AUGUSTINIAN BULLETIN BOARD – September 2007

What cannot be spoken can be believed

Our Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to enter the womb of a virgin, undefiled, to lodge in the body of a woman, to make his mother fruitful without her losing her virginity, to be formed by himself and come out, opening the undamaged womb of her that bore him; all this in order to shed upon her from whom he was pleased to be born both the honor of being a mother, and the holiness of being a virgin. Who can work this out, who can explain it?

Whose mind, after all, would be sufficient to ponder, whose tongue to express, not only that in the beginning was the Word who had no beginning to his being born, but also that the Word became flesh, choosing a virgin to make a mother for himself, making himself a mother whom he would also preserve as a virgin?

The Son of God with no mother conceiving him, the Son of Man with no man begetting him; bringing fruitfulness to a woman by his coming, not depriving her of her integrity by his being born. What is this? Who can tell it? Who can keep quiet about it? And wonderful to relate, what we are not capable of expressing we are not permitted to pass over in silence.

We proclaim out loud in words what we cannot comprehend in the silence of our thoughts. Indeed we are unable to express this stupendous gift of God, because we are too little to explain his greatness; and yet we are obliged to praise him, lest by keeping silent we should remain ungrateful. But thank God, that what cannot be suitably spoken can be faithfully believed.

St Augustine: Sermon 215,3

Prior General re-elected.

On Saturday, 8th September 2007 the 182nd Augustinian General Chapter in Rome re-elected Fr Robert Prevost O.S.A. for a second six-year term as the Prior General (international leader) of the Order of Saint Augustine.

The re-elected Prior General, Robert Francis Prevost, was born on 14th September 1955 in Chicago, Illinios, United States of America.   He made his first profession as an Augustinian there on 2nd September 1978. He was ordained a priest in Rome on 19th June 1982.   In 1985 he finished a doctorate in Canon Law at the Angelicum in Rome.  

In 1985-86 he used his training in church law in his appointment as Chancellor of the Augustinian Vicariate of Chulucanas in Peru, South America.   In 1987 he was recalled to his home Province of Chicago.  

In 1988 he went back to Trujillo, Peru to begin the first common formation house for Augustinian seminarians from three of the Augustinian vicariates in South America.  

He occupied various roles there over the following ten years, and from 1991 to 1998 he was also the Judicial Vicar of the Archdiocese of Trujillo.   He was elected Provincial of the Chicago Province in 1998, and then on his forty-sixth anniversary of birth on 14th September 2001 was elected Prior General for his first term of office.

His second term of office as Prior General (2007 - 2013) began on 8th September 2007.

At his ceremony of installation in the chapel of St Monica's College in Rome on that day, he made his profession of faith and received the warm embrace of the one hundred Augustinians present (see photo at left).

He then addressed the congregation briefly in English and Spanish, expressing his desire to continue his efforts to bring ever greater unity to the Order and to continue initiatives to renew and revitalize the Augustinian spirit. He encouraged all to be willing to take risks for the sake of the Order's life and growth and expressed his dependence upon the grace of God and the collaboration of his brother Augustinians.
 

Assistant General for Asia-Pacific elected

On Thursday, 20th September 2007 the 182nd Augustinian General Chapter in Rome elected Fr Rommel Par O.S.A. as the Assistant General who will direct his attention to Asia and the Pacific. There are five Assistants General, each of whom is assigned to engage a particular geographical section of the world.

Rommel Par is a member of the Augustinian Province of Cebu (Philippines).

A native of the Philippines, he made his First Profession as an Augustinian in 1988, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1998. His studies led to a Doctorate in Philosophy from Università di San Tommaso (Angelicum) in Rome, while he was a member of the Augustinian community at St Monica's International College.

On his return to the Philippines, he was appointed Vice-President for Academic Affiars at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City in 200-2003, and then in 2003-2006 the Rector/President of Colegio San Agustin at Biñan. In 1996-2000 he also served as a member of the Provincial Council of the Augustinian Province of Cebu, a member of the Province formation team, and a Director of the St Thomas of Villanova Institute of Philosophy in Quezon City.

