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THE YEAR of VOLUME X . ISSUE I ORIGINS OF THE ORDER THE AUGUSTINIAN

SAINT AUGUSTINE p. 3

CALL TO ORDER p. 12 WWW.AUGUSTINIAN.ORG TABLE OF CONTENTS HAS A NEW LOOK! THE AUGUSTINIAN . VOLUME X . ISSUE I CONTENTS

IN THIS ISSUE

P. 3 Saint Augustine Augustine was born some 400 years after his homeland in Western North had become an integral part of the OUR NEW WEBSITE Roman Empire. His ancestral heritage, his religious background PACKS NEW FEATURES and the cities where he lived were awash with paganism, INCLUDING OUR Catholicism, Catholic schisms and a variety of religious groups and NEW HOMEPAGE WITH: cults. George P. Lawless, O.S.A., an internationally known scholar and expert on Saint Augustine, spoke on Augustine’s life at a lecture ++ A slideshow with top 3 at in 2011, and it is reprised here. Father news and video. George has a fluency and familiarity with Augustine that gives us a rare, down-to-earth glimpse of Augustine’s journey from doubt ++ “This Day in Provence to certitude. A chronology is offered to illustrate Augustine’s life. History” a new feature IN EVERY ISSUE created and written by the Provincial, Features P. 12 Michael Di Gregorio. Advancement 24 The ++ Scroll down on the home The Order of Saint Augustine was formed in 1244, page to see “Featured more than 800 years after the death of Saint Augustine. Father Quicklinks”—visual links to Columns Michael F. Di Gregorio, O.S.A., Prior Provincial of the Province our most popular pages. of Saint , describes early of Letter from the Provincial 2 communities of in and their call from Pope News and Notes 18 Innocent IV to unite into a single , following 12 the Rule and the life of Saint Augustine. INSIDE THE In Paradisum 22 NAVIGATION, YOU’LL SEE NEW PAGES WITH: P. 16 ++ Latest News ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Father Bill Atkinson–Taking Up the Cause “Meet Our ” The Augustinian Postulator General, Josef Sciberras, O.S.A., came ++ Thanks to George P. Lawless, O.S.A.; John J. Sheridan, O.S.A., (Archivist) and June Weiland to the Saint Thomas of Villanova in August, 2014 to ++ Augustinian Saints (Assistant Archivist), Augustinian Provincial determine if there was a basis to take up the cause of sainthood. Archives at Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery. Chronology, years 370 and 372, map Territorial Spoiler alert: Father Bill’s Cause is underway and you are invited Plus you’ll find the same informative Expansion of by Velhagen & Klafing, from the to share remembrances, testimonies or notice of favors received William Shepherd Historical Atlas, 1911, courtesy and helpful content you’ve come of the University of Texas and Paul Rascoe. through Father Bill. to rely upon. Images on page 5 and Chronology, years 354, 383, 384, 395, 412 and 430 by Benozzo If you receive Newsnotes, you’ll receive Gozzoli, courtesy of Brian S. Lowery, O.S.A., E-News from us with the latest news San Gimignano, Italy; Chronology, years 386, and events and videos. If not, you can 16 387, 387 (page 8), 397 (page 10) and Back Cover up online. by Tito Troja, located at Old St. Augustine Church, , Pa. Photo and digital restoration by Daniel J. McLaughlin, O.S.A. Chronology, year 426, Carlo Crivelli.

Main Reference Books: ON THE COVER Confessions, by Saint Augustine; The (1244 - 1994) Our History in Pictures, 1995 Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) Publicaziono Agostiniane; Augustine through the THE AUGUSTINIAN Saint Augustine, circa 1645–1650 Ages: An Encyclopedia, General Editor, Allan D. Painting, Oil on canvas, 31 1/8 x 24 5/8 in. Fitzgerald, O.S.A.; Saint AUGUSTINE, Edited by A publication of the Province Los Angeles County Museum of Art Tarsicius J. Van Bavel, O.S.A. of Saint Thomas of Villanova. Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation VISIT OUR NEW SITE AT: WWW.AUGUSTINIAN.ORG THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 1 VOLUME X . ISSUE I

LETTER FROM THE PRIOR PROVINCIAL THE AUGUSTINIAN

Teddie Gallagher EDITOR Kitty Sheridan ASSOCIATE EDITOR 20nine LAYOUT AND DESIGN LETTER FROM THE

The Augustinian is a publication of the PRIOR PROVINCIAL Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. For queries, address changes and other correspondence, contact: Editor Dear Friends, Augustinian Provincial Offices Spring’s arrival, following what seemed a very long and hard winter for many, was most P.O. Box 340 MAP OF NUMIDIA Villanova, PA 19085-0340 welcome! I greet each of you with a sincere wish for enjoyable seasons of light and rebirth. As you read this message, we will already have passed the six-month mark in the Year of PHONE 610-527-3330 FAX 610-520-0618 SAINT AUGUSTINE: HOMELAND Consecrated Life initiated by Pope Francis in November, 2014. Many of you will have become EMAIL [email protected] increasingly acquainted with this special observance which the entire Church is celebrating, and WEB www.augustinian.org BY TEDDIE GALLAGHER which religious communities, in particular, are commemorating in various ways. We Augustinians have been doing so through special days of recollection, community discussions, and regional AUGUSTINIANS gatherings of friars, and we will continue our observance at our Province Retreat in June, as well as The cultural development of Saint First Punic War, at sea in 264 B.C. and “granary of the Empire,” shipping grains, Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova at a special gathering at Villanova in August. I ask you kindly, on behalf of all our friars, to keep us Augustine’s homeland of Western North finally conquered in 133 B.C. fruit and beans to Italy and Greece. The in your prayers as these events unfold. Michael F. Di Gregorio, O.S.A. Africa began between 8,000 and 2,000 B.C., , where Augustine was born, burgeoning empire used mainly Africans We wish to draw you more closely into what this year means for us, and so much of the content PRIOR PROVINCIAL when the indigenous people of Western and the area surrounding it, then called for their military and civic presence. There which you will find in this current issue of our magazine treats of this theme. We want to speak of Michael H. Bielecki, O.S.A. North Africa (now known as Berbers) Numidia, became a Roman territory in 44 B.C. had even been an African Roman Emperor, what our particular form of consecrated life is, how and where it developed, and what it means SECRETARY developed connections with the people in At the time of Augustine’s birth, his Septimus Severus, who ruled from 193 to for us to call ourselves, and to strive to be, continually and authentically, Augustinians. It is very Francis J. Horn, O.S.A. other regions of the Mediterranean Sea homeland in Western North Africa (now 200 A.D. fortunate that we are able to do this at the very same time that we announce a significant initiative in TREASURER and western . The desertification of ) had been dominated by the It is commonly thought that Saint the life of our Province, the preparatory steps in the beatification process of one of our friars, Father COUNSELORS the Sahara was a gradual change occurring Romans for almost 400 years. Western Monica, Augustine’s mother, was a William Atkinson, in the 50th anniversary year of a life-changing event in his Augustinian journey. between 2000 to 1000 B.C. and separated North African settlements with fertile Berber and that his father, Patricius, a Francis J. Doyle, O.S.A. The testimony of a single can be the best announcement of what consecrated life is all about! the people of the north from the south. The land prospered, as the region became the Roman curialis of Thagaste, was In this issue, I am very happy to introduce the new Director of Advancement for the Province of Robert P. Hagan, O.S.A. Robert J. Murray, O.S.A. people of Western North Africa spoke their and Phoenician, but this is not able to be Saint Thomas of Villanova. Madonna Sutter, about whom you will read in these pages, joins our Joseph L. Narog, O.S.A. own (known as Berber), which for confirmed. Many of the African Berbers administrative staff, bringing a great deal of professional experience, knowledge of the Augustinian Robert P. Terranova, O.S.A. centuries was a spoken language without a converted to in the second Luis A. Vera, O.S.A. spirit, and great enthusiasm in her new role. A significant dimension of consecrated life is tied to written alphabet. This oral language and third centuries. Latin was the official the theme of advancement: advancement of our mission, advancement of our values, advancement PROVINCIAL OFFICES was traditionally taught by the mother language, but the people of Algeria and of the many things that make our life and ministry possible. We thank you for the many ways in to her children. Carthage (Tunisia) continued to speak which you, our friends and benefactors, are participants with us. Joanna Bowen DIRECTOR OF AUGUSTINIAN VOLUNTEERS Around 1100 B.C., the Phoenicians, who Berber and Punic, with some speaking Lastly, we present herein, snippets from the life and work of several of our friars and Jorge L. Cleto, O.S.A. were a confederation of sea merchants a mix of Berber and Punic. Dialects candidates, who demonstrate, in various ways, our spirituality, our ministries, our role in the DIRECTOR OF HISPANIC VOCATIONS and traders from the eastern coast of of Berber are still spoken by people in Church and in society. Among them are four of our most recently deceased confreres, friars who John E. Deegan, O.S.A. the Mediterranean known as Phoenicia Western North Africa and other countries made great contributions to our Province and to the Order, and whose memory endures, in DIRECTOR OF AND PEACE (modern-day Lebanon), established colonies around the world. sentiments of gratitude and affection, in the hearts of so many people whose lives they touched Teddie Gallagher on the coast of western North Africa in The Berbers and Phoenicians and enriched. As you read a portion of their stories, I ask you to pray for them, giving thanks for DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS what is now Tunisia. Their language, are members of the Caucasian race their lives and for the they have done. Thomas R. McCarthy, O.S.A. known as Punic, is a Canaanite language classification, which includes Aryan (Indo- Wishing you an abundance of God’s blessings, and a grateful awareness of them! DIRECTOR OF VOCATIONS of the Semitic family and its alphabet is European), Semitic (Semitic ) Gary N. McCloskey, O.S.A. one of the earliest on record. In 814 B.C., and Hamitic (Berber-Cushitic-Egyptian) DIRECTOR OF AUGUSTINIAN FRIENDS Phoenician colonists established the ancient subclasses. There has been speculation that In Augustine, James C. McMaster SENIOR FINANCIAL OFFICER city of Carthage on the coast of modern Saint Augustine had dark skin and this may day Tunisia. By 500 B.C. Carthage was a or may not be true, because there a wide Michael F. Di Gregorio, O.S.A. John J. Sheridan, O.S.A. ARCHIVIST cosmopolitan center of commerce, , range of skin colors in the subclasses of the PRIOR PROVINCIAL and the arts, with its port sending products Caucasian race and because there are no PROVINCE OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA Madonna Sutter THE EARLIEST IMAGE WIDELY ACCEPTED TO BE SAINT DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT all around the western Mediterranean. AUGUSTINE IS A FRESCO, DATED FROM THE MID-SIXTH known images of Saint Augustine. The Roman territory of Italy began its CENTURY, FOUND AS A RESULT OF THE EXCAVATIONS first war against Carthage, known as the BENEATH THE SANCTA SANCTORUM OF THE ARCHBASILICA OF SAINT JOHN LATERAN IN ROME.

