Home > Premonstratensians > The canonical life
Who wishes to tread the canonical path must first and foremost want fully to accept the Gospel. This acceptance, this “reversal” in the manner of living and thinking, manifests itself by passing from the kind of life lived according to the needs of the world, to the kind of life which takes into account the aims which God sets for the world. Those who embark on the apostolic life must give up personal possessions and seek the brotherly life, but, unlike monks, they do not withdraw from the world. They feel that they have been sent there and their only wish is that of living as they preach to others and they try to find the means of doing so.
The form of our life takes strong inspiration from that led by the early Church, united around the Apostles and which the Lord himself ushered in with the fellowship of the Apostles and other disciples.
“They persevered in following the teachings of the Apostles, the brotherly communion, the breaking of the bread and prayer. Fear seized each of them and the Apostles wrought many prodigies and miracles. All those who believed were together and had everything in common. They sold their properties and possessions and shared out the proceeds among themselves, each receiving according to his needs. Each of them was assiduous in his attendance at the Temple, they broke bread in houses and took their food with joy and in simplicity of heart, praising God and finding grace in the eyes of the whole people. And the Lord added to the Church those who had been saved every day” (Acts, 2,42-47).
Augustine gave the following testimony:
“My thought was to live in a monastery with the brethren. Having learned of my plan and my wish, the venerable bishop Valerius of blessed memory, gave me a garden in which the monastery now stands. I accordingly began gathering those “brethren who had taken vows”, men similar to myself, who, like myself, had nothing and who had adopted a line of conduct similar to mine. As for myself, I had sold my poor piece of land and gave the proceeds to the poor. Those who wished to live in my company had to do likewise, this being a condition of communal life and what was common to us was an immensely rich domain, namely, God Himself” (Sermon 355).
[updated on the 03.11.05]
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