Throughout the fall of 2017, Fr. Mark Menegatti, OSA has promoted the Province at three vocation fairs in the Southern California region. The Constitutions of the Order say that the first task of any province is to seek out and promote vocations, and Fr. Mark is doing well in keeping to the spirit of that charge. "When I am at these events, perhaps I can talk about vocations with people, but I also have a lot of conversations about the life of Augustine- as far as the Saints go, his story is attractive and very relatable. I could say that captures the best part of promoting vocations at these fairs," Fr. Mark said. If you see Fr. Mark at a future fair near you, be sure to stop by and say
The Augustinian life is full of surprises and moments of great joy. Recently, Br. Dominic Smith, OSA was able to share in this joy with his family as they baptized several from their clan, all of them his nieces and nephews. Br. Dominic says that many factors led to the children's baptisms being delayed, with the biggest one being that his siblings live far apart from one another now, but that they still had a desire to baptism them together as a family. "When the occasion of our mother's birthday came up, we knew it would be a perfect opportunity to finally come together and celebrate as a family," Br. Dominic said. As he is still in formation, the baptisms themselves were celebrated by
On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, the student friars of the St. Augustine Friary Community of Chicago ran their 3rd Annual Turkey Trot. The Trot is a tradition that began during Br. Dan Madden's novitiate year, and he and his classmates have eagerly kept the tradition alive. This year, the friars ran along the Lake Shore Drive jogging trail along lake Michigan for 3.1 miles. Weather this year was clear and the temperature was an ideal 45 degrees along the lakefront. The winner of the race was Br. Bill Gabriel, OSA who won as his "prize" the honor of eating a special piece of the Thanksgiving turkey called "the pope's nose" at dinner that night. The student friars were supported and ch
In his weekly province communication, Fr. Kevin Mullins, OSA announced the grants awarded in the 2017 cycle by The St. Augustine Foundation writing, "It is quite an impressive and varied list of recipients who are benefiting from a remarkable year of return on our Foundation’s investments. Kudos and gratitude go, in particular, to Mr. David Canedo and Fr. John Keller, OSA for all the ‘heavy lifting’ they so ably did for the Foundation, and to the Directors: Br. Michael Bube, OSA, Mr. Leo Sullivan, Mr. John O’Beirne, and myself who had the privilege of considering and approving these grants. The total disbursement to this year’s recipients was $754,575.00." Examples of this years grant recip
From the USCCB: "The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, November 5-11, 2017. This annual event is a special time for parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Chair of the US Bishops' Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, reminds us that each of us in the Church has a key role to play in the witness of our vocation in ordinary circumstances, "As we go about our everyday life and most especially this week, we must keep vocations in our prayers, while, at the same time, being a mindful witness with our own
On October 31st, 2017 the FANA (Federation of Augustinians in North America) Formation Commission had its' annual meeting in Chicago, IL. The Commission meets to discuss aspects of the various levels of the Augustinian formation program and set goals for the future. This year the members also discussed the 2018 Formation Gathering of students in formation, which will take place in New Lennox, IL in conjunction with the First Profession of this years novice class. Photo standing, left to right: Fr. Gary McCloskey, OSA Executive Director of FANA; Fr. Joe Mostardi, OSA Post Novitiate Formation Director; Fr. Jim Thompson, OSA Prior of the St. Augustine Monastery Formation Community; Fr. Frank