ROMITANI SCALZI DI SANT'AGOSTINO (Ordo Eremitarum Discalceatorum S. Augustini). — One of the three families of the Augustinian Order, whose origin dates back to the last decade of the sixteenth century, during the full flowering of the movement of spiritual renewal characteristic of that period.
The Reform began with the Decree of the Order’s general chapter, held at S. Agostino in Rome in May 1592; the religious who embraced it were called «Discalced Augustinians». Its chief advocates 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 fervent religious, supported and defended by the Roman pontiffs, especially Clement VIII, and by men eminent for learning and holiness; thus, despite serious difficulties, it was able to establish itself 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 subsequently into Moravia, Austria, and Germany. In 1611 the Augustinian Congregation of Sicily, known as that of S. Maria del Soccorso, was incorporated into II. At first there were four provinces, later nine, with a flourishing mission in Tonkin.
The Reform was solemnly approved in October 1599 by Clement VIII through the constitution Decet Romanum Pontificum and removed from the jurisdiction of the Order’s prior general. The R. S. di S. A. also maintained relations with and exerted influence upon the Congregation of the Discalced of Portugal, which arose, chiefly through the zeal of Fr. Emanuele della Madre di Dio, in the second half of the seventeenth century; this Congregation had adopted their Constitutions and privileges by concession of Clement X. The two autonomous Congregations, after a period of prosperity, disappeared amid the political upheavals.
Among the Discalced Augustinians, particularly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, truly illustrious religious flourished in every field, including the missions among non-believers. Their way of life is contemplative-active; no work of the 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 and then, in « forma specifica », in 1620 by Paul V through the bull Sacri Pontificatus, and most recently in April 1931. They are governed by their own prior general, elected every six years.