As a nation we celebrate this weekend Father's Day. Many nations throughout the world celebrate Mother's and Father's Day, but perhaps at different times of the year then the US. On behalf of all the Augustinian Friar's, especially those serving in the foreign missions, a Happy and Blessed Father's Day! 

By Chantelle Davis, an Augustinian Volunteer in Peru Walking home from my service site one afternoon, a woman called to me from behind, “Señorita Chantelle!” As a young woman living in Perú, actually being called by name by someone on the street that knows you is a welcome change from constantly being whistled at by people that don’t. I turned around with a smile and saw a woman, Señora Roxana, carrying her youngest child. She is the mother of a patient I am wor... [More]

By Fr. John Lydon, OSA On the second Monday of March, 2013 the official school year in Peru got of to a start with a new school opening its doors in Trujillo.  This is the first school to be founded by the Augustinian Vicariate in Peru and is a short distance from our formation house in Trujillo.  The school is presently housed on the land of the parish church that the Augustinians have ministered to every since arriving in Trujillo in 1988, while a more suitable piece of land is pu... [More]

By Caitlyn Gerarci, an Augustinian Volunteer in South Africa   One major thing that has surprised me about South Africa is the extreme division that is apparent in most elements of life here. Before arriving in January, I had heard that South Africa was the land of extremes, but I never could have anticipated what that would mean and how it would shake me. Visibly, it means luxurious homesteads and impoverished stone shacks, separated only by a road or a barbed wire fence. A line is drawn... [More]

By Britt DeLine, Augustinian Volunteer in Peru Hey guys! We live in Peru!" Chantelle Davis yelling from the bathroom one morning, like it had just sunk in for her and therefore, for all of us. We moved to Peru. We're not here for a week long service trip to get this awesome spiritual, do good, save the world high. We're here to live with the people of Chulucanas. We're here to experience how the third world lives; we're here to live their everyday struggles, face our own struggles, and l... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions:   The dark days of Lent have come to an end. The forty days of Lent give way to the joy of the new life of Easter. Jesus experienced his forty days in the desert to emerge to new life.  Has our Lent given way to new life?    We see the beauty of new life in our missions. In this edition of the Mission Newsletter we see many blessings of new life. In Japan, a young man has taken his vows as an Augustinian Friar. In Peru, we are b... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: With the celebration of Palm Sunday we begin the most important week of the year. In this seven day period we see the richness and fullness of our Christian faith. On Palm Sunday we see Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem with the people singing Hosanna in the highest as Jesus rides into the city. On Thursday we will celebrate the New Covenant with Jesus as he take the Jewish Passover meal and gives it new meaning as the new Covenant between God a... [More]

By Brian Manning, Augustinian Volunteer in South Africa   0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Time... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: When we gather as the community to pray in Church we now see the color purple, which immediately causes us to think of the penitential season of Lent. Once again we enter into the season that challenges us to reflect on our lives, to see those areas where God calls us to conversion, to change. One of the most beautiful aspects of this season is the theme of forgiveness.  Immediately we think of the forgiveness offered by God to us when we exp... [More]

On Monday, February 11, 2013, John Futoshi Matsuo, professed his First Vows as an Augustinian Friar in Japan. The celebration took place in the Augustinian parish of St. Augustine, Fukuoka, Japan. Brother Futoshi joins a number of native Japanese Friars in the Vicariate of the Martyrs of Japan. This Vicariate is part of the American Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. We ask you to pray for Brother Futoshi as he begins his life as an Augustinian Friar.