Pope Leo XIV meets with cloistered Augustinian religious and encourages them to live in joy and communion with Christ, while embracing humble charity toward one another.
By Devin Watkins
ITALY — Pope Leo XIV met on Thursday with participants in the Ordinary Federal Assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy.
In his address, the Augustinian Pope praised the witness of communion offered by the various monastic realities that make up the federation and are united by their vows to live according to the Rule of St. Augustine.
He pointed to the organization’s synodal dimension, as the religious who live in autonomous monasteries across Italy meet to explore together their shared charism.
Listening to one another and living in diversity, he added, offers a “prophetic witness of charity, particularly needed in a world that in many ways is becoming less open to dialogue and sharing.”
Pope Leo then focused on three aspects of the Augustinian religious’ mission as contemplatives in the Church.
He encouraged them to live and bear witness to the joy of union with God, noting St. Augustine’s affirmation that rejoicing in the Lord out of love brings true happiness.
“True joy for the human person, and especially for the Christian, lies in communion with the Lord—in that intimacy with the heavenly Bridegroom to whom you, by vocation, dedicate your entire lives,” he said.
The Pope invited the contemplative religious to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to cloistered life, living their call to liturgy, prayer, adoration, meditation on the Word of God, and mutual help in community life.
“This will bring you peace and consolation, and to those who come to the doors of your monasteries, a message of hope more eloquent than a thousand words,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV went on to highlight the witness of charity that contemplatives offer to the Church and the world.
By living the Augustinian ideal, he said, they spread the “good aroma of God in the world” and strive to love every man and woman, hidden in the silence of prayer.
“Without noise or display,” he urged, “show care and attention for one another, and be examples of compassion toward all, wherever need requires and circumstances allow.”
Their “silent and hidden love,” he added, can help show our society focused so heavily on appearances that there is great value to humble, daily charity.
Finally, Pope Leo upheld the work of the Augustinian Federation to coordinate the distribution of offices, work, finances, and at times religious among their various member convents.
“Let us recall what Saint Augustine said,” concluded the Pope. “What you desire is beautiful, and supremely worthy of being loved… Let this ardor lead you not to reject order, but to accept it, for without order one cannot reach what one so ardently loves.”
