Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30 (Vigil) Colm Conneely, Merchant's Road, (Anniv).
11.00: Patrick Swords, (Anniv).
6.30: Pascal Ayres, Merchant's Road, (Anniv).

As I Was Saying...

The Feast of St. Augustine officially falls on August 28th, the date of his death at Hippo in 430. However, in recent years we tend to celebrate it with our patrons and parishioners on the Sunday nearest the feast itself, for obvious reasons. So, given the day that's in it, you will forgive me if this issue of the parish Newsletter indulges in some solitary trumpet-blowing and uninhibited self-promotion!

We Augustinians trace our origins back to Augustine the African, born in Algeria in 354. He died, aged 75 years, on August 28th, 430 in Hippo on the Mediterranean coast. (St. Patrick is thought to have arrived in Ireland the previous year, 429). Augustine lived an extraordinary life at an extraordinary time. It was an extraordinary time in that political institutions of the Roman Empire were crumbling. Certain parallels can be found with the collapse of the Soviet Union in our own day. Both Empires had constructed physical barriers to forestall disintegration: Hadrian's Wall in the case of Rome, and the Berlin Wall in the case of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, in the former case the intention was to keep the Barbarians (The Scots!) out; in the latter case, it was to keep their own citizens in!

However, all was in vain. In both cases, the responsibilities (judicial, political, economic, and military) accumulated down the years could no longer be discharged. Central government (from Moscow or Rome) was no longer possible. In both instances, the result was political fragmentation and, sometimes, anarchy. As Augustine lay on his death-bed at Hippo in 430, he was aware that the Roman Empire had disintegrated. The barbarian Vandals had arrived at Hippo.

Augustine's story is well-known, I suppose. For convenience, his life can be divided into three periods:

  1. From his birth in Africa in 354 to his baptism in Milan in 387. This pre-Baptism period is associated with his sexual self-indulgence. But this aspect of his life is often exaggerated, especially by Augustine himself. He did have a 'live-in lover', with whom he had a son. But, as in our day, this was common practice.
  2. After his conversion and baptism, Augustine returned to Hippo in 388. There the people 'forced' priesthood upon him in 391.
  3. He was ordained bishop in 396 at the age of 42. He was to remain in that position for 34 years, until his death in 430.

Despite a very busy public life, Augustine was one of the most prolific geniuses that humanity has ever known. He is admired both for the number of his works, and for the variety of his subjects. We still have an estimated six million words written by him. One scholar estimates that Augustine's works would represent "approximately a 300-page printed book every year for almost 40 years." Augustine made a list of his writings before he died. While most of his works still exist, we do have the titles and descriptions of those few works that have been lost to posterity.

After his death, while Hippo was still surrounded by the Vandals, his followers successfully smuggled copies of his writings to Europe. Patrick, his contemporary, left us just two precious documents! Augustine was in a league of his own!

-Dick Lyng

Auction in October

We have come up with a date for the 'Fundraising Auction' in aid of the restoration of the Augustinian here. The auction will involve 'every item imaginable, but usable and serviceable'. The auction, to be conducted by auctioneer Peter Flanagan, will be held in Ross Castle by kind permission of George and Elizabeth McLoughlin, on Sunday October 1st, from 3.00 onwards.

We need your help urgently on three fronts:
(1) to promote the auction itself;
(2) to donate materials to be auctioned there, (and remember, don't regard this as a good opportunity to offload rubbish!) and
(3) to encourage your friends to go along there and to buy the stuff.

But what we need most of all is helpers galore. This thing is going to require enormous work: soliciting items for auction, ensuring delivery of same, and organising the day itself. We will have a meeting in connection with this on Tuesday night next in the Priory at 8.00pm. We really do need a good crowd of people organising this.

Congratulations

An Irish production, "Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer", has won a prestigious Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play tells the heroic tale of Irish Antarctic explorer Tom Crean (1877-1938).

He was the only man to serve with Scott and Shackleton on three famous expeditions: Discovery (1901-1904); Terra Nova (1910- 1913); and Endurance (1914-1916).

The play has previously won an award for Best Solo Performance at the New York International Fringe Festival 2003, also receiving a Best Actor nomination from the Dublin Fringe Festival 2003.

The play was written and is performed by Aidan Dooley. Aidan is of course son of our friends Nellie and Jimmy Dooley. Congratulations Aidan, and well done.

The Augustinian Order:

How it Works and Where it is?

There are 2,845 Augustinians in 47 countries around the globe.
420 members (16 per cent) are in United States/Canada
814 members (28 per cent) are in Latin America
1245 members (43 per cent) are in Europe
216 members (7 per cent) are in Asia/Pacific
150 members (6 per cent) are in Africa

The Prior General today is Robert Prevost, O.S.A. from Chicago. Having spent the greater part of his priestly life on the missions in Peru, he was elected as Prior General, the world leader, on 14th September 2001. By happy or unhappy coincidence, that day happened to be his 46th birthday!

The Augustinians have their most pronounced presence in the following locations:
Spain -- 593
United States -- 398
México -- 276
Italy -- 249
Perú -- 138
Philippines -- 109
Germany -- 105
Ireland -- 100
Brazil -- 78
Holland -- 76
Colombia -- 73
Nigeria -- 70

The governance of the Augustinian Order is possibly best described by beginning at the local level. Each community is a fraternity, with a leader who is called a Prior. This word is taken from the Latin phrase, prior inter pares, meaning that he is "first among equals". In older orders such as the Benedictines, the leader is the "superior", that is, the one who is "higher". In the Augustinian tradition, the leader stands not "higher", but as an equal in the middle of the circle on the same level as all other community members.

The communities in a number of Augustinian houses form a district called a Province. Just as each house has a Prior, each Province has a Provincial. The one who secures an absolute majority of the votes of the Province is elected Provincial. The Provincial appoints a Council of four. The Provincial and his Council are the usual agents of moving members from one house to another, but within the Province.

Just as each Province has a Provincial as its leader, the Order has a Prior General to lead it internationally. The Prior General and his Council have an ambassadorial role between the Augustinian Order and the Vatican, assist in maintaining a positive spirit among the brethren, propose and facilitate initiatives that are international in scope, and generally facilitate communication and coordination among the Augustinian Provinces.

The local Prior and the Provincial are in office for four years, which are renewable (through re-election, in the case of the Provincial, and through re-appointment in the case of the Prior) for one more term. The Prior General has a term of six years. He can be re-elected for another six years. But then he must take his place at the end of the queue, to begin the climb of the greasypole again! Not really! Unlike Kilkenny's great D.J. Carey, no Prior General was ever allowed make a come-back!

INTERESTED IN STUDYING THEOLOGY?

A part-time BA programme in Religious Studies will be offered at GMIT, in association with the Western Theological Institute, starting this coming September. This course is under the direction of Fr. Eugene Duffy who will be familiar to many of you here in the Augustinian.

In Year I subjects will include: 'Introduction to the Bible'; 'What are Faith and Revelation?'; 'Introduction to World Religions'; 'Introduction to Spirituality'; 'History of Christian Ideas and Structures'.

In the following years subjects will include: 'Knowing God', Christ, the Church, Ecumenism, an in-depth study of the Bible, 'Contemporary Ethical Issues', 'Religion and the Arts', Islam and many other topics.

The course is geared towards adult learners. Subjects can be audited or taken individually for credit.

An Open Evening for anyone interested will be held at GMIT, Dublin Rd., Galway on September 7th, at 7.30 p.m. Application forms or further information may be had from Mary MacCague, GMIT, 091-742257.

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