He is fluent in Tagalog and two other Filipino dialects, English, Italian and Spanish.

International Youth Animators’ meeting  

During July, the International Youth Commission for the Order of Saint Augustine held a conference for the Youth Animators (youth ministry workers) who are associated with the Order.

The meeting took place at the Augustinianum beside St Peter's Square in Rome on 17th-24th July 2007.

The purpose of the conference was to allow the sharing of experience and learning by the participants. Nineteen Augustinian circumscriptions, which are based on all of the continents of the world, sent representatives to the gathering.

The photo above shows a few of the Augustinian and lay participants - in this instance from England, Australia, Nigeria and the Philippines. Numerous photographs of other participants appear on the Internet at http://www.keesduijs.nl/

Members of the Commission facilitated the discussions with three key speakers and eight workshops. This was the third significant event organised by the Commission in the past six years.

Australia was represented by Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. (the Australian Provincial, and also a member of the International Augustinian Youth Commission), and two lay delegates. One of them, Paul Skippen from the Augustinian parish of North Harbour (Sydney), gave a presentation entitled, Liturgy as a Key Tool in Youth Ministry, as one of the highlights of the conference.

The participants received information and promotional material about the International Augustinian Youth Encounter for Young Adults that will take place at Collaroy (Sydney) after World Youth Day 2008. (See next item for more information.)

Australian National Augustinian Youth Encounter, 2007

Want to know what’s happening next year after World Youth Day? Find out at the National Augustinian Youth Encounter (NAYE) which is held from 7.30 pm Friday19th October 2007 to noon on Sunday 21st October 2007 at the Collaroy Conference Centre in Sydney's northern beach suburbs.

The NAYE is a great way to get a brief insight into Saint Augustine and to know what exactly will be happening next year at the Augustinian International Youth Encounter in Sydney in 2008 (see the news immmediately below this one). Become part of a team that will help run the event next year.

The current cost of the 2007 event is $144, but a subsidy may be possible. To enquire about the National Augustinian Youth Encounter, please e-mail michael.delacruz@augustinians.org.au or phone the Augustinian Provincial Office during business hours on (02) 9905.3049.

Ninth Augustinian International Encounter for Young Adults, 2008

This Encounter will take place at Collaroy (Sydney, Australia) from the evening of Monday, 21st July to noon on Sunday, 27th July 2008, which is immediately after the conclusion of World Youth Day 2008.

These Augustinian international encounters have been regularly held for the past twenty years. The previous ones all took place in Europe – four in Italy, two in Spain, one in Germany and Ireland.

Assigned to occur in Australia, the ninth Encounter will be the first of the series to occur outside of Europe. To co-ordinate the planning and preparation for the event, the Australian Augustinians have employed a full-time Projects Officer (seen at far right in photo, with four volunteers), Michael Dela Cruz. He can be contacted by e-mail at michael.delacruz@augustinians.org.au

The venue for the Encounter will be the Collaroy Conference Centre. It is located overlooking the Pacific Ocean and some of Sydney’s northern beaches. As well it is not far from the Augustinian Parish (North Harbour) and primary/secondary school (St Augustine’s College, Brookvale).

Images of the conference centre and of Collaroy can be seen on the Internet in the photo gallery of http://www.augnet.org that is entitled Augustinian Encounter 2008.” General images of Sydney are in a separate gallery named “Australia: Sydney.”

From talk about the Encounter at the Augustinian meeting of youth animators in Rome last month, it is already known that groups of Augustinian young adults will be coming to Collaroy in July 2008 from parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, the United States and South America.

More information about the Encounter is available on the special web site http://www.aye2008.org or from Michael Dela Cruz at the e-mail address listed above.

Augustinian General Chapter 2007

Every six years, the Order of Saint Augustine has a General Chapter. It involves a review of the Order's progress and initiatives, and begins with the election of a person to fill the office of Prior General, the international leader of the Order.

