how even our students have begun to discover the ambiguities in what we call "Augustinian." It was also an article in which I pointed out that the growing secularization of our Catholic school climate has contributed to this ambiguity. Or to put this in a different way: because of secularization -- a way of thinking that puts man at the center of the universe and relegates religion to the dustbin -- we have begun to confuse a festive Ilonggo meal with Augustinian community.
The Lucan description of "one mind and one heart" was theological in its meaning, as the rest of Acts is. Augustine added "intent towards God" because he knew that the phrase can also be used out of context to any human relationship such as he experienced it in friendship (see that episode in the Confessions where he describes the death of a dear friend). The Latin phrase "in Deum" which we translate "intent towards God" and another Augustinian phrase "in Deo" -- in God -- needs to be distinguished too, for the difference is not only a matter of morphology.
In the first book of the De doctrina christiana, Augustine writes that if one were to love another person rightly, he should love him "in Deo", in God This is due to the conviction that friendship is first of all a gift of God and second because being "in God" guarantees that that friendship will last for eternity. A friendhip "in God", finally, distinguishes the friendship of Christians for one another from all other friendships. Because "friendship" really comes from God "who is Love", then a friendship that does not include God is no friendship at all. "Love is God" writes Augustine. So if God is not included in a friendship, Love is not included in it, and therefore, it is a false kind of friendship. "In Deo" therefore puts things in their proper place, which is God, the Ultimate Context1.
The accussative "In Deum" scholars have pointed out, refers to directionality and intention, dynamic progression with the connotation of historicity. In this sense, the oneness of mind and heart that is "intent towards God" also connotes movement, change, conversion, discernment. The direction never changes, but the journey does not preclude changes in the mode of transportation. In other words, "in Deum" is a movement towards God that is historical and therefore involving the investment of human freedom in a particular project. When Augustine changed Luke's "one mind and one heart" to read "one mind and one heart intent upon God" he was transforming it into a shared life project which is open to all, whether lay or not.
One Mind and One Heart Intent Upon God: The Project
When we defined "Augustinian Heritage" in a two-fold way, we were also naming not only the specific source of that heritage but also those that will define the way it will be developed. The Second Vatican Council commanded all congregations to go to the sources of their charism so that they would know how to live and develop the specific gifts that they have received. For us Augustinians, there are two such sources: Augustine himself and the Order founded by Popes in 1244 and 1256. Knowledge of these sources will dictate the way the Augustinian "one mind and one heart intent upon God" spirituality to unfold.
The project of Augustine and those who later on were privileged to be called "his sons" is "to be Church." While community life has become a characteristic of most religious congregations, the community life that is lived by Augustinians is distinguished from other congregations by this: it is not a means for the living out the congregation's charism; for the Augustinians, it is the specific way by which they live religious life. A Franciscan must be poor; a Dominican must preach; a Salesian must work with the youth... An Augustinian? He must live the life of the Church under one roof with his brothers in such a way that from their way of life others may experience "how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live in unity." Or to put it in another way...
When Augustine tried to describe the way of life that he would like to have with his friends, he found in the Scriptures the passages that when practised by him and his friends would transform them into the community that Luke described as "having one mind and one heart." Augustinian community life is "church-life" found in the Scriptures, discovered and explained by Augustine and lived out within the historical context where Augustinians find themselves. If we are going to lay down the Augustinian project in a little bit more detail, we can say that Augustinian community life is to:
- Be Church
- Be The Body of Christ
- Be The Temple of the Holy Spirit
Why Is It Difficult To Explain To The Laity What We Are?
During preparations for the previous Provincial Chapter, a group of us friars were given the task of redefining the Mission-Vision of the Province based on a consultation previously made. During one of the sessions, one of the friars asked"Why is it difficult to explain to the laity what we are?" He was referring to a situation in which many friars have found themselves. A layman or a priest comes by and asks: "Friar, what is the charism of the Order of St. Augustine?" There is of course a ready answer: "Community life." In many cases, after the response is made, the questioning stops. But when the interlocutor is informed, there is the follow-up question: "But community life is also lived by others. what makes Augustinian life different?" It is here where the difficulty arises.Words or phrases like "in common" "community" "common life" have become so ordinary that it would be difficult to find a distinguishing mark between groups claiming to live it. The first time I encountered the word "community" was in Grade 1, in a class in "Social Studies." "We build community" is also the slogan of a web community that develops and promotes the PHPBB software. Because of the ambiguity of the word "community" it would be natural today to qualify it. But there is another way of looking at the difficulty of explaining what Augustinian community life is. What is really difficult the "Augustinian" part or "community life" part? Whether one or the other, the phrase "Augustinian community life" cannot be explained in just one sentence. It cannot be explained by the ready-made answers learned from the novitiate either. Whenever I am asked the question about the Order's charism, I answer: "Be Church". The normal reaction to that answer is a perplexed look. Then I begin explaining what "being Church" means. That way, I elude the difficulties that a heavily nuanced word like "community" or "community life" presents. Paul Ricouer, I think, would understand.
The "Other" Hermeneutic Question: What Is "To Be Augustinian?"
If Augustine's life project is historical, it is also creative and experimentational. The first lay Augustinian community had Augustine as their point of reference. Augustine's principle of interiority which included as one of its components the readiness to listen to the Interior Master guaranteed that his friends remained Christians even as they followed Him. Even Augustine never wanted to stand between his friends and the Master whom he served.
