The Augustinian Order Today

Presently, members of the Order live and minister in over 40 countries on every continent, preaching
the Gospel in a wide variety of ways, among people of every faith and no faith, of many cultures,
languages and traditions, seeking to foster St. Augustine’s ideal of uniting people in the communion of
mind and heart for the glory of God and the service of God’s people.

By the Very Rev. Michael F. DiGregorio, O.S.A.

History

The Spanish Augustinians were the first Christian missionaries of any religious order to enter the
Philippines and begin its conversion to Catholicism. Later after the revolution, Spanish Augustinian friars
were removed from 194 parishes and left the Philippines in 1899, eventually turning over their churches
and mission stations to secular clergy. The Order retained only a few parishes, including their main
foundations in Cebu, Manila, and Iloilo, with American friars taking over them.

On July 15, 1904, the university was founded by American Augustinian priests along with a few Filipino
and Spanish friars from Spain belonging to the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the
Philippines with assistance from their confreres from the Augustinian U.S. Province of St. Thomas of
Villanova. It began as a preparatory school for boys during the American colonial period. On December
12, 1912, it was granted government recognition for its various course offerings. Later on 5 February
1917, it was formally incorporated under the name Colegio de San Agustín de Iloilo. In 1928, one of the
country's oldest campus publications, The Augustinian Mirror, was established, producing some of the
country's well-known writers. The 1930s saw rapid growth with the opening of three colleges in quick
succession: College of Liberal Arts in 1935, College of Commerce in 1936 and College of Law in 1937. In
1940, the college began admitting female students.

During the Second World War (1941–45), the college was temporarily closed as the Philippines fought a
guerrilla war against the Japanese. The war led to the destruction of all the buildings, except for
Urdaneta Hall, which at present houses the university theatre and the College of Pharmacy and Medical
Technology. With almost the entire college in ruins, some friars advocated closing the school altogether
while others pushed for its immediate rehabilitation. American Augustinians came on loan after the War
to help the Order run the University of San Agustin for a couple of years while young friars from Spain of
the Philippine Province were studying their master's degrees and learning English in the United States or
Australia.

It was eventually reopened in 1945, followed by a decade of expansion that ushered in both the College
of Pharmacy and the College of Technology (1945), the Normal (Teacher's) College (1947), the Graduate
School (1950), and the College of Dentistry (1953). The school was granted university status on 1 March
1953, a year before its 50th anniversary, making it the first university in Western Visayas.

The following year, the Rev. Angel Dulanto, OSA arrived from Spain after completing his studies at
Villanova University, an American sister school of San Agustin. As an impresario, he introduced the
yearly velada, characterized by a weeklong festivity of artistic, religious, and cultural events. A zarzuela,
staged by both professors and students, is the centerpiece of University Week from 14–20 February.

In 1965, the Rev. Nicanor Lana, OSA became rector of the university. His term was marked by vast
improvements in the school's infrastructure. The same year he started his term as rector, he
inaugurated DySA, the official radio station of the university, to help expand the reach of the university
through mass media. The University of San Agustín Press, known today as Libro Agustino, came a year
later. In the months leading to the centenary of San Agustín in 2004, it began publishing book titles by
Augustinian authors, with an eye at producing a total of 100 different volumes over several years.

Poor enrollment forced the administrators to phase out the College of Dentistry in 1967. But a flowering
of cultural and artistic activities on campus led to the founding of the famous Kawilihan-USA Dance
Troupe, the USA Troubadours, and the Conservatory of Music. The Rev. Santiago Ezcurra, OSA, a Spanish
musician who studied music in Rome, was formally installed as its first dean. In 1969 the USA Clinical
Laboratory was opened, followed a few years later by the introduction of the College of Nursing in 1974.
In 2010, the university announced the establishment of a new extension campus in Mati, Davao
Oriental, Philippines.

1984 to presentEdit

The university maintains a Level III accreditation status granted by the PAASCU and is one of the two
schools in the region having an autonomous status granted by CHED. The university's campus, situated
in the very heart of the city on General Luna Street, has a modern gymnasium, an auditorium, various
conferences and seminar rooms, science, computer and speech laboratories, a museum, a bookstore, a
library, an instructional media center, and tennis and badminton courts.
In 1984 the all-Filipino Augustinian Province of Santo Niño of Cebu was formed, separating from the
mother Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines based in Madrid, and ownership of
the university was handed over to the latest circumscription of the Augustinian Order. A succession of
rectors were appointed, including Bernardino Ricafrente, Eusebio Berdon, Mamerto Alfeche, and
Rodolfo Arreza. During Arreza's term, he pursued linkages with various universities abroad and focused
on research development.

San Agustín promotes literature in the region through the Fray Luis de Léon Creative Writing Institute,
sponsor of the annual national writers workshop of the same name. The workshop awards a number of
writing fellowships to writers in English, Hiligaynon, and other Philippine languages. Its official student
publication, The Augustinian Mirror, has won various journalism awards and has produced some of the
Philippines' highly respected literary minds, notably Augustinian poet Gilbert Luis R. Centina III, OSA.

