Saint Augustine. The Monastic Rules (review)

This latest instalment in New City Press's "The Works of Saint Augustine—A Translation for the 21st Century" presents in fluent and excellent English five of his works concerned with regulating the monastic life (the four "Rules," about which more anon, plus ep. 210). It is perhaps appropriate, in view of Augustine's own abiding commitment to Christian society as evident especially in these writings, that the volume results from the collaboration of four scholars: George Lawless, who provides a very learned foreword, Gerald Bonner, who wrote the commentary and collaborated on the translation and the notes, Sister Agatha Mary, who also collaborated on the translation and notes, and Boniface Ramsey, who edited the volume. The reader who already knows of their collective reputation for distinguished work on Augustine's monasticism and for exacting but never pedantic scholarship will not be disappointed by this book.

The foundation of modern scholarship on the Augustinian rules was laid by Luc Verheijen, above all in his two-volume La règle de saint Augustin (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1967). Bonner's commentary summarizes Verheijen's findings clearly and helpfully, thus providing an overview of the four rules and how they relate to one another. In brief, the rules are the Ordo Monasterii, the Praeceptum, the Objurgatio and the Regularis Informatio. There is a problem here in that neither Augustine nor his bibliographer-cum-biographer Possidius ever mention that he wrote a rule; indeed, Eugippius of Lucullanum (c. 465–539) is the earliest person to attribute this material to Augustine. This lack of specific evidence has lead to debate about the authenticity of the works. In default of a convincing external witness, one looks to the rules themselves for further evidence. Bonner's evaluation is judicious. Though he notes that stylistic criteria are difficult to establish, he concludes that there is on balance good reason to affirm that Augustine wrote the Praeceptum, that the Objurgatio is likely an authentic letter by Augustine, that he probably did not write the Ordo (though it likely emerges from his circle), and that the Regularis Informatio may very well be original. Bonner's commentary is also helpful in that it outlines the reception of these works in the Middle Ages; the outline stops off before the tangled and sometimes unedifying story of the various early modern orders that looked back to Augustine for their inspiration.

The translations themselves are lucid and reliable. The notes are sparse but informative. For more in-depth treatment on particular points, one will still want to consult Sr. Agatha Mary's earlier The Rule of Saint Augustine: An Essay in Understanding (Villanova, PA: Augustinian Press, 1992). In fact, the two books elegantly complement one another. The great value of the former is its ruminative consideration of the Rule, which was translated there but also interspersed with commentary; the great value of the present book is that it is compact and easily consulted. And it should be consulted. Quite apart from the light which the texts here presented shed on Augustine's own daily life they are a valuable witness to pre-Benedictine monasticism. All those who contributed to this volume are to be thanked for making it available at an affordable price.