Our Way of Life

One Heart

Augustine’s Rule opens with the first Christians in Jerusalem, who were of one mind and one heart toward God and held all things in common (Acts 4:32). Ordained, consecrated, and companion members live that unity as friendship in Christ, sharing prayer, study, and what each has to give, across whatever distance separates them.

Prayer

The Rule asks that what we pray with our lips also live in our hearts. Members are encouraged to pray the Divine Office together as schedules and distance allow, so that each day is shaped by the same psalms and prayers as the community’s.

Simplicity

The Rule asks each person to take what they need, not what they want, and to share the rest. Consecrated members take simple or complete vows of poverty, and companions practice simplicity in their own homes as they are able, so that time and goods are freed for one another and for the poor.

Care

Augustine asked the strong to give the weak and the sick what they need without resentment. We carry one another through illness, grief, and the wounds many bring from communities that turned them away, and we extend that care to “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40).

Reconciliation

The Rule asks us to end quarrels quickly, before anger hardens into hatred. Whoever has hurt another asks pardon, and whoever was hurt forgives. Disagreement is part of sharing a life, and we settle it in person, without letting it linger.

Love over Law

The Rule closes by asking that it be kept not as slaves under the law but as free people under grace. Our Constitution and customs serve that end. They exist to make love visible in how we treat one another and the world’s forgotten.