Written about the year 400, the Rule of St. Augustine is one of the earliest guides for religious life. A short document, it is divided into eight chapters:

The Rule of St Augustine revised for the purposes of Community life for the
Magdalen Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, (MSIHM)
Commonly known as the Immaculate Heart Community

Revised 23rd of June 2004

Original translation by Robert Russell, O.S.A., based on the critical text of Luc Verheijen, O.S.A., (La regle de saint Augustin, Etudes Augustiniennes, Paris, 1967). Two sentences not contained in the critical text have been included to conform with the official text published with the Constitutiones Ordinis Fratrum S. Augustini (Rome 1968). They are the opening sentence of the Rule and the following one from Chapter VI: "But if someone secretly keeps something given to him, he shall be judged guilty of theft."

Copyright 1976; Brothers of the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine, Inc.