Province of St. Thomas of Villanova
Irish Augustinians Fr. Matthew Carr, O.S.A. and Fr. John Rosseter, O.S.A. founded the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova in 1796. At this time, the Prior General of the Order authorized the establishment of the Augustinian Province of Villanova in the United States under the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Fr. Michael Hurley, O.S.A. was the first American vocation. Following the deaths of Carr and Rosseter, Hurley was the sole Augustinian in the country.
Initially, the work of friars was often given to assisting bishops in various places in large dioceses. This made community life difficult. As such, growth in the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova was slow and challenging.
The First Augustinian Foundation Is Born
In 1801, the Church of St. Augustine in Philadelphia marked the first foundation for the Order of Saint Augustine. Forty years later, the friars purchased a 200-acre farm 10 miles outside of Philadelphia.
Anti-Catholic rioters razed the Church of Saint Augustine in May of 1844. Along with the church, they destroyed the friary, several adjoining buildings, and the community’s theological library of approximately 3,000 volumes. Villanova College was born from this tragedy on the farm purchased by the Augustinians, becoming the center of Augustinian life.
New Foundations of the Augustinian Province of Villanova Spring Up Across the United States
In 1848, St. Augustine’s Church was rebuilt, with additional foundations in Massachusetts. With new Augustinian vocations in place, friars took care of the parishes in Pennsylvania and New York.
On August 25, 1874, the Province became active under the patronage of Saint Thomas of Villanova. The first Provincial chapter was held in December of the same year. At this point, 45 friars comprised the Province and served more than 14 churches across four states.
The first Provincial was Fr. Thomas Galberry, O.S.A. However, Galberry became a bishop in Hartford, Connecticut and left the office. He was succeeded in 1878 by Fr. Pacifico Neno, O.S.A., who came to the United States to help establish a theological faculty at Villanova College. Here, Neno trained friars for the priesthood.
Pope Leo XIII eventually called Neno to Rome. At this point, Neno became Commissary General of the Order in 1881.
The Prior General sent three Italian friars to begin a ministry to Italian immigrants in the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1897. Over the course of the following decades, these friars expanded their efforts to parishes in several other dioceses. They helped establish the Italian Vice-Province of Philadelphia, a circumscription independent of the other North American jurisdictions, in 1925. The circumscription stayed in place until it merged with the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova in 1995.
In 1905, a church and school dedicated to St. Rita were started in Chicago, and other foundations were subsequently established in several Midwestern states. These formed the basis for what would eventually become the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in 1941.
Seventeen new foundations were established in the United States in the 1920s, followed by five in the 1940s and 12 in the 1950s. This marked a milestone in the history of the Augustinian Order, as the number of Augustinians nationwide increased significantly.
Missions Extend the Global Reach of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova
Fr. William Jones, O.S.A. and Fr. George Woolsey, O.S.A. were sent to Cuba in 1899, where they launched the first global mission of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. New foundations were established, and many friars managed the missions until they were forced to leave in 1961.
Similarly, missions were launched in California in the 1920s, with more in the decades that followed. The Province of St. Augustine in California was established in 1969.
Under the provincialate of Fr. Joseph Dougherty, O.S.A., the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova launched a mission in Nagasaki, Japan in 1952. The expansion of houses in Japan and the arrival of native Japanese vocations to the Order culminated in the establishment of the Japanese Vicariate.
In the 1960s, the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova joined the Our Mother of Good Counsel Province of the Midwest to complete mission work in Chulucanas, Peru. Several high schools were also added to the Provinces’ ministries and further increased the number of vocations that entered the Order in the mid-1960s.
Missions Extend the Global Reach of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova
Fr. William Jones, O.S.A. and Fr. George Woolsey, O.S.A. were sent to Cuba in 1899, where they launched the first global mission of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. New foundations were established, and many friars managed the missions until they were forced to leave in 1961.
Similarly, missions were launched in California in the 1920s, with more in the decades that followed. The Province of St. Augustine in California was established in 1969.
Under the provincialate of Fr. Joseph Dougherty, O.S.A., the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova launched a mission in Nagasaki, Japan in 1952. The expansion of houses in Japan and the arrival of native Japanese vocations to the Order culminated in the establishment of the Japanese Vicariate.
In the 1960s, the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova joined the Our Mother of Good Counsel Province of the Midwest to complete mission work in Chulucanas, Peru. Several high schools were also added to the Provinces’ ministries and further increased the number of vocations that entered the Order in the mid-1960s.
The Province of St. Thomas of Villanova Continues to Grow and Thrive
As of July 2023, the Province includes 116 professed members, one novice, and one pre-novice living in 15 communities in the United States and four communities in Japan. Seven friars live in other communities of the Order in Italy and the Czech Republic.
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