2 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 3 354 A.D. 372–373 A.D. C AURELIUS AUGUSTINE IS BORN IN THAGASTE, NORTH WHILE IN CARTHAGE, AUGUSTINE BECOMES AN H AFRICA (NOW IN ALGERIA) TO MONICA, A ADHERENT OF THE MANICHAEAN RELIGIOUS CATHOLIC AND PATRICIUS, A PAGAN WHO IS A ROMAN MOVEMENT INSPIRED BY REVELATIONS R OFFICIAL (CURIALIS OF THAGASTE). AUGUSTINE HAS RECEIVED BY A MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF O A BROTHER NAVIGIUS AND A SISTER, WHOSE NAME IS MANI. BORN IN 216 A.D. IN BABYLONIA, MANI UNRECORDED. THAGASTE, SITUATED IN THE NORTH-EAST WAS EXECUTED FOR HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS BY N HIGHLANDS OF NUMIDIA, HELD NATURAL HABITATS FOR BAHRAM I, IN 277 A.D. SAINT AUGUSTINE LIONS AND PANTHERS, CAPTURED AND SOLD FOR ROMAN O L AMPHITHEATER GAMES. 373 A.D. FROM DOUBT TO CERTITUDE AUGUSTINE RETURNS TO THAGASTE O 359 A.D. TO TEACH . G AUGUSTINE ATTENDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THAGASTE (NOW SOUK AHRAS) AND HIGH SCHOOL IN MADAURA (NOW 376 A.D. Y M’DAOUROUCH, ALGERIA), 15 MILES SOUTH OF THAGASTE. AUGUSTINE RETURNS TO CARTHAGE TO TEACH RHETORIC. 354–359 A.D. 372–376 A.D.

370–372 A.D. 370–371 A.D. AUGUSTINE RETURNS TO THAGASTE FOR A YEAR, AS HIS PARENTS ATTEMPT TO GAIN THE MEANS TO FURTHER HIS EDUCATION. HIS FATHER, WHO HAS CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, DIES UNEXPECTEDLY. A WEALTHY LANDOWNER HELPS THE FAMILY SEND AUGUSTINE TO CARTHAGE FOR FURTHER STUDIES.

371–372 A.D. AS MARRIAGE BETWEEN CLASSES IS STRICTLY REGULATED BY ROMAN , AUGUSTINE, A ROMAN CITIZEN, ENTERS INTO A MONOGAMOUS CONCUBINAGE RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN OF A LOWER STATUS. A SON, ADEODATUS, IS BORN IN CARTHAGE TO AUGUSTINE AND HIS PARTNER.

by George P. Lawless, O.S.A. Sixteen centuries ago, during the Easter While he deplored their destruction of A public lecture delivered by Father Vigil, 24-25 April 387, a thirty-three year , still he enjoyed their company in Lawless at Villanova University on old Roman from the province of Numidia much the same way that he reveled in the company of other adolescent friends, when November 29, 2011. in North Africa was baptized by Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the north of Italy. That together they heedlessly stole pears from an decision to seek baptism together with his orchard in an incident made famous from son, Adeodatus, and his friend Alypius, was his Confessions. Augustine was no different to have incalculable consequences for the from other boys from school, and he had Christian Churches and for all of western an intense dislike for the study of Greek. civilization. That convert to Catholic However, the that he went to high Christianity was Aurelius Augustine. school at all set him apart from many of Augustine was born November 13, his peers at Thagaste. 354, at Thagaste (now Souk Ahras) in When he completed high school at modern Algeria. Situated some sixty miles fifteen years of age, Augustine returned inland from the Mediterranean Sea on home. As he was preparing to leave one of three overland routes connecting for advanced studies in philosophy and the seacoast of Hippo (Modern Annaba) rhetoric at the end of the year, his father and Carthage, the backwater town of died. Patrick, the father of Augustine, was Thagaste featured little more than a hotel a man who lived all his life as a pagan and for travelers. With only an elementary was converted to Christianity only shortly school available to him in his hometown, before his death. This significant loss Augustine, a serious but by no means happened at the very time that Augustine exceptional student, attended high school was experiencing a year of youthful idleness at Madaura some twenty miles distant from while his parents were scraping together Thagaste. enough money to advance still further As a teenager, he associated with a group their son’s education. Now widowed and of teenagers who were called “Wreckers.” with three children, Monica the mother

4 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 5 384 A.D. (FALL) AUGUSTINE IS APPOINTED OFFICIAL ORATOR IN MILAN.

385 A.D. MONICA JOINS AUGUSTINE IN MILAN. AUGUSTINE VISITS THE BISHOP OF MILAN, AMBROSE, AND ATTENDS SUNDAY WORSHIP TO HEAR THE FAMED PREACHER. 387 A.D. AUGUSTINE, HIS SON ADEODATUS AND HIS 386 A.D. FRIEND ALYPIUS ARE BAPTIZED ON APRIL 24 MONICA ARRANGES A LEGALLY AND SOCIABLY SUITABLE ON THE EVE OF EASTER IN MILAN BY BISHOP MARRIAGE FOR HER SON. AUGUSTINE’S PARTNER, THE AMBROSE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF MILAN. MOTHER OF ADEODATUS, RETURNS TO NORTH AFRICA ALONE. ADEODATUS REMAINS WITH HIS FATHER. 384–386 A.D. 387 A.D.

383–384 A.D. 386 A.D. 387 A.D.

383-384 A.D. 386 A.D. 387 A.D. AUGUSTINE, WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS, SETS SAIL AUGUSTINE HAS A GREAT MOMENT OF AUGUSTINE LEAVES MILAN AND GOES TO THE PORT OF TO ROME WHERE HE WILL TEACH, KNOWINGLY LEAVING CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY IN THE OSTIA TO RETURN TO NORTH AFRICA, BUT IS DELAYED HIS MOTHER BEHIND PRAYING IN A CHAPEL. MONICA GARDEN OF HIS RESIDENCE IN MILAN. FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS WHILE THE PORT IS CLOSED BY RETURNS TO THAGASTE. A BLOCKADE. DURING THIS TIME, AUGUSTINE AND MONICA EXPERIENCE A COMMON MYSTICAL MOMENT WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT DIVINE WISDOM. DESCRIBING THE MOMENT AUGUSTINE SAID: “WE DID FOR ONE INSTANT TOUCH IT...” (CONFESSIONS 9.10.23-25).

