By John Lydon, OSA, Pastor The Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Pacasmayo held a large celebration to mark the Golden Jubilee of the canonization of St. Martin de Porres, called affectionately in Peru "Friar Broom" since he is always depicted with a broom in his hand. On May 6, 1962 Pope John XXIII canonized him, calling him "Martin of Charity" and proclaiming him Patron of Social Justice. For the values of peace, humility and service that excelled in his life, his cult has spread through... [More]

 Often, when we have an image of the foreign missions, we think of parish ministry. For the Augustinian Friars their first ministry in a foreign land was the establishment of a parish. Over time, the ministry has expanded beyond the parish structure to include the education ministry. The schools are part of a parish structure.   When the first American friars began a mission in the late 1950s in the city of Nagasaki, Japan, they began the equivalent of an elementary school. This school continu... [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]

The weekend of January 12—15, 2011, seven young men and women gathered at the Augustinian House in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was not a weekend at the Jersey Shore. These men and women had been initiated into the Augustinian Volunteers and were spending this weekend preparing spiritually, emotionally and socially to begin a year of service alongside the Augustinian Friars in Peru and South Africa in serving the needs of the poor. The Augustinian Volunteers are not the Peace Corp. Yes they... [More]

Two of the first friars to serve in Peru since the mid 1960s celebrated their 50th Anniversary as Augustinian Friars. Bishop Daniel Turley, O.S.A., Bishop of Chulucanas, Peru and Father Richard Palmer, O.S.A., from our mission of Pacosmyo, Peru, professed their first vows as Augustinian Friars in the Midwest Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel 50 years ago. Both friars were part of the early establishment of the Peruvian mission and have served there these many years

We have received word that Fr. Charles Bodden, OSA, a friar of the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, Chicago, suffered a fatal heart attack on December 16, 2011, while at our monastery in Lima, Peru. Fr. Bodden was 61 years old and had spent decades serving in many of the missions in Peru. He was responsble for overseeng the construction of many of the mission buildings. After a Mass of Christian Burial in San Jose Obrero, Chulucana, Peru, Fr. Bodden was buried in the land which he loved ... [More]

A goal of any missionary group is to put itself out of business. This is done by dedicated work for many years in establishing in the mission territory native leaders in the local Church and the Order. In the 25th year of the Vicariate, the American friars can look with great satisfaction to witness this goal: native Peruvian friars in leadership roles as the Vicar, as pastors in our parishes and as priors in our Augustinian Communities. Of the 24 friars of the Vicariate in solemn vows, 18 are n... [More]

Brother Robert Basler, O.S.A., has begun a year of service in the Peruvian missions. He was born on April 19, 1970, in Chicago Heights, IL. He entered the Pre-Novitiate Program of the Midwest Augustinian Province in January, 2005, and professed his first simple vows on August 13, 2006. During his year of service in the parish of San Jose Obrero, Chulucanas, he will be involved with vocation ministry, working with the catechesis teams from the various zones of the parish, preaching and other li... [More]

Twenty-five years ago, the American friars serving in Peru petitioned for the establishment of a semi-autonomous region within the Order called a Vicariate. The celebration of this anniversary occurred on the weekend of September 9-11, 2011 in Peru. Friars gathered from the United States, Rome, Algeria and Peru. The festivities began with a dinner in Chulucanas on Friday, September 9. On Saturday morning  Mass at the mission church of San Isidro, Morropon, was celebrated by the Prior Gene... [More]

The Augustinian Friars arrived on the shores of the United States in 1796. It was not until the early 1950’s that we began our missionary work in Japan, followed by missions in Peru in the 1960’s and South Africa in the late 1990’s. Those missions have grown and matured. Our mission in Peru has sent a missionary from South America to Annaba, Algeria, the site of the first monastery of St. Augustine.  Fr. Jose Manuel Vizcarra, O.S.A., pursued his theological stud... [More]