The 182nd General Chapter is taking place in Rome during September 2007. Every major legislative region of the Order – which is usually called a Province, a vicariate or a region – sends one or more delegates to the General Chapter, depending on its number of members.

To learn more about the administrative structure of the Order, click here.

The Province of Australia (into which the Augustinian Region of Korea is presently incorporated) will be represented by Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. (Provincial) and Bro. Barnabas Kim O.S.A. (the person immediately in charge in Korea).

Of particular interest at this forthcoming General Chapter will be a proposal to make Asia and the Pacific a special focus of the Order’s attention during the six-year term of office of the next Prior General.

Within the Asia-Pacific the Order has communities in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, and one Augustinian is working in Thailand. Photographs of Augustinian ministries in all of these nations can be seen on the Internet in the various photo galleries of the web site, http://www.augnet.org

During the month of September, an update on the decisions of the General Chapter in Rome will be added to this news section of the Augustinian international web site: http://www.osanet.org (Select from the languages: Italian, English and Spanish.)

Real Life, Real Power

The Catholic Community of North Harbour (a parish conducted by the Augustinians in metropolitan Sydney, Australia) is bringing an internationally-acclaimed religious songwriter, guitarist and singer, Jesse Manibusan from Texas, USA to Sydney, Australia in March 2008.

He will be offering a series of liturgical workshops for adults, a youth festival for young adults and educational events for school groups from Monday 24th March to Sunday 30th March 2008 inclusive. These events will take place at St Kieran’s Parish Centre, Manly Vale (Sydney, Australia) and at St Augustine’s College, which is located nearby in Brookvale.

Jesse Manibusan (see photo below) is a pastoral musician in Grapevine, Texas, where he resides with Jodi his wife and their three children.

He engages his audience with a mix of rap, rock, pop, reggae, gospel and other musical styles in order to bring alive the Good News of the Gospel. He holds a Master's Degree in multicultural ministries from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California.

Jesse describes himself a Catholic lay evangelist who uses music, comedy and stories to connect with people. Very much in demand in the United States as a motivational speaker, Jesse’s uplifting message touches all generations.

He says, “God gives us life. We may have disappointments, we may be really angry or depressed. It’s good we can have a moment to say to God, ‘Thank you for life.’”

He has a unique gift of being able to engage and reach out to any audience – at a retreat, or within a large group of adolescents at a youth festival, and with a crowd of 500,000 people who heard him in Toronto during World Youth Day 2002.

A dynamic speaker, Jesse shares from the heart the love of Christ and the call to live out baptism in every aspect of life! He challenges every age group and generation, "You're Catholic, so what?"

Jesse has released a number of CD collections of religious music, and was named Artist of the Year by the United Catholic Music Association (U.S.A.)

Awards and recognition aside, Jesse puts everything in perspective. “It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about God. And it’s not an issue of whether we believe. It’s an issue that we know God believes. Every time we mess up God says, ‘Get up. I believe in you. Don’t be afraid to be who you are. Get over it. Know who I am. Look to me and see a reflection of yourself.’ This is about God believing in us.”

He says, “Our song is our prayer. So let's pray our words and our deeds point to Christ...anything else and it's just entertainment."

Precise details of specific Jesse Manibusan events, their date and venue during 24th-30th March 2008 are published on a special web site: http://www.realliferealpower.com.au

St Augustine’s College, Sydney

St Augustine's College is an Augustinian day school for approximately 1,000 male pupils in the upper primary and secondary years of education. Founded in 1956, it is located at Brookvale (Sydney), Australia.

A number of staff, parents and students (ClassYears 5 to 12) of St Augustine’s College slept under the stars on the grounds of the College on Saturday, 11th August 2007 for the fourth annual ‘Winter Sleep Out’ charity fundraiser.

The Winter Sleep Out is a joint initiative of the College’s Social Justice Club and the Student Representative Council (SRC). The event raises money for the St Vincent de Paul Society’s “Vinnies Van” that moves through inner-city Sydney at nights to offer aid to the destitute.

