Earlier this month, the Augustinian friars preparing for their solemn vows went on the traditional pellegrinaggio, or pilgrimage, to Italy. Led by the Post-Noviate Director, Fr. Joe Mostardi, OSA, the friars visited and learned about those locations most crucial in the life of St. Augustine, and in the life of the Augustinian Order. Availing themselves of the hospitality of local Augustinian friaries and monasteries, our North American friars were also able to develop a greater sense of the international character of the Order.
Their stops included San Gimignano, Pavia (the site of St. Augustine’s tomb), Montefalco (the site of St. Clare), Cascia (the site of St. Rita), Tolentino (site of St. Nicholas). Finally the pilgrimage ended in Rome, where the friars visited the tomb of St. Monica, the Vatican, the Shrine of Our Mother of Good Counsel, and Ostia Antica, the major port where Augustine both arrived and departed from after his conversion.
