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 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]

By Lacie Ann Michaelso (An Augustinian Volunteer in Peru)      Poco a poco.” This is a mantra that I hear so often, I feel as though it’s actually tattooed on my forehead and people are simply reading it. It means, “Little by little.” It has been my experience thus far to take things in a slow Peruvian stride, poco a poco. This includes language, finding my way around the city, or trying to remember the number of Spanish names that I’ve never he... [More]

By Jamie Zwijack (An Augustinian Volunteer in Peru) When I’m not living in Chulucanas, Peru as an Augustinian Volunteer, I live on Chicago’s north side in a Catholic Worker Community. Our community is a mix of workers, volunteers and guests (single adults struggling with homelessness). We all live together in a big, old house in Uptown and try to maintain our community in the tradition of the Catholic Worker Movement (http://www.catholicworker.org/). We’re able to provi... [More]

By Dan Gallagher (An Augustinian Volunteer in Peru) Since the first day of orientation, my Augustinian Volunteer experience has been filled with community, and it has only grown with my time here in Chulucanas.  Whether it is within my Augustinian Volunteer community, in my English classrooms with my students and fellow teachers, or in the greater community of Chulucanas, I have experienced community in so many different ways.  Through every story that has been told, hand that is ... [More]

By John Lydon, OSA, Pastor The Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Pacasmayo held a large celebration to mark the Golden Jubilee of the canonization of St. Martin de Porres, called affectionately in Peru "Friar Broom" since he is always depicted with a broom in his hand. On May 6, 1962 Pope John XXIII canonized him, calling him "Martin of Charity" and proclaiming him Patron of Social Justice. For the values of peace, humility and service that excelled in his life, his cult has spread through... [More]

 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]

When a religious order begins ministry in a foreign mission, its entire purpose is to establish and grow the local Church. The Augustinians who serve in foreign lands look to establish the Order in that mission territory. We have been blessed with many vocations in our missions in Japan and Peru. The cost of educating, housing and preparing a young Peruvian or Japanese friar is expensive. Can you help us? It costs approximately US $5,000.00 per year for the education and formation of a young A... [More]

The weekend of January 12—15, 2011, seven young men and women gathered at the Augustinian House in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was not a weekend at the Jersey Shore. These men and women had been initiated into the Augustinian Volunteers and were spending this weekend preparing spiritually, emotionally and socially to begin a year of service alongside the Augustinian Friars in Peru and South Africa in serving the needs of the poor. The Augustinian Volunteers are not the Peace Corp. Yes they... [More]

Two of the first friars to serve in Peru since the mid 1960s celebrated their 50th Anniversary as Augustinian Friars. Bishop Daniel Turley, O.S.A., Bishop of Chulucanas, Peru and Father Richard Palmer, O.S.A., from our mission of Pacosmyo, Peru, professed their first vows as Augustinian Friars in the Midwest Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel 50 years ago. Both friars were part of the early establishment of the Peruvian mission and have served there these many years