Augustine of Hippo is our founder and the father of an extensive Religious Family that follows his Rule, his teachings and his way of life. In these pages we approach his biography, his sensitivity, his way of life and his proposals to men and women of all times.
The 16th century is, for all that, a time of boom and splendor. The observance has curdled, it has become a mentality. Protestantism was, deep down, a strong call for renewal. And the Council of Trent (1545-1563) did not want to be more or less than that: a reform. The rulers themselves were determined to take the religious to the zenith of renewal. Especially in Spain; especially with Philip II.
In Castile, the Augustinian Order shone with its own light due to its plethora of saints and sages. Which does not prevent that there were shadows that obscured this brilliant panorama; the Observance had come to encompass the entire Province and, consequently, had declined quite a bit. There were, as in other times, exemptions, attachment to positions… And many could not bear it in this time of vigorous and demanding spirituality.
The best religious let their voices of protest be heard again. Alonso of Orozco – who will later be beatified – founded a convent of nuns of strict observance. And especially Luis of León, one of the main figures: professor of theology at the University of Salamanca, great scholar of Sacred Scripture, poet of the highest flights… and, by temperament and aspiration, a rebellious friar. Time and again he denounced the faults against the community, he sent memorials to the king and the Chapters, he aspired to renew the Province of Castile.
NEXT PAGE: 10. Discalced Augustinians or Recollects
TABLE OF CONTENT: SAINT AUGUSTINE
- A. Biography of Augustine of Hippo
- B. Augustinian monasticism
- C. The tree that Augustine planted