of Augustine, was singularly fortunate to Near the end of his pursuit of philosophy read The Categories of , a book on A YOUNG URBAN PROFESSIONAL the sake of savoring the eloquence of the that crucial link with the interior realm of have the help of a wealthy landowner and and rhetoric at Carthage, Augustine which helped shape the orderliness famous preacher. Although first attracted Dissatisfied with the failure of Faustus the spiritual and the immaterial. resident of Thagaste who was willing to joined an oriental religious sect called of his . There followed a gradual by Ambrose’s delivery of the gospel, it was to make a strong case for Manichaeism, Monica, meanwhile, had joined her son provide the necessary financial support for Manichaesim, to which he gave his disenchantment with the Manichaen not long before Augustine showed interest Augustine shortly thereafter despaired of shortly after his arrival in Milan. With her his education at Carthage, a city some 170 allegiance for at least the next nine years religion, but its ardent devotees prevailed in the gospel of delivery. He became less finding the truth. He became a skeptic. intrusive manner she apparently wasted miles away from home. of his young life. upon their co-religionist to persevere. critical of the Bible with its confusing Augustine started teaching again and soon no time arranging a suitable marriage for Ancient Carthage was notorious as When Augustine returned to his Their most distinguished teacher, Faustus, contents and its inelegant style. Gradually discovered that Roman students refused to her son. As a result, Augustine’s unnamed a sizzling frying-pan for illicit loves, birthplace after the completion of advanced they promised, would eventually come he became open to receive its message. pay tuition and fees. Eventually, through mother of Adeodatus was summarily so much so that the Latin word play studies, his mother barred him from the to Carthage and respond to Augustine’s At the same time, through his interest the influence of Symmachus, the Prefect of dismissed and returned to North Africa. Carthago, Carthage, and sartago cauldron, in house. Monica made more strenuous many questions. Faustus finally came, but in philosophy, he attached himself to an Rome, his own merits as a teacher and the Augustine withheld her name from Augustine’s Confessions prompted T.S. Eliot’s objection to her son’s adherence to his torrent of words was all fantasy and established circle of people who were important fact that he was not a Catholic posterity, undoubtedly out of personal poetic version of this youthful adventure: Manichaeism than to his cohabitation fable. Augustine’s disillusionment increased. conversant with the Christian religion and Christian, Augustine secured for himself respect for her, but also for the obvious “To Carthage I came, burning, burning, with a woman. With his proselytizing To make matters worse, the students Greek Philosophers, notably , Plotinus the prestigious post of Public Orator at reason that his Confessions were widely burning, burning.” Paganism had, indeed, temperament, Augustine had already made at Carthage proved to be reckless and and Porphyry. Milan. This ambitious young man from circulated during his lifetime as Bishop of been a powerful force at Madaura where converts to the Manichaean religion and disorderly with the result that Augustine’s The story of the conversion to a middle-class provincial family in far-off Hippo. From the beginning, both parties Augustine spent his high school years and told even his staunchly Christian mother level of job satisfaction as a teacher was Christianity of Marius Victorinus had a Africa had now become an upper-class were aware that their liaison was destined again at Carthage where he continued his that some day she too would become a pitifully low. Putting all these considerations profound effect upon Augustine because urban professional who would surely catch to be ephemeral. This is why “mistress” is formal education. Manichee. After having opened a school, together, Augustine determined to seek he was, like himself, a noted and respected the eye of the Imperial Court. conceivably an ill-suited word for depicting Having become the father of a son born Augustine found the environs of his native new horizons. It was only the cruel trick rhetorician. Indeed his first-hand account Milan was a highly cosmopolitan city. Augustine’s lover, his companion for more out of wedlock at seventeen years of age, Thagaste too confining for his present of deliberately deceiving his mother and with many people of keen mind, for whom Its sophisticated residents made fun of than a decade, and the mother of their son. Augustine now settled into cohabitation ambitions. Even more distressing to him was leaving her praying for him patiently in a faith and reason were certainly compatible, Augustine with his rustic North African There is no doubt in my mind that, in the with the mother of his son Adeodatus, a the unexpected death of an intimate young local chapel that enabled Augustine to sail slowly convinced Augustine that Catholic accent. Not long after his arrival, Augustine long run, many years of living with this name which means “gift of God.” When friend; Augustine was disconsolate. Both of for Rome with his partner and their son. Christianity was, after all, intellectually visited the urbane and learned bishop woman gave rise to some of Augustine’s Augustine was eighteen years of age, these circumstances in his life prompted him Monica went home alone. Augustine tells respectable. In the meantime, some of the of Milan, Ambrose, but the encounter mature and enlightened reflections on love he read Hortensius by which he to leave his hometown rather hurriedly. us: “I went to Rome.” writings of the Platonists put him in touch had the of a courtesy call. More and friendship, , human affectivity and afterwards described as a book that “altered Augustine returned to Carthage. There with what was deepest in himself, his own importantly, the meeting prompted fidelity in marriage. my outlook on life” (Confessions, 3,4,7). at little more than twenty years of age, he ability to conceive of the “world within,” Augustine to attend Sunday worship for

6 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 7 388 A.D. AUGUSTINE SAILS TO NORTH AFRICA AND GOES TO THAGASTE WHERE HE FOUNDS A LAY COMMUNITY.

389 A.D. ADEODATUS, SON OF AUGUSTINE, DIES IN THAGASTE. 397 A.D. AUGUSTINE WRITES THE RULE AT THE REQUEST 391 A.D. OF MONKS IN THE HIPPO MONASTERY WHEN AUGUSTINE IS ORDAINED A PRIEST IN HIPPO. BELOW ARE HE MOVES FROM THERE TO THE BISHOP’S THE EXCAVATIONS OF BASILICA PACIS, IN HIPPO, WHERE HOUSE. THE RULE WAS ALSO ADAPTED FOR AUGUSTINE EXERCISED HIS MINISTRIES. OF WOMEN. 388–391 A.D. 397 A.D.

387 A.D. 395–397 A.D.

387 A.D. 395–397 A.D. NINE DAYS LATER MONICA DIES AND IS BURIED IN AUGUSTINE SUCCEEDS VALERIUS OSTIA. IN 1430, MONICA’S BODY IS TAKEN TO THE AS BISHOP OF HIPPO AND FOUNDS BASILICA DI SANT’AGOSTINO IN ROME. A MONASTERY FOR CLERICS IN HIPPO. HE BEGINS WRITING THE CONFESSIONS.

Augustine then became formally engaged infidelity of this father. Also, he deeply He did what could not be predicted and Augustine was determined to marry. TWO STORIES OF CONVERSION service, and determined to follow Christ in to a young girl who was two years below loved both the woman and the boy. Her what could not be explained. He resigned In this matter, Monica was even more a life of poverty. So enthusiastic was their Two things happened that nudged the legal age for marriage. While he agreed callous dismissal can be explained partially his teaching position, and he did it as determined than he. In her mind, marriage conversion that they inspired their fiancées Augustine closer to the moment of to the terms of this legally and socially by the fact that the late Roman caste abruptly as Monica had dismissed the was the only possible way for her son to live to follow their example and to enter a conversion. The first was a simple story acceptable union, he took up with another system discouraged people of different mother of Adeodatus and sent her packing the Christian . Augustine remained monastery for women. that provoked his thoughts. The second woman to satisfy his sexual needs. In a social status from marrying. There is in to North Africa. Except for some private unsettled about the question of marriage. The impact of this story forced was an experience so mysterious and so sensate culture which greatly resembled fact evidence to indicate that the Catholic tutoring, Augustine was out of work, having Although marriage might lead to wealth Augustine to reflect upon his own life, as he profound that Augustine himself found it our own, Augustine described himself as Church countenanced such an informal resigned his teaching position near the end and power, it did not promise to satisfy tells us in Confessions: “Pontician told us this difficult to describe in his Confessions some a man who was “hot for honors, money liaison. ([Council of Toledo (400 A.D.) of the school term. his desire for wisdom. Perhaps, instead, it story and as he spoke, you, O Lord, turned ten years later. and marriage” Canon 17]; What can we say about this might lead him astray. me back upon myself. You took me from The simple story of conversion came to (Confessions, 6, 6. 9). c.f. also Augustine, uncharacteristic behavior? Not much with On this very question, Augustine behind my own back where I had placed Augustine’s attention during the visit of Be that as it The Good Marriage, certainty, except to remark that Augustine engaged in earnest discussion with Alypius, myself because I did not wish to look upon “It is better to be a cripple another North African named Pontician, may, we ought 5,5.) Neither appeared to be on the verge of a total his life-long friend. For those serious in the myself ” (8,7,16). who happened to notice that Augustine not to overstress Monica nor rearrangement of his life. Augustine also pursuit of wisdom, Alypius argues clearly The second episode is more difficult to limping along to God than owned a copy of the epistles of St. Paul. or exaggerate Augustine give manifested the symptoms of what we would and definitively in favor of the need for grasp. Here readers of the Confessions may This prompted Pontician to relate the the sinfulness of a champion athlete on the a good account today describe as a “nervous breakdown.” celibacy. Augustine was not so sure. At any wish that its author had been less artistic in story of two public officials who had Augustine’s youth of themselves in The of his life make it clear that rate, Augustine’s journey toward wisdom, the telling. Some scholars actually dismiss found themselves in a dilemma much like and middle years. wrong track.” the preemptory the allurement of wealth and power, the begun with the reading of Cicero, had the event as though it were a literary that of Augustine. Young and ambitious Very likely the dismissal of possible governorship of a Roman province met with disappointment in the Bible, had fiction. Augustine heard the voice, “as (Sermon 168.15) and engaged to be married, they were stable relationship Augustine’s partner. and prestige had lost their luster. Sex was been sidetracked with the Manachees and if ” he says, of a boy or girl chanting a in steady pursuit of those pleasures that which he cultivated It was a period the last stronghold to imprison Augustine seemed to be far from having reached its repetitious refrain: “Pick it up and read, the world offered to them. Yet these two with the unnamed woman whom he loved of strain both financially and professionally. as his erotic needs held out until the final end in the dry abstractions of philosophy. pick it up and read.” (Confessions 8,12,29). government employees were so deeply contrasted significantly with other liaisons While Augustine had friends in high places stage of his conversion. The raging desires This ever-burning desire for wisdom was Obediently he hurries to the spot in the affected by the invitation of Matthew’s with little or no permanence. By remaining and they were good to him, the hard fact inside him were surely reflected in his not, apparently, sufficient explanation for garden where Alypius was sitting. There he gospel (19:21) to sell all and give to the faithful to this woman for upwards of remained: he needed money and he needed prayer: “Grant me chastity and self-control, the dramatic turn of events in his life. snatched the epistles of Saint Paul, opened poor that they abandoned their possessions, thirteen years, Augustine’s behavior a wife who had some. What then did but please not yet” (Confessions, 8, 7, 17). the volume and read the first text that met gave up their careers in the imperial contrasted sharply with the marital Augustine do next? his eyes. It was Romans 13: 13-14. “No

