The Rule of St. Augustine

<p><span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>The Rule of Saint Augustine written in about the year 400 is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the </span>Western Church<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>. The rule developed by </span>Augustine of Hippo <span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>governs </span>chastity poverty obedience<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> detachment from the world the apportionment of labor the inferiors fraternal charity prayer in common fasting and abstinence proportionate to the strength of the individual care of the sick silence and reading during meals. It came into use on a wide scale from the twelfth century onwards and continues to be employed today by many orders including the </span>Dominicans<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> </span>Servites<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> </span>Mercederians<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> </span>Norbertines<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)> and </span>Augustinians<span style=color: rgba(32 33 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>.</span></p>