AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD – August 2006

The newly baptized exhorted to live good Christian lives

You have been singing a new song, infantes, so recently made new by him; and we have been singing it with you, because we have been redeemed at the same price. Let me now admonish you as fraternal charity demands; not only you, but all those who are listening; admonish you as your brother and your father; as your brother, because one mother Church gave birth to us all; as your father because it was I who begot you through the gospel.

Live good lives, my most dearly beloved children, so that you may get good results from receiving such a great sacrament. Let vices be corrected, behaviour well ordered, virtues cultivated. May each of you be attended through life by devotion, holiness, chastity, humility, sobriety; so that as you offer such fruits to God, he may delight in you, and you in him. May I too have joy from the fulfilment of your hope, when I see in you the fruits with which my hope is regarded.

Love the Lord, because he loves you; pay frequent visits to this mother who bore you. Consider what this mother has conferred upon you, joining creatures to the creator, making slaves into children of God..., making the devil's henchmen into Christ's brothers and sisters. You won't show yourselves ungrateful for these immense benefits received from her, if you show her the proper consideration of your presence. Nor can any of you hope to have God as a gracious Father, if you neglect the Church as your mother.

St Augustine: Sermon 255A, 2

Provincial Chapter

In the final week of June 2006, the Augustinians in Australia conducted their Provincial Chapter. In accord with the Constitutions of the Order of Saint Augustine, this is a formal gathering every fourth year in which the Prior Provincial is installed, and the program of the Province for the next fours years is approved.

In a spirit which shows equality within the Augustinian fraternity, all members of the Province enjoy voting rights at the Chapter, which was therefore an assembly of all members of the Province who are well enough to attend.

The Chapter took place in the modern new buildings of Saint Augustine’s College at Brookvale (Sydney). The incoming Provincial, Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. (pictured) was installed in office by Fr John Barry O.S.A. (left of photo), the appointed President of the Chapter. The Chapter then approved a program for the Province for the next four years.

South Yarra

The Parish of South Yarra in the Archdiocese of Melbourne lies within the City of Stonnington.  The Order of Saint Augustine has staffed the parish since 1976.

The City of Stonnington encompasses the Melbourne suburbs of Prahran, Windsor, South Yarra, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Malvern East and Glen Iris.  The Council’s own information kit describes the city as a hybrid of contrasting lifestyles, aspirations and expectations which is indeed very true.  Of the city’s 87,000 residents it is those who struggle to provide food, shelter and a safe environment, which the Parish works to support. 

Last year, Fr John Barry O.S.A.(photo above), Parish Priest of South Yarra was recognised by the City of Stonnington for his work with the poor, sick and marginalised within the community.  He was awarded the Stonnington Citizen of the Year Award in the category of Community Service.  Naturally his parishioners and co-workers were delighted.

This year however, the parishioners themselves have been rewarded for the enormous amount of voluntary work they do within the Parish.  The St. Joseph’s Emergency Housing Association, which was formed in 1998 in response to the need for Emergency accommodation for the homeless, has won the inaugural City of Stonnington Community Group of the Year award. 

The members of the Association not only raised the funds to convert one of the former parish school buildings into ten emergency housing apartments, but they also volunteer their time in many other capacities.  It is Association members who clean the apartments between residents and the common areas each week. They also provide a welcoming face for new tenants and an ongoing maintenance service.  Many of these same people volunteer their time in the Parish’s food bank and bread relief program as well. 

On Thursday 24th August, the city’s mayor, Councillor Ann O’Shea will present the group with their award at a gala reception in the Malvern Town Hall. Congratulations to them all!

Parish of North Harbour

The creation of the Parish of North Harbour occurred by the union of the parishes of Manly (Saint Kieran’s) and Balgowlah (St Cecilia’s) in metropolitan Sydney in recent times.

The parish begins on part of the northern edge of Sydney Harbour, hence its name. The new parish has retained Saints Kieran (of Clonmacnoise in sixth-century Ireland) and St Cecilia (an early Roman martyr) as its patron saints.

The liturgical commemoration of the amalgamation of these two parishes took place on Sunday, 2nd July 2006 at a special Mass of Union at the Brimson Centre of St Augustine’s College, Brookvale at 10.00 am. (See photo). That Mass was the only weekend Mass (which included Vigil Masses Saturday evening) in the new parish, so that all parishioners can gather simultaneously and meet one another.

The web site of the new Parish of North Harbour is http://www.northharbour.catholicau.com

Augustinian Solemn Profession

On Sunday, 25th June 2006 Minh Tan Hoang O.S.A. (see photo) took a significant step in his life before moving to Rome to continue his studies for priesthood. On that Sunday, he made his solemn profession of Augustinian vows during a special Mass at St Kieran's Church, Manly Vale.

