An American in Rome: Father Joseph A. Hickey, O.S.A.
In the community cemetery located on the campus of Villanova University, where nearly 200 Augustinians are laid to rest, there is the grave of a friar who is unique among the others for the service he once rendered in the Order. Fr. Joseph A. Hickey, O.S.A., served as 89th Prior General of the Augustinians, the […]
Palm Sunday • Year C
Those who are enthused about or interested in something new, generally, are those dissatisfied with the current situation. In many cases, they are those who have been left out, excluded, not taken into account. These are the ones thought less of, treated differently, who are longing from the depths of their heart for something new, better, different. The newness spoken of in today’s readings is much more than a replacement of what has worn out. It is a spectacular newness, a newness beyond compare.
Commissary and Pastor to Italian Immigrants | Lorenzo Andolfi, O.S.A.
When Father Lorenzo Andolfi arrived in New York City on November 1, 1926 to join the Italian Augustinian Mission of Philadelphia, he was, unlike many friars who had come before him for this same purpose, already an experienced religious and priest. From the time of his ordination fifteen years earlier, he had served several parishes […]
The Story of the Augustinians in North America | 1850-1920
Originally printed in La Ripresa dell’Ordine, Gli Agostiniani tra 1850-1920, Congresso dell’Istituto Storico Agostiniano, Roma 15-19 ottobre 2012 I. When Father John Possidius O’Dwyer died on May 24, 1850, the small band of Augustinians in North America lost not only a respected brother, but their Commissary General, and the president of Villanova College as well. […]
An Unsung Pioneer Augustinian in America | Guglielmo Serafino Repetti, O.S.A
One of the little-known protagonists of Augustinian history in the United States is a friar whose name is largely unfamiliar to his confreres of the American Provinces today. This is true, no doubt, not only because of the brevity of his presence and ministry in this country, but also due to the eventual undoing of […]
From Prince to Friar: The Religious Journey of Rudolph de Landas-Berghes
In the small cemetery just a few yards from the twin-spired church of Saint Thomas on the campus of Villanova University, a white tombstone marks the grave of novice Rudolph de Landas-Berghes.[1] Carved thereon is his name: R. Augustine De Berghes,[2] Novice Cleric, together with the date of his birth and that of his death. […]
A Beloved and Loving Pastor | Fr. Leo J. Reichart, O.S.A.
To set out to tell the life story of Augustinian Father Leo Reichart is, tantamount to chronicle the history of Saint Rita of Cascia Parish in Philadelphia. At his death on January 26, 1979 at the venerable age of 95, Father Reichart had spent 64 years at Saint Rita of Cascia, 30 of them as […]
The Brothers Marsden
The difficult decision taken by the province to withdraw from the parishes of Saint Mary in Waterford and Saint Augustine in Troy, New York, has brought to an end a very long and fruitful chapter in the history of Augustinian presence in the Diocese of Albany where our friars ministered faithfully for over 160 years. […]
First Italian Commissary Provincial of the Vice-Province of Philadelphia | Aurelio Marini, O.S.A.
The thirteen years which Father Aurelio Marini spent as pastor of Buon Consiglio Parish in Philadelphia, came to a difficult end on May 3, 1933, and marked, as well, the controversial closure of Philadelphia’s largest Italian parish. Those actions were due neither to Father Marini’s performance nor choosing, but to the decision of a higher […]
Pentecost Sunday • Year B
The Seventh Sunday of Easter contains the prayer of hope that Christ proclaims on Good Friday: “Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing.” How do we imitate Christ’s Good Friday prayer? Such a prayer is the pathway to Peace that was given to disillusioned disciples when he breathed on them the gift of mercy. “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Have we received and implemented the disciples’ gift to forgive, to love one another? Or do we choose to live in the darkness of anger which often migrates to hatred?