8 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 9 412 A.D. AUGUSTINE BEGINS WRITING CITY OF GOD.

413 A.D. 430 A.D. THE FIRST CHAPTERS OF CITY OF GOD ARE PUBLISHED. AUGUST 28, DEATH AND BURIAL OF AUGUSTINE.

412-413 A.D. 430 A.D.

397–411 A.D. 426 A.D. 720–1337 A.D.

397 A.D. 426 A.D. 720 A.D. PREACHES AT CARTHAGE DURING THE SUMMER AND PARTICIPATES IN AUGUSTINE LEAVES HIPPO IN THE WINTER THE YEAR THOUGHT TO BE WHEN THE THE COUNCILS OF CARTHAGE. FOR HIS HEALTH; BEGINS RETRACTATIONES. REMAINS OF AUGUSTINE ARE PLACED IN THE CRYPT OF THE CHURCH OF SAN 411 A.D. PIETRO IN CIEL D’ORO, (SAINT PETER OF THE PARTICIPATES IN COLLATIO OF 411, A CONFERENCE SET TO RESOLVE GOLDEN CEILING), IN , ITALY. THE INTENSE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE DONATISTS AND THE CATHOLICS. AUGUSTINE HAD LONG BEEN AGAINST THE DONATISTS, 1337 A.D. WHO CONSIDERED PERFORMED BY PRIESTS WHO ON JANUARY 30, 1327, POPE JOHN XXII, BETRAYED THE CHURCH DURING TIMES OF ROMAN PERSECUTION GRANTS THE ORDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE NULL OR INVALID. AUGUSTINE OPPOSED THE MOVEMENT, BELIEVING A HOUSE ALONGSIDE AUGUSTINE’S TOMB SACRAMENTS WERE INSTITUTED BY CHRIST, NOT MAN. THIS AFFIRMING ORDER’S SPECIAL BOND WITH CONFERENCE WAS RESOLVED IN FAVOR OF THE CATHOLICS. ITS SPIRITUAL HEAD.

reveling or drunkenness, no debauchery God alone endows the human soul with longer confused him. By urging him to read and a self-centered psychologism were Augustine exclaimed, “I have become an (Confessions, 3, 6, 11)—“All the while I was or vice, no quarrels or jealousies! Rather some remarkable powers. He also came to the prophet Isaiah, Ambrose unlocked the indeed all the wrong tracks. enigma to myself ” (Confessions, 10, 33, 50). outside, you were inside” (Confessions, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no realize that the Manichees made a mockery riches of the Old Testament and Augustine, It had been no easy path for Augustine Turning within himself and being intent 10, 27, 38). provision for the desires of the flesh.” This of human freedom for the first time, to travel from doubt to certitude, from solely upon himself, he had found nothing Augustine never thought of himself as is a powerful message for any reader of the by insisting that could grasp the ignorance about God to his burning but doubt and confusion. This sense of a saint; that we should regard him as a Bible. It gets right to the heart of Christian all human activity The more he examined the legitimacy of desire to possess God. But all along the emptiness inside led Augustine to cry out saint would indeed surprise him. When life. Why did it come to Augustine at this was the net result puzzle and the more he searched referring to God as way he found that every doubt contains for God and for himself: “But where was surrendered to God, his love for eloquence time? How did it affect him? Augustine of mechanical the riddle that was himself, the “mother,” “nurse,” some certitude. The one who doubts is at I when I looked for you?...I could not loosened his tongue in praise of God. shares this great moment of conversion forces warring “a mother-bird with least certain of being alive and doubting. find myself, much less you” (Confessions, When surrendered to God, his intellectual with us in his Confessions: against each other. more he felt a presence of God her fledglings.” For Without mystery, reason and 5,2,2). Acceptance of mystery in human sharpness earned him greater eloquence I had no wish to read further, and no need. His persistent who was within him—“Yet all the Augustine, to apply offer no exit. The mystery of faith in God existence gave Augustine his first solid step and the of profundities. For in that instant with the very ending of fascination with time you were more inward than human qualities and the actuality of human freedom offer in this understanding of God. The more When surrendered to God, his unquiet and the , it was as though a light of utter astrology finally to God, whether exits everywhere. Psychology that bends us he examined the puzzle and the more restless heart became quiet and found rest confidence shone in all my heart and the succumbed to the my inmost self...” (Confessions, masculine or back solely upon ourselves soon becomes he searched the riddle that was himself, in the silent mysterious presence of God darkness of uncertainty vanished. For you conviction that 3, 6, 11)—“All the while I feminine, had been, mired in the pool of Narcissus. Religious the more he felt a presence of God who that was always deep inside him. had converted me to yourself, so I would seek the fault lies not was outside, you were inside” in an earlier day, faith that turns us towards God gives us the was within him—“Yet all the time you not ambition in this world (8, 12, 29-30). in our stars, but rank heresy. freedom of full, human life. This is how were more inward than my inmost self...” (Translation John J. O’Meara). inside ourselves. (Confessions, 10, 27, 38). Augustine will Augustine grew in his understanding of His distaste for later observe: God and the mystery of human iniquity. EVERY DOUBT CONTAINS the Bible was “It is better to be “I created a human being, not avarice; diminishing, thanks to the preaching a cripple limping along to God than a I created a human being, not highway SOME CERTITUDE of Ambrose, which presented new and champion athlete on the wrong track” robbery; I created a human being, not George P. Lawless, O.S.A., is an international By this time Neoplatonic philosophy challenging insights into the meaning of (Sermon 169.15). At this stage of his life, marital infidelity” (Homily 3,9 On the First had laid the axe forever to the roots of scholar and interpreter of the writings of God’s words. The conflicting genealogies of he had travelled far enough along the Letter of John). Augustine. Author of and Augustine’s by instructing him Jesus as they were recorded into the gospels road of this restless journey to discover When he searched within himself to that God exists beyond matter and that His Monastic Rule, Father George received his and so often ridiculed by the Manichees no that materialism, skepticism, assess the condition of his own soul, doctorate from the Angelicum, Rome.