The large church was filled to capacity with members of Tan’s extended family, and with friends of the Augustinian Order. Bishop David Walker of the local Diocese of Broken Bay was one of the concelebrants.

At St Monica’s international college in Rome, Tan is now studying the Italian language during the present hot European summer months, and will take up his study of theology again in September. Other Augustinians arriving in Rome who will be in the same class as Tan have come from Kenya, Brazil and the Philippines.

St Augustine’s College

During the recent school holidays, a small group of the teaching and ancillary staff of the Order’s St Augustine’s College in Brookvale, Sydney were able to attend a retreat in the ancient Augustinian monastery at San Gimignano in the Tuscan region of Italy.

The retreat was led by Fr Brian Lowery O.S.A., the American-born Prior of the community there. As well as spiritual talks on Augustinian themes, he also conducted them to other nearby centres – some occupied, some now in ruin – of Augustinian heritage, including Lecceto, Rosia, Volterra, and Monteriggioni.

(There are separate photo galleries on San Gimignano, Lecceto and Rosia available by going to http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=6 , and then clicking on those place names.)

The St Augustine’s College web site is: Web site: www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au

Augustinian Visitors

At different times in the past few weeks, a number of Augustinians have visited Australia from overseas. Firstly, the regional superior of the Augustinians in Papua, Indonesia passed through Brisbane for a week while returning from an Augustinian Provincial Chapter in the Netherlands.

Brisbane-born Fr Brian Buckley O.S.A., who has now served twenty years in South Korea, is visiting Australia for holiday leave. Later this month he will return to KangHwa in Korea, where he is a member of the house of formation dedicated in honour of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine.

The KangHwa community contains nine persons: two priests (both Australian-born), and seven Koreans, of whom one has already made his simple (first) profession in the Order of Saint Augustine. Some of the remaining six will make their novitiate year in 2007.

Two of these young men from KangHwa are presently in Australia (See photo). As part of a policy to give them support in learning the English language, Paul and Luke are undertaking an intensive English-language program in Sydney at the Augustinian Formation Centre, Brookvale. The capability with English that they had upon their arrival in Australia has received encouraging improvement in the meantime.

Numerous photos of the Augustinian activities and personnel in Korea are available by going to http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=6 , and then choose the gallery named Korea.

Villanova College

Villanova College at Coorparoo is the Order’s school for over 800 male day pupils in the upper primary and secondary years of schooling in Brisbane, the capital city of the State of Queensland.

One of its past pupils (and also a past teacher of Villanova) is Andrew Slack. He is the former Australian Rugby Union captain and Queensland rugby legend, and is presently a sports journalist on Brisbane television.

Andrew Slack was chosen as the patron of Catholic Education Week celebrations in Queensland in 2006.   In a media interview for Catholic Education Week, Andrew spoke very positively and proudly of his education at Villanova and his ongoing contact with the Augustinians.

He said that upon his arrival at Villanova at the age of ten years, his first Augustinian teacher impressed him. “Not only did he introduce me to rugby by throwing me into the Tyrannosaurus Rex team, which enjoyed some memorable victories over Brontosaurus Rex, he also set a wonderful example for what Villa was to prove to be in my eyes : a  place that cared for all, no matter their strengths or weaknesses. Not surprisingly, there was the odd hiccup in the ensuing years but there was always the underlying current that each boy was special in his own right and had something worthwhile to offer.”

“My faith and spirituality is also very important to me and I am grateful for the nurturing of this I received at Villanova,” he said.

The Villanova College web site is: http://www.vnc.qld.edu.au

Augustinian World Young Adult Encounter

The next Augustinian World Young Adult Encounter takes place soon after this page is bring written. It will be held at Pavia, Italy from 1st-6th August 2006.

These Encounters have taken place every three years since 1985. Australia has always been represented at these encounters, even though all of them have taken place in Europe.

The Encounter in early August 2006 will take place at the outdoor summer conference facilities in the grounds of the fourteenth-century Visconti Castle at Pavia in northern Italy. The building is now managed by the City of Pavia, which uses it as a museum and as a conference venue.

Pavia is the city in which the tomb of Saint Augustine is located. The tomb is located in an ancient Augustinian Church dedicated to Saint Peter. In the photo (above) taken in March 2006, the Augustinians who will be involved with the forthcoming Youth Encounter are seen outside this church.

At Pavia, the group from Australia will come together with between 300 and 500 young adults from as many as twenty countries. To see 300 images of the previous Augustinian international young adult encounter in Spain in 2003, go to http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=6 and choose the gallery named Spain: Gaudarrama.