Recent developments in the university include the establishment of various research and
communication centers, namely:

The Institute for Augustinian Studies

Villanova Institute for Social Science Research and Cultural Studies

Mendel Institute for Natural Science and Technology Research

Institute for Social Development Issues and Initiatives

Over the years, school enrollment has increased, resulting in the decision to move the high school
department to a new campus in the suburbs of Sambag, Jaro in June 1995

History of order of St. Augustine

Foundation Edit

Augustine of Hippo, first with some friends and afterward as bishop with his clergy, led a monastic
community life. Religious vows were not obligatory, but the possession of private property was
prohibited. Their manner of life led others to imitate them. Instructions for their guidance were found in
several writings of Augustine, especially in De opere monachorum (P.L., XL, 527), mentioned in the
ancient codices regularum of the eighth or ninth century as the "Rule of St. Augustine". Epistola ccxi,
otherwise cix (P.L., XXXIII, 958), contains the early "Augustinian Rule for Nuns"; Epistolae ccclv and ccclvi
(P.L., mmmlxv, 3065) "De moribus clericorum". Between 430 and 570 this life-style was carried to
Europe by monks and clergy fleeing the persecution of the Vandals.[3] This system of life for cathedral
clergy continued in various locations throughout Europe for centuries.

As the first millennium came to an end, the fervor of this life began to wane, and the cathedral clergy
began to live independently of one another. At the start of the second millennium, there was a revival in
interest in the stricter form of clerical life. Several groups of canons were established under various
disciplines, all with the Augustinian Rule as their basis. Examples of these were the Congregation of
canons in Ravenna, founded by the Blessed Peter de Honestis about 1100, as well as the Norbertines.
The instructions contained in Augustine's Rule formed the basis of the Rule that, in accordance with the
decree of the Lateran Synod of 1059, was adopted by canons who desired to practice a common
apostolic life (Holstenius, Codex regularum, II, Rome, 1661, 120), hence the title of Canons Regular of
Saint Augustine.

Around the start of the 13th century, many eremitical communities, especially in the vicinity of Siena,
Italy, sprang up. These were often small (no more than ten) and composed of laymen, thus they lacked
the clerical orientation of the canons. Their foundational spirit was one of solitude and penance. With
time, some of the communities adopted a more outward looking way of life. As the number of hermit-
priests increased, assisting the local clergy in providing spiritual care for their neighbors became a larger
part of their lives. In 1223 four of the communities around Siena joined in a loose association, which had
increased to thirteen within five years.

Little Union Edit

The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 issued the decree Ne nimium to organise these small groups of
religious people by requiring them to live in community, to hold elective chapters, to be under
obedience to a major superior and to adopt one of the Rules of community life that were approved by
the Church.

The Augustinian friars came into being as part of the mendicant movement of the 13th century, a new
form of religious life which sought to bring the religious ideals of the monastic life into an urban setting
which allowed the religious to serve the needs of the People of God in an apostolic capacity. At this time
there were a number of eremitical groups living in such diverse places as Tuscany, Latium, Umbria,
Liguria, England, Switzerland, Germany, and perhaps France. In 1243 the Tuscan hermits petitioned
Pope Innocent IV to unite them all as one group. Innocent IV issued the Bull Incumbit Nobis on 16
December 1243, an essentially pastoral letter which exhorted these hermits to adopt "the Rule and way
of life of the Blessed Augustine," to profess this Augustinian manner of life in a way that they themselves
would decide with regards to specific charism and apostolate, and to elect a Prior General. The bull also
appointed Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi as their supervisor and legal guide. The importance of this man in
the foundation of the order cannot be overstated.[4]

Grand Union Edit

On 15 July 1255, Pope Alexander IV issued the bull, Cum quaedam salubria, to command a number of
religious groupings to gather for the purpose of being amalgamated into a new Order of Hermits of Saint
Augus around begging—ceased to be used.[5]

On 9 April 1256 Pope Alexander IV issued the bull Licet Ecclesiae catholicae (Bullarium Taurinense, 3rd
ed., 635 sq.) which confirmed the integration of the Hermits of John the Good (Rule of St. Augustine,
1225), the Hermits of St. William (Rule of St. Benedict), the Hermits of Brettino (Rule of St. Augustine,
1228), the Hermits of Monte Favale (Rule of St. Benedict), other smaller congregations and the Tuscan
Hermits into what was officially called the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine.[3]

Special constitutions were drawn up for its government, on the same lines as the Dominicans and other
mendicants—a general elected by chapter, provincials to rule in the different countries, with assistants,
definitors and visitors. For this reason, and because almost from the beginning the term "hermits"
became a misnomer (for they abandoned the deserts and lived conventually in towns), they ranked
among the friars, and became the fourth of the mendicant orders. The observance and manner of life
was, relatively to those times, mild, meat being allowed four days in the week.[6]

Privileges of the order Edit

Ecclesiastical privileges were granted to the order almost from its beginning. Alexander IV freed the
order from the jurisdiction of the bishops; Innocent VIII, in 1490, granted to the churches of the order
indulgences such as can only be gained by making the Stations at Rome; Pope Pius V placed the
Augustinians among the mendicant orders and ranked them next to the Carmelites. Since the end of the
13th century the sacristan of the Papal Palace was always to be an Augustinian friar, who would be
ordained as a Bishop. This privilege was ratified by Pope Alexander VI and granted to the Order forever
by a Bull issued in 1497. The holder of the office was Rector of the Vatican parish (of which the chapel of
St. Paul is the parish church). To his office also belonged the duty of preserving in his oratory a
consecrated Host, which had to be renewed weekly and kept in readiness in case of the pope's illness,
when it was the privilege of the papal sacristan to administer the last sacraments to the pope. The
sacristan had always to accompany the pope when he traveled, and during a conclave it was he who
celebrated Mass and administered the sacraments. He lived at the Vatican with a sub-sacristan and
three lay brothers of the order (cf. Rocca, "Chronhistoria de Apostolico Sacrario", Rome, 1605).
Augustinian friars, as of 2009, still perform the duties of papal sacristans, but the appointment of an
Augustinian bishop-sacristan lapsed under Pope John Paul II with the retirement of Petrus Canisius Van
Lierde in 1991. In papal Rome the Augustinian friars always filled one of the Chairs of the Sapienza
University, and one of the consultorships in the Congregation of Rites.