All involved in the Winter Sleep Out began by sharing a barbeque dinner, and participating in a talent quest and communal entertainment. They were also given information about homeless persons in Australia. The homeless number approximately 100,000, among whom are some who are between  twelve and twenty years of age.

Participants in the Winter Sleep Out then retired to twenty tents erected on the college’s front oval (see photos below). Once numerous flashlights were finally switched off, everyone slept until daylight.

Madeleine Conlon, Religious Education Co-ordinator at St Augustine’s College, is the organiser of the Winter Sleep Out. She said, “Once again, staff students and parents involved had a wonderful night, not only raising money for a worthy cause, but showing as always, the true meaning of the Augustinian value of community.”

She continued, “Significant this year, was also the decision of our senior boys to sleep in solidarity with the homeless, by sleeping in the open, with only their sleeping bags, and a cardboard box under them. Despite the fact that the night was unusually warm for August, the boys certainly appreciated how uncomfortable, in fact, a night without a pillow or mattress really is, and how much worse that experience might be if there had been no barbeque dinner before it and no guarantee that where you slept would, in fact even be safe for the night. Certainly, a valuable experience they’ll not likely to forget.”

Saint Augustine’s College has a strong Social Justice program. So far in 2007 its students have raised funds for the Augustinian Orphanage Project – an initiative where staff and students built an infirmary for an Orphanage in the Philippines (* see website below), as well as Genes For Jeans Day, the 40 Hour Famine, blanket knitting for ‘Wrap with Love’, and on most weekends the Senior boys also help out at the Matthew Talbot Hostel for Homeless Men, and go in to the city to help with the Vinnies Van.

The younger students bake cakes and biscuits for the senior boys to take with them in the Vinnies Van to distribute to the homeless. At the end of each school year, students also bring in toys and Christmas gifts for less fortunate families known to the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The College’s web site is http://www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au.

* The College’s Orphanage Project 2007. A daily blog of the infirmary construction project during April 2007 at the orphanage in Bulacan, Philippines is uploaded on the internet. Go to:
http://augustineorphanageproject.blogspot.com

Augustinian Parish, South Yarra

In Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian State of Victoria, the Augustinians have care of the Parish of Saint Joseph, South Yarra. The parish also has a second church, dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas, at Bromby Street, South Yarra. The Order has been present in the parish since 1976.

As well as responsibility for leading the pastoral and sacramental care of these two parishes, the two Augustinians on the parochial staff at South Yarra are the principal priests for the Alfred Hospital, part of which is seen in the photo at left. "The Alfred" is a large metropolitan public hospital, and has a busy 24-hour accident and emergency department.

On any given day there are between 80 and 110 patients at the Alfred Hospital who are registered as Catholic. The Augustinians assigned to the South Yarra Parish, Frs John Barry O.S.A., P.P. and Gerry Dullard O.S.A., answer every call from the hospital that is seeking a priest, unless it is physically impossible for them to do so.

Two priests from the neighbouring Toorak and East Saint Kilda parishes assist them with the hospital’s emergency night call roster. A religious sister is Catholic Chaplaincy Coordinator of the hospital, and is present at the hospital for twenty hours per week.

St Joseph’s Parish web site is www.ozemail.com.au/~osasthyarra

Centre for Augustinian Spirituality

For the past ten years the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality has been in operation at Greystanes, in western metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Four Augustinians live there in community.

After eight years as Director of the Centre, Fr Laurence Mooney O.S.A. was farewelled at the end of 2006. Since February 2007 Fr Peter Jones O.S.A. has been Director.

The ministry of the Centre is accountable to the Australian Augustinian Province through the Province’s Commission for Formation. The mandate of the Centre remains that of service in the area of spirituality and education with an Augustinian focus to Augustinians, Augustinian communities, Augustinian laity and ministries, and the surrounding Diocese of Parramatta.

In mid-August 2007 Frs Paul Maloney and Peter Jones travelled to Brisbane to facilitate a retreat for the Leadership Team of Villanova College, which the Order conducts in the suburb of Coorparoo. The retreat focussed on the theme of nurturing a spirituality that supports Christian leadership (see photo at immediate left).

