The Maltese Augustinian Province has just published 'Ir-Ritrattazzjonijiet’, which is a work of Saint Augustine about his writings, translated into Maltese and presented to us by Professor Fr. Salvino Caruana OSA. The book continues with the series of works of Saint Augustine that Fr. Salvino gave us over the years, and it is of great value for the study of the life, the writings, and the legacy left by the great bishop and doctor of the Church. This is actually a piece of literary work of a certain weight which took about two years of hard work.

In the two books of The Retractationes, Saint Augustine gave us a form of another confession, this time not the one about the journey of his life, as with great moral humility he gave us in The Confessions, but the one about his writings. In them, he stated where he could have expressed himself better, where some theological and other thoughts could have been pesented better, or even corrected aspects in his 40 years of writings. So Augustine, with a great sense of humility and with a unique approach in its nature, aged 72, looked back at all the books he had written since the year 383 AD. He had in mind to do the same thing for all his sermons, as well as for all the letters he had written, but eventually he died.

The great value of these two books is known and praised by a number of Christian writers of the first centuries. The books of The Retractationes can be considered as an introduction to all the writings of the same Augustine of Hippo, during the forty years of literary work with which he served the Church and mankind. They are a work that deserves to be put in the first place in the list of the writings of the African Doctor of the Catholic Church.

The Book can be obtained for the price of €18 from Fr. Salvinu, Saint Augustine Priory, Old Bakery street, Valletta (m. 7929 4177); from the Saint Augustine Priory in Gozo; as well as from The Santa Rita Priory, San Ġiljan (m. 79515371 e-mail. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

On Wednesday 5 July at around 7pm the Augustinian friars gathered for a moment of prayer in the Bellesini chapel in Saint Augustine College, Pietà and afterwards they continued to enjoy each other's presence by eating together in the convent of San Thomas from Villanova in Tal-Pietà. It was a beautiful fraternal moment for all who were present.

On Sunday 2 July, a group of young people were given the missionary cross and the camino shell as a sign of the beginning of their experiences in Kenya and to Santiago.

During the Eucharistic celebration in the Church of Saint Nicholas from Tolentino, Tarxien, the Provincial Fr. Leslie Gatt invited the young people to let these experiences speak to them in their lives and assured them that from Malta we will be praying for them. He also encouraged more young people to do such experiences in the future because they help them grow personally.

Augustinian Youths and AMIGOS will be leaving Malta during the month of July. From our hearts we wish them well and we assure them our prayers.

During the summer various activities are held with the young people such as live-ins, BBQs, moments of prayer and other experiences that continue to help the young people in their journey of life. Daniel Bajada one of the youths would like to share his experience of the live-in that was organized at the beginning of July:

On Sunday 2 July, together with my friends, Fr Terence, Fr Leslie and Fr Mario, we went to Gozo. There we spent 3 days together in the Augustinian convent in Victoria. Every day was full of various activities which helped us get to know each other better, such as going out to the Cittadella, Ta' Pinu,  as well as the sea where we played and continued to have fun together.

Apart from these leisure activities, something that I really appreciated and that left an impact on me were the times of reflection and prayer that we spent together. We also laughed during some teamwork activities. These continued to bring us together, especially in the activity where we had to build a paper tower without being able to communicate verbally.

As we were together we also celebrated the ten years of Fr. Terence from his priestly ordination. We were lucky that as we were in the convent we went on a tour of the whole convent, where they showed us various historical objects and also took us in the shelters that are under the convent. Although it was not the first time that I went down to a shelter, I felt excited because I remembered some memories of the stories that my great-grandmother used to tell me when she lived these experiences in her childhood.


On Friday, June 23, a reunion was organized for the former students of Saint Augustine College. A good number of former students took part in a very pleasant evening held in the grounds of the College in Tal-Pieta. After a welcome from the College Rector, all those present had the opportunity to tour the College and meet particularly their ex-classmates and even several teachers. The evening continued with a short moment of prayer and a reception. The event provided a beautiful space not only for friends to meet up, but also to renew and recount so many beautiful memories of the years spent at the College.

This year The Saint Augustine College is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its foundation in 1848 as the first Church School for children in Malta, which responded to a great need that was being felt in the Maltese society of that time. Over the years thousands of students, Friars and members of Staff, formed part of this story that started in Valletta, continued for some years in Tarxien, and than in more recent years in Tal-Pieta and Marsa.

  1. A group of Augustinians gather for a few days of retreat and silence
  2. Festa Familja Agostinjana organized by the Provincial Commission for the Laity
  3. A renovation project of the Adoration Chapel in the Augustinian Priory in Gozo
  4. Emmaus Experience
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