Missions Edit

The value set upon learning and science by the Augustinian friars is demonstrated by the care given to
their missionary work, their libraries and by the historic establishment of their own printing-press in
their convent at Nuremberg (1479), as well as by the numerous learned individuals produced by the
order. The order has produced many saints, for example Clare of Montefalco, Nicholas of Tolentino (d.
1305), Rita of Cascia, John of Sahagún (a Sancto Facundo) (d. 1479), and Thomas of Villanova (d. 1555).
Stefano Bellesini (d. 1840), the Augustinian parish priest of Genazzano, in the Roman province, was
beatified by Pius X on 27 December 1904.

Africa Edit

The Augustinians followed the Portuguese flag in Africa and the Gulf behind the explorer and seafarer
Vasco da Gama.[7] Nikolaus Teschel (d. 1371), auxiliary Bishop of Ratisbon, where he died, with some
brethren preached the Gospel in Africa. He had sailed from Lisbon in 1497, and arrived at Mozambique
in March 1498.Portuguese Augustinians also arrived in Gold coast (now Ghana) in 1572 and started their
missionary work,and also worked on the island of Sao Tome, in Warri (Nigeria) and in what is now
known as Angola, the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon up until 1738. The Portuguese also took
control of the port of Goa in India—giving the Augustinians a foothold there also. Besides the early
Portuguese Augustinians, other Augustinian missionaries have since followed to Africa from America,
Ireland, Belgium and Australia.

The Americas Edit

North America (US and Canada) Edit

St. Thomas of Villanova Church, on the Villanova University campus

The North American foundation of the order occurred in 1796 when Irish friars founded Olde St.
Augustine's Church in Philadelphia.[8] Michael Hurley was the first American to join the order the
following year. Friars established schools, Universities and other works throughout the Americas,
including Villanova University (1842) near Philadelphia and Merrimack College (1947) near Boston.

Secondary schools in the United States included:

Malvern Preparatory School (1842), Malvern, Pennsylvania;

St. Rita of Cascia High School (1905), Chicago, Illinois;

St. Augustine High School (1922), San Diego, California;

Villanova Preparatory School (1925), Ojai, California;

Cascia Hall Preparatory School (1926), Tulsa, Oklahoma;

Mendel Catholic High School (1951), Chicago, Illinois;

Monsignor Bonner High School (1953), Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania;

Austin Catholic Preparatory School (1954-1978), Detroit, Michigan;

St. Augustine College Preparatory School (1959), Richland, New Jersey

Austin Preparatory School (1961), Reading, Massachusetts;

Providence Catholic High School (1962), New Lenox, Illinois; and

St. Thomas of Villanova College (1999), King City, Ontario.

From 1925 and later during the Great Depression German Augustinians began arriving in North America
to teach. After 1936, with the political situation in Nazi Germany worsening, more German Augustinians
departed for North America. By 1939 from there were 46 German priests, 13 German religious brothers
and 8 German candidates in North America. The order established the first of their Canadian houses at
Tracadie, Nova Scotia in Canada in 1938. Among other Canadian foundations, the order also established
a significant priory and school King City, Ontario, near Toronto. Since 2006, it has since professed many
native Canadians.[9]

Latest Statistics:

As of 2006 there were more than 70 Augustinian priories in the United States and Canada with 386
friars[10] in solemn vows and 16 in simple vows.
Latin America Edit

Monastery of San Agustin of Yuriria, Mexico, founded in 1550.

Sent by their Provincial St. Thomas of Villanova, the first group of Spanish/Castilian Augustinians arrived
in Mexico in 1533[11] after the subjugation of Aztec Mexico by Hernan Cortez. Melchor de Vargas
composed, in 1576, a catechism in the Mexican Otomi language; Diego Basalenque (d. 1651) and Miguel
de Guevara compiled works in the languages of the Matlaltzinkas of Mexico; Manuel Perez translated
the Roman Catechism into Aztec in 1723. Monasteries sprang up in the principal places and became the
centers of Christianity, art, and civilization. The Patio (Cloister) of the former monastery of St. Augustine,
now the post office, at Querétaro, is one of the most beautiful examples of stone-carving in America.
They soon formed multiple priories, including at Guanajuato (pictured) and were later instrumental in
establishing the Pontifical and Royal University of Mexico. By 1562 there were nearly 300 Spanish
Augustinians in Mexico, and they had established some 50 priories. Their history in Mexico was not to
be an easy one, given the civil strife of events like the Cristero War, periodic anti-clericalism and
suppression of the church that was to follow.

Spanish Augustinians first went to Peru in 1551. From there they went to Ecuador in 1573, and from
Ecuador in 1575 to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. The order founded the
Ecuadorean University of Quito in 1586. Augustinians also entered Argentina via Chile between 1617
and 1626, and their history there was eventful. The order had considerable property confiscated by the
Argentinian government under the secularisation laws in the 19th century, and were entirely suppressed
for 24 years until 1901 when they returned. The Augustinian Province of the Netherlands later also
founded houses in Bolivia from 1930.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII, presently known as St. John XXIII, asked for religious orders in the United States
to send 10% of their members to evangelize Latin America. He later specifically invited the Augustinians
of the Midwest Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, headquartered near Chicago, to care for
missionary territory in Northern Peru. The Augustinians accepted the invitation and began their
missionary service in 1964. Their primary assignment was to the newly created Prelature of Chulucanas,
which was later erected to become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chulucanas. The diocese split what
was once the Eastern territory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Piura. The Augustinians also began
new service in the nation's capital of Lima.[12]

The Provincia Michoacanensis had about 55 members, while the Provincia Mexicana had 31, most of
whom are priests. Augustinian missionaries extended their friaries to South America (Colombia,
Venezuela, Peru). Political events in these countries prevented the order from prospering and hindered
the success of its undertakings, so that during the 19th century the monasteries became deserted. Later
events in the Philippine Islands, however, permitted the Augustinians to return to their former churches
and monasteries and even to found new ones.

