It is with great sadness that we announce the passing away of fr George Bezzina who went to meet the risen Lord early this morning at the venerable age of 94. Fr George was lately residing at the Christus Sacerdos residence for elderly priests in Birkirkara.

Father George was born in Gharghur on March 29, 1928 and joined the Augustinian Family in 1946. After completing his studies, he was ordained priest on March 21, 1953. He spent the first years of his ministry in the Communities of Rabat Malta and Victoria in Gozo where he was responsible for the formation of the professed students and later of the novices. In 1961 he was sent for two years of missionary work at La Goulette in Tunis and later returned to Malta where he continued his work in the field of formation as master of the novices. In the late sixties he was sent to the Valletta community where he served for a few years as vice-Parish Priest in the newly erected Parish. In the early seventies he was sent to the mission in Brazil where he worked for more than twenty-five years in various realities and serving in different responsibilities. In 1998 he then left Brazil and joined the Annaba community in Algeria where he served for another eight years. Back to Malta in 2006 he joined the community of Victoria Gozo and in 2010 he once again became part of the Community of Valletta where he remained until in 2018 he was admitted to the Christus Sacerdos residence for elderly priests due to health limitations. .

Apart from his missionary work for more than 35 years, Fr. George in Malta served for many years in the formation of young augustinians and was till the very end so passionate to ask and speak about the animation and prayer for vocations. Funeral Mass ill be celebrated tomorrow, 31st August 2022 at Saint Augustine Parish Church in Valletta followed by internment in the graves of the Augustinian Province at the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetry.

The Augustinian Province commends the soul of this dear brother to the mercy of God through your prayers.

On Friday 26^th August the Augustinian friars met in the morning for a moment of prayer at St. Augustine's Church, Valletta and then continued to celebrate the feast of St. Augustine with a fraternal meal in the refectory of the priory. It was an informal and wonderful time for the friars to come together for the feasts of St. Monica and St. Augustine! Happy Feast to all!

The last days of August bring with them the Solemnity of Our Holu Father Saint Augustine in which the Church looks at the figure of this great saint and celebrates him among those who lived their baptism in its fullness .

This is the call of all those who are part of the Christian community and who are called to constantly seek God together and celebrate their faith in the daily walk of life. This was the natural experience of the young Augustine who searched him with his friends even in the remotest places 'outside of himself', and with them he also shared what he found: the Lord 'who dwelt in him'. This is what our Mother Church invites us to share together, and live in an experience of faith and synodality that would not be the same without the contribution of each and everyone of us.

The word synod in itself refers to an assembly or meeting in which we listen to each other. In simple words, the reflection that the Church is inviting us to do right now is an opportunity to reflect on the place of each one of us in the community, the contribution that each one can give, the communion between us, the listening, and paying attention to each other and to what makes us who we are. In a homily that Cardinal Mario Grech had made on the Solemnity of Saint Augustine (Rome, 2020) speaking about synodality, he recalled that "for Saint Augustine the idea of ​​the Church as a community is one inclusive and not exclusive one, always ready to welcome, and open to everyone without distinctions or differences: its catholicity expresses a vocation for the whole."

This is the experience that I wanted to propose for our reflection this year, both for us as religious brethren who have just lived the experience of an Ordinary Provincial Chapter which was a beautiful moment that brought us together, and also for all of us as a Church who is venturing on a synodal journey. Surely this is not new talk for anyone of us, but we need to keep reminding each other that as baptized (and moreover for us religious as consecrated persons) this is a reflection that we should constantly keep doing as we seek to renew ourselves and our structures.

Today we live in a society that expects credibility from us, more than from others and rightly so. We have discovered an experience that brings with it a great responsibility to live it authentically and even more so to share it with others. The celebration of the holyness of Saint Augustine is a sign of hope that one day we can all reach this destination. The experience of being together is a characteristic intrinsically linked to our Augustinian identity and undoubtedley, an experience that society needs so much.

May our communities and structures be always small experiences of synodality and of the beauty of being together, of sharing the experience of God together, and above all of being his witnesses in everything we do. The fact remains that the whole experience of 'togetherness' can only be reached if it leaves from the small choices that each one of us do every day!

Fr Leslie Gatt osa

Prior Provincial

During a concert of Sacred Music featuring pieces from the archive of the Maltese Augustinian Province, on Tuesday 23rd August 2022, the Augustinian Community, together with the Parish Community welcomed back to the Church the now painted and gold gilded Titular Statue of Saint Augustine. During this last year, the statue was taken to be painted and gold gilded by the renouned artist Horace Farrugia of Mdina, who has great experience in this field. He worked with great care first on the plaster coating and etching  on the clothing of the beautiful figure of Saint Augustine. Following this process, it was than gilded with gold and painted according to designs created by the same Horace Farrugia. The face and hands were than finished by the original artists of the statue itself, Aaron and his father Alfred Camilleri Cauchi.

Aaron and Alfred Camilleri Cauchi had actually carved the statue in solid wood about five years ago and it was blessed in the year 2017. The statue depicts Saint Augustine wearing episcopal clothing with a flaming heart in his hands. The flaming heart is a symbol of the love for God and His Word which touched the heart of the young Augustine. In the lower part of the statue there is also an angel holding an open book in his hands with the phrase of the same Saint Augustine: Vulnerasti Cor Meum Verbo Tuo, which in english means, You pierced my heart with your Word.

The recent gilding and painting project was done with the collaboration of the National Arts Council. Thanks also to all those who in one way or another have been of help to the Augustinian community along this journey, particularly the members of the Fondazzjoni Soċjo-kulturali Ambjentali Augustina and the Għaqda Festa Santu Wistin. The Statue will be taken out of the Church in a procession on Sunday, September 18, as the Parish celebrates its Titular Feast. (photos by Ian Noel Pace)