Contents
Letter
from the Provincial
The Renovation of Saint Thomas Monastery
The Augustinians at a Crossroads
Sawubona!
Augustinian Volunteers
From an Augustinian Volunteer's Eyes
Footsteps
The Augustinian Family: Profile
In
Paradisum
Augustinian Anniversaries for 2003
Keeping
Track
Dear Friend,
In
so many ways the Augustinian life is an unending spiritual journey. Just as
Saint Augustine’s Confessions chronicle the spiritual journey
of a man longing to know God, so too do we find ourselves traveling on that
same path. We long for God, and we travel together as a community.
The Confessions show us
that Augustine’s journey was oftentimes a difficult one, and our journey
is no exception. We experience the same frustration, sadness and uncertainty
that Augustine faced. It is easy to become
overwhelmed by the challenges the road puts in front of us, but we realize
that by serving God and serving others, the journey is one full of magnificent
joy.
We, like all religious orders, are an aging population. There’s no denying
it, and it is a reality we must face. Inside these pages you will learn how
we are dealing with this reality in exciting ways. A necessary renovation
to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery on Villanova University’s campus
will enable friars to live together as a community in an engaging and stimulating
environment. The challenge this renovation presents us is great, but we are
a family, and we take care of our own.
Inside you will also read of the heartache that envelops the land of South Africa. Again, the challenge is great, with poverty, disease and violence endemic. The work the wonderful Augustinian Sisters and our friars are doing in South Africa is inspiring. The mission is a difficult one, but we are pledged to this journey in South Africa.
As this inaugural issue of the Augustinian Journey chronicles, we are in the midst of exciting times. We are faced with the challenge of embarking on a major initiative to raise needed funds for our ministries. From South Africa to Peru, from Japan to the Bronx and Lawrence, and from aging friar to young Augustinian Volunteer — the needs are great, and we need your support.
Together we share in Saint Augustine’s restless journey to know God. We are blessed that so many of you — friars, friends, family, faculty, staff, alumni, parishioners and others — travel with us on this journey. Know that we are comforted and inspired by your presence with us on the road.
Know too that you are always in our prayers. Now, we ask that you continue to walk with us, for the Augustinian Journey awaits . . .
Yours in Saint Augustine,
Donald F. Reilly, O.S.A.
Prior Provincial
The Renovation of Saint Thomas Monastery
Living
symbols of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova’s past, present
and future abound. The steeple of Olde Saint Augustine’s Church in Philadelphia;
Austin Hall Chapel at Merrimack College; Our Mother of Good Counsel Chapel
at Malvern Prep; the stone gothic façade of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine
Church in the Bronx; and countless others.
Sitting at the heart of Villanova
University’s campus, Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery is one such
symbol. Countless friars have called the building home — the
friars who built Villanova University from the ground up, the friars who established
and ran churches and schools up and down the East Coast, and the friars who
spent most of their lives in missions halfway across the world. Today, the
building stands as a testament to the history of the Province, the current
ministry of the Province, and the future of the Province.
First, the history. In 1842, the Augustinians purchased a 97-acre parcel of land for the purpose of founding a monastery and college. The original building on the property, the Belle-Air Mansion, became the first monastery, and it remained a monastery until 1901, when it was renovated and reopened as a residence for seminarians, Saint Rita’s Hall. Some ten years later, however, a fire broke out in Saint Rita’s Hall and destroyed the building.
Following the fire of 1912, the Augustinians built a new monastery. Twenty years later, however, another disastrous fire engulfed the building, leading to the demolition of all but the west wing of the monastery, which survives still today as Saint Thomas Hall. The monastery was rebuilt in 1933 and for the past 70 years it has been home to the Province’s largest community of Augustinian friars.
Now, the present. In January of this year the 56 friars living in community at Saint Thomas Monastery packed up their belongings and scattered themselves throughout the region, many of them staying with the nearby communities at Saint Augustine Friary and Monsignor Bonner High School. The move was a difficult one for many friars, many of whom have shared in community life at Saint Thomas Monastery for decades. The move, however, was also an essential one. An aging building with growing safety concerns, Saint Thomas Monastery is in need of a major building renovation.
The Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova, like all religious orders, is aging. Of the 239 friars that make up the Province, over 8% are retired. The growing number of aging friars makes the renovation of Saint Thomas Monastery critical to the entire Province community. As friars, the Augustinians live together in community, and it is this shared life as a community that is integral to each friar’s faith. To that end, the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova has made a firm commitment to its own friars with the current renovation project.
“We want to be able to keep our friars living in community with us for as long as possible,” says Donald F. Reilly, O.S.A., Prior Provincial for the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. “We have made a firm decision to care for our own, and this renovation will enable us to do just that.”
Each aspect of the renovation to
Saint Thomas Monastery will enable the building to better accommodate aging
and ill friars. A new residential care center will occupy the entire second
floor of the building, enabling
full-time medical care for those that need it. This residential care center
will include a fully equipped doctor’s examination room, a nurse’s
station, a physical rehabilitation facility, a common dayroom, and a dining
facility for friars who are unable to dine in the monastery dining room.
Another major piece of the renovation
will be the addition of a chapel facing the heart of the Villanova campus.
Not only will the new chapel bring the major focal points of
community life into one section of the monastery — common room, dining
room and chapel — but it will provide a welcoming and public space that
is truly integrated with the Villanova campus. With a chapel and atrium addition
facing the heart of the campus, the Villanova community will become witness
to the prayer life of the Saint Thomas Monastery community.