An important dimension of these days was the opportunity for participants to develop their sense of being a community of leaders in an Augustinian ministry. The particular perspective that Augustinian spirituality has to support the exercise of Christian leadership (eg. the enduring principles implicit in the Rule of Saint Augustine) was highlighted.

While much of the work of the Augustinian Spirituality team has involved groups from the Colleges, the team is also mindful of its work to support Augustinian parishes. While supplying in Mareeba/Dimbulah in far north Queensland during July 2007, Frs Paul Maloney and Peter Jones facilitated a number of gatherings focussed on Augustinian spirituality. More recently the parish ministry team from the Augustinian Parish of St Clair (western Sydney) undertook a retreat day at the Centre.

In terms of what the Centre offers people from the local area, a five-week course has just begun entitled Growing into the more of who I am. Facilitated by Fr John McCall, the course integrates insights from spirituality and psychology to support participants in deepening their awareness of God’s loving presence in their lives.

Towards the end of August there was also a prayer day at the Centre entitled Praying where we are facilitated by Fr Peter Jones. The theme of the day was to explore the value of praying out of the experiences of life. Use was made of examples from Scripture, St Augustine and contemporary prayers.

For full details and dates of the entire 2007 program at the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality, go to the bottom of this page and follow the prompts.

If any group associated with the Order of Saint Augustine and its ministries is interested in a program or retreat by the Centre staff, please contact Fr Peter Jones O.S.A. at Greystanes at (02) 9896-6794 or osaspirit@bigpond.com.au .

Villanova College, Coorparoo

Villanova is an Augustinian day school for approximately 1,000 male students in the upper primary and secondary years of education. It began at a smaller location in Whinstanes (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) on 25th January 1948, and moved to its present site at Coorparoo (Brisbane) in 1954.

At left is a poster of colour images of Villanova's the opening ceremony at Whinstanes, in which can be seen the late James Duhig D.D., who was Archbishop of Brisbane, 1917 to 1965.

These images have been copied from one small spool of silent 16 mm colour movie film that was used on the day.

There were Post-War shortages in 1948. It has become an Augustinian legend that this one spool containing not much more than three minutes of film was all the film that was available. (Another part of the legend was that the film was obtained from the American armed forces, who previously had occupied the Whinstanes site as a military hospital.)

At the opening ceremony, Father Denis Kieran O'Shea O.S.A., one of the founding Augustinians of Villanova, was handed the movie camera and told to film the ceremony. One of the large black-and-white photographs of the event appearing in The Villanovan yearbook of 1956 clearly shows Fr O'Shea standing beside a palm tree, with the movie camera to his eye.

Father O'Shea was told to be sure not to use up all of the spool of film before the ceremony ended. In consequence, he was so cautious that he had film "left over" and hence filmed generously the cars departing the college grounds afterwards.

Thankfully almost thirty years ago an archivist had the original film copied, and from it more recently DVD duplicates have been produced.

Students of Villanova today have the benefit of this Opening Day vision of the Villanova buildings and school grounds at Whinstanes that no longer remain.

The Villanova College’s web site is located at http://www.vnc.qld.edu.au

Affiliates’ meetings

The series of meetings for Augustinian Affiliates continues. A meeting was held in Melbourne in late August 2007.

With the 1967 revision of the Constitutions of the Order of Saint Augustine, the affiliation of laity to the Order was approved.  This has provided Provinces with the opportunity of taking the initiative of binding more closely to the Order those laity who have, over many years, identified with the ethos and ministries of the Augustinians in a significant way. Today, there are more than sixty laity affiliated to the Order in Australia since that time.

The need has been expressed for providing the affiliates with a deeper knowledge of Augustine, Augustinian Spirituality and of the Order itself. For this purpose the present Prior Provincial, Fr Tony Banks O.S.A., together with his Provincial Council, appointed Father Pat Fahey O.S.A. to be chaplain to the Affiliates of the Province.