10 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 11 The beginnings of the Order of Saint February, 1157, he was accompanied by Augustine reveal a fascinating partnership a disciple, who cared for him during his of divine grace and human effort. The final months, and after his death, wrote a former is manifest especially in the example summary of William’s sayings that became of holy lives; the latter in the practical known as The Rule of Saint William. The decisions of gifted individuals. While the burial site of this penitent ascetic became official date of the Order’s founding is a destination for pilgrims traveling through March, 1244, the circumstances that gave Tuscany, and some settled there in order rise to this appointment in time take us to follow William’s way of life. With his back even earlier. in 1202, devotion to William The latter years of the twelfth spread, as did the number of disciples century saw a phenomenal stirring of who founded other communities in central OVER 770 YEARS AGO, POPE INNOCENT IV CALLED lay spirituality which became manifest and northern Italy and in other northern TOGETHER SEVERAL EREMETICAL COMMUNITIES in various ways. Among these was regions of Europe. IN TUSCANY TO UNITE INTO A SINGLE RELIGIOUS ORDER WITH THE “RULE” AND WAY OF LIFE OF the emergence of a vibrant eremitical On December 16, 1243, Pope SAINT AUGUSTINE. movement, wherein men and women devoted to poverty, prayer, and the pursuit Innocent IV issued a Papal Bull of Gospel values, chose a life marked by addressed to all Tuscan hermits, with withdrawal from the affairs of society. At the exception of the “Brothers of times, individuals went off into remote Saint William in Tuscany,” calling areas alone to pursue a secluded life; in other instances they banded together them to unite in a single religious in small groups and withdrew to out of Order according to the Rule and way the way places. In some cases individual of life of Saint Augustine, and to hermits attracted like-minded followers, such that communities of fervent Christian elect a prior general in accordance ascetics grew up around them. Such was with canon law, to whom they were the case with two individuals who, in to give obedience and due respect. different parts of the Italian peninsula, Furthermore, the Pope appointed unknowingly became architects of the future Augustinian Order. One was John as their supervisor and guide in the Bono, a native of Mantova, who was undertaking, Richard Annibaldi, born about 1168. After pursuing a rather Cardinal Deacon of Sant’Angelo. THE BULL “INCUMBIT NOBIS” WAS ISSUED ON THE ORDER OF carefree existence until the age of forty, Each community of hermits was to DECEMBER 16, 1243. THE DOCUMENT IS IN THE he was struck by an illness that caused AUGUSTINIAN GENERAL ARCHIVES, ROME. him to reconsider his lifestyle, and upon send one or two representatives to SAINT AUGUSTINE recovering, he devoted himself to a , or gathering of leaders, and prayer in the region of Romagna. which Cardinal Richard was to In a short time, his example attracted CALL TO ORDER others who became his disciples. In 1225, convoke, in order that the directives BY FATHER MICHAEL F. DI GREGORIO, O.S.A. this community decided to become more of the Pope might be carried out. PRIOR PROVINCIAL OF THE PROVINCE OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA formally established in the Church, and This Chapter was held in Rome in so adopted the as a March, 1244. There, all agreed to accept guide for their life. Within a short time they the Rule of Saint Augustine, constitutions were expanded rapidly across northern Italy and, drawn up, agreement was made to recite though most were laymen, began to engage the divine office according to the usage of in preaching and , which was the Roman curia, and a uniform habit of not altogether unusual for non-clerics black color bound by a leather belt was at the time. adopted. Subsequent Papal Bulls confirmed A somewhat similar situation had various points of the Chapter and decreed developed even earlier in the region of additional characteristics of the new Order, THE GRAND UNION OF 1256 TOOK PLACE ON APRIL Grosseto in Tuscany, where a Frenchman 9, 1256 WHEN POPE ALEXANDER IV ISSUED A BULL including permission for those who were CONFIRMING THE INTEGRATION OF MAJOR AND known as William of Malavalle, having priests to hear confessions and to preach MINOR ORDERS. undergone a religious conversion, settled the word of God. The earliest title of the down to pursue a life of prayer and Order was Hermit Brothers of Tuscany of penance. Sometime before his death in the Order of Saint Augustine, which after

12WINDOW . THE FROMAUGUSTINIAN OUR MOTHER . SPRING/SUMMER OF GOOD COUNSEL CHURCH, 2015 BRYN MAWR, PA. THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 13 Our Order, we might say, was founded from the ground up, by men who desired “to pursue a specific path in life, and who were confirmed and directed in this by the Church itself, in the person of the pope.”

BRONZE SCULPTURE BY THOMAS RODR, O.S.A., (1927-2011)

1252, with greater expansion of members of contemplation is combined with a life was they who adopted Saint Augustine, of Hippo and called to become a priest, adapted for monasteries of women. “Father, Son and Spirit united together in into other regions, became simply Hermit of apostolic ministry, and where members his Rule and spirituality and made he established a second monastery in the It is significant that Augustine had been the bond of love. Unity and communion Brothers of Saint Augustine. depend for their livelihood on the them their own. garden near the cathedral where he was to living this way of life for eight or nine become then the hallmark of Christian life On July 15, 1255, another pope, of the people they serve. The second anomaly is that the Rule and assist the local bishop. years before he wrote the Rule. Therefore which is rooted in the fundamental mystery Alexander IV, issued a Papal Bull that was spiritual path of Saint Augustine, which Members of the four principal Within four or five years, Augustine it was written out of lived reality and not of the Trinity. Christian community and to extend the Order even further. This was date to the early 5th century, were so out of pure ideal. The great inspiration for religious community cannot be a mere —Dominicans, himself became bishop there, and addressed to the of the Orders of perfectly appropriate to the new expression Augustine in his desire to live religious or gathering together of persons, even of like- Saint Augustine and Saint William, and , Augustinians and of religious life emerging in the 12th and in order not to disturb the life of monastic life was found in his reading of minded persons—it is communion in Jesus, later would include other communities of —are not hermits, who 13th centuries! And they continue to be the monks because of the heavy the Acts of the Apostles [4:31-35], where the who not only unites us to himself, but to all hermits as well: those of Monte Favale, live apart from others, nor monks, appropriate even up to the 21st! early Christian community of Jerusalem other believers as well.” of Brettino, and other smaller groups in responsibilities which being a bishop attached to a single place, but friars, “was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed For Augustine, the essential element of other parts of Italy. All of these latter THE RULE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE entailed, he moved to the bishop’s that any of his possessions was his own, but they Christian life is also the essential element of communities or congregations were now who practice common life, and are Following his conversion to the Catholic house where he established yet had everything in common.” Augustine saw here Augustinian life. The “before all else” for to be united to the Hermit Brothers of available to go where they are needed. Church and baptism in the cathedral of another monastery, this one of monks the way to live the Gospel most perfectly, Christians in general, namely “that all may Saint Augustine. The Chapter that saw Two anomalies are connected to the Milan, Augustine made plans to return most faithfully, and to do so in a way that be one” is the “before all else” enjoined them gathered was held in March, 1256, who were priests or deacons, and Augustinian Order at its beginning. The to his native Africa, and there devote his was so natural for him, in the company on Augustinians by the Rule, “be of one in the Church of who assisted him in ministry. first is that the Order, named for Saint life to an ongoing search for the God who of like-minded individuals. Augustine had mind and one heart.” It is this which in Rome. It, too, was convened under the Augustine of Hippo, was not founded by had captivated his heart. He resolved to It is at this point that the Rule was experienced so profoundly the influence distinguishes Augustinian life in a special direction of Cardinal Richard Annibaldi. him, in contrast to some other Orders of do this with others who shared his faith written. Now that he was leaving the first of other people in bringing him to the way from other forms of religious life. The At both of these historic moments, the Church which take their name from and his ambition to learn and to grow. He Hippo monastery, the monks asked him faith, it was logical for him to believe that “before all else” for Augustine and for his 1244 and 1256, an important aspect of the their charismatic architect and author. established in his family home at Tagaste a to lay out in writing the things that should other people would also help him to grow disciples, is not just one element of the Church’s interest, and an explicit decree of Our Order, we might say, was founded type of monastic life, where, with his son, guide them in continuing their life together. in the faith, and he them. Friendship was Gospel. It is the heart of the Gospel! And, the Popes, was that these new Augustinians from the ground up, by men who desired Adeodatus, his good friend, Alypius, and It was later adopted by some of the monks always one of the hallmarks of Augustine’s therefore, it is the heart of the Rule. transition into a new-found form of to pursue a specific path in life, and who several others, Augustine engaged in the who became bishops themselves, and personality; it was a spiritual reality for him. religious life: the Mendicant Movement, were confirmed and directed in this by the study of Scripture, the sharing of faith and wanted to continue the life they had lived Among Augustine’s many works is one which was characterized by a mixed or Church itself, in the person of the pope. It manual work. Later, when visiting the city with Augustine in new places. It was also entitled “On the Trinity”. The Blessed Trinity middle way among religious, in which a life is for Augustine the ideal community:

14 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 15 FATHER BILL WILLIAM EDWARD ATKINSON WAS BORN ON JANUARY 4, 1946, IN PHILADELPHIA, ONE OF THREE SONS AND FOUR DAUGHTERS ATKINSON, OF ALLEN ATKINSON AND MARY CONNELLY. He attended St. Alice’s Elementary School and Monsignor Bonner High School, and upon graduation, asked to join the Augustinian Order. He spent a year as O.S.A. a postulant at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, and then entered the Villanova Province’s of Our Mother of Good Counsel in New Hamburg, New York, on September 6, 1964.