In the Republic of Colombia, 26 members of the Philippine province were employed in 1900, including 6
at the residence of Santa Fe de Bogotá, 8 in the college at Facatativa, and 12 at other stations. In Peru 49
members of the same province were employed: 14 priests and 2 lay brothers belonging to the convent
at Lima; 12 priests to the college in the same city; 6 in each of the two seminaries at Cuzco and
Ayacucho. In the Prefecture Apostolic of San León de Amazonas, at the mission stations of Peba, Río
Tigre, and Leticia in the territory of the Iquito Indians there were 9 priests in 1900. In June, 1904,
Bernardo Calle, the lay brother Miguel Vilajoli, and more than 70 Christians, were murdered at a then
recently erected mission station, Huabico, in Upper Maranon and the station itself was destroyed.

The Augustinian settlements in Brazil of the 19th century then belonged to the Philippine province. In
the procuration house at S. Paulo (Rua Apeninos 6) and in the college at Brotas there were 4
Augustinians each; in the diocesan seminary at S. José de Manaos, 6; and in the other settlements, 27
priests—in all, 42 members of the order, including one lay brother. In Argentina, there were 25 priests
and two lay brothers in the six colleges and schools of the order in 1900. In Ecuador, which formed a
province by itself, there were 21 members of the order in 1900; being 9 priests and 7 lay brothers in the
monastery at Quito; 3 priests in the convent at Latagun and 2 in that at Guayaquil. The province of Chile
had 56 members in 1900, including 18 lay brothers; 11 at Santiago, 4 at La Serena, 5 at Concepción, 22
at Talca, 8 at San Fernando, 4 at Melipilla, and 2 in the residence at Picazo. The province of the United
States of America increased in the end of the 19th century as the Augustinians were driven out of many
European countries, and in 1848 sought refuge in the USA. The province numbered 200 members in
1900. The largest convent was then at Villanova, Pa.; it was also the novitiate for North America, and
among the 117 religious then occupying the convent 21 were priests. The other convents contained 60
members by 1900, of whom 5 were lay brothers. The order (from Mexico) arrived in Cuba in 1608. It was
suppressed by force in 1842. From 1892 the province of the United States had care of St. Augustine's
College at Havana, Cuba, where there were 5 priests and 3 lay brothers in 1900 before they were
expelled in 1961 by the government of Fidel Castro.

Latest Statistics:

In the year 2000 in Central and South America,[13] the Augustinians remain established in Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela as well three Peruvian
Vicariates of Iquitos, Apurímac and Chulucanas, and the Province of Peru. There are currently 814 friars
in Latin America.
Oceania Edit

By the early 20th century, the Augustinians established missions in Oceania and Australia. The Spanish
Augustinians took over the missions founded by Spanish and German Jesuits in the Ladrones, which then
numbered 7 stations, with about 10,000 people, on Guam and about 2500 on each of the German
islands of Saipan, Rota and Tinian. The mission on the German islands was separated from the Diocese
of Cebú on 1 October 1906, and made a prefecture Apostolic on 18 June 1907, with Saipan as its seat of
administration, and the mission given in charge to the German Capuchins.

Australia Edit

In Australia the Augustinians were established in the ecclesiastical Province of Melbourne and in the
Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown, Queensland, with twelve priests of the Irish province under Monsignor
James D. Murray. The order has furnished some prominent bishops to Australia, e.g. Irishman James
Alipius Goold. The Irish Augustinian college of St. Patrick at Rome, built in 1884 by Patrick Glynn, under a
rector, was then the training college for the Augustinian missions.

James Alipius Goold had been the first Augustinian to arrive in the Australian colonies in 1838. He had
been convinced to go to Australia by William Bernard Ullathorne (then the Benedictine Vicar-General of
New Holland) after a chance meeting on the steps of the Roman Augustinian church at the monastery of
Santa Maria del Popolo.[14]

Goold began his missionary work in Sydney under Archbishop John Bede Polding, becoming parish priest
at Campbelltown. Goold went on in 1848 to become the founding bishop and first Archbishop of the
Archdiocese of Melbourne. He also commenced the design and construction of its Neo-Gothic
Cathedral. Despite's Goold's initial desire to establish immediately an Australian branch of the order, the
first Australian Augustinian was not ordained until 1940, and the Australian Province was not formally
established as separate from its Irish founding province until 1952.

The Irish Augustinian friars formally accepted responsibility in 1884 for the part of Queensland that
became the Diocese of Cairns, and the first Australian priory was founded at Echuca, Victoria in 1886.
Priories were established at Rochester in 1889 and Kyabram in 1903. The order worked at different
times in the colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, taking
part in some critical moments of the settlement and establishment of modern Australia. Charles O'Hea
O.S.A. baptized Ned Kelly. Matthew Downing O.S.A. tried to calm the miners who were part of the
Eureka Stockade in 1854. The order also supplied a number of the other early Australian bishops
including Martin Crane O.S.A. and Stephen Reville O.S.A both in Sandhurst (Bendigo) John Heavey O.S.A.
(Cairns), John Hutchinson O.S.A (Cooktown), and James Murray O.S.A (Cooktown).

The order presently conducts parishes, two schools (one established 1948 in Brisbane, the other
established 1956 in Sydney), St John Stone House (a centre for Augustinian Spirituality), a formation
centre, and special ministries such as palliative care, HIV/AIDS ministry, and Aboriginal ministry.

