SACRED LITURGY
The Sacred Liturgy, in which the work of our redemption is accomplished, is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man’s sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it, full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.
In the monastery, great importance must be given to the Sacred Liturgy: the Common recitation of the Divine Office and the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all his power flows. The liturgical acts, of which the most fundamental is the conventual offering of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, must be the center of community life wherein fraternal charity is expressed and fortified.
The Oblates of St. Augustine follow the rubrics for the Divine Office and Holy Mass as promulgated by the Holy See prior to 1955.
DIVINE OFFICE
Intimately united with the Eucharistic Mystery is the Divine Office, source of piety and a nourishment for personal prayer. The purpose of the Divine Office is the sanctification of time, and it is so devised that the whole course of the day is made holy by the praise of God.
The brothers must celebrate the Divine Office every day in choir. A brother who is unable to take part in the choral recitation of the Divine Office shall make up the prayer in private. However, the schedule must be arranged in such a way that all the brothers are able to be present at least for the Common recitation of Lauds in the morning, Vespers in the evening, and Compline at night.
MENTAL PRAYER
Careful attention must be given in the monastery to mental prayer, a deep rooted tradition in the Augustinian eremitical life. The community schedule shall include periods of mental prayer in common every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
In imitation of our Father St. Augustine, the Oblates of St. Augustine should read the Sacred Scriptures daily, so that their reading and meditating the Divine Word be the main source of their devotion and the nourishment of their prayer.
PENITENT COMMUNITY
It is necessary that those who profess the evangelical counsels, in order to follow Christ more closely, fulfill the precept of penance with greater perfection.
Augustinians should dedicate themselves to works of penance in order to be united more fully to the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ and to be transformed by the interior purity and mortification into victims pleasing to God, offered for their own salvation and that of the whole world.
MARIAN DEVOTION
A devotion to Our Lady, of whom we honor under two such titles as “Our Mother of Consolation” and “Our Mother of Good Counsel”, is also to be cultivated. We pray the Angelus before Lauds and Vespers and are expected to use another Marian devotion, so as to draw near to her, who will lead us to her Son.
Other Constitutional Requirements:
Monthly Day of Recollection
Annual Retreat