We have great news to share…
Our incoming vocations have exceeded our housing capacity!
In response, the Midwest Augustinian Provincial Council has agreed to the establishment of a new Pre-Novitiate House, to be located at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Chicago. The new community, named St. Clare Friary, will be served by Vocations Director Fr. Tom McCarthy, O.S.A. as its inaugural Prior.
In its first year the Program was located on the campus of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois. Now, our numbers have grown to the point where we expect five or six new men to start in the pre-novitiate program this August.
This is a great blessing for the Augustinians and the faith we share. The young men in the pre-novitiate spend a full year in community, prayer, reading, ministry, and studies discerning a future as an Augustinian. With any blessing comes more responsibility.
Our new facility needs to be fully equipped for the education, care, room, and board for the young men in studies, as well as the daily living needs of three Augustinians overseeing the program—Fr. Ray Flores, Director of the Pre-novices; Fr. Tom McCarthy, the Prior; and Br. Paul Koscielniak, the Community Treasurer.
In addition to your prayers, there are many nice opportunities for you to support this ministry. Please click on the “Sponsor Our Friary” button above or below to see a full list of the items we need to make this new location a proper home for these discerners.
There are items priced for all levels of giving!
With your help, we will have a public blessing and reception at St. Clare Friary this coming fall. All donors will be recognized in the foyer of the front entrance friary as well as in our news magazine and website.
What is a Pre-Novitiate?
Augustinian formation begins with a yearlong “pre-novitiate,” when a man discerning a vocation lives in an Augustinian community and is introduced to the Augustinian Rule and the Order’s Constitutions. As the pre-novice continues to discern his vocation, he participates and shares in the community life; time is set aside for Mass and prayer, as well as other social events. Upon completion of the pre-novitiate requirements, the Provincial formation team evaluates the readiness of the candidate to be advanced into the yearlong novitiate program.