Associated orders such as the St John of God Brothers (arrived Australia 1947 and established mental
health services) and the Filipino Augustinian Sisters of our Lady of Consolation also established an
Australian house in the 1990s.

Latest Statistics:

As of 2006 there were 11 other Augustinian priories in Australia[15] with 36 friars in solemn vows, and
one in simple vows. The order of friars is in numerical decline in Australia while affiliated orders are
growing.

Papua Edit

The Augustinian Delegation of Papua has operated since 1953. It presently contains five Dutch-born
Augustinians and thirty-three Indonesian-born Augustinians.[16]

The order of friars and affiliated orders are growing in the Indonesian territories.

South-East Asia Edit

Indonesia Edit

Two Dutch Augustinian friars re-established the order in Papua (now Indonesia) in 1953 while it was still
a Dutch colony. In 1956 the order took responsibility for the area that was to become the Diocese of
Manokwari. As of 2006, the Augustinian Vicariate of Indonesia has 15 friars in solemn profession, and 7
in simple vows. It is now predominantly Papuan.
The order of friars and affiliated orders are growing in Indonesia.

Philippines Edit

The Augustinian friars were the first Christian missionaries to arrive in what is now regarded as Asia's
only Catholic nation, and the leader of these first missionaries was the navigator Andrés de Urdaneta
(1498 – June 3, 1568, Mexico), an Augustinian friar. He was navigator on the journey that established
the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines. The historic Augustinian Province of the Most
Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines was officially formed on December 31, 1575 as an offshoot of the
establishment of the first permanent Spanish settlements. San Agustín Church and Monastery in Manila
became the centre of Augustinian efforts to evangelise the Philippines. Herrera wrote a poetical life of
Jesus in the Tagalog language in 1639.

Cipriano Navarro's important work on "The Inhabitants of the Philippines" and a monumental work in six
volumes entitled "La Flora de Filipinas" (Madrid, 1877– ), are valuable contributions to literature and
learning on the Philippines. Manuel Blanco, Ignacio Mercado, Antonio Llanos, Andrés Naves and
Celestino Fernandez are also worthy of mention. Angelo Perez and Cecilio Guemes published in 1905 a
work in four volumes entitled "La Imprenta de Manila".

Arguably, the most energetic missionary activity of the Augustinian Order has been displayed in the
Philippine Islands. When Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines (16 March 1521) and took
possession of them in the name of the King of Spain, he was accompanied by the chaplain of the fleet,
who preached the Gospel to the inhabitants, baptizing Kings Colambu and Siagu and 800 natives of
Mindanao and Cebú, on Low Sunday, 7 April 1521. The effect of these conversions however, were soon
almost negated. Magellan was killed in a fight with natives on the little island of Mactan on 27 April and
the Catholic foundation established by the first Spanish missionaries almost disappeared. The
missionaries brought from Mexico in 1543 by Ruy López Villalobos were not more successful, for they
were forced to return to Europe by way of Goa, having had little influence on the islanders. Under the
Adelantado Legaspi who in 1565 established the sovereignty of Spain in the Philippines and selected
Manila as the capital in 1571, Andrés de Urdaneta and 4 other Augustinian friars landed at Cebú in 1565,
and at once began a very successful apostolate. The first houses of the Augustinians were established at
Cebú, in 1565, and at Manila, in 1571.

Augustinian friars made researches in the languages of the Philippine Islands including Diego Bergano,
and José Sequi (d. 1844), a prominent missionary of the order who baptized 30,000 people. Many wrote
grammars and compiled dictionaries.
In 1575, under the leadership of Alfonso Gutierez, twenty-four Spanish Augustinians landed in the
islands and, with the respective provincials Diego de Herrera and Martin de Rado, worked very
successfully, at first as wandering preachers. Franciscans first appeared in the Philippines in 1577 and
were welcomed by the Augustinians. Soon they were joined by Dominicans and Jesuits. Sent by Philip III,
the first Discalced Augustinians landed in 1606. All these Orders shared in the work and challenges of
the missions. Protected by Spain, they prospered, and their missionary efforts became more and more
successful. In 1773 the Jesuits, however, were obliged to give up their missions in consequence of the
suppression of the Society.

Religious orders suffered persecution in the Philippines at the end of the 19th century, especially the
Augustinians. In 1897 the Calced Augustinians, numbering 319 out of 644 religious then in the Philippine
province, had charge of 225 parishes, with 2,377,743 people; the Augustinian Recollects, numbering
about 220, with 233 parishes and 1,175,156 people; the Augustinians of the Philippine province
numbered in all 522, counting those in the priories at Manila, Cavite, San Sebastian, and Cebú, those at
the large model farm at Imus, and those in Spain at the colleges of Monteagudo, Marcilla, and San
Millan de la Cogulla. Besides the numerous parishes served by the Calced Augustinians, they possessed
several educational institutions: a superior and intermediate school at Vigan (Villa Fernandina) with 209
students, an orphanage and trade school at Tambohn near Manila, with 145 orphans, etc. Because of
the disturbances, the schools and missions were deserted; six Augustinian priests were killed and about
200 imprisoned and some of them harshly treated. Those who escaped unmolested fled to the principal
house at Manila, to Macao, to Han-kou, to South America, or to Mexico. Up to the beginning of 1900, 46
Calced and 120 Discalced Augustinians had been imprisoned. Upon their release, they returned to the
few monasteries still left them in the islands or set out for Spain, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and
China. The province of the United States sent some members to supply the vacancies in the Philippines.
The Monastery of St. Paul, at Manila, had 24 priests and 6 lay brothers back in 1900; that at Cebú, 5
members of the order, that at Iloilo, on the island of Panay, 11 priests and 2 lay brothers, while in the 10
residences there were 20 priests; so that in 1900 there were only 68 Calced Augustinians in the islands.
In all, the "Provincia Ss. Nominis Jesu Insularum Philippinarum", including theological students and the
comparatively small number of lay brothers, had 600 members in 1900: 359 being in Spain, 185 of
whom were priests; 68 in the Philippines; 29 in China (before their later expulsion) ; 26 in Colombia; 49
in Peru; 42 in Brazil; 27 in Argentina.