The following February 22, 1965, while recreating with several other novices on the novitiate grounds, the toboggan in which he was riding hit a tree, leaving Bill almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. Amazingly, he survived the accident, and following extensive rehabilitation, expressed his desire to continue as an Augustinian. He began again his novitiate year at Villanova, professing simple vows on July 20, 1970, and solemn vows on July 20, 1973. A care team of friars assisted Bill during his time in formation, and for many years beyond, as he moved about with the use of a motorized wheelchair. Bill completed his years of college and theological studies at Villanova, and with a special dispensation from TAKING UP THE CAUSE Pope Paul VI, John Cardinal Krol ordained him to the priesthood at his hometown parish of St. Alice in Upper Darby, Pa., on February 2, 1974, almost nine years after the accident that left him a quadriplegic. He celebrated his first at the Field On a quiet night in the middle of Fr. Josef ’s work was before him. There be very helpful as we move forward. We house of Villanova University. August, 2014, a group of twenty-five seemed to be sufficient reason to believe will keep you informed on our progress From 1975 until 2004, almost thirty years, Fr. Bill was stationed at St. Joseph’s invited guests gathered at Saint Augustine that a serious and formal look should be through this magazine and, as time goes Friary, where he taught at Msgr. Bonner High School, was assistant school chaplain, senior Friary in Villanova, to meet with the made into Fr. Bill’s life. Questionnaires on, through other means as well. class retreat coordinator, moderator of the football team, and the director of the after- Augustinian Postulator General and me. were distributed to those present, who were Please direct all correspondence school and Saturday detention program. He was known for his wonderful sense of humor, The agenda was simple, if unusual! Fr. asked to take them home, fill them out, regarding Fr. Bill and his cause to: and was recognized as an excellent teacher, encouraging moderator, and compassionate Josef Sciberras had come from Rome for and return them to the provincial office, confessor. Fr. Bill was the recipient of many awards and acknowledgements, among them an informal conversation with friars and which, in turn, would send them off to the FR. BILL’S CAUSE an honorary doctorate from Villanova University in 2000. , relatives, friends and confreres of Fr. office of the Postulator at the Augustinian Augustinian Provincial Offices Bill Atkinson, to determine whether or General Curia in Rome. P.O. Box 340 In 2004, Fr. Bill moved to the Health Care Unit of Saint Thomas Monastery at not this friar might be someday, a future We’ve begun! And now we happily Villanova, PA 19085 Villanova University. He passed over to the Lord on Friday afternoon, September canonized saint of the Church. announce to all of our readers, and to 15, 2006, surrounded by those who loved and cared for him. His funeral liturgy was Fr. Josef offered a challenge to those the many friends of Fr. Bill, to all who We invite you also to spread the word. celebrated on Tuesday, September, 19, 2006 in Saint Thomas Church, Villanova gathered: “Convince me that Fr. Bill lived a life benefited from his life and ministry and Let others know what has begun, especially University, after several hours of visitation. Fr. Bill was buried the following morning of heroic . Persuade me that he is a saint.” example, that we will take up the cause, those who have known Fr. Bill. And pray! in the Augustinian section of Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pa. One after another, individuals told the and if God so wills, that we will put Pray that in this Year of Consecrated stories of their relationship with Fr. Bill forward this worthy servant for the good of Life, the example of this courageous and and made their case for his character, his the Church and for God’s own glory. dedicated religious may continue to speak virtue, his fidelity, his ministry, his humor, To those of you who knew Fr. Bill, or and to inspire. his humility, and much more. By evening’s who benefited from his ministry, or were end, Fr. Josef acknowledged that he was touched by his example, we invite you to convinced. If canonization were only that send your remembrances, testimonies, or easy! But it signaled the beginning. notice of favors received, all of which will

16 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 17 NEWS AND NOTES

NEWS AND NOTES

FROM THE PROVINCE OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA AND THE AUGUSTINIAN ORDER

LEFT: ATSUSHI AND HIROYUKI SHIBATA, O.S.A., REGIONAL SUPERIOR AND FORMATION DIRECTOR, VICARIATE OF JAPAN IN FRONT OF BLESSED STEPHEN BELLESINI FRIARY, IN ARDMORE, PA. RIGHT: HIROYUKI SHIBATA, O.S.A., AND MICHAEL DI GREGORIO, O.S.A., PRIOR PROVINCIAL, PROVINCE OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. Japanese Regional Superior Hiroyuki T. Shibata, O.S.A., Visits Villanova Hiroyuki Shibata, the Regional Superior and the formation director in the Japanese Vicariate, came to the United States to meet with a pre-novice from Japan, Atsushi Kuwahara, who as an English speaker, is doing his pre-novitiate year at Bellesini Friary in Ardmore, , and to meet with Atsushi’s formation director. While here, Father Shibata met with the Provincial and addressed the Provincial Council on matters related to the presence of the Province in Japan and its work there.

ANNIVERSARIES 2015

ANNIVERSARY OF RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

75 YEARS James L. Nolan, O.S.A.

50 YEARS Arthur B. Chappell, O.S.A. Richard C. Ekmann, O.S.A. James R. Flynn, O.S.A. BISHOP ROBERT F. PREVOST, O.S.A. OF THE DIOCESE OF CHICLAYO, . RIGHT: BISHOP PREVOST’S COAT OF ARMS. James T. Spenard, O.S.A. Episcopal Ordination James Patrick Green. In November Prevost has chosen a fleur de lis on a blue 2014, the Vatican released news of the background, representing Mary, as the ANNIVERSARY OF ORDINATION of Robert F. Prevost, appointment. Bishop Prevost is the former Immaculate Conception—the Patroness FATHER ROBERT J. GUESSETTO, O.S.A. Prior General of the Order of Saint of the Diocese of Chicalayo. The right O.S.A., in Peru 50 YEARS Augustine and he had served previously side of the shield to those viewing it is Robert J. Guessetto, O.S.A., Appointed Director On December 12, 2014, the Feast John J. McKenzie, O.S.A. in the missions in Peru as a parish priest, representative of the person. In this case we of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Robert F. of Professed Students Francis X. Gallogly, O.S.A. Formation Director, Master of Professed and see the seal of the Order of Saint Augustine Prevost, O.S.A., was consecrated Bishop Francis A. Sirolli, O.S.A. Chancellor of the Diocese of Chulucanas. representing Bishop Prevost. Under the It has been announced that the new Director of Professed Students will be Father Robert of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, by the It is customary for each Bishop to have shield is a scroll with his chosen motto in J. Guessetto, O.S.A., of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. Father Bob will be Richard M. Nahman, O.S.A. Apostolic Nuncio to Peru, a “Coat of Arms” and a motto, affixed to Latin, In Illo uno unum. These words shorten located in , where professed students are studying at Catholic Theological Union. Thomas M. Murnane, O.S.A. a shield. Traditionally, the left side of the Augustine’s assertion, Nos multi in Illo uno He brings great experience to the position, having spent the last thirteen years in Rome Dennis J. Gallagher, O.S.A. as Director of Professed Students and since 2013 as prior of Collegio Santa Monica. Prior shield to those viewing it is dedicated to unum meaning, “though we Christians are 25 YEARS the area where the Bishop serves. Bishop many, in the one Christ we are one.” to going to Rome, he served in that same position as Director of Students at Augustinian College in Washington, D.C. He will officially take office July 1, 2015. James W. Cassidy, O.S.A. Stephen J. Baker, O.S.A. John T. Denny, O.S.A.

To receive a copy of The Augustinian magazine, send your Attention! If you received a copy of The Augustinian for the first time in the mail, name and address to [email protected]. you can continue receiving it by e-mailing [email protected] 18 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 19

LOOKING AHEAD Shrine of Saint Rita Receives Focus during CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Mark your calendars today for these upcoming special events.

AUGUSTINIANS in FORMATION IN THE U.S.

[email protected] Augustinian Vocations @OSAVocations SUPPORT VOCATIONS AT [email protected] AUGUSTINIANFUND.ORG

SARFRAZ ALAM, 31 FR. JOSEPH BOBBY CARROLL, 22 ELIZANDRO COLE DRYDEN, 22 NELSON GARCIA, 24 SAM JOUTRAS, 22 Hyderabad, Pakistan BROUDOU, 51 Chicago, IL CONTRERAS, 35 Los Angeles, CA La Vega, Dominican Joliet, IL Omaha, NE La Vega, Dominican Republic World Meeting of Families PRE-NOVICES Republic The Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia in

