Above, top right, Joe Barowski, pre-novice of Villanova Province speaks to all three Augustinian Vocation Directors: Fr. Joe Narog, O.S.A., Villanova Province (top left), Fr. Tom McCarthy, O.S.A., Chicago Province (bottom left) and Fr. Philip Yang, O.S.A., California Province (bottom right).
For the past two years, our Province of St. Thomas of Villanova has celebrated a Vocation Awareness Week in November, centered around the Feast of All Saints of the Order and the birth of St. Augustine. In fact, November 13th is considered a Day of Prayer for Augustinian Vocations. This year the Midwest and California Provinces will join in the celebration from November 8th through the 15th. Although the pandemic has presented some challenges for planning, the Vocation Directors for the three Provinces will be promoting awareness in person, where possible, as well as virtually, particularly in the ministries where we serve.
Everyone can participate by remembering – “Pray. Share. Invite.” Individually and communally, we can pray for all vocations, especially to the Augustinian way of life. We each can share our own stories, as well as vocation-related materials, such as our new Men of Heart poster, available in English and Spanish. It highlights those in formation from the three Provinces. Please contact Bernadette DiLucido, the Vocation Office Administrative Assistant, at vocations@augustinian.org, regarding posters, vocation brochures, wristbands, and Augustinian pocket prayer folds. And we can invite others to consider where God may be calling them in their lives. At the same time, it can help us reflect on how we’re using the gifts that God has given us. Finally, let’s all recall that promoting and raising awareness of vocations certainly isn’t limited to a week!