The Order in the 21st century still has responsibility for one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the
Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu in Cebu. Before the Philippine Revolution of 1898, which accelerated the
separation of church and state in the Philippines, the Augustinians conducted more than 400 schools
and churches there and had pastoral care for some 2,237,000 Filipinos, including 328 village missions.
The Philippine Revolution of 1896 cost the order its heaviest losses in the entire 19th century, breaking
the historic connection with, or destroying the majority of its established works there. This included the
removal of friars from 194 parishes, the capture of 122 friars by Filipino revolutionaries and the
deprivation of income from 240 friars. Many Spanish Augustinians were forced to leave the country for
Spain or Latin America, repopulating the Augustinian houses in Spain and reinforcing Augustinian
missionary work in South America.

In 1904 members of the order belonging to the Philippine province established the University of San
Agustin in Iloilo City, Philippines. They have also since established schools such as the Colegio San
Agustin-Bacolod in Negros Occidental (1962), the Colegio San Agustin, Makati (1969) and the Colegio
San Agustin, Biñan in Biñan, Laguna (1985). In 1968 friars of the Philippine province re-established the
Augustinian presence on the Indian subcontinent.

In 2004 the all-Filipino Augustinian Province of Cebu celebrated its twentieth year of existence. It has 85
members in final vows with 19 in simple profession. There are 12 priories including a mission on Socorro
Island.[17]

The Order of friars is again growing in the Philippines. The Augustinian Recollects are also present in the
Philippines.

Asia Edit

China Edit

The first Western major work on the history of China was by Augustinian friar Juan González de
Mendoza. It was a description of a visit to China by three others (including another Augustinian friar),
and included the first known depiction of Chinese characters in Western publishing. In 1585 he
published it at Rome in Spanish.

Martin de Hereda and Hieronymus penetrated into the interior of China in 1577, to study Chinese
literature with the intention of bringing it into Europe. Antonius Aug. Georgius (d. 1797) composed the
"Alphabetum Tibetanum" for the use of missionaries. Agostino Ciasca (d. 1902), titular Archbishop of
Larissa and cardinal, established a special faculty for Oriental languages at the Roman Seminary,
published an Arabic translation of Tatian's "Diatessaron" and wrote "Bibliorum Fragmenta Copto-
Sahidica". Dionysius of Borgo San Sepolcro (d. 1342), Bishop of Monopoli in Lower Italy, is the author of
a commentary on the "Factorum et dictorum memorabilium libri IX" of Valerius Maximus, and was also
much esteemed for his talents as poet, philosopher, and orator. The missionaries of the order have also
given us valuable descriptive works on foreign countries and peoples.

In about 1681, the Filipino Augustinian Alvaro de Benevente arrived in China and established the first of
the Augustinian houses in China at Kan-chou. Benevente was made bishop and became head of the
newly created Vicariate of Kiang-si in 1699. The Augustinian missionaries had success in propagating
Catholicism, but in 1708, during the Chinese Rites controversy they were forced to withdraw from China.
Portuguese Augustinians also served in the colonial port of Macau from 1586 until 1712.

In 1879 Spanish Augustinians[18] from Manila (Elias Suarez and Agostino Villanueva) entered China to
re-establish an Augustinian mission.

In 1891 there were only 219 Christians and 11 catechumens, as well as 29 schools, with 420 children and
750 orphans. In 1900 the order possessed the mission of Northern Hu-nan, China, where there were 24
members, 2 of whom were natives; 6 were in the district of Yo-chou; 6 in the district of Ch'ang-te; 9 in
the district of Li-chu; three other religious were also labouring in other districts—all under the vicar
Apostolic, then Mgr. Perez. The 1900 mission comprised about 3000 baptized Christians and 3500
catechumens in a population of 11 million. In 1900 there were also two priests at the mission house at
Han-kou and two at the procuration house at Shang-hai (Yang-tsze-poo Road, 10). By 1910 the
Augustinian mission had 24 members of the order, two were indigenous Chinese. By 1947 the
Augustinian mission counted 24,332 baptised Catholics as well as 3,250 preparing for baptism. They had
established 20 major churches and 90 satellite churches. By that time there were 25 Chinese-born
priests.

All foreign missionaries were expelled or imprisoned from 1953 by the Communist government.
Chinese-born Augustinians were dispersed by government order and directed not to live the monastic
life. Church officials were arrested, schools and other church institutions closed or confiscated by the
State. Many priests, religious brothers and sisters, as well as leaders among the Christian laity were sent
to labour camps. One of the last of the pre-Revolution Chinese Augustinians was the Rev. Dai O.S.A.. He
died in 2003.

Latest Information:

Since the re-unification of the former colonies of Macau and Hong-Kong with the central Chinese
government and further developments in government religious policy, Roman Catholicism in China—
including clergy, Roman Catholic bishops, and a Cardinal—once again exists openly alongside the
members of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and their co-religionists in the continuing
underground Church.

The Augustinian have recently re-established friendly relations with Chinese educational organisations
through school-placement programmes[19] as well as through the University of the Incarnate Word
Chinese campus founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

While there are Chinese Augustinian friars, there is not yet a priory in mainland China re-established.