Then, the future. In many ways the renovated monastery will enable the Augustinian presence at Villanova University to be all that more tangible. The School of Nursing will be able to partner with the Province in the care of friars in the residential care center. The new chapel will openly engage students, staff and faculty alike. New offices adjacent to the chapel will provide opportunities for friars and members of the Villanova community to engage each other in conversation, counseling, prayer and friendship.
The entire cost of the renovation will be upwards of $12,000,000, but the benefits are far greater. Not only will the renovation essentially extend the life of Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery as if it were a brand new building, but it will enable aging and ill friars to live together in community life for as long as possible.
The friars of Saint Thomas of Villanova
Monastery are anxious to return to their campus home when the renovation is
completed in the spring of 2004. In a building that will actively engage friars
both with each other and with the Villanova community, the community returning
to the renovated Saint Thomas Monastery will help create an even stronger
bond between the Augustinians and the
university it founded.
The Augustinians
at a Crossroads:
Embracing the Future with a Vision and a Plan
Natalie Agraz, who joined the Provincial staff earlier this year as the Province’s Development Director, shares her thoughts on this important era in the history of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova.
The Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova today finds itself at a significant crossroads in its 200-year history of ministry in the United States. As is the case with many religious orders and their peers in the secular world, the Augustinians are an aging population. Many friars are retiring and becoming infirm and there are fewer vocations to provide new laborers for the vineyard.
While the Province’s manpower declines, the needs of the communities it serves both here and abroad continue to grow at an alarming rate. There is a tremendous need in the world for what the Augustinians offer.
The challenge as a community is
twofold: First, the Province is committed to keeping its elderly, sick and
infirm friars close and living together in community for as long as possible,
hence the urgency of the
renovation to Saint Thomas Monastery. Secondly, the Province needs to begin
building an endowment that will provide income to its various ministries so
that the Province’s working friars can focus on their
ministries and not exhaust their energies with day-to-day fundraising. Endowments
would support missions both abroad and domestic, the Augustinian Volunteers
program, ministries in various parishes, and the formation and ongoing education
of friars.
Yes, the Augustinians are on a road that embraces their future with a vision and a plan. They have something important to offer the world in the spirit of their founder, Saint Augustine. They would like you to be part of that future.
If you would like to support the mission of the Augustinians in any way or if you would like some guidance in ways you can help, please contact:
Natalie Agraz
Director of Development
Augustinian Provincial Offices
P.O. Box 340
Villanova, PA 19085-0340
Phone: 610.527.3330 ext. 265
E-mail: development@augustinian.org
Sawubona
is a Zulu greeting similar to hello. Its literal translation is “I see
you.” On a recent trip to South Africa, my first greeting of “Sawubona”
to a Zulu was drastically different from my last. That first greeting meant
“I see you,” but I soon found out that I still had much to see.
After experiencing the images described below, my last
greeting of “Sawubona” to a Zulu was a much truer reflection of
the literal translation, for in South Africa, much is hidden beneath the surface.
. .
There’s a reason novelist Alan Paton called South Africa the “Beloved Country.” Its beauty knocks you over; it captures the eye and refuses to let go. Outside the Augustinians’ friary in South Africa, the friars are met with this beauty. Looking down over the rolling “Valley of a Thousand Hills,” South Africa’s beauty burns in your mind as something resembling paradise.
“Cry, the beloved country,” Paton writes, “for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. . . .” A glimpse of the countryside surrounding the Augustinian friary shows South Africa as both beloved and beautiful. A second glimpse, however, illustrates so much more, and therein lay the fear to which Paton refers.
Paton, whose famed novel Cry,
The Beloved Country was
published the same year South Africa institutionalized apartheid (1948), lived
just minutes from the Augustinian
friary in Botha’s Hill, a small town in the South African Province of
Kwa-Zulu Natal — the Zulu Nation. The fear he wrote about remains, and
the Augustinian friars and sisters ministering to the people of Natal know
that fear well. It is on the faces of the Zulu people they meet each day —
the fear that comes with the unending struggle simply to survive.
That second glimpse of the South African countryside paints a portrait of South Africa the tourist doesn’t normally see. The images are ones you won’t find in any tourist book:
The impoverished Zulu family, living in a mud hut not much bigger than a jail cell. Sunlight pours into the home through a wall washed away by rain. The wall needs to be rebuilt and, like the rebuilding of South Africa after apartheid, it is a struggle. The mud wall will be built again, but so too will the rains follow. The struggle is eternal.
The young three-year-old boy who lives with some 80 other orphans. Some of their parents are in jail, others have abused the children, and not a small number of parents have died of AIDS. This little boy, he wears no smile and shows no emotion. Like over 8% of the children born in Natal, he too has AIDS.
The blind Zulu father, who had to take six of his eight children out of school so they could go to work and earn money for food. He is no longer able to work because of his blindness. His blindness is a very recent condition, however. Though the man owns few possessions, he was shot in the face — for his rake.
The eight beds in the woman’s ward at the AIDS hospice. Seven young mothers lay in the beds, many too weak even to sit up. One of the beds is empty; a mother died that morning.
The mother who gets up well before dawn to begin the long walk to work. It takes a few hours to reach work and, after a day’s labor, she begins the journey home. The wages she earns won’t even provide enough money for food. She laughs when she hears that people in other parts of the world “walk” for exercise and leisure. For her, and for most of South Africa, the walk is eternal.