The first meaning of "To Be Augustinian" therefore, is to take as one's point of reference Augustine himself. It is through him that a particular gift of the Holy Spirit has been opened up and it is through him that that gift will be truly grasped and appreciated. There is however a stage in the history of the Order (I think it still persists in some circles) where there was a fear that making Augustine the sole reference for all aspects of the spiritual life would turn him into an idol of the spiritual life. Sometime in the 1990s, during a General Chapter I was privileged to serve in the capacity of a janitor and kitchen assistant, I overheard one of the delegates saying: "Let us not turn Augustine into a catch-all reference point." He was referring to the tendency of some friars who had the habit of objecting to anything new in Catholic Church life with "That is not in Augustine" or "Where is that in Augustine." I think that even Augustine won't object to the changes in the Church today once it has been righfully promulgated from the Chair of Peter. So it is futile to make him the war horse of one's own ideological narrow-mindedness.
The other extreme is evident in gatherings and assemblies that are called "Augustinian" but has nothing of Augustine or the "Augustinian" in them, just friars who happen to be called "Augustinians" organizing some event. The event may still turn out to be a spiritual success, with a lot of conversions occuring (as in some group assemblies I've attended), but the participants have been deprived of something that only Augustinians can give: a life, a style, a way of praying, a way of reading and meditating the Scriptures that is Augustinian. When an event like that transpires, the laity have been cheated out of something: the heritage of Augustine, a heritage that is precious to the Church and which the Church wants her children to have and to cherish.
Writers, philosophers and theologians are now rediscovering the value of stories in the passing on of culture. Stories were not originally meant for entertainment; they were a vital necessity in the creation and continuation -- even survival --of communities. Augustine because of the doctrinal and philosophical baggage that comes along with him may be difficult to pass on, but the stories of Augustinians throughout history -- Nicola di Tolentino, Rita di Cascia, Juan de Sahagun, Tomas de Villanueva and my favorite, El Viejo de Miag-ao (who is not a saint, but IS an exciting historical figure) -- are stories that can be told only by an Augustinian. It is through these stories that one can learn what "Augustinian" means.
When I was still a student in Rome I had a lot of opportunities to visit the church of St. Anne, the parish of the Pope. It was and still is managed by Augustinians. On one occassion, I found myself seated with an old Italian friar who was being interviewed for an Italian magazine. The question asked was "What is a religious?" Mentally, I had a ready answer, the same answer that all novices learn: "A religious is one who, with the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, profess to follow Christ more closely." But the old friar surprised me with his answer because I haven't read it in textbooks: "A religious is one who lives out his baptismal consecration by embracing the cross of Christ and making the Crucified Life his own through the whole-hearted living out of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience." And because he knew that his interlocutor does not understand, he began to tell stories that illustrated his definition: of S. Nicola spending hours in prayer before the Crucifix, of St. Rita obeying her superior in a matter that seemed foolish, in the poverty of the Bishop Thomas of Villanueva who died on a mat borrowed from somebody else... etc. In the end he said: "The religious is one who lives the Christian life right off the Cross of Christ." Later, I learned that in their particular Augustinian tradition (that Italian friar's tradition comes straight from the group of Giovanni Bono which he shares with S. Nicola di Tolentino) the devotion to the Crucified Christ was at the center of their Augustinian spirituality.
Tradition. We Augustinians are filled with it to overflowing. Why do you think that Augustinians in Spain aren't the same? Some Augustinians are very missionary; some however are more monks than friars. Those who have as their inspiration Andres Urdaneta and Martin de Rada won't think and live the same way as those whose "heroes" include Alonso de Orozco or Fray Luis de Leon. But all of these take the Rule of Augustine as their guide through life and Augustine as spiritual father.
Augustine and the Augustinians of our history. Knowledge and love for them is what constitutes "Augustinian-ness" (Pope Paul VI's word, not mine), the distinctive mark of the Augustinian. Augustine's project will take different forms throughout history and as it moves from one geographico-cultural location to another. But to realize that project, creativity and experimentation will always be present. How do you suppose the Order continued to exist in the Philippine wilds when the Augustinians arrived in 1565 on our shores? Creativity and Experimentation. The Augustinian project of creating a space that makes present the Church of Jerusalem here and now is what we call "being one heart and one mind intent upon God." This will require a lot of experimentation and a lot of discernment. But with Augustine and the memory of the Order as guides, the project that will be realized will remain "Augustinian."
Why Isn't There A Filipino Lay Augustinian Tertiary?
While lay Augustinians (traditionally known as the Augustinian Third Order) exist in other parts of the world where there are Augustinians, in the Philippines we only have their memory. Augustinians put up lay confraternities during the Spanish era in these islands, and the traditional title "Hermana-Hermano-Mayor"still being used today during fiestas are historical footprints left by those days when Confraternities flourished and in some ways controlled the parish scene. Lay Confraternites existed where there were parishes handled by Augustinians (which during the Spanish era, was practically everywhere). Among these only a few Confradias exist but as ordinary religious organizations dedicated to the promotion of a particular devotion. Were these confraternities "real" Third Order Confraternities, that is, whose members live the Augustinian Rule with special bonds attaching them to the Order and therefore also gives them the privilege of wearing the Augustinian habit when they die? I do not know. (I would be interested in a historical study made on Augustinian confraternities during the Spanish era by our experts from the Province of the Philippines.) But this I am sure of: we don't have any today. We have groups that look like lay Augustinians, but they are not. The reason behind is simple: if there were any real lay tertiaries of the Order, we have not restored them either because conditions prevented it or because we are not yet ready for such a task.
To be continued...
1The same can be said about the Ten Augustinian Values. If not for the qualification "Christian", those values may as well be humanistic values and can be understood in a secular non-Augustinian fashion.