India Edit

After an extensive period of expansion in India from the 15th century[20] the Portuguese Augustinians
had not only established the order but also provided sixteen Indian bishops between 1579 and 1840.
The order subsequently disappeared in India, cut off from its usual governance after the suppression of
Portuguese monasteries in 1838, and the friars were forced to become secular priests. The order had
failed successfully to establish itself as an autonomous indigenous Indian foundation.

However, the Augustinians were re-established by Andrés G. Niño, OSA, Spanish Augustinian, named
coordinator of the project by the General Chapter of the Order in 1971 .... (cf., Estudio Agustiniano, 45
(2010) 279-303) ....... and the Indian Augustinians took on further responsibilities in Kerala in 2005.[21]
The Indian delegation currently has 16 ordained friars and 8 in simple vows. The order is growing
numerically in India.

Iran Edit

The missionary history of Iran (Persia) also mentions the Augustinians. Towards the close of the
sixteenth century, Aleixo de Menezes, Count of Cantanheda (d. 1617), a member of the order,
appointed Archbishop of Goa in 1595, and of Braga in 1612, Primate of the East Indies, and several times
Viceroy of India, sent several Augustinians as missionaries to Iran (Persia) while he himself laboured for
the reunion of the Thomas Christians, especially at the Synod of Diamper, in 1599, and for the
conversion of the Muslims and the non-Christians of Malabar.

Japan Edit
Despite a vigorous early Christian foundation in Nagasaki by Jesuits, Franciscans and Filipino
Augustinians[22] and the many 17th century Japanese Augustinian martyrs, the earlier Augustinian
mission attempts eventually failed after the repression of Tokugawa Hidetada (ruled 1605–1623; second
Tokugawa shogun of Japan) and the expulsion of Christians under Tokugawa Iemitsu (ruled 1623 to
1651; third Tokugawa shogun of Japan).

The Augustinian missions in the Philippines provided missionaries for the East since their first
establishment. In 1602 some of them penetrated into Japan, where several were martyred around the
1607 during a period of Christian persecution. Among the martyred, Augustinians include: Ferdinand of
Saint Joseph, Andrew Yoshida, Peter Zuñiga, John Shozaburo, Michael Kiuchi Tayemon, Peter Kuhieye,
Thomas Terai Kahioye, Mancio Seisayemon, Lawrence Hachizo, Bartholomew Guitierrez, Vincent of Saint
Anthony, Francis of Jesus, Martin of Saint Nicholas Lumbreras and Melchior of Saint Augustine Sánchez,
and Thomas “Kintsuba” Jihyoe of Saint Augustine. The Augustinian Martyrs of Japan collectively
celebrate their feast day on September 28. Augustinian Ferdinand of Saint Joseph, along with Andrew
Yoshida, a catechist who worked with him, were beheaded in 1617. Peter Zúniga was burned to death in
1622. Br. John Shozaburo, Oblates Michael Kiuchi Tayemon, Peter Kuhieye, Thomas Terai Kahioye, and
Tertiaries Mancio Scisayemon and Lawrence Hachizo were beheaded in 1630. Bartholomew Gutierrez,
Vincent of Saint Anthony Simoens, Francis of Jesus Terrero, Martin of St. Nicholas Lumbreras and
Melchior of St. Augustine Sánchez were burned to death in 1632. Thomas Jihyoe of Saint Augustine in
1637 was hung by his feet with his head inserted into a pit of rotting garbage until he died.[23] In 1653
others entered China, where, in 1701, the order had six missionary stations before their expulsion.

However, American Augustinian friars returned to Japan in 1954, symbolically establishing their first
priory in 1959 at Nagasaki (also site of the second atomic bomb dropped on August 13, 1945). They then
established priories in Fukuoka (1959), Nagoya (1964), and Tokyo (1968). As of 2006, there are seven
United States Augustinian friars and five Japanese Augustinian friars.

Early Japanese Augustinian leaders, including St Magdalen of Nagasaki and St Thomas Jihyoe are
venerated as saints.

Korea Edit

The Augustinian Recollects are also present in Korea, but for the Augustinian friars, the Region of Korea
was founded in 1985 by Australian, English and Scottish friars. Filipinos later replaced the UK friars. As of
2006 there are 5 Koreans professed in the order and 12 in formation.[24] The order of friars is growing
numerically in Korea.
Latest Statistics:

As of 2006 (and not counting Spanish Augustinian priories) there were more than 21 other Augustinian
houses across the Philippines, India, Korea, Japan, and Indonesia, with more than 140 friars[10] in
solemn vows and more than 40 in simple vows. The order of friars is growing in Asia.

Europe Edit

In its most flourishing state at the beginning of the 14th century AD, the order in Europe had forty-two
provinces (besides the two vicariates of India and Moravia) with 2,000 monasteries and about 30,000
members.[25] The Canons Regular and the Augustinian Recollects also have considerable history in
Europe.

Latest statistics:

As of 2006 there were 148 active Augustinian priories in Europe, including Germany, The Netherlands,
Belgium, Poland, Ireland, England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain
and Spanish houses in the Philippines. This includes 1,031 friars[10] in solemn vows, and 76 in simple
vows.

EnglandEdit

In England and Ireland of the 14th century the Augustinian order had had over 800 friars, but these
priories had declined (for other reasons) to around 300 friars before the anti-clerical laws of the
Reformation Parliament and the Act of Supremacy. The friaries were dispersed from 1538 in the
dissolution of monasteries during the English Reformation. The martyr St John Stone was one of the few
British Augustinians to publicly defy the will of Henry VIII in this matter.[26] The partial List of
monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England alone includes 19 Augustinian houses.

