Blessed Helen is one of the several lay women whose memory is celebrated by the Order. She is, thus, a reminder that Augustinian spirituality is not the exclusive possession of religious only. Our Order has a long and rich tradition of lay men and women walking the same path of Augustinian inspired values professed by friars, nuns and sisters. We are all called to holiness, and the Augustinian vocation is …
The Hermitage of Lecceto, near Siena, from its beginning in the XII century, was fertile ground for Augustinian holiness. By way of example of these so-called “beati leccetani” in the Augustinian liturgical calendar is found the memory of B. Antonio Patrizio. His background cannot be described with exactness; this because there is little sound documentation about his life. Writings about him were recorded in the XV and the XVI centuries, …
Persecutions do not only create martyrs but many times create “soldiers of Christ”. Such was Thomas Jihyoe, a Japanese Augustinian, who was a Christian soldier during the persecution against Christians of the seventeenth century. For five years he evaded the Emperor’s soldiers who were seeking him because he was a catholic priest. He was born at Omura near Nagasaki around 1600. His parents, teachers of religion, both died martyrs for …
Blessed Thomas Jihoye of Saint Augustine – 28th September Read More »
We celebrate the memory of another martyr today on the Augustinian calendar of saints, William Tirry, an Irish friar who died rather than deny his faith. He was taken prisoner as he was about to celebrate Mass, for it was against the law to be a priest in 17th Century Ireland. Though offered his freedom if he would renounce his faith, he refused to do so and was led to …
Mexico’s history is replete with light and shadows, and insofar as the life of the Church in Mexico is concerned, there are most beautiful pages – like the appearance of Our Lady at Guadalupe – and others stained with the redness of the blood of innocents. Amongst the latter we find the story of the Augustinian martyr Elias del Socorro Nieves, member of the Augustinian Province of St. Nicholas of …
Blessed Elias del Soccorro Nieves – 11th October Read More »
Today we remember a French Augustinian who excelled in preaching the word of God. By means of his own deep interior life and attentiveness to Scripture, his influence on the people of his day through this ministry as well as through the gift of spiritual direction, was significant and widespread. He was loved and admired by the people, who recognized his holiness and the power of his intercession. William was …
Many are of the opinion that St. Rita could never have had such wrold-wide fame as is known today had there not existed B. Teresa Fasce, an Augustinian nun, for many years the superior of the monastery of contemplative nuns of Cascia. A magnanimous woman who, from the quietness of contemplation, managed to reach the world with the spirituality of her own prayers to God. She was born in 1881in …
The life of Blessed James of Viterbo, whom we commemorate today, reminds us of the importance of placing our gifts at the service of others. In this way we find, as he did, the path that leads to our own personal growth and holiness, while at the same time bringing enrichment to others. The gift you have been given, give as a gift – are the words of Scripture that …
Blessed Gundisalv from Lagos provides evidence of the presence of the Augustinian order with Portugal where, from the time of the Order’s establishment, this was sown in various convents. These convents maintained their presence in the Portuguese kingdom until they were suppressed in the XIX century. Gundisalv was born in the city of Lagos, in the south of the country in 1360, into a family of fishermen. Detailed information about …
We are celebrating today the memory of an Augustinian friar of Spain who was called to become a bishop, and in the exercise of that ministry became a martyr of the Church, during a bloody civil war which saw hundreds upon hundreds of priests, religious and committed laymen and women give their lives in fidelity to their faith. Bishop Polanco and his fellow martyrs are not historical figures of the …
