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You have called to me,
and have cried out,
and have shattered my deafness.
You have blazed forth with light
and have put my blindness to flight!
You have touched me,
and I have burned for Your peace.
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| St. Augustine |
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If you want to share your talents for the good of others, the Augustinian way of life offers you the opportunity to realise that wish.
Although the religious way of life is questioned by many in today’s world, never have the demands and pressures been greater. To meet that challenge, to address the problems of society, that is the role of the Augustinian community whether as chaplains, building parish communities, teaching, ministering to the needs of the sick and those who suffer from social and economic injustice.
No one person can possess all the skills and talents required to solve all these problems but as a community we can work to assist those who need our help most. Living and working as a community is our way of trying to achieve this. We don’t have it perfectly together, but then we don’t pretend to. We are following in the tradition of the first community established by St. Augustine at Hippo In North Africa. The challenges he faced are similar in scale to those which we must respond as we enter the new millennium.
As it has been done over the centuries, our role today as Augustinian brothers and priests remains one of responding to the needs of people, and of doing so as instruments of hope through the gospel.
As Augustinians we realise that even as a group together we cannot do this alone. Every Christian is invited to spread God’s word. Our way of life is one way of responding to that invitation.
Through our work as Augustinians we seek to extend our sense of community to people for whom the world is increasingly a place of confusion and isolation. St. Augustine’s ideals are still relevant today - the quest for happiness and community, the search for God, and impatience with the trappings of society.
Our role as Augustinians today
| Teaching |
| We strive to reach out to the needs of young people as teachers, chaplains and university lecturers. Our two second level colleges are in New Ross and Dungarvan. |
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| Chaplaincy |
| As Augustinians we are chaplains to many institutions and second level colleges. We are availabile, responding to the needs of young people. |
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| Helping to Build Parish Community |
| Whether in inner city Dublin or around the country we work to build that special sense of community through our involvement with parish councils, community groups, youth activities and the busy day to day running of a parish. |
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| Counselling |
| People are often looking for a sense of direction,this can be frustrating. We try to give a listening ear and quality time to those who need counselling or direction. |
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| Assisting families in crisis |
| We try to reach out to families who are in crisis, expressing our concern and support for them. |
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| Foreign Missions |
| From the original Irish province, missionaries have brought the faith to many parts of the world. In some of these places independent provinces have been established. Today we have missionaries working in established communities in Nigeria, Ecuador, Kenya and South Africa. |
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| Retreat Work |
| Through this work we strive to respond to the age old spiritual hunger of people, looking for God in the reality of today. |
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| Ministering to the needs of the sick |
| In ministering to the needs of the sick, friars reach out to those who are ill and infirm by accompanying them in what can be a very vulnerable time. |
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