Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: The Lord is Risen, He truly is. This is the basis of our Christian faith that He who was born of the Virgin Mary, who lived, served, was crucified has now risen from the dead. His resurrection affirms all that He taught, all that He said, all that He did while on earth. The resurrection is like God giving the divine affirmation of Jesus and his life and ministry. Without His death and resurrection where would our faith be? This season is central to ou... [More]

 When people think of Augustinians serving in the missions they immediately think of the friars. They are not the only ones who serve in this beautiful ministry. Augustinian Sisters serve in the missions throughout the world. They can be found on almost every continent, serving in so many and varied ministries. At times the sisters and friars serve in the same mission and many times the sisters serve in their own independent missions. The sisters originate from countries throughout the world. ... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions:The Gospel on the First Sunday of Lent tells us, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” (Mark 1:12). The desert is the usual image for the season of Lent. In this account Jesus encounters Satan but he is not alone; the Spirit of God is with him as he experiences the struggles in his interior desert with the Devil.  Jesus emerges from the desert proclaiming the message ... [More]

Each year in May student nurses from Villanova University and senior students from Malvern Prep have the opportunity to experience ministry in our foreign missions. During that month approximately 12 nursing students from Villanova journey to South Africa and use their skills in serving the needs of the children of St. Leo’s School, St. Theresa’s Home and the patients Hillcrest Aids respite. The Malvern seniors travel to Peru and South Africa as part of the commitment to serving the poor. They... [More]

When a religious order begins ministry in a foreign mission, its entire purpose is to establish and grow the local Church. The Augustinians who serve in foreign lands look to establish the Order in that mission territory. We have been blessed with many vocations in our missions in Japan and Peru. The cost of educating, housing and preparing a young Peruvian or Japanese friar is expensive. Can you help us? It costs approximately US $5,000.00 per year for the education and formation of a young A... [More]

At this time of Thanksgiving we reflect on the blessings in our lives. In the Mission Office we give Thanks to the many, many people who support us in so many ways In our mission ministry. We could not serve the missions without your support of encouragement, prayer and financial support. Thank YOU for all you do for the missions. In St. Augustine,   Fr. Tony  

Goal of Missionary Ministry   Over the decades we have seen a development in the purpose of missionary ministry. In the past we heard of the missionary going out to "save souls" for Christ by baptizing any people they encountered who were not already baptized.   The Proclamation of the Gospel remains the motivating force in missionary work. But as St. James says:   "What good is it to profess faith without practicing it? If a brother or a sister has nothing to wear and no... [More]

This BLOG gives you a small insight to the foriegn mission ministry of the Augustinian Friars. Would you like to see more about the missions? Please go to the website of the Augustinian Friars at:  Augustinian.org and look for the menu, "What We Do" and then go to "Missions". There you can see the Mission Newslstter and different aspects of our mission ministry.

The presence of the Augustinian friars in the three mission areas each began with an invitation. In the early 1950’s we were invited by the bishop of Nagasaki, Japan to return to the dioceses served by European friars in the past but expelled with other westerner’s in the 1500’s when Japan closed its doors to the outside world. In the 1960’s the Vatican invited the Augustinian’s of the American Midwest Province to consider a mission in South America. After investi... [More]

The Augustinians provide the personnel to support the activities of the various missions. As in all things there is a financial cost to the missions. How do we raise the money for the various missions?The main sources of income for the missions are what is called “Mission Appeals”.  Each year around November the Missions Office write to about 30 dioceses in the United States asking if we might come to parishes in those dioceses to speak at one or two parishes. We receive an invi... [More]