The sign on the hardware store door that reads: “Coffins sold here.” The wooden boxes come in sizes both large and small, and the storeowner finds it difficult to keep the coffins on the shelves. The pandemic of AIDS is unfathomable, with over 50% of all deaths in Natal linked to AIDS.
The South Africa the vacationer sees includes beautiful beaches, expansive game reserves, and craft stores chockfull of giant wooden giraffes. The real stories of South Africa, however, are those you have to seek out. They are the stories the Augustinian friars and sisters find each day.
The Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus, who have ministered in South Africa since 1891, know well the heartache of the Zulu people, the predominant native class in the province of Natal. Father Ed Hattrick, O.S.A., who has been a missionary in South Africa since the Augustinian friars first arrived there in 1996, knows the heartache as well.
“There is no middle class in South Africa,” says Father Hattrick. “You have those who have everything and you have those who have nothing.”
Indeed, South Africa is a nation where a white upper class lives side by side with a native class that lives in Third World poverty. Despite the poverty, however, there is an unbreakable sense of faith, hope and spirit in Natal. It can be seen in the Zulu people to whom the Augustinians minister.
Father Ed Hattrick was recently named pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Kloof, a town not too far northeast of Durban. Though the main church serves a predominately white upper class congregation, the parish maintains two satellite parishes in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Saint Helena’s in Edwaleni and Saint Leo’s in Emolweni. Both satellite parishes, called outstations, serve a dedicated, spirited and poverty-stricken Zulu community.
“We could not serve down in the valley,” explains Father Hattrick, “if we didn’t have this parish in Kloof. The outstations rely on the support the parish receives from all of Our Lady of Mercy’s parishioners.”
The impact such a structure has
on the Zulu community is inspiring. Father Hattrick is constantly taking up
collections and clothing and food drives for the
parishioners in the valley. His constant trips into the
valley and the homes of the impoverished Zulus can often mean the difference
between a family eating that week or not. It is an essential mission, and
one that has no end.
Just as the main parish in Kloof provides support for the outstations, Father Hattrick also sees great potential for bringing both congregations together on other levels as well. In a country still struggling with the effects of apartheid, he sees the parish as a means of bringing people together.
One way Father Hattrick hopes to do that is by building new outstation churches in both Edwaleni and Emolweni. Both the current outstation churches are dilapidated small buildings that do not have the capacity to hold the hundreds of Zulu parishioners who travel the long distance for Mass.
The Diocese of Durban has agreed to build a larger building next to the current outstation of Saint Helena’s in Edwaleni. The larger building will be able to accommodate both the Zulu congregation as well as parishioners from the main parish in Kloof. Two communities that rarely encounter each other will soon be able to join together in shared faith.
But that will take work. Though
the Diocese is building the new outstation, it is up to Father Hattrick to
find ways to turn that building into a church. The Diocese is providing four
walls and a roof. Funding is still needed for pews, an altar, a lectern, hymnals,
and everything in between.
The Zulu people, for as impoverished as they are and for as painful as their
lives can be, share an incredible and spirited faith. The small outstations
ring with song, dance, and prayer when Father Hattrick or Father Ben Unibia,
an Augustinian from the Province of Cebu, travel into the valley to offer
Mass in Zulu.
For all the pain that exists outside the building — the hunger, the violence, the disease — inside there is only joy. It is a wonderful lesson in faith.
With faith, hope conquers the fear Alan Paton writes about, and the beloved country begins to heal.
Reflection by Michael Dolan, Director of Communications for the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova, following a visit to the Augustinian missions in South Africa.
With three successful years behind it, the Augustinian Volunteers program is set to embark on another unforgettable year for the young men and women who have chosen to spend a year of their lives in service of others and in community with each other.
Three years after Father Joe Mostardi, O.S.A., started the Augustinian Volunteers program — and 47 volunteer alumni later — the program continues to touch the lives of the volunteers and the people they serve. The program succeeds because of the very nature in which it is designed. Augustinian Volunteers enter into a year of service while living together in community and working to enrich the lives of others. Each volunteer house is partnered with an Augustinian community and in this way the volunteers share in the local life of that community. In this way, the structure of the program promotes personal and spiritual growth in a communal setting.
Father Joe Mostardi speaks to this
success: “Not only do the volunteers devote themselves to enriching
the lives of the people they serve, but they soon discover that their lives
are being enriched as well. It becomes a
spiritual and personal journey that the volunteer carries with them long after
they finish the program.”
The third year of the Augustinian
Volunteers program, which concluded in June of this year, was comprised of
15 volunteers living and working in sites in San Diego, California, the Bronx,
New York, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Chulucanas, Peru. The site in Chulucanas
was the second international site of the
program’s history, and two volunteers, Shawn Case and Kevin Martin,
lived and worked there as part of a pilot program for possible future international
sites. The
venture was a success and it is hoped that, with the
continued growth of the program and with the necessary
financial support, permanent sites will be established in both Peru and South
Africa.
This year the Augustinian Volunteers program jumps to 20 volunteers and opens a new site in Chicago, Illinois. The community in Chicago will work closely with Augustinians from the Midwest Province just as the community in San Diego shares in community life with friars from the West Coast Province. The new volunteer class, which includes 9 men and 11 women from all across the country, will serve in Chicago as well as in the established sites in San Diego, the Bronx and Lawrence.