ATSUSHI DANIEL MADDEN, 25 JEFF RATHS, 21 JOSEPH DOMINIC SMITH, 37 STEPHEN SONON, 21 CHRISTOPHER VAN KUWAHARA, 29 New , PA Daviison, MI ROCCASALVA, 24 Riverside, CA South Riding, VA NEWHOUSE, 24 , Japan Chicago, IL Swanton, OH South Philadelphia is in the limelight as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia focuses NOVICES on visiting shrines in Philadelphia, JAVIER AGUILAR, 30 LUIS ASENCIO, 34 GERMAN CASTRO, 44 MARK DIAMOND, 31 CARLOS JACK TIERNEY, 24 JIMMY WHITE, 24 POPE FRANCIS GREETS FATHER JIM WENZEL, O.S.A. Choluteca, Honduras Bronx, NY Medellin, Columbia , CA RODRIGUEZ, 32 Sun Prairie, WI Devon, PA Bayamon, Puerto Rico during the World Meeting of Families FATHER QUINN STANDS BEFORE HIS FAVORITE PAINTING DEPICTING THE DAY THEY REPLACED THE STEEPLE AT OLD SAINT AUGUSTINE CHURCH, WHICH HAD BLOWN ONTO THE VINE (September 22-27, 2015). An Augustinian STREET EXPRESSWAY DURING A STORM AND CLOSED THE WALT WHITMAN BRIDGE, A MAJOR ARTERY CONNECTING CAMDEN, N.J. TO PHILADELPHIA, FOR TWO WEEKS. James A. Wenzel, O.S.A., ROBERT FR. BRIAN STEPHEN ISLEY, 27 BARNABY JOHNS, 40 BRYAN KERNS, 25 FUTOSHI MATSUO, 31 CARLOS MEDINA, 28 BAIOCCO, 42 BARKER, 54 Wichita, KS Worcestershire, Philadelphia, PA Fukuoka, Japan Barranquilla, , Saint Rita is known as the Batavia, NY Chicago, IL Great Britain Celebrates Mass with “Peacemaker.” Pope Leo XIII canonized PROFESSED her in 1900. To learn more about the RICHIE NICK MULLARKEY, 28 JOE MURRAY, 57 COLIN NARDONE, 23 NICHOLAS ALDO POTENCIO, 40 BIENVENIDO MERCADO, 35 West Des Moines, IA Brooklyn, NY Williamsport, PA PORTER, 30 Iriga, Phillippines RODRIGUEZ, 50 Art Exhibit for Walter J. Pope Francis Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA Ponce, Puerto Rico Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia, please Our new Quinn, O.S.A., at Saint Father Jim Wenzel, O.S.A., retired Solemnly Professed visit their website at HTTP://WWW.

JOE RUIZ, 40 JOE SIEGEL, 43 MAXIME PHILIP YANG, 34 FR. RICH YOUNG, 50 Austin, TX Urbana, IL VILLENEUVE, 27 Anaheim, CA New Lenox, IL Thomas Monastery from in May of San Diego, CA SAINTRITASHRINE.ORG. To learn more AUGUSTINIANS IN FORMATION IN THE U.S. 2014. During his tenure at Merrimack, AUGUSTINIAN FRIARS CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE about the shrines in Philadelphia, please On Wednesday, February 11, 2015, Saint Remembering our past…Living our present with passion…Embracing the hope of our future. he began the Pellegrinaggio—a pilgrimage THE AUGUSTINIAN . WINTER 2014-2015 . 3 visit the Archdiocese website at Thomas Monastery hosted an opening for to Augustinian Italy tracing the footsteps Two-day Meeting of HTTP://WWW.WORLDMEETING2015.ORG/ an art exhibit by one of its residents, Walter of Augustine and the origins of the all Students in Formation PLAN-YOUR-VISIT/PLACES-WORSHIP/ J. Quinn, O.S.A. It was a family affair with Augustinian Order. Designed originally in the U.S. at Villanova an array of foods prepared by the nursing to teach faculty and staff about Saint staff, attended by forty Augustinian friars Augustine and the Augustinians, it was to Precede Profession Augustinian Youth and friends, including his brother John and subsequently opened to students and is at Saint Thomas of Encounter 2016 his great niece Melanie, a 3rd year student now part of a course offered at Merrimack, at Villanova University. “Journey in Search of Augustinian Villanova Church The Augustinian Youth Encounter will be held in , Czech Republic, Inspired by the American painter Community.” On July 30-31, scheduled for July 19–25, 2016. Bob Ross and his The Joy of Painting public Father Jim, who has a fondness for Pope a two-day gathering Organizing Committee members visited television series, Father Walter was 71 Francis and his approach to pastoral ministry of all students in and surveyed the Monastery of Svatá years old when, in 2001, he picked up a and preaching, wrote the Secretary of formation, whether Dobrotivá, Zajecov, the site where the brush and started painting. Father had at the Vatican and made known his desire to pre-novices, novices gathering will take place, as well as sports never sketched or painted anything before, participate in a Mass with Pope Francis as a or professed, from facilities, gardens and a school that will but figured, “If Bob Ross can paint, I way to celebrate his 60 years as a professed all U.S. provinces offer accommodations. They also planned can paint.” He was definitely right. The Augustinian friar. On November 17, 2014, will gather on the program of events and themes result is a unique play of realism against a that desire was fulfilled, when Father Jim the campus of for each day, which will be presented refreshing American folk tale of landscapes received the honor of concelebrating Mass Villanova University. First profession of to the members of the International that document the past fourteen years where with Pope Francis at the Chapel in Casa men from all provinces in the United States Commission on Youth Apostolate for Father’s path as artist and Augustinian Santa Marta, the Pope’s residence in Rome. will be celebrated on Saturday, August 1, further study and approval. working for Priests For Life have taken him. Commenting on his experience, Father Jim 2015, at 4:00 PM Mass at Saint Thomas said, “To concelebrate the Eucharist with of Villanova Church. Friars from all Pope Francis and then to be able to speak provinces in the U.S. will be invited to the with him for a few moments was one of the profession and to gather prior to the Mass Stay on top of news and events AUGUSTINIAN.ORG HAS A NEW most profound moments of my life and a gift to celebrate “consecrated life” as part of LOOK! VISIT OUR SITE AT: from the Augustinian world— that I will always treasure.” To read a profile the year-long celebration of Religious men WWW.AUGUSTINIAN.ORG of Fr. Jim, please go to HTTP://MAGAZINE. and women. sign up for Augustinian eNews MERRIMACK.EDU/A-PRIEST-FOR-ALL- at www.augustinian.org. TO SEE ALL OF FATHER QUINN’S WORK, GO TO WWW.AUGUSTINIAN.ORG/PHOTO-GALLERIES/ SEASONS/

