Celebrating the Reinterment of Servant of God Fr. John McKniff, O.S.A.
July 8, 2025 Dear Friends in Christ, The Province of St. Thomas Villanova has a longstanding tradition of faith-filled service to the people of God. Our friars today stand on the foundation of many good friars who spent their lives sharing the gospel and Augustinian values with people around the world. One such friar was […]
Welcome Pope Leo XIV, the First Augustinian Pope
May 8, 2025 Dear Friends in Christ, What a wonderful day to be an Augustinian as we welcome our brother Robert Prevost, O.S.A. to the papacy as Pope Leo XIV! We’re overjoyed because of what we already know him to be, and what a gift he is to the Church and to the world at […]
Remembering Pope Francis: A Life of Compassion | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
April 22, 2025 Dear Friends in Christ, We join the faithful around the world in deep sadness over the passing of Pope Francis, and in profound gratitude for his life of service to our Church and to all of God’s people. Pope Francis was a servant leader who lived a life of outward simplicity. He […]
Reimagining and Revitalizing the First Foundation of the Augustinians in the United States | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
February 13, 2024 Dear Friends in Christ, Fathers Matthew Carr (pictured at right) and John Rosseter, O.S.A., the first two Augustinians on American soil, responded to a call to provide spiritual direction, support, and education to Irish immigrants in the city of Philadelphia, who were discriminated against because of where they came from and their […]
Future Saint Father Bill Atkinson Reinterred in St. Thomas of Villanova Church | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
June 26, 2024 Dear Friends in Christ, Our Augustinian brother, and Servant of God, Fr. Bill Atkinson, O.S.A. has returned home. On June 14, in a private ceremony, Fr. Bill’s remains were translated and reinterred to the church of St. Thomas of Villanova on the campus of Villanova University. He was laid to rest forever […]
Introducing our New Director of Vocations | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
April 21, 2024 My dear friends in Christ, On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, my heart is filled with gratitude for each of you. Just as each Augustinian Friar has a vocation, you do as well. Whether your vocation is to marriage, religious life, or the single life, all of these callings are […]
Augustinian Affiliation: Dr. Hopey and Cheryl Lucas at Merrimack | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
January 10, 2024 Dear friend of the Augustinians, On Thursday, November 30, 2023, the Augustinian community and the community of Merrimack College gathered in St. Augustine Church in Andover, Massachusetts, to celebrate the affiliation of Christopher E. Hopey, Ph.D., president of Merrimack College, and his wife Cheryl M. Lucas to the Order of St. Augustine, Province […]
Fr. Bill Atkinson, O.S.A. Symposium at Villanova | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
November 1, 2023 Dear friend of the Augustinians, On Tuesday, October 3, over 150 people joined the Augustinian Friars, special lecturers, and friends and family of Servant of God Fr. Bill Atkinson, O.S.A. for a special symposium discussing Fr. Bill’s extraordinary life and the Cause for his beatification and canonization. We Augustinians are very excited and invested […]
Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
October 10, 2023 Dear friend of the Augustinians, This week, we remember and celebrate in a special way Saint Thomas of Villanova, patron of our Province and our university, patron of studies for our Order, and patron of many other Augustinian ministries all around the world. Thomas of Villanova was known as the Father of […]
Bonner High’s 70th Anniversary | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
September 8, 2023 Dear friend of the Augustinians, Seventy years ago tomorrow, on September 9, 1953, Archbishop Prendergast High School for Boys welcomed its first students. From that day until June 2009, the Augustinian Friars of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova provided inspiration (and the mascot) for what is now Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop […]