Our celebration today honors the memory of two saints who were intimate friends of Saint Augustine and members of his religious community. Like him they were also called to ministry as bishops in North Africa and served the Church well especially in helping to reveal the fallacies of unorthodox teachings at the time. Their love for religious life according to the inspiration of Augustine helped to spread its influence in …
We honor Mary in the Church under many titles. Today’s celebration is one particularly dear to Augustinians throughout the world. The tender image of mother and child is at one and the same time so very human and so illustrative of a deep spiritual truth. Mary, mother of her infant son, is also his first and most faithful disciple. He who is her Lord embraces her affectionately as she, his …
Today we celebrate the feast of one of the most well-known saints of our Order and one of the most popular of the Church. This attractiveness is due in part to Saint Rita’s experience of many challenges in life, met always with great confidence in God and exemplary courage. She thus offers a valid example to people who share her various states of life as spouse, parent, widow and consecrated …
He was born in Alfaro (Spain) and, following the example of his brother, in 1864 he joined the Augustinians at their convent for contemplatives at Monteagudo. He was sent to the Philipines in 1871, was ordained priest and commenced his apostolic work. At the Provincial Chapter of 1885 he was appointed Prior at the convent of Monteagudo. Nobody, as a missionary of great experience and holiness, had the ability to …
In 1881 Pope Leo XIII declared Clare of Montefalco a saint. Before he was elected pope, Pope Leo XIII was an acquaintance of this saintly nun at Perugia, less than 50km away from the small city of Montefalco. It appears that he had a particular devotion towards this saint and, until this day, one can see his episcopal ring on one of the preserved fingers of St. Clare. The story …
Augustine is her biographer. Let us let him talk to us; because what he tells us is more than a biography; he as her son gives us a sweet hym of praise to the Lord. Girl. Brought up to be humble and prudent (Confessions 9, 9). “You created her; her mother and father were unaware of what a daughter they were going to have. The staff of your Christ brought …
To the reader: “…as I wanted a true church of Christ of the Lord, holy and catholic to benefit from all that I received through wisdom and the word, I did not wish to let pass silently all that I saw and heard throughout my life and from Augustine’s habits, who was predestined to be, and indeed became, a good Bishop (Intr.1). “I am not going to recount what …
He was born at Oropesa (Toledo, Spain) and started his studies at Talavera, and then he served as a member of a group of youths studying music at the chapel of the cathedral at Toledo. The study of music was very close to his heart. He was sent to the University of Salamanca and there he felt the call to holiness at St. Augustine’s convent. He joined the Order and …
St. Nicholas, who always appears with a star on his chest and was born in Sant’ Anġlu at Pontano and lived for thirty years at Tolentino, is considered to be the first and most prominent saint of the Augustinian Order. In 1256, the ‘Grand Union’ year, Nicholas was eleven years old and, soon after, was attracted to religious life. His holiness was built on a hard life, ceaseless prayer, voluntary …
He was born in 1486 at Fuenllana (Ciudad Real, Spain), As a young child he lived with his parents in a city close to Villanueva de los Infantes. His parents worked a number of fields and, although they were not rich, they raised their family in a way that the children could receive a good education. Thomas started his studies there and, from an early stage, he showed indications of …