These volunteers will find themselves growing in ways they never thought possible during their year of service as an Augustinian Volunteer. Some will serve as teachers, tutors and counselors. Others will work in soup kitchens, immigration centers and orphanages. Wherever the volunteers find themselves, though, the outcome will always be the same. In service of others, they will have a monumental impact on the people they serve. More than that, however, they will quickly discover that their lives are being forever changed along the way.
Christ calls these special young
men and women to
follow his path of service to others. The Augustinians
ask for your prayers and support as this year’s Augustinian Volunteers
begin a journey they will
not soon forget.
For information on becoming an Augustinian Volunteer or supporting the Augustinian Volunteers program, please contact us at:
Augustinian Volunteers
P.O. Box 340
214 Ashwood Road
Villanova, PA 19085-0340Phone: 610-527-3330 ext. 279
Website: www.augustinian.org
E-mail: volunteers@augustinian.org
From an Augustinian Volunteer's Eyes
Reflection
on a year spent as an Augustinian Volunteer in Chulucanas, Peru.
Kevin Martin spent his year as
an Augustinian Volunteer living and working in Chulucanas, Peru. He and
fellow volunteer Shawn Case were the first Augustinian Volunteers to serve
in Peru, and one of their main
objectives was to determine whether Chulucanas was a feasible location for
a permanent site for Augustinian Volunteers. As Kevin’s reflection below
shows, not only is an Augustinian Volunteers site in Peru possible, but it
is essential. The impact the experience had on Kevin and Shawn — and
the impact they in turn had on the Peruvian community — cannot be quantified.
Early January, Shawn and I are working with the Merrimack College students constructing two modest homes in Chulucanas. The foundation at my site is nearly finished and we are all proud of the progress, but would welcome a break. Within minutes, Bishop Daniel Turley, O.S.A., arrives and asks if I can assist him back at the bishop’s residence. Reluctantly, I leave the others, but gladly welcome the reprieve from work. While climbing into the Bronco, I am informed we will be visiting an ailing neighbor before we return.
The driver parks just outside the doorway of a small brick house and the Bishop and I are led to the door. Before my foot touches down on the swept dirt floor, the overwhelming stench of the man’s bandages welcomes me. Prepared with the knowledge, the poor man is suffering from cancer and has recently had his leg amputated, I approach the bed. The man’s eyes are an agonizing picture of severe pain. Medication and further treatment are no longer possible, collections have been exhausted and the family has spent the little money it once had. Their future lies in the form of a weathered man on his deathbed, but he is not a man; he is only a boy in the dawn of his twenties with no chance to survive. Inability to help my peer in his toughest life moment cripples me; I am overwhelmed by the poverty and want to leave. Providentially, the Bishop asks everyone to leave so he may be alone with him. Once again, I cross the threshold of the door, but this time defeated. I have failed. There is nothing that can be done nor said to help, but I know from experience the man will be happier after hearing the Bishop’s words.
Three months later, translating for a group of nursing students from Villanova University, I am faced with a similar situation. We have been led into the unassuming home of an elderly woman dying from skin cancer. The house is full and children are sporadically continuing to enter the only room of the home. The lady sits in the center of a metal and wire made sofa and even though the room is dimly lit, the black cancer marks on her face are prevalent.
The nurses provide questions but it is obvious medical advice will not be sufficient aid for this matriarch. She needs an operation that her level of poverty does not even permit her to dream about receiving, albeit a simple procedure in the U.S. As the children watch attentively, she cries and confesses, “I am dying and I need help.” And then the final blow — “Can you help me?” Again, I cannot, but I also know I cannot bear the feeling of defeat another time. I needed to say something and it was evident, sorry would not be enough. I wonder what Bishop Dan would do in this situation. By now I know what he would say, but am uncomfortable with the questions because I am not a priest, yet I proceed. “Are you a woman of faith, senora, do you go to church?” The woman is bewildered by the question, but pleased to answer affirmatively. I remind her that we need to be thankful for all that we have received in our lives. Using my surroundings to my advantage, I ask the virtually rhetorical “Do you have any children?” Now, an enthusiastic motherly response as she begins to point each one out and then in turn each of her numerous grandchildren. “You have led a blessed life, senora.” She replies with a smile. The crowd is appeased and decides to join in. The neighbor leaning in the window jam chimes, “She is one of the coordinators for the zone and is well respected in the community.” And that did it — the darkness in the room broke. Within minutes she was laughing and gloating about her family and the wonderful life God has given her. She no longer needed pity nor despair, she witnessed the love and success in her life and was content. Leaving the house, I realized my success in Peru was not to be measured in bricks laid, students taught, mouths fed, nor lives saved, but in relationships made and hearts changed. Peru taught me many life lessons, faith being the most important. In that little house, I did not create a miracle nor save a life, but I changed one for the better and let a dying woman remember she is blessed.
Reflection by Kevin Martin, Augustinian Volunteer, 2002-03.
News and Notes from the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova and the Augustinian Order.
Monsignor Bonner Turns
50
Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, enjoyed a yearlong
celebration of its 50th Anniversary this year. A special gala celebration
was held on April 25 at the Drexelbrook Country Club, drawing alumni, faculty
and friends. In its 50 years of providing a unique Augustinian and Catholic
education for young men, Monsignor Bonner has sent over 18,000 graduates into
the world.
