LESSON 6

AUGUSTINE:
A MAN OF
COMMUNION
 OPENING PRAYER
Leader: When we live in unity,
All: How good and how pleasant it is.
Leader: Pray for us, Holy Father Augustine,
All: That we may dwell together in peace.
Leader: Let us pray,
All: God our Father, Your Son promised to be
present in the midst of all who come together
in His name. Help us to recognize His presence
among us and experience in our hearts the
abundance of Your grace, Your mercy, and
Your peace, in truth and in love. We ask this,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
HOUSEKEEPING:

Attendance Be on time

Be prepared No eating
HOUSEKEEPING:

Mute your
microphone when not reciting

Raising of hand When leaving the room

HOUSEKEEPING:

Use chat icon to type your

questions/comments
Please go to
www.menti.com
 1 2 3
Different
Emotions
of Pope 4 5 6
Francis

7 8 9
1. distinguish the importance of communion through the
examples and teachings of Augustine
2. explain their role in the building of a community
where they belong
3. promote the value of communion in their community.
AUGUSTINE AS
MAN OF
COMMUNION
There were some elements common to the first
four communities founded by Augustine.

● he and his companions stayed in one

house together.
● physical presence for Augustine
essentially constitutes community life.
There were some elements common to the first
four communities founded by Augustine.

● while Augustine acknowledged that physical structure

and presence constituted a significant component of a
community, internal structure that governed those
present in the house must be regarded as necessary in
forming a community.
There were some elements common to the first four
communities founded by Augustine.

● Augustine’s community had a leader who acted

as the overseer of internal life.

● the group of people who lived in the house

gathered what they earned or possessed and
put them in a common fund.
www.menti.com
For Augustine: Community involves
people (physical presence) who
stay together in one house
(physical structure) with rules and
regulations (regula) that guide
them and their leader
(overseer/superior) to live
peaceably and harmoniously as
they search for truth (purpose).
www.menti.com
What are examples of barriers
to good community life?
As Augustinians,
how can we
overcome them?
www.menti.com
For Augustine:

In his Rule, written sometime when he was in “the

garden monastery,” he said that to come together in a
community was to “live harmoniously in your house
(utunanimeshabitetis) intent upon God in oneness of
mind and heart (anima una et cor unum in Deum).”
For Augustine:
● He also instructed his companions to live in an ideal
state, which can only be found in God.

● they should live in “a more excellent perfection”

(excellenti or perfectio)or “in a higher degree of
holiness (celsior sanctitatis gradus).”
For Augustine:

In order to attain such a profound goal, in his Rule

Augustine admonished his companions to live
together (1) in harmony, (2) in oneness of mind
and heart, and (3) in God.
Augustine taught his companions that they
must live in harmony in one house.
● acceptance of each member’s individuality in the
community.
● food and clothing should be distributed according to each
one’s need.
● promote personal respect among the members of the
community and demonstrates his sensitivity to their
individual needs.
Communion of life, in the Augustinian tradition,
means “oneness of mind and heart” (anima una
et cor unum).
● nucleus of Augustine’s teaching on communion realized
through the sharing of goods.
● members share the external goods of the community among
themselves
● they also share one another’s inner life, ideas, expectations,
longings, activities, hope and faith.
Communion of life, in the Augustinian tradition,
means “oneness of mind and heart” (anima una
et cor unum).
● To be one in mind and in heart implies sharing not only
material possessions, but also and more importantly sharing
spiritual riches.
In the mind of Augustine, communion (communio) may only be realized
when a community (communitas) is rooted directly in God.

● the members of his community must live constantly

“oriented towards God''(in Deum) – that is, God must be
the ultimate point of reference of community life, and
Christ must be its soul.
● The only possible way to realize such an ideal is through
love(caritas).
God is love; hence, love
must be the centerpiece of the
community. It is not just any
kind of love or love lived out on
a superficial level, but a kind of
love that is rooted firmly in
Christ.
To Augustine:all the members of the community are
expected to observe Christ’s commandment of love at
all times.

● It should guide them in everything that

they do: when they eat; when they talk;
when they act, and so forth.
Love ought to be the very air they breathe.

When this is not practiced,

they commit an offence
against God.
Whatever is considered
hostile against love
should be fought,
rejected, and suppressed
because it is what Christ
and his Apostles taught.
Augustine’s notion of communion (communio) may be
summarized only in one expression, which serves as the basis
of interpersonal relationship in every community: “love”
(caritas) itself.
When love (caritas) motivates one’s action and
regulates the relationship inside the monastery, community life
receives its solid foundation because that love is God
Himself.
DYNAMISM COMMUNITY COMMUNION

ESSENCE A structure A value

LOCATION House Heart
MEMBERS Presence of a Group of A group of people seeking
people God’s will
AUTHORIT With a leader (superior) With Christ
Y
ACTION Certain Rule, schedule of Sharing of life in charity
activities (caritas)
PROCESS External Internal
ANALOGY Body Soul