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. 

 Often, when we have an image of the foreign missions, we think of parish ministry. For the Augustinian Friars their first ministry in a foreign land was the establishment of a parish. Over time, the ministry has expanded beyond the parish structure to include the education ministry. The schools are part of a parish structure.   When the first American friars began a mission in the late 1950s in the city of Nagasaki, Japan, they began the equivalent of an elementary school. This school continu... [More]

On September 3, 2011, Bishop Dominic Ryoji Miyahara, a long time friend of the Augustinians, consecrated our new church complex of St. Augustine, in Fukuoka, Japan. The wide stained glass window covering the back of the church is an abstract picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary with her arms encircling the congregation. It is a symbol of the long Japanese Catholic tradition of respect and love for Our Lady. The church seats two hundred and eighty people. With the excellent plan of sliding doors th... [More]

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false When people think of Augustinian's serving in the missions they immediately think of the friars. They are not the only ones who serve in this beautiful ministry. Augustinian Sister's serve in the missions throughout the world. They can be found on almost every continent serving in so many and varied ministries. At times the Sister's and friars serve in the same mission and many times the Sister's serve in their own independent mi... [More]

Last Sunday, the global Catholic Church celebrated Easter in memory of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.  Just like in the US, Easter Masses were celebrated in our Missions in Japan, Peru and South Africa.  Here is the link to a video of a cantor at the Augustinian parish in Nagasaki, Japan singing the "Exsultet" or "Easter Proclamation."  This hymn of praise is sung before the paschal candle during the Easter Vigil, which is the Mass celebrated after sundown on Holy Saturday.&nb... [More]

At approximately 2;46 pm on Friday, March 11, 2011 Japan time, an earthquake of approximately 8.4 on the scale erupted some 100 miles north of Tokyo. This was followed by many aftershocks and a tsunami reportedly reaching some 33 feet in places. The devastation was beyond belief. The numbers of dead and the extent of destruction will not be known for a long time. Life is completely uprooted and changed for the survivors.  The Province of St. Thomas has served in missions in Japan sinc... [More]

[The following reflection was written by Fr. Masaki Imada, O.S.A., a friar in Japan] One of the phenomena that has received increasing media attention in Japan is that since 1998 more than 30,000 people have committed suicide every single year in the country.  Of the suicides whose principal cause has been more or less identified, they say the most common is depression.  According to a recent survey, the incidence of suicide in Japan is 25.2 to every 100,000 people, which is over twic... [More]

The Augustinian Friars serving in our Mission in Japan minister to the small but faithful Catholic population of the country.  Shinto and Buddhism are the two major religions of Japan, with Christianity practiced by a small minority of the population.  According to Catholic-hierarchy.org, less than 0.4% of Japan's total population practice Catholicism (statistics from 2005).  Compared with Peru, where nearly 88% of the population is Catholic, this is a stark contrast! Still, Japa... [More]