A special Monsignor Bonner Hall of Fame induction ceremony was also held during this 50th Anniversary year. Father Joe Mostardi, O.S.A., and Father Jack Denny, O.S.A., both former Bonner students, teachers and chaplains, were inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. Father Al Smith, O.S.A. (1931-1986), who taught religion and social sciences at Bonner from 1959-71, was awarded the special Monsignor John Bonner award for non-alumni. “Smitty,” as Father Al was known to the students, had an immense impact on countless Bonner students, both as chaplain and as friend. He organized the famed B.B.C. (Bonner Breakfast Club), a group of students who served the daily Masses of some 40 priests on the faculty and shared breakfast with them before going to classes. He, like Father Mostardi, Father Denny and all the Augustinians who served and continue to serve at Bonner, touched the lives of thousands of young men who entered Bonner’s halls a timid student and left a proud alum.
Southdown CEO
Father
Ray Dlugos, O.S.A., has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of
the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada. The Southdown Institute is a unique
facility established in 1965 as a mental health provider for those in religious
ministry. By providing this specialized service to those in ministry, the
Southdown Institute plays an integral role in the well being of the Church.
Father Dlugos, who has a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University
of Albany, has been with the Southdown Institute since 1999. In his new role
as CEO, Father Dlugos will oversee all aspects of Southdown, including its
clinical services, educational programs and outreach initiatives to religious
and Church leadership.
Province Retreat
Over 50 friars gathered together at Villanova University from June 15-19 for
a special Province retreat. Facilitated by Joseph Kelley,
Director of the Center for Augustinian Study and Legacy at Merrimack College,
friars spent an engaging week in prayer, discussion, and reflection on their
way of life together. Joe Kelley offered a wonderful experience for the friars,
providing insight into both historical and contemporary issues that impact
the Augustinian way of life today. Friars will gather again next year for
this annual retreat experience. Father Joe Genito, O.S.A.,
Director of Justice and Peace for the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova,
is organizing the 2004 retreat, the Preaching the Just Word Experience,
which will take place at Villanova University from June 13-18.
Ordination and Professions
Father
Rob Hagan, O.S.A., was ordained on September 13 at Saint Thomas of
Villanova Church on the Villanova University campus. The Very Reverend Joseph
F. Martino, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, presided over the ordination.
Father Hagan was born in 1965 in Westwood, NJ, graduated from Villanova University
in 1987 and graduated from Widener University School of Law in 1990. Father
Hagan spent a year in pastoral ministry at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church
on Staten Island, New York, and just completed graduate studies in Divinity
at Augustinian College in Washington, DC.
Brother Michael Scuderi,
O.S.A., made his first
profession of vows as an Augustinian on August 10 at Saint Thomas of Villanova
Church, Villanova University. Brother Kevin DePrinzio, O.S.A.,
Brother Joseph Narog, O.S.A., and Brother Carlos
Urbina, O.S.A., will all make their solemn profession of vows to
the Augustinian Order on October 11, 2003. The ceremony will be held at 1:30
P.M., also at Saint Thomas of Villanova Church, Villanova University.
International Conference
on Augustine
A special conference
on Saint Augustine, “Reconsiderations: A Conference on Contemporary
Augustinian Scholarship,” will be held at Villanova University from
December 4-6, 2003. The international conference will be centered around the
2003 Saint Augustine Lecture by Peter Brown, Rollins Professor of History
at Princeton University. Brown’s book Augustine of Hippo: A Biography
has become an important work in the study of Augustine. The special conference,
which is sponsored by Villanova University and Augustinian Studies in collaboration
with the Augustinianum in Rome, is open to the general public. For admission
details, please call 610.519.4780 or go online at www.augustinian.villanova.edu.
Augustinian Spirituality
Planning Group Formed
The Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova recently formed an Augustinian Spirituality
Planning Group to look into how the Province can extend the Augustinian experience
to various groups and individuals looking for a stronger connection to the
Augustinians. This may include school alumni, parishioners, Augustinian Volunteers
alumni, family and anyone else looking to extend their own experience of the
Augustinians and the Augustinian way of life. The aim of the initiative is
to formulate a way for the Augustinian presence and the Augustinian heart
to carry through into the lives of laypersons in a significant, productive
and meaningful way. If you would like to get involved in this exciting new
endeavor, please contact Father Jack Flynn, O.S.A., Secretary for the Province,
at 610.527.3330 or via e-mail at secretary@augustinian.org.
The group will next meet from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on October 25 at the
Devon Room in the Connelly Center on the Villanova University Campus.
New Book on Augustine’s
Search for God
The Liturgical Press is publishing a new book by Father Donald Burt, O.S.A.,
professor emeritus of philosophy at Villanova University and author of several
books on the philosophy of Saint Augustine. The book, “Let Me Know
You . . .” Reflections on Augustine’s Search for God, offers
a rare reflection on the seven steps in Augustine’s journey toward the
vision of God and suggests that these are the very same steps we can take
to see the God of love for ourselves. In his characteristic way, Father Burt
once again offers the reader a very personal journey through the written word,
a journey that calls us to reflect on our own human experience of God.
25 Years in Prague
Not only does 2003 mark 40 years of priesthood for Father Bill Faix, O.S.A.,
but it also commemorates Father Bill’s 25 years of ministry in Prague.
This year also marks the 775th anniversary of Saint Thomas’ Church in
Prague. The Augustinians began to serve at Saint Thomas in 1285 and for 25
years Father Bill continued that long history of ministry at Saint Thomas,
the only church in Prague that has remained Catholic since it was first built.
Father Faix recently joined an Augustinian community in London, but is still
not far removed from his ministry in Prague. He will be involved in sacramental
and pastoral ministry at the Velehrad House, a religious, cultural and social
center for young Czechs and Slovaks.
