Four Men Profess First Vows as Augustinian Friars
- Augustinian Vocations
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
One year ago, four Augustinian Novices entered the front door of the Novitiate in Radnor, PA. They each came from different places, different careers, and different life experiences, each carrying his own story of how God had led him to the Augustinians.
On August 1, 2026, those vocation stories converged at the altar of St. Thomas of Villanova Parish at Villanova University.
Standing in front of family members, friends, and their Augustinian brothers, Br. Brent Faubert, O.S.A., Br. Jugie "John" Bernardo, O.S.A., Br. Jun Maranan, O.S.A., and Br. Kurt Bragg, O.S.A., professed First Vows during Mass celebrated by Fr. Joseph Farrell, O.S.A., Prior General of the worldwide Augustinian Order. By professing the vows of poverty, chastity. and obedience, the four men entered the next stage of formation as professed Augustinian friars.
Each new Augustinian friar arrived at that moment by a different path. Br. Kurt's search for truth led him into the Catholic Church before he discovered a call to religious life. Br. Brent left behind a successful career after realizing that God was inviting him to serve in a different way. Br. Jun found in the Augustinian community a place where his desire to give himself completely to God could flourish alongside brothers who shared the same calling. Br. John's vocation carried him from the Philippines to the Midwest Province, where prayer,
fraternity, and formation steadily confirmed the path before him.
Over the past year of studies as novices, those individual stories became one shared experience. Together, they prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, studied the Rule and Constitutions, learned the traditions of the Order, and settled into the daily rhythm of Augustinian community life. The novitiate is designed to teach and to shape a way of living that continues long after the year itself has ended.
"There are many opportunities during the novitiate year to be formed," Fr. Farrell said during his homily. "A lot of that formation involves repetition, because we know that without repetition, there's no formation."
Among those daily practices, he said, none is more important than prayer.
"That rhythm of prayer is what carries us throughout our religious lives," Fr. Farrell said. "It becomes just as important to you as sleeping, eating and, if I dare to say, breathing."
He encouraged the newly professed friars to protect the silence they learned to appreciate during the novitiate. As the responsibilities of ministry, study and community life grow, silence and interiority remains the place where religious men continue to listen for God's voice amid the demands of everyday life.
Following the homily, each novice came forward to profess his vows publicly before God and the Church. One by one, they promised to live poverty, chastity, and obedience according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order. They removed their white novice habits and changed into their black habits and were welcomed with the embrace of peace from their Augustinian brothers.
Fr. Farrell reminded the congregation that those vows aren’t limitations or obligations, but are a way of living the promises first made at Baptism, freeing religious men to love God, one another, and the Church with an undivided heart.
Before the liturgy continued, he invited everyone present to remember that a vocation is never lived alone.
"As our brothers profess their vows this morning," he said, "I invite all of you to pray for them."
For the Midwest Augustinians, the day was both joyful and hopeful. Three of the four novices are members of the Midwest Province, and every profession of vows renews the life of the Order, bringing new voices, new gifts, and new energy into a community that has served the Church for generations. It is also a reminder that God continues to call men from every background to follow Christ through the Augustinian way of life.
For Brent, John, Jun and Kurt, the novitiate has come to an end. The habits formed during that year now become the pattern of everyday life.
