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History of the Augustinians of the Midwest

In the early years after the United States had been established as an independent country, the population was widely scattered. There were few priests to minister to Catholics.

The First Augustinian Missionaries

When Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore appealed for priests to come to America, the Augustinians of Ireland sent Rev. John Rosseter, O.S.A. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1794. Bishop Carroll was so pleased with Father Rosseter's ministry that he asked the Order of St. Augustine to send additional friars and to establish a permanent community in the new republic.

Rev. Matthew Carr, O.S.A. was assigned to the new mission field. He arrived in 1796 and made Philadelphia the center of Augustinian missionary activity.

As their number grew, Augustinians expanded their presence and ministry to neighboring Eastern states.

Rev. James F. Green, O.S.A. was the first Augustinian to serve in the Midwest. He was sent to Chicago in 1905 at the invitation of Archbishop James E. Quigley.

Arrival in the Midwest

In 1905 Archbishop James E. Quigley of Chicago invited the Order to that city to start its first foundation west of the Alleghenies. Rev. James F. Green, O.S.A. went to Chicago later that year. He was asked to establish a Catholic presence in the sparsely settled southwest section of Chicago.

Three months later, construction was started of a church, school and monastery. The buildings served the newly established St. Rita Parish and St. Rita College (now called St. Rita High School).

As the area population grew, three additional parishes in nearby neighborhoods (St. Clare of Montefalco, St. Nicholas of Tolentine and St. Gall) were established by the Augustinians in 1909. St. Rita Parish moved from the high school campus to its own building a few blocks west in 1916.

Bishops of other midwestern dioceses began inviting the Augustinians to establish communities and serve the Church in their territories. Two parishes in Detroit (St. Augustine and St. Clare of Montefalco) and one in Flint, Michigan (St. Matthew) were entrusted to the Order in the 1920's. Cascia Hall was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a Catholic High School in 1924. Other foundations were established in Aurora (Fox Valley Catholic High School) and Rockford, Illinois (St. Thomas High School and St. Mary Parish).

Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel Established

By the late 1930's there were nine houses and 60 Augustinian friars serving in the midwest. The time was right to establish a new Province in the central United States. Thus, the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel was born April 26, 1941. Two months later the first Province Chapter was held. Rev. Ruellan P. Fink, O.S.A. was chosen as the first elected Provincial of the new Province.

First building of St. Rita High School and Parish, Chicago. This first foundation of the Augustinians of the Midwest was constructed in 1905.

The Villanova (Eastern U. S.) Province continued for several years to send five friars annually to the midwest. Together with young men from the midwest who joined the Order, the Province grew steadily.

The growing number of friars enabled the new Province to respond to the changing needs of the Church and to establish its own seminary system. Augustinians serve or served at varying times at Austin Catholic High School, Detroit, Michigan; St. Peter Parish, Douglas, Michigan; Blessed Sacrament Parish, Allegan, Michigan; Mendel Catholic High School, St. John Stone Friary, St. Augustine Friary, St. Monica Monastery and Blessed William Monastery, Chicago, Illinois; Providence Catholic High School and St. Jude Parish, New Lenox, Illinois; Mother of Good Counsel Parish and Our Lady of Grace Community, Homer Glen, Illinois; Austin Friary, Matteson, Illinois; St. Joseph Parish, Pekin, Illinois; Bishop McNamara Catholic High School, Kankakee, Illinois; Augustinian Mission House, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Augustinian Academy and Immaculate Conception/St. Henry Parish, St. Louis, Missouri; St. Mary Parish, Independence, Missouri; St. Anthony Parish, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Abbott, Texas; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Penelope, Texas; Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Hillsboro, Texas; St. Mary Parish, Gainesville, Texas; St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Pilot Point, Texas; Sacred Heart Parish, Muenster, Texas; St. Peter Parish, Lindsay, Texas; St. Gregory Parish, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada; Holy Rosary Parish, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and St. Rita Parish, Racine, Wisconsin.

Seminaries and other houses of formation such as St. Augustine Seminary, Holland, Michigan; St. Monica Novitiate, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Tolentine College, Olympia Fields, Illinois, prepared young men for service to God and the Church as Augustinians.

Bringing the Gospel to Foreign Lands

Augustinians of the Midwest have traveled to foreign lands to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Two Province members served in the Augustinian mission to Japan, started in 1952 under the joint sponsorship of the Midwestern and Eastern Provinces.

After a request in 1963 from Pope John XXIII, the Augustinians of the Midwest accepted responsibility for the newly created Prelature (now Diocese) of Chulucanas in northern Peru. An Augustinian of the Midwest, Daniel T. Turley, O.S.A., is currently the Bishop of Chulucanas. As more and more Peruvians join the Augustinians, a Vicariate (a group of Augustinians on the way to becoming an independent Province) has been established in the north of Peru. Several Augustinians of the Midwest and Eastern Provinces continue to live and minister in Peru. Learn more about the Augustinian Missions in Peru.

Today 100 Augustinians of the Midwest live in community and minister to God's people in schools, parishes, hospitals, homes for the elderly and several other settings.

Origins of the Augustinian Order

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