Fr Pat Fahey is in the process of meeting with the Affiliates throughout the Province.  Prior to the gathering in Northern Victoria (see photo above) in July and at Mareeba in mid-June, earlier meetings were conducted at Manly Vale (Sydney), Adelaide and Brisbane. 

The structure of the each meeting is simple: (1) celebration of Mass; (2) sharing a meal; (3) presentation of some aspect of Augustinian spirituality; (4) discussion; and (5) prayer.  It lasts no more than about two hours.

What is further envisaged is the publication of a simple Newsletter in which the Affiliates themselves will receive news of each other and be encouraged to share in each other’s lives by prayer and even by direct contact (through letter or visits). 

Augustinian Parishes, Mareeba and Dimbulah.

The Order of Saint Augustine conducts the two parishes of Mareeba and Dimbulah, which are part of the Diocese of Cairns in far northern Queensland, Australia. 

Over the last two weekends in August 2007 sixty-nine children in these two parishes made their first Holy Communion. Fr Peter Hayes O.S.A. celebrated the Masses on the first weekend in St Thomas’s Church, Mareeba (see photo), and on the second weekend Fr Peter McHugh O.S.A. was celebrant at St Anthony’s Church in Dimbulah, where eleven young people received their First Communion.

On that same Sunday, at St Thomas’s in Mareeba Fr Joseph Walsh O.S.A. celebrated the vigil and 10.00am Masses – both involving further candidates.

On 28th August 2007 the feast day of St Augustine was celebrated in Mareeba with a gathering of Augustinian Friends and Frs Peter McHugh O.S.A. and Fr Joseph Walsh O.S.A. The evening began at 6.00pm in the Augustinian Priory with a short meeting, at which the survey of the Augustinian Laity Commission was discussed. Mass was then celebrated with Fr McHugh presiding. The evening culminated with meal and fellowship at the Mareeba Leagues Club. Four 'Augustinian Friends’ from nearby Kuranda also participated in the evening.

Augustinian Friends

Augustinian Friends is a lay group conducted in Australia for those wishing to learn more about the Spirituality of Saint Augustine, and to have contact with others who share this goal. Branches of the Friends operate at a number of Augustinian venues in Brisbane, Mareeba, Melbourne, Northern Victoria, and Sydney.

The position of Co-Leaders of the National Committee is presently being shared by Ruth McGowan and Maureen Atkins of northern Victoria, and Fr. Paul Maloney O.S.A. is chaplain of the group.

The English and U.S. Augustinians are involved with generally similar Augustinian Friends movements in their respective nations.

In England, “Friends of Augustine” has now begun its own website:
http://www.friendsofaugustine.org In the United States, the web site is http://www.augustinianfriends.org

Amici, the Friends' newsletter, is edited by Sarah-Jane Greenaway. For a newsletter subscription or for any additional information on the Friends, contact Fr Paul Maloney at Greystanes (Sydney) at paulmal@bigpond.com.au or phone him on 02 9631.0340.

Augustinian Formation Association (AFA)

The AFA prays for and raises funds for the formation of future Augustinians. It is based in Sydney. Among its office bearers for 2007 are Trudi McFadden (president), Eddie Robinson (treasurer), Lesley Sing (assistant treasurer) and Yvonne Clark (secretary). Along with two new members, they form the AFA Executive.

The AFA has agreed to an increase in fund-raising activity in 2007, accompanied by a membership drive.

The most recent AFA event was the Annual AFA Mass, barbeque and Dutch Auction. It took place at St Kieran's Church and in the adjacent parish community centre on Sunday, 26th August 2007. Fr Laurence Mooney O.S.A. (AFA chaplain) presided at the concelebrated Mass, and Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. (Provincial) at the end of Mass addressed the congregation about Australian Augustinian seminary plans for 2007-2008.

The next AFA event will be a Retreat Day on Tuesday, 4th September 2007. A chartered bus will depart St Kieran's Church for the Centre for Augustinian Spirituality, Greystanes at 8.30 am on that day, and depart Greystanes on its return journey at 3.00 pm.