Background information on Pavia's centuries of Augustinian connections can be found by going to the Augnet web site at http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=1008

Photographs of the Pavia Encounter of 1st-6th August 2006 can be seen soon afterwards by going to http://www.augnet.org/default.asp?ipageid=6 and clicking on the photo gallery named Pavia: Augustinian Encounter 2006.  The photo gallery already exists, awaiting for photographs to be sent from Europe.

A report of the Encounter at Pavia will appear in the September edition of the Current News on this web site.

Augustinian Friends

Over the past few months local groups of Augustinian Friends have been meeting from Mareeba to Melbourne.

Planning for the Third National Congress for the Laity is well under way.

This Congress, to be held in South Yarra, Melbourne, runs from Friday 20th April 2007 to Sunday 22nd April 2007. The keynote speaker will be Fr Art Purcaro O.S.A.. He is from the United States, and is presently stationed in Rome as an Assistant General of the Order.

The title is: Augustine, Ancient & New Vision for the Future. So how about coming to Melbourne in 2007 to experience Augustine in Autumn?!

For further information about the Augustinian lay congress in Melbourne in April 2007, contact Augustinian Friends via the parish office of the Augustinian parish of South Yarra (ph. 03 9827 9117), or contact Fr Paul Maloney O.S.A. at the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality, 2 Hewitt Avenue, Greystanes, NSW 2145 (phone 02 9361 0340) or by e-mail at paulmal@bigpond.com.au

Augustinian International Lay Congress

Over the past few months local groups of Augustinian Friends have been meeting from Mareeba to Melbourne. Representatives from each local group were present in the Augustinianum in Rome(see photo above, taken in Italy) on 12th-18th July 2006 for the Second International Congress for Augustinian Laity. A Power Point presentation depicting the Australian experience of Augustinian Friends was used during the Congress. It was presented in three language versions: English, Italian and Spanish.

Masters Degree Program in Augustine

A summer program leading to a Master of Arts degree in the study of St Augustine has begun at at Quezon City in Metro Manila. The venue is the Saint Augustine Centre of Studies (SACS - see photo below).

The new Masters program was officially launched at the SACS graduation ceremony on 27th March 2006, and the first units of the program were taught from 10th April to 20th May 2006.

The teachers of these units were Fr Arnel Dizon O.S.A. (An Introduction to St Augustine), Fr Pederito Aparece O.S.A. (Augustine and Neo-Platonism), and Dr Macario Ofilada Ph.D. (The Dialogues of Augustine). All units are taught in the English language, and there are choices of topics in every course.

There are choices of outcome available within the program. These give different options such as equipping the student to teach Augustine to others, or else preparing the student for further studies in Augustine at a doctoral level.

For example the option that leads to a Master of Arts in Teaching Augustine studies Augustinian pedagogy, Neo-Platonism, Augustinian metaphysics and Augustine’s theory of knowledge. It then surveys Augustine’s sermons, letters, and major books.

The full program is expected to require three summers of classes by each student, and variously also some comprehensive examinations or the writing of a thesis. Students from overseas or other parts of the Philippine can apply for summer accommodation as SACS, depending on its availability.

The next courses will be offered in April-May 2007. Printed information on the course in general and in particular, plus enrolment details, are available in a brochure that may be obtained by writing to the St Thomas of Villanova Institute of Philosophy, Saint Augustine Center of Studies, Fisheries Street, Visayas Avenue, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines.

For information about the M.A. program, persons in Australia can contact the Augustinian Provincial Office at Brookvale, Sydney by telephoning (02) 9905.3049 during office hours.

Augnet

Augnet, a comprehensive web site on Saint Augustine and the Order of Saint Augustine, has just been re-designed and renovated. It contains over 1,000 pages of text, which also contain over 1,300 illustrations. The Augnet web site was officially "launched" at a ceremony in Sydney in August 2002, with the Prior General as the guest of honour.

New technical features in the renovated Augnet include a search engine, which searches every page of Augnet for any word or phrase that is nominated by a user, and a site map, which quickly allows a visitor to see and understand the local arrangement of Augnet's sections and sub-sections.

About 1,000 large images in extensive photo galleries illustrate of Augustinian events and places internationally. Between August 2002 and April 2006 Augnet has served 63,000 different hosts/URLs, and presumably many of these hosts have visited Augnet more than once.

These hosts have downloaded 734,000 pages of Augnet. This is an average of 17,000 pages per month, 580 pages per day and 24 pages per hour throughout that period of forty-four monthsVisit this web site at http://www.augnet.org

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AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2006
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html