The Augustinians were re-established in England in the 1860s with the creation - in Hoxton Square,
London, N1 - of the Augustinian Priory, church and school of St Monica (architect: E. W. Pugin) built
1864–66.[27]

Clare Priory – one of the houses dissolved by King Henry VIII – was re-acquired by the order in 1953,
with help from the family who then owned it.
Spain Edit

A significant Augustinian missionary college was established at the former Spanish capital of Valladolid
in 1759—and this house was exempted from the suppression of monastic houses in Spain c.1835, later
becoming the centre of restoration for the order in Spain. In 1885 Filipino Augustinians took charge of
the famous Escorial, and friars continue to administer it today. The modern Augustinian province of
Spain was refounded in 1926—largely through Spanish and Filipino friars from the Philippines—but that
was not the end of difficulty for the order in Spain. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) ninety eight
Augustinians were murdered—sixty five friars from the Escorial alone were executed. Many of the
discalced Augustinian nuns of Valencia were also put to death.

As of 2006 there were 177 Spanish Augustinian friars, with 23 in simple profession.[28]

Ireland Edit

The English Province of the Order of Saint Augustine founded their first house in Dublin some time
before 1280, and for a considerable time the Augustinians of Ireland were all English, effectively serving
the English settlers in Ireland. Great Connell Priory was founded about 1202. Ballybeg Priory of St.
Thomas à Becket, was founded by Phillip de Barry in 1229 for the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.
However, by the mid 14th century thirteen houses of the order had been established in Ireland. The Irish
branch was relatively poor, and very few of the indigenous Irish friars were sent to the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge for their education (unlike the English Augustinians). The fortunes of the Irish
order changed in 1361 when Lionel, the second son of King Edward III, became viceroy of Ireland. He
favoured the order, and soon established an Augustinian professor of theology based at St. Patrick's
Cathedral, Dublin, and the Irish order then grew significantly until the time of the English Reformation.

In Ireland after the Reformation Parliament that began in 1529, the Augustinian houses in Leinster,
Munster, Dublin, Dungarvan and Drogheda were soon suppressed. The houses in Ardnaree, Ballinrobe,
Ballyhaunis, Banada and Murrisk managed to remain functioning until 1610. By decree in 1542 the
English parliament had allowed the Augustinian community at Dunmore in County Galway, Ireland to
continue. After 1610 the Dunmore community was the only surviving foundation, and in 1620 the Irish
Province of the Augustinians was given pastoral charge of both England (where all houses had been
forcibly closed) and Ireland. Irish Augustinian students were sent to the Continent to study, and the Irish
Augustinians continued their work in Ireland under the harsh English Penal laws designed to protect the
establishment of the Church of England. A number were executed—including William Tirry[29] OSA
(executed 1654 for saying mass). In 1656, in response to the persecution at home, Pope Alexander VII
established the Irish Augustinians in Rome in the church and priory of San Matteo in Merulana. Many
Augustinians though remained in Ireland. One such Bishop John Sleyne O.S.A was administrator in
commendam and last Prior of Ballybeg Priory. In 1751 Augustine Cheevers, an Irish Augustinian, was
made Bishop of Ardagh. Others left to work in America and after the 1830s to Australia. After the
Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, the order began to re-organise more openly in Ireland. The Irish
friars took the order back to England, establishing a priory at Hoxton, London in 1864. They further
turned their attention to Nigeria, Australia, America and missionary work. The contemporary Irish order
conducts parishes, a school in Dungarvan (founded 1874), a school in New Ross and special ministries in
Ireland.

Contemporary Ireland is undergoing rapid change, and this presents challenges to the order there. Many
Irish emigrants (including Augustinian friars) are now returning. Over 40,000 immigrants each year are
admitted to keep the Irish economy working, and many are coming from the new Eastern European
members of the European Union. For example, there are now over 100,000 Poles in the country as well
as asylum seekers from Africa and the Balkan countries.

Europe (setbacks) Edit

Many European Augustinian priories and foundations suffered serious setbacks (including suppression
and destruction) from the various periods of anti-clericalism during the Reformation and other historical
events such as the French Revolution, the Spanish civil war (among more than 6,000 clergy, 155 Spanish
Augustinians were killed),[30] the two World Wars and Communist repression.

French-speaking lands Edit

The order of friars in Spain and France has had an eventful history, from being part of the Grand Union,
through the periods of extensive Spanish colonisation, the French Revolution, the effects of the
Napoleonic wars, the War of the Spanish Succession, suppression of the order, the Spanish Civil War,
and then Francisco Franco.

German-speaking lands Edit

The successful German branch, which until 1299 was counted as one province, was then divided into
four provinces. These provinces produced significant Augustinian leaders and reformers. These included
the most famous German Augustinian theologian before the Augustinian Martin Luther: Andreas Proles
(d. 1503), the founder of the Union or Congregation of the Observant Augustinian Hermits, organized
after strict principles; Johann von Paltz, the famous Erfurt professor and pulpit-orator (d. 1511);
Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen (d. 1532); as well as Johann von Staupitz, Luther's monastic superior
and Wittenberg colleague (d. 1524).

Reforms were also introduced into the extra-German branches of the order, but a long time after
Proles's reform and in connection with the Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. The Augustinian credentials of Martin Luther did not prevent anti-clerical attacks on the order
during the Reformation, and neither did it enhance the order's political influence within the Catholic
Church during the Counter-Reformation.

A number of mathematicians, astronomers, and musicians are also found among the members of the
order, but it was the great scientist Johann Gregor Mendel, abbot of the Czech monastery of St. Thomas
at Old Brno in Moravia (d. 1884) who gave great credit to the Augustinian Order's scholarship in the 19th
century. He was the discoverer of the Mendelian laws of heredity and hybridization.