For anyone who is interested, here is a detailed description of the Augustinian formation program into which I have just been formally accepted. I am at the pre-novice stage. Next comes the novitiate, in Racine, WI, after which I make my first profession of vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and at which time I am officially considered a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine. These simple vows are one year commitments, which I may renew at the end of each year. Following that is the Professed Program, either in Chicago or at the Augustinian International House of Studies in Rome (pretty please!!!). Three years after making my first profession I am eligible to take solemn vows, which are the permanent vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and soon thereafter I would be ordained to the priesthood.
The one question that I have been frequently asked is, "Why the Augustinians?" There are so many paths to the priesthood available, either diocesan or the many religious orders of the Church. When I first began this journey I really only knew of diocesan priests, and I had begun the application process with the Diocese of Camden. At the time I was also in contact with the Dominican vocations director, Fr. Bill. It was at that time that I first began to read Augustine's Confessions, which I fell in love with. This is what inspired first my deep interest in Augustine, and then later my interest in the Augustinians. I happened to meet an Augustinian friar at a wedding of a friend of mine, and soon I contacted the Augustinian vocation director, at the time Fr. Jim McBurney, OSA. It was then that I enrolled in Villanova, the flagship university of the Augustinians, and found myself immersed in the very unique Augustinian culture.
The first selling point for me is the great emphasis on community found in the Augustinians, which is something we derive directly from Augustine and from his monastic rule. While I do appreciate my periods of solitude, I am very gregarious by nature, and I know that with my struggles with celibacy the reliance on a strong community environment is just what I need. This word, community, simply oozes from their very pores. At Villanova whenever you ask students what their favorite part of the Villanova experience is, almost every single time the response will be the sense of community. That is so important to me, and over the years now I have seen how the diversity of the Order strengthens everyone, and how supportive they always are of one another. It really is a beautiful thing to behold.
Beyond that, aside from the primary focus of the priesthood, bringing the Sacraments to the Church and preaching the Gospel, there are many areas of ministry to which I find myself attracted, and the Augustinians happen to be involved in all of them. The Augustinians operate parishes, they are involved in education, the do mission work (my province currently has international missions in Peru, South Africa, and Japan. The worldwide Order has missions in many other locations), they do military chaplaincy, hospital chaplaincy, and prison ministry, they are heavily, heavily, involved in social justice (this and education might be their two biggest ministries), to such an extent that the Order has permanent observer status with the United Nations (I think that's what it is – there is some sort of official relationship with the U.N. that is unique to the Augustinians among religious orders), they are theologians, they operate the great Augustinianum, the pontifical academy of patristics in Rome. Every single one of these ministries is attractive to me, and it is wonderful to know that while I do indeed take a vow of obedience and am bound to go wherever the Order sends me, they are incredibly supportive of any ministry in which a friar feels called, and typically will do whatever they can to help ensure that that ministry happens.
Because of our deep rootedness in St. Augustine, I have yet to meet an Augustinian who does not truly understand the human condition, does not have great compassion for the human spirit, and does not love profoundly. The school motto at Villanova is Unitas, Veritas, Caritas – Unity, Truth, and Love. This is a truly Augustinian motto, something which permeates the Order. I am very, very happy to now call these men my brothers. Now, of course, I just hope they can put up with me…
ETA: As has been pointed out to me, it is not permanent observer status that the Augustinians have with the United Nations, but rather they are officially recognized as an NGO.
0 comments:
Post a Comment