Society of Saint Augustine

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The Society of Saint Augustine (Societas Sancti Augustini) is a Roman Catholic Institute of Consecrated Life which takes as its pattern of living, the way of life delineated in the Rule of Saint Augustine of Hippo. The community was founded in 1981 in Amarillo, Texas by four Augustinian Recollects (Friars from the Order of Augustinian Recollects). They were later joined later by Augustinians; (Friars formerly from the Order of Saint Augustine.) As an Augustinian community, The Society of Saint Augustine is composed of priests, religious brothers and sisters and lay people, but differs from many other Augustinian Communities in that it places great emphasis on the full inclusion and involvement of the laity (lay persons) in the life and ministry of the community.

The community is committed to living a traditional mendicant Augustinian Religious life, based on meditation / recollection, community prayer. Members celebrate the daily Divine Office or "Liturgy of the Hours"; practice a simplicity of life and are to be faithful to the Rule of Saint Augustine. Drawing from the various reform movements in the Augustinian Tradition (the Spanish Recollection, The Observantine Congregation of the Augustinian Order, etc.,) the Society of Saint Augustine seeks to authentically adapt traditional Augustinian Religious Life to the contemporary needs of Society.

The community transferred to the Archdiocese of Kansas City in 1997 when it was invited by Archbishop James P. Keleher to minister in that Diocese. While fostering the "active/contemplative" dimension of Augustinian Religious Life, the Society of Augustine involves itself in a broad spectrum of ministries, including Parochial and Pastoral care, Adult catechesis, Hispanic Ministry, Pro-life activities, Direction of Retreats and Military Chaplaincy.

Presently, this community of reform Friars has two houses: Villa Saint Augustine, in Kansas City (which serves as the Administrative Center for the Community), and Villa Ostia, a Retreat House in up-state New York.

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