Discalced Augustinian Hermits

DISCALCED AUGUSTINIAN HERMITS (Order of Discalced Hermits of Saint Augustine). - One of the three families of the Augustinian Order, whose origin goes back to the last decade of the 16th century, in the full movement of spiritual renewal characteristic of that period.

The Reform began with the Decree of the General Chapter of the Order, held at S. Agostino in Rome in May 1592, and the religious who embraced it were called "Discalced Augustinians." Its greatest champions were Fr. Tommaso di Gesù, his disciple Fr. Luigi da Leone, and Fr. Andrea Diaz, who carried out 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 by Clement VIII, and by men eminent for learning and holiness, so that, despite grave difficulties, it was able to establish itself and, within a few years, to spread in Italy and beyond. In 1596 it was introduced into France through the work of Fr. Matteo di S. Francesco; in 1623 into Bohemia through the zeal of Fr. Marco di S. Filippo, and then into Moravia, Austria and Germany. In 1611 the Augustinian Congregation of Sicily, called that of S. Maria del Soccorso, was incorporated into it. The provinces were at first four and then nine, with a flourishing mission in Tonkin.

The reform, in October 1599, was solemnly approved by Clement VIII with the constitution Decet Romanum Pontificum and withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the prior general of the Order. The R. S. of S. A. also had relations with and influence upon the Congregation of the Discalced of Portugal, which arose through the zeal especially of Fr. Emanuele della Madre di Dio in the second half of the 17th century, since the latter 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-18th centuries, religious truly illustrious in every field, including in the missions among unbelievers. Their manner 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 a first time in 1610, then, in "specific form," in 1620 by Paul V with the bull Sacri Pontificatus, and recently in April 1931. They depend on their own prior general, elected every six years.