BAREFOOT AUGUSTINIANS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE (Ordo Eremitarum Discalceatorum S. Augustini). — One of the three branches of the Augustinian Order, whose origins date back to the last decade of the 16th century, during the full flowering of the spiritual renewal characteristic of that period.
The Reform began with the Decree of the General Chapter of the Order, held in S. Agostino in Rome in May 1592, and the religious who embraced it were called Discalced Augustinians. Its greatest promoters were Fr. Tommaso di Gesù, his disciple Fr. Luigi da Leone, and Fr. Andrea Diaz, who implemented the Reform in the convent of S. Maria dell'Olivella in Naples. It was immediately embraced by numerous and fervent religious, supported and defended by the Roman pontiffs, especially Clement VIII, and by eminent men of learning and holiness, so that, despite serious difficulties, it was able to take hold and, within a few years, spread throughout Italy and beyond. In 1596 it was introduced into France through the efforts of Fr. Matteo di S. Francesco; in 1623 into Bohemia through the zeal of Fr. Marco di S. Filippo and later into Moravia, Austria, and Germany. In 1611 the Augustinian Congregation of Sicily, known as that of S. Maria del Soccorso, was incorporated into II. The provinces were initially four and later nine, with a flourishing mission in Tonkin.
The Reform was solemnly approved by Clement VIII in October 1599 with the constitution Decet Romanum Pontificem and was removed from the jurisdiction of the Order’s Prior General. The Barefoot Augustinians of S. A. also had relations and influence on the Congregation of the Discalced of Portugal, which arose especially through the zeal of Fr. Emanuele della Madre di Dio in the second half of the 17th century, having adopted its Constitutions and privileges by concession of Clement X. The two autonomous Congregations, after a period of prosperity, disappeared amid political upheavals.
Among the Discalced Augustinians there flourished, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, religious truly illustrious in every field, including the missions among the infidels. Their manner of life is both contemplative and active; no work of sacred ministry is excluded from their activity. They follow the Rule of St. Augustine and their own Constitutions, approved by the Holy See first in 1610, then in “specific form” in 1620 by Paul V with the bull Sacri Pontificatus, and most recently in April 1931. They are governed by their own Prior General, elected every six years.