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Message from the Prior General on the Feast of St. Monica and St. Augustine

Dear brothers and sisters of the Augustinian family:

Before the celebration of the feast of Santa Monica and the solemnity of our Father Saint Augustine, I ask that you intercede for us and that the example of your lives helps us to strengthen our faith, hope, and charity.

Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that today it is still very useful to look at the great witnesses of the faith, such as Saint Monica and Saint Augustine, who with their teachings and with their own existence have shown the great human, cultural and spiritual riches that arise from our beliefs. This Pope pointed out that Saint Augustine of Hippo can teach us with his doctrine how faith unites harmoniously with reason to bring humanity to full knowledge of the truth.

Also, taking advantage of the reflection on the theme of “synodality in the Church”, I want to invite you to deepen this aspect of our Augustinian spirituality. Thus, I emphasize that our Father invites us to walk towards the unity of souls and hearts, of which the Holy Spirit is the principle and agent.

Certainly, living our unity does not consist in the uniformity or the unanimity of opinions but in the strong communion among ourselves and with God. Only from charity can we live our Unity and, in it, diversity should lead us to a dialogical encounter with our brother and sister, and to a reconciliation in the love of Christ. Without the bond that is born of charity, that is, the one that is given to us as a Gift and Grace, and thus without our own merit, we will not be able to achieve this desired communion. It is the Spirit who, within us, in the depths of each one, acts so that we reach and persevere in the unanimity and concord of being brothers and sisters in Christ.

On behalf of the General Council, I send you a fraternal greeting and congratulations to each one of the brothers and sisters of our Augustinian family.

Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón, OSA

Prior General