For more details about the Augustinian Formation Association generally, contact Fr Laurence Mooney O.S.A. (AFA chaplain) or the staff of the Provincial Office on (w) 02 9905 3049.

APAC Cross-cultural Immersion Program, November 2007

APAC is the Asia and Pacific Augustinian Conference. APAC is offering for the first time a six-day Cross-cultural Immersion Program. This will take place near Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines on 11th-19th November 2007 (See maps below).

It is expected that participants will be both APAC religious and educators involved with social justice.

The program is being prepared by the APAC Commission on Justice and Peace, and will be centred at the Mother Rita Homes II at Candau-ay, Dumaguete City. Two of a number of addresses during the program will be given by Sr Carmeli Ma. Catan of the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation (Commission Chair) and Fr Tony Banks O.S.A. of Australia (Commission Vice-Chair).

The Immersion Program aims to offer the participants four benefits.

The first benefit is an experience on how to install a responsive and relevant induction program for agents of community development;

The second is an initial opportunity to develop and write an effective community development curriculum focusing on fostering cross-cultural understanding, peace and sustainable community development;

The third is an experience in planning to install an efficient and effective implementation, supervision and evaluation system for the project and expand the prototype model for wider community replication.

The fourth benefit is an exposure to a cross-cultural experience of immersion to a sustainable community development model.

Three full days of the program are devoted exclusively to a direct immersion experience.

Persons in Australia interested in further information or enrolment procedures for the program, contact the Order's Justice and Peace Co-ordinator in Sydney at holyspiritparish@holyspiritstclair.com.au

.Augnet: what's new?!

Augnet, a comprehensive web site on Saint Augustine and the Order of Saint Augustine, was fully redesigned and renovated in May 2006.

It now carries over 1,280 pages of text, which also contain over 1,720 illustrations. The Augnet web site was officially "launched" at a ceremony in Sydney in August 2002, with the Augustinian Prior General from Rome 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 2,180 large images in extensive photo galleries illustrate Augustinian events and places internationally. The photo galleries most recently added illustrate Sydney, Australia, and three galleries of Augustinian ministry in India, London (England) and at the Escorial (Spain), and additional images are regularly added to other galleries whenever they become available.

Since May 2006, over 42,416 separate (distinct) visitors have used Augnet at least once, in a total of 253,380 visits (i.e., an average of eight visits each). These persons have made a total of 664,994 Augnet page visits. There was a monthly record of 37, 613 visits to Augnet during July 2007, which is an average of 1,210 visits a day.

On 12th October 2006 Augnet received 1,000 visits within one 24-hour period for the first time. On 9th June 2007 there was a new daily record of 2,314 visits attained.

Because of the international usage of Augnet, the web site has almost an identical usage rate in each of the twenty-four hours of the day, and also equal usage on all days of the week (except for a slight decrease on Saturdays). The average duration per visit is three and one half minutes.

Visit this web site at http://www.augnet.org

Augustinian Ministry Websites 2007

• St Augustine’s College – Brookvale NSW Australia
  Website: www.saintaug.nsw.edu.au

• St James’ Parish – Coorparoo Qld Australia
  Website: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/

• Villanova College – Coorparoo Qld Australia
  Website: www.vnc.qld.edu.au

• Parish of North Harbour – Manly Vale & Balgowlah, NSW Australia
  Website: http://www.northharbour.catholicau.com

• St Joseph’s Parish – South Yarra Vic Australia
  Website: www.ozemail.com.au/~osasthyarra

• Holy Spirit Parish – St Clair NSW Australia
  Website: www.holyspiritstclair.com.au

• Augustinians in Korea
• Website: http://www.osakorea.or.kr

FOR SOME CURRENT NEWS ABOUT THE ORDER OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA Click here

The Augustinian international web site is: http://www.osanet.org/en/default.htm

AUGUSTINIAN CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY PROGRAM 2007
2 Hewitt Avenue
Greystanes 2145
Enquiries 9896 6794
www.augustinians.org.au/communities/greystanes.html