Growth at Merrimack College
Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, is quickly becoming a primarily
residential school, and testament to that is a new residence hall that opens
this year. With the opening of Santagati Hall, named for Merrimack’s
current president Richard Santagati, Merrimack will house
80% of its students. Just ten years ago, only 40% of Merrimack students lived
on campus. Santagati, who became Merrimack’s 5th president when he accepted
the position in 1995, has overseen a
tremendous amount of growth at Merrimack during his tenure. Santagati is responsible
for spearheading the largest capital campaign in Merrimack’s history
and has led the college in a remarkable era of growth, including the building
of a 130,000-square-foot campus center and two new residence halls. The 57,000-square-foot
Santagati Hall will accommodate 210 students in suite-style units.
Profile: Dr. Joseph Kelley
Dr.
Joseph Kelley is Director of the Center for Augustinian Study and Legacy at
Merrimack College. His Augustinian roots extend back to his childhood in Berwyn,
Pennsylvania, roots that remain strongly grounded in Saint Augustine and the
Augustinian way of life. Joe has the unique perspective of being
educated by Augustinians, becoming an Augustinian, and today working at an
Augustinian institution as a layperson and family man. This is the first in
an ongoing series of conversations with members of the Augustinian family,
people that live each day with an Augustinian heart.
When did you first encounter
the Augustinians?
As a child we would sometimes attend Mass at Villanova Chapel and the Augustinians
celebrated Mass at Saint Monica’s in Berwyn, my home parish. That parish
was founded in the mid-19th century when my great grandfather, James Kelley,
invited his boyhood friend, Father John Fedigan, O.S.A., to come from Villanova
and celebrate Mass in Berwyn. The parish grew out of their relationship and
was an Augustinian mission until it was given over to the archdiocese in the
late 1800’s.
The Center for Augustinian
Study and Legacy at Merrimack College celebrated its 5th anniversary this
year. As director of the Center from its inception, how do you feel the Center
has impacted Merrimack?
I think that we have begun to change the culture of Merrimack
so that a significant number of those who teach and work here now know about
Saint Augustine and the Augustinian Friars, and value the uniqueness of the
Augustinian educational tradition and spirituality. As of March 2004, 50 members
of our full time faculty of 140 will have made the “Pellegrinaggio In
Italia: Journey in Search of Augustinian Community.” They have read
some of Augustine’s works, visited sites in Italy important in the life
of Augustine and of the origins of the Order. When they return to campus they
are fired up about all the Augustinian tradition offers to the project of
contemporary American higher education. Many programs and ideas have emerged
from the “alums” of the Pellegrinaggio to enrich our life on campus.
We also have an academic symposium each fall on a topic that relates to Augustine’s thought or to the Augustinians. We have had many visiting Augustinian scholars to campus for these symposiums and for our annual spring “City of God” lecture. We have given faculty grants to encourage research in areas related to Catholic and Augustinian studies.
At lunchtime we offer “bag lunch” seminars during which faculty, administrators and staff discuss books or other selections from Augustinian primary or secondary sources.
All in all, I’d say we have had about 80 faculty members directly involved in one or another of our programs, and about 40 administrators over the past five years.
What do you see in
the future of the Augustinian Center at Merrimack?
We need now to cooperate with the faculty and academic administration in our
upcoming review and reform of the college’s core curriculum. We want
to work Augustinian studies into the curriculum of the College in appropriate
ways. Also, because of the decreasing number of friars, we must work to inform,
form and empower the laity here to assume more and more responsibility for
the Augustinian tradition. We would also like a faculty chair in Augustine
and one in Catholic studies.
How has Saint Augustine’s
Confessions influenced your life,
spiritual or otherwise?
The Confessions are a literary and religious classic. They have a
depth and a universality that has spoken to every generation since they were
written and to every land where they have been introduced. As with all classics,
you have to be willing to do your part and enter into the text and the context.
They are not just pious reading, nor are they just autobiography. They are
an immensely complex and intricate reflection on the relationship of the soul
and God in which Augustine touches on so many subjects such as philosophy,
religion, faith, theology, psychology, to name a few.
As many times as I have read them, I am amazed how they continue to speak to me and to my students. They open up a way of thinking about God and about one’s self that has been Augustine’s gift to the world. Many scholars say that in the Confessions we have the birth of the modern — and post-modern — conception and experience of the “self.”
You have a long history
with the Augustinian family — as brother, priest, friend, scholar and
coworker. Is there any specific Augustinian memory you revisit again and again?
Not one event, really. Rather it is the people who mean so much
to me. My best friends are friars with whom I have shared so many parts of
my life. They really remain my brothers. I have been exceptionally fortunate
in being able to continue working with them at an Augustinian institution.
You gave a retreat
this past June for friars from the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova.
The friars certainly benefited from the retreat, but what did you get out
of the experience?
It was a kind of homecoming for me. Though I have worked at
Merrimack for many years, I had not returned to Villanova except for occasional
meetings. I was so warmly welcomed and accepted. I must admit I was nervous
for the first few hours, but their hospitality and encouragement made me feel
at home very quickly. The experience confirmed my conviction that Augustinian
spirituality travels well from the vowed life to other lifestyles.
How has the Augustinian
way of life influenced your life as a layperson and family man?
When I left the community, I drifted for a while and thought that I had to
“reject” all of my former life — as if one really could!
