St. Thomas of Villanova College

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St. Thomas of Villanova College was established at by lay educators Paul Paradiso and Grant Purdy in 1999 at Marylake as a Catholic school together with the Augustinians of Toronto, Ontario. Marylake is the chief foundation of the Augustinians in Canada, and is now well known as a spiritual centre for the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. The school campus is within the grounds of this Augustinian monastic foundation in King City.

[edit] Patron Saint

The College is named in honour of St. Thomas of Villanova, a sixteenth century Spanish Augustinian. Thomas was born at Fuenliana in the diocese of Toledo, Spain, in 1488 and was brought up in Villaneuva de los Infantes, a nearby town; hence his name, Thomas of Villanova. In the year 1544, King Charles V of Spain appointed Thomas as Archbishop of Valencia. Thomas succeeded in the spiritual renewal of his diocese, and gained the title 'Father of the Poor'. He gave two-thirds of the income of his diocese to care for the poor in various ways. Each day up to 500 poor people came to his door to be fed and to receive money. Other English speaking Augustinian Colleges named for this saint are Villanova College, located in Brisbane, Australia, and Villanova Preparatory School in California, USA. He is also the patron saint to the popular catholic university, Villanova University located in Villanova, PA,USA.

[edit] The Augustinian Order in Canada

The Order's 20th century establishment in Canada[1] was one result of both poverty and political trouble being experienced by German Augustinians. From 1925 and later during the Great Depression German Augustinians began arriving in North America to teach. After 1936, with the political situation in Nazi Germany worsening, more German Augustinians departed for North America. By 1939 from there were 46 German priests, 13 German religious brothers and 8 German candidates in North America. The order established the first of their Canadian houses at Tracadie, Nova Scotia in Canada in 1938. Among other Canadian foundations, the order also established this significant priory and school in Toronto. The order, by 2006 has since professed many native Canadians.

[edit] External links


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