Over two weekends, the 'Amigos' missionary group organizes a fundraiser event for their mission by selling Maltese Traditional Figolli during the Lent period. The Figolli were sold by volunteers, including a group of five young individuals who will be embarking on a missionary experience in Kenya next summer. This activity took place on the parvis of various churches, which warmly welcomed the group and collaborated in this initiative.

Despite the significant amount of preparation required for this activity, such as calculating the quantity of Figolli and arranging for their distribution and sale within the churches, the joy on the faces of these young volunteers as they collect each donation is indescribable, a unique experience that can only be derived from volunteer work. It is worth noting the hundreds of individuals who purchased Figolli during the activity, a testament to the continued support for the mission and those in need.

There is an ongoing and significant need for donations to support our mission work, and we would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to continue assisting us in our efforts. Kindly consider sending your donations through one of these channels:

Bank Transfer: MT58VALL22013000000040010188817

SMS:

50617357 għal donazzjoni ta’ €2.33

50618085 għal donazzjoni ta’ €4.66

50618905 għal donazzjoni ta’ €6.99

50619206 għal donazzjoni ta’ €11.65

Cheque addressed to:

Segretarjat Missjonijiet Agostinjani

Patrijiet Agostinjani,

Kunvent San Tumas minn Villanova,

Triq J. Zammit Tabona,

Pietà, PTA1331

Revolut: +35679255936

On April 26th, lay people who are part of the Augustinian community celebrated the Conversion of Saint Augustine, Saint Mark (the Protector of the Maltese Augustinian Province), and the Virgin Mary (Mother of Good Counsel) at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Tarxien. The celebration began with a mass led by the Provincial P. Leslie Gatt osa, after which those present were invited to join together in the Augustinian Oratory, to continue their joyful fellowship.

A new publication with the text of the first three books of the Confessions of Saint Augustins was launched during an enjoyable evening held at The Santa Rita Priory Saint Julians on April 21. The Publication brings to light once again a wonderful Maltese translation of the first three books of the Confessions of Saint Augustine by fr. Ugolin Gatt O.S.A. and Karmenu Vassallo. These translations had actually appeared for the first time in the Augustinian journal "Santa Rita" between the year 1956 and 1963. In this Publication, the Editors Mr. Ivan Said and Rev. Dr. Jonathan Farrugia are presenting these texts together for the first time, adding to them a study on the same Confessions of Saint Augustine and on the translators themselves. It was actually their friendship, and the admiration they both had for Saint Augustine, which years ago led Professor fr. Ugolin Gatt O.S.A. and Poet Karmenu Vassallo to collaborate together on the translation and notes for the Confessions. Unfortunately this work had only reached the third book of the Confessions.

As the Prior Provincial wrote in a short message in the publication, this book "should serve both to provoke the desire and love  for the texts of Saint Augustine and particularly the Confessions, but also to shed light on the two Maltese scholars P. Ugolin Gatt O.S.A. and Karmenu Vassallo who made a valuable contribution in their respective fields." Special thanks to Mr. Ivan Said who initially thought of this project and to rev. Dr. Jonathan Farrugia, Head of the Department of Patrology in the Faculty of Theology, who collaborated with him so that today we can have this text in our hands. This text, adds up to the series of studies and texts of Saint Augustine published by the Maltese Augustinian Province in the Maltese language.

In a short ceremony held in the Office of the Decastery of Bishops in the Vatican City, on Wednesday 12 April, Mons. Robert Prevost made the profession of faith and began his work as the new prefect of the Decastery of Bishops. Bishop Prevost, who is an Augustinian missionary and who was was serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, is replacing Cardinal Marc Ouellet, both as prefect and as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Robert Francis Prevost, 67, was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on 14 September 1955. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977, in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in St. Louis, and made his solemn vows on 29 August 1981. At age 27, he was sent to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He was ordained priest on 19 June 1982. He received his Licentiate in 1984, then was sent to work in the mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru, In 1987 he received his doctorate with the thesis, "The Role of the Local Prior of the Order of St. Augustine." After working for almost two years in the vocations ministry, in 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the common formation project for Augustinian aspirants from the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. There he served as prior, formator, and lecturer. In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar, and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Morals in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary.

In 1999 he was elected prior provincial of the “Mother of Good Counsel" Province. After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry the Order entrusted to him again at the 2007 Ordinary General Chapter. As Prior General, he visited Malta various times both on official canonacal visitations and on various other occasions.  

In October 2013 he returned to his province teaching the professed candidates and serving as vicar provincial; positions he held until Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, on 3 November 2014, elevating him to the episcopal dignity of titular bishop of the Diocese of Sufar. He became than bishop of Chiclayo on 26 September 2015. He has served as second vice president of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference since March 2018. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and a member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.