Slowly, with much help from friends and counselors, I realized that I could
re-appropriate all the core values that my long Augustinian education and
formation had given me. This means things like fidelity and daily prayer,
though working around the family needs and schedules; putting my “community,”
that is, my family, ahead of myself; service to the Church in the ways that
I can do that, both through my job and through volunteering in different ways.
Also, I still feel very much connected to the long Augustinian tradition that
goes back to the 13th century founding of the Order and back to Augustine
himself. As one gets older that type of tradition and heritage becomes more
and more important.
How might a layperson
integrate Augustine and the Augustinian way of life into his or her own life?
Prayer, appreciation of the communal dimension of family life, and also the
importance of ongoing study and reading in matters of faith. Augustine always
interwove faith and reason, prayer and study, loving and learning. It is so
important, in our world of religious sound bites and quick, unambiguous spiritual
fixes, to develop an Augustinian spirituality and religiosity that appreciates
the complexity of the person and of the spiritual life. Augustine is a good
antidote to the contemporary phenomenon of religious fundamentalism that one
sees in just about all the world’s major religions. He understood faith
to be a long, pilgrimage with many twists and turns, not a fast-food fix that
one stuffs into a convenient corner of life.
We celebrate here the lives of friars from the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova who have made the final journey home to Christ. We remember them as friends, family and faithful companions along the journey.
Profiles of our most recently deceased:
Francis
X. N. McGuire, O.S.A., died May 9 at the age of 93. He was a member
of the community of Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery. Born November 21,
1909, in the Bronx, NY, of Francis and Bridget McGuire, Francis X. Nicholas
McGuire’s life was connected to the Augustinian Order from the beginning.
He was baptized at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx, went on
to attend the Augustinian Academy on Staten Island in the school for postulants,
and later entered the Augustinian novitiate in New Hamburg, NY.
Father McGuire made his simple profession of vows on September 9, 1928. He was educated at Villanova College, graduated in 1932, and went on to earn his Doctorate of Divinity from the Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained in Rome on July 21, 1935.
Father McGuire’s first assignment
after ordination was to Carthage, NY, where he served in parish ministry for
a brief period. In September of 1939, he was assigned to Villanova College,
where he taught theology and served as
prefect of studies in Austin Hall until 1941. During the Provincial Chapter
of 1941, Father McGuire was appointed Vice President of Villanova College.
After serving as Vice President for three years, Father McGuire became Villanova
College’s 21st president at the age of 34.
Father McGuire served as President of Villanova from 1944 to 1954, and during that time oversaw the transformation of Villanova College from a small liberal arts college to a larger, expanded institution of higher education, culminating in Villanova’s elevation to University status in 1953. Major initiatives undertaken during Father McGuire’s tenure as President included expanding both Villanova’s enrollment and its capacity to serve this growing enrollment. During Father McGuire’s years as President, many new buildings were erected on campus, including Falvey Library, the Chemical Engineering Building, Barry Hall, Dougherty Hall, Mendel Hall, and the Commerce and Finance building. The College of Nursing, Villanova Law School, and part-time studies program were all established during Father McGuire’s presidency.
When Father McGuire’s tenure as President ended in 1954, he moved into Villanova’s development office, heading up the University Development Foundation until 1959. After leaving Villanova, Father McGuire went on to serve the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova in many different ministries, with assignments to Merrimack College (1959), Holy Rosary Church, Lawrence, MA (1960-1963), Saint Augustine’s Church, Andover, MA (1963-1966), Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church, Jamaica, NY (1966-1971), Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church, Bronx, NY (1971-1979), Mount Augustine Apostolate Center, Staten Island, NY (1979-1985), and Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Staten Island, NY (1985-1996).
In 1996, Father McGuire was transferred to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery on the campus of Villanova University. He remained there until January of 2003, when he moved to Sacred Heart Manor in Philadelphia, PA.
Father McGuire had a monumental impact on both Villanova University and the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. In just 10 years as President of Villanova, he spearheaded the transformation of Villanova College into the thriving University we know today. His charm, charisma and quick wit were immediately known to anyone he encountered.
John
Patrick Hennessy, O.S.A., died on May 21, 2003 at Saint Joseph Friary,
Drexel Hill, PA, at the age of 84.
Son of James and Mary Hennessy, John Hennessy was born on December 18, 1918, in Wayne, PA. He was baptized at Saint Katherine’s in Wayne, PA, attended Saint Thomas of Villanova School in Rosemont, and later entered the Augustinian Academy on Staten Island, NY. He professed vows on September 10, 1937, made solemn vows on September 10, 1940, and was ordained on May 18, 1944 at Trinity College Chapel in Washington, DC.
Father Hennessy graduated from Villanova College in 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and later attended Augustinian College. He earned a Masters of Sacred Theology/Pastoral Ministry from New York Theological Seminary in 1972.
After ordination, Father Hennessy was assigned to Good Counsel Novitiate in New Hamburg, NY. One year later he was assigned to Saint Mary’s in Waterford, NY, where he served until 1954. While in Waterford, Father Hennessy was instrumental in the construction of a parochial school there. From 1954 to 1965 Father Hennessy served at Saint Thomas of Villanova Church in Rosemont, PA. After serving at Saint Thomas, Father Hennessy became pastor at Saint Genevieve in Flourtown, PA (1965-1969). Again, he aided in the growth of the parish, supporting the construction of a parish school, convent and rectory at Saint Genevieve Church. After serving at Saint Genevieve, Father Hennessy ministered as pastor at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in the Bronx, NY (1969-1972), assistant pastor at Saint Denis, Havertown, PA (1972-1973), and pastor at Saint James in Carthage, NY (1973-1975). In 1975 Father Hennessy became pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Staten Island, NY, where he remained until 1992.