20 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 21 Russell J. to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery love for the Augustinian way of life. His in August 2012. His brother, the bishop, 52 years of service to the people of Japan De Simone, visited Father Russell each day and mark a proud chapter in the story of the O.S.A. accompanied him at community Mass Vicariate of the Japanese Martyrs and of BORN: 12/10/1924 and lunch. His care and devotion were an the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. PROFESSED: 9/10/1944 example to all. Father died December 29, 2014, and was ORDAINED: 11/18/1951 A humble man of great simplicity, Father interred in , Japan. DIED: 12/29/2014 Russell died on December 29, 2014, just Russell (Rosario) weeks after his 90th birthday. Joseph De Simone, was born in Bridgeport, Joseph A. Pennsylvania, one of three brothers Spinelli, Maurice J. who became priests. He graduated from O.S.A. Bridgeport High School and attended Mahoney, BORN: 2/2/1929 Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New O.S.A. PROFESSED: 9/10/1948 York, for a year. He professed first vows ORDAINED: BORN: 10/19/1933 2/5/1955 on September 10, 1944, after a year at DIED: PROFESSED: 9/10/1955 3/10/2015 Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, ORDAINED: 7/10/1960 Born in Vineland, Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A., New York. He received a BA (Philosophy) DIED: 12/29/2014 New Jersey, Fr. Joe IN PARADISUM from Villanova College. He did theological Fr. Maurice James graduated from Sacred Heart High School, President Emeritus, 31st President, studies at Collegio Santa Monica in Rome, and Mahoney, O.S.A., before attending Augustinian Academy, then studied at the Gregorian University, The following friars were ’58 CLAS, Villanova University was born in Lawrence, , one Staten Island, New York, for a year of post- receiving the STL degree in 1952. He of seven children. After graduating from graduate studies. He was received into the BORN: 11/20/1935 Monastery and to Villanova University, called home to God. You can was ordained to the priesthood in1951, in Central Catholic High School, he began Order in 1947 and professed first vows on PROFESSED: 9/10/1954 where he served as vice president for Rome, by Luigi Cardinal Traglia. higher studies at Merrimack College in North September 10, 1948, after a year at Good read full biographies of these ORDAINED: 2/10/1962 academic affairs and associate professor His first assignment was as a teacher Andover, Massachusetts, in 1952. Two years Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, New Augustinians, and post your own DIED: 3/8/2015 of Religious Studies. Elected president of at Archbishop Carroll High School, later he was received into the Order and after York. He then attended Villanova College, Fr. Edmund J. Villanova University in 1988, Fr. Dobbin reflections or favorite memory, Washington, DC. Following this, he served his novitiate year at Good Counsel Novitiate, from 1948 to 1951, and was awarded a BA Dobbin, O.S.A., the 31st president of held that position until 2006, becoming the in several parishes of the Province: Saint New Hamburg, New York, he professed first in Philosophy. He did his theological studies online at www.augustinian.org. Villanova University, who led the University longest serving president of the University Mary Parish, Waterford, New York; Saint vows on September 10, 1955. He attended at Augustinian College, Washington, DC, for 18 years, its longest-serving president, in its history. As president, he heightened Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Jamaica, Villanova University and received a BA in from 1951 to 1955, while doing graduate and a graduate of the class of ’58, died on awareness of the Augustinian character Gifts in memory of our deceased friars NY and Saint Rita of Cascia Parish, Philosophy in 1957. Maurice was chosen studies at Villanova University and The March 8, 2015. and mission of the University. Curriculum Philadelphia . to attend the Collegio Santa Monica in Rome Catholic University of America. He was will be designated to the Augustinian A native of Brooklyn, after his family was improved and new academic programs He returned to Rome to study for a for his theological studies. He was ordained ordained to the priesthood on February moved Edmund was raised on Staten were added. During his term, he led Fund for the Care of the Sick doctorate in Patristics at the Augustinianum, to the priesthood on July 10, 1960, in the 5, 1955, at the Shrine of the Immaculate Island, New York. He attended Augustinian two fundraising efforts, the University’s receiving the STD in 1970. Back in Chapel of the Sacred Heart in the Piazza Conception, Washington, DC, by Bishop and Elderly Friars. Academy as a day student, graduating endowment increased significantly, and he the U.S., he began his teaching career Navona, Rome, Italy. John McNamara. in 1953. After a year at Good Counsel oversaw the expansion and beautification at Villanova University, where he also Returning to the U.S., Fr. Maurice was Fr. Spinelli’s priestly service was Novitiate, New Hamburg, New York, he of the campus. At the last meeting of the was Associate and Managing Editor of first assigned to Malvern Preparatory divided between the teaching and professed first vows on September 10, 1954. Board of Trustees that Fr. Dobbin attended Augustinian Studies and the Augustinian School, where he taught Latin, religion and parochial apostolate. In 1955, his first He attended Villanova University and as president, the Board voted unanimously Lecture Series, and Director of the public speaking (1961–1962). In 1962, he assignment was to Msgr. Bonner High received a BA in Philosophy. Continuing his to confer the honorary title, President Augustinian Institute at Villanova volunteered for the Province’s mission in School, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, studies at Augustinian College, Washington, Emeritus of Villanova University. He is the University. He also taught at the Japan, where he served in several parishes, where he was a member of the school DC, he received an MA in Theology in only president of Villanova to have been Augustinianum and the Angelicum in Rome. including Our Mother of Consolation faculty for 26 years. In 1981, he served 1962. At the Shrine of the Immaculate honored with that title. Author of several books and many Parish, Nagasaki (1962–1975); Saint at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, Conception in Washington, DC, he was After stepping down as president of articles, he contributed to the series on Augustine Parish, Fukuoka (1975–1987); Dania Beach, Florida. In 1983, after the ordained on February 10, 1962 by Bishop Villanova, Father remained a member of the Fathers of the Church and also a Saint Monica Parish, (1987–1988) Prior Provincial nominated him for the Phillip Hannan. the Villanova Monastery community and Dictionary of Patristics and Christian and at Saint Augustine Parish, Tokyo position, he served 23 years as pastor of Fr. Dobbin first served at Malvern Prep, returned to his chosen field as a professor Antiquity. He served as a chaplain at (1988–2008). At various times during his Saint Elizabeth Seton Parish, Golden Gate, where he was disciplinarian, taught and was of theology until failing health made Haverford State Hospital, and assisted in assignments, he taught English at Kyushu Florida. Fr. Joe retired from parish ministry Chairman of the Mathematics Department it necessary for him to retire from the various parishes, but continued teaching in University and Fukuoka University and in 2006, as his health began to decline and while he completed an MA in Mathematics classroom. Fr. Dobbin reluctantly retired Rome until 2000. After retiring, he lived he served as a member of the Japanese was assigned to Saint Thomas Monastery, and Physics at the Catholic University of from teaching. “Teaching was always and worked at Saint Justin Martyr Parish, formation team. Villanova, Pennsylvania. America, Washington, DC. my first love,” he said. “Nothing is more Narberth, Pa., with his brother, Louis, In 2010, Fr. Maurice celebrated his Fr. Joe was known for his friendly, In 1967 he received an STL from The gratifying than being in a classroom and an in the Archdiocese 50th Anniversary as a priest both in outgoing personality, contagious sense of Catholic University of America, and connecting with a student.” of Philadelphia and an affiliate of the Japan and in his hometown of Lawrence, humor, and love for people and community in 1971, he received an STD from the Fr. Dobbin died at the Villanova Order. He accompanied his brother in his Massachusetts. He will be remembered for life. He died at the Monastery, peacefully, University of Louvain, Belgium. Upon Monastery at the age of 79, after an illness Episcopal ministry within the Archdiocese. his quick sense of humor, his eagerness on March 10, 2015. returning to the U.S., he taught Systematic of several months. He was buried in the Due to failing health, Fr. Russell moved to engage others in conversation and his Theology at Augustinian College. In Augustinian plot on the University’s campus. 1987, he was assigned to Saint Thomas 22 . THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 THE AUGUSTINIAN . SPRING/SUMMER 2015 . 23 Meet Madonna Sutter, our new Director of Advancement “Everything is grace, everything is gift.”

BY TEDDIE GALLAGHER — MICHAEL F. DI GREGORIO, O.S.A.

“The Augustinian commitment of Madonna holds a BA in Psychology and service to the poor and marginalized is Elementary Education from Rosemont something that has always resonated with College and an MA in Educational me. I am thrilled to be in a position to Administration from Villanova University. CARE OF THE SICK AND ELDERLY FRIARS advance Augustinian ministries, and have She held the position of associate the opportunity to make a difference,” — dean of external relations at Villanova Many friars are lovingly cared for in the Saint Thomas Madonna Sutter. University School of Business where of Villanova Monastery. Thank you for the grace she was responsible for an outreach and and gift of home. engagement initiative to the broad external community. She created and implemented a Business Leaders Forum which brought together the school’s nine advisory councils—many of which she recruited— FOREIGN MISSIONS for networking and dialogue on important industry issues. Prior to this, she served as This Fund supports our ministries and our friars who serve the associate director of alumni relations in Peru and Japan. Thank you for the grace and gift at Villanova University, managing over 50 to our foreign missions. alumni chapters across the U.S. Beyond her Villanova connections, she held the position of vice president of institutional advancement at Rosemont Madonna Sutter, our new Director of College and served as Rosemont’s chief AUGUSTINIAN VOLUNTEERS Advancement for the Province of Saint major gifts officer, reporting directly to the Thomas of Villanova started on Thursday, president. Prior to her time at Rosemont Post-college graduates volunteer for a year of service in April 30, 2015, and had quite an unusual College, she has twice previously held the Peru and five domestic cities. Thank you for the grace and first day. She spent three hours in the office position of director of development, at gift that connect young people to service and community. and then went to the New York Athletic Drexel University’s College of Business Club for an Augustinian Fund event, Administration (now Le Bow College of without skipping a beat! Her years of Business) and at Merion Mercy/Waldron experience in handling fundraising events Mercy Academy (Merion, Pa). Her most and her understanding of the Augustinian recent position was at The Baldwin School VOCATIONS AND FORMATION heart and ministries were on display on her (Bryn Mawr, Pa), where she served as very first day. director of philanthropy. Augustinian formation programs include the Pre-Novitiate, Madonna’s connection to the As you can see, Madonna is in a very Novitiate and House of Theology. Thank you for the grace Augustinians and the people they serve unique position to advance the mission are deeply rooted. In fact many of you and ministries of the Augustinians and she and gift to discern the Augustinian way of life. will recognize Madonna as a fellow has the drive to make it all happen, with parishioner, a business woman working plans to expand work with Augustinian for Villanova alumni and external communities up and down the east coast. relations, or a season ticket holder for JUSTICE AND PEACE Villanova men’s basketball. If you would like to say hello Madonna has been a lector and parishioner to Madonna, you can reach Our Province Director of Justice and Peace, John E. at Saint Thomas of Villanova Parish for her by e-mail at: Deegan, O.S.A., works for justice, so peace will follow. almost 30 years. Her two boys, Michael and [email protected] Thank you for the grace and gift to be a catalyst for peace. Mark, grew up in the parish and both are or by phone at: graduates of Villanova University. 610-527-3330, ext. 265.

CONTRIBUTE ONLINE AT AUGUSTINIANFUND.ORG OR USE THE ENVELOPE PROVIDED IN THIS ISSUE. Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 116 THE AUGUSTINIAN Broomall, PA P.O. Box 340 Villanova, PA 19085-0340

THE DEATH OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

PRAYER “Behold me here before you O my God…You, alone, will light my lamp, O Lord; O my God, you will illumine my darkness.” (Confessions, 11, 25, 32)