Everyone knows the special treatment that pope Benedict XVI has had for Saint Augustine, whom he considers his “traveling companion” in the course of his whole life. On the occasion of the pope’s 86th birthday, the Augustinian Recollects celebrated it with a digital presentation of some renowned etchings on the life of Saint Augustine published in Baviera in 1758

2013-05-01 OAR / P. Panedas

The Augustinian Recollects feel indebted in some way to pope Ratzinger, and when he retired to private life and reached his 86th year (last 16 April), they express their gratitude with a little gesture: by publishing material that is close to his heart and, like him, has disseminated in the past the figure of Saint Augustine. If in the last years the Bavarian pope has been the propagator of Augustinian thinking, in the 18th century it was also a work from Baviera that greatly made the Saint of Hippo known and portrayed graphically.

As a tribute to Benedict XVI we present a digital exhibit entitled: “the other Augustine who came from Baviera”. It is a collection of prints on the life of Saint Augustine, an album Baroque in style and dense in concept printed in the land of Benedict XVI. Its authors were Johann Anwander, painter, and the brothers Joseph Sebastian and Johann Baptist Klauber, engravers. It was published in 1758 in Augusta (Aubsburg), a few kilometers from the natal town of Ratzinger.

Two centuries and a half before the Bavarian Pope, the album of Anwander and Klauber did a work similar to his, spreading knowledge about Augustine. It was disseminated throughout the world, serving as inspiration to all types of artists. Even in the 20th century, for the celebration of the 15th centenary of the saint’s death (1930) or the 16th of his birth, both Augustinians and Augustinian Recollects made use of the old prints published in Baviera, which were later reproduced in Barcelona. In the Spanish convents of Marcilla, Monteagudo and San Millan de la Cogolla one can see the print collection enlarged and appropriately framed.

They are a total of 19 prints conceived in comic form, with extensive captions basically drawn from the Bible and the Confessions. The texts are all in Latin, hence the need to translate them into Spanish and to give appropriate explanations. Finally, for a more fitting musical background, a German composition that spoke of Augustine was found, concretely the aria “Or mi pento” (Now, I repent) of the oratorio “La conversione di Sant’Agostino”, written en 1750 by Johann Adolf Hasse, interpreted by the Akademie Für Alte Musik de Berlín.

As a tribute to Benedict XVI we present a digital exhibit entitled: “the other Augustine who came from Baviera”.

BLESSING OF NEW BUILDINGS

February 18, 2013

The long process of construction has come to an end! On this beautiful afternoon in Oxnard, Fr. Joseph Gallardo, OAR, Prior Provincial, joined Pas- tor Fr. Fidel Hernandez, OAR, and Associates Frs. Frank Wilder, OAR, and Michael Rafferty, OAR, for the midday Liturgy of the Hours. The religious were not alone. More than a hundred Mary Star parishioners accompanied them in the Divine Office. Fr. Fidel offered touching words of congratulations to the entire team of professionals that worked so hard on the project since last July. The religious and staff have recently moved into the new office. Things will remain in a bit of disarray for a while, but soon all will come together. It is exciting to serve the people of God in these beautiful buildings He has allowed us to acquire.

The work sessions of Prior General, his Council and the eight Prior Provincials representing the entire Order, have taken place in Rome, in the General Curia, from April 8 to 13. The central point which was analyzed from all points of view was the revitalization, which the Provincials previously discussed with their respective Councils. This intense experience has been rubricated by participating in a meeting with Pope Francis and the message the Father General has addressed to him.

The first objective of the meeting was to take the pulse of the process of revitalization in which the Order is engaged. The Prior Provincials had spoken; they had agreed that the moment of initial surprise had gone by. The documents intended to mentally prepare the religious have been published, and are gradually having impact on the religious, the communities, delegations, vicariates and provinces. 

The problem is how to channel the change from a proper identity.

The Province of St. Augustine will be celebrating its Twenty-Second Provincial Chapter on June 17, 2013, at Saint Augustine Priory in Oxnard, California. A total of twenty-one religious will be participating in this year’s chapter: fourteen were elected as delegates while seven religious are going by right. The chapter agenda will be centering around its main theme: “Revitalizing and Restructuring Our Province: What Has been Done; What Needs To Be Done”.

PRIOR PROVINCIAL AND HIS COUNCILORS, 2009 - 2013
Fr. Michael Rafferty, OAR, Third Provincial Councilor; Fr. Domingos Machado, OAR, First Provincial Councilor; Fr. Joseph Gallardo, OAR, Prior Provincial; Fr Fidel Hernández, OAR, Second Provincial Councilor;
Fr. Eliseo González, OAR, Fourth Provincial Councilor.