Father Hennessey returned to Saint Genevieve in 1992 and served there for the next 6 years. After a brief stay at Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery at Villanova University in 1998, Father Hennessey returned to Our Lady of Good Counsel on Staten Island. He remained at Our Lady of Good Counsel from 1998 until January of this year, at which time he joined the community at Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery and lived at Saint Joseph Friary in Drexel Hill.
A man of patience and compassion,
Father Hennessy quietly and gently touched the lives of those he served and
loved — his family, his parishioners, and his Augustinian brothers.
His simple tastes, calm nature, and gentleness made it impossible for anyone
not to feel at ease in his
presence. He loved walking, often times with a 9 iron in hand, and befriended
all those he encountered along the journey.
Friars from the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova who have died this year:
Thomas M. Mahoney, O.S.A.
Born: December 11, 1917
Died: January 5, 2003Arthur G. O’Rourke, O.S.A.
Born: May 26, 1930
Died: January 14, 2003Francis X. N. McGuire, O.S.A.
Born: November 21, 1909
Died: May 9, 2003John P. Hennessy, O.S.A.
Born: December 18, 1918
Died: May 21, 2003
Augustinian Anniversaries for 2003
Congratulations to the friars listed here, all of whom are celebrating anniversaries of ordination or religious profession this year. May their many years of ministry inspire them to continue the work of Christ.
Ordained to the Priesthood
60 Years:
Thomas P. Purcell, O.S.A.
Angus N. Carney, O.S.A.
50 Years:
Neil J. McGettigan, O.S.A.
Joseph X. O’Connor, O.S.A.
Charles P. Laferty, O.S.A.
25 Years:
Ronald A. Hamaday, O.S.A.
Francis E. Chambers, O.S.A.
Cedric P. Wilson, O.S.A.
Religious Profession
70 Years:
Ralph V. Shuhler, O.S.A.
65 Years:
William J. Wynne, O.S.A.
John J. Gallagher, O.S.A.
60 Years:
Joseph D. Keffer, O.S.A.
Edward V. Griffin, O.S.A.
John M. Quinn, O.S.A.
50 Years:
Edward J. Dixey, O.S.A.
James P. Conway, O.S.A.
Richard L. Foley, O.S.A.
Stanley C. Smith, O.S.A.
25 Years:
Raymond F. Dlugos, O.S.A.
James D. McBurney, O.S.A.
John R. Holt, O.S.A.
Following the vow of obedience, friars find themselves called to where they are needed. Each issue of the Augustinian Journey hopes to connect you with some familiar faces as we provide brief updates on friars serving throughout the Province. Watch here — or visit our online directory at www.augustinian.org — to track down that old classmate, pastor, chemistry teacher, chaplain, philosophy professor, coworker or friend.
Francis J. Doyle, O.S.A.
Father Frank Doyle was among the first group of friars to minister in North
Carolina when the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova established a presence
there in 1998. Father Doyle is pastor at Saint Margaret of Scotland Church
in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, and is on staff at the Living Waters Catholic
Reflection Center, a retreat house that sits adjacent to Saint Margaret’s
and is also run by the Augustinians. There is tremendous opportunity for ecumenical
ministry in Maggie Valley, a region where Catholics comprise only 1% of the
population. When not ministering at Saint Margaret’s or Living Waters,
Father Doyle devotes much of his time in ministry to victims of domestic violence.
He is actively involved in several organizations that combat domestic violence,
including the Haywood County Domestic Violence Task Force and REACH of Haywood
County. REACH provides emergency assistance to victims of domestic violence
and sexual abuse, including shelter, food and clothing. Father Doyle works
closely with the local community and his own parishioners in this ongoing
effort to stem domestic abuse.
To contact Father Doyle:
Blessed of Lecceto
37 Murphy Drive
P.O. Box 1359
Maggie Valley, NC 28751-1359
Richard G. Mullen, O.S.A.
Father Richard Mullen has spent 20 years of his ministry as a missionary in
Peru. In 2001 he was assigned to the Augustinian community Casa San Lorenzo
in Miami, Florida, where he remains today. While still a member of the Casa
San Lorenzo community, Father Mullen now serves as associate pastor at Our
Lady of Lourdes Church in Miami. The parish, which was established in 1985,
comprises some 6500 families and has a large Hispanic presence.
To contact Father Mullen:
Casa San Lorenzo
16400 N.W. 32nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33054-6492
Paul W. Galetto, O.S.A.
Father Paul Galetto finds himself on
familiar grounds these days. As president of Saint Augustine Preparatory School
in Richland, New Jersey, Father Paul oversees the very school that once educated
him as a teenager. Saint Augustine Prep has witnessed many changes since Father
Paul was a student, and many of them have taken place on Father Paul’s
current watch. The school has grown considerably since it was founded in 1959,
with today’s student body comprised of over 450 young men. Father Paul
hopes that number continues to grow, and a campus expansion plan just getting
underway will enable that to happen. The expansion project, which is centered
on the addition of a new field house, will mark yet another era in the history
of Father Paul’s alma mater that he experiences firsthand.
To contact Father Paul:
Saint Augustine Preparatory School
611 Cedar Avenue
P.O. Box 279
Richland, NJ 08350-0402
