HERMITS
286
HERMITS
the obligation to this duty, to follow which the order,
though retaining its name Hermits, exchanged the
contemplative life for the active. Seeing the good
done by the Friars Minor and the Dominicans, they
wished to share in the harvest, undertaking to preach
and instruct the people. Augustinians became the
confessors and advisers of popes, princes, and rulers.
Many became bishops, several cardinals, exercising
these offices for the good of the Church and the honour
of their order. At present the order has a cardinal,
Sebastiano Martinelli (formerly Apostolic delegate for
the United States), several bishops — Guglielmo Pifferi
(see above) ; Stephen Ueville, Bishop of Sandhurst in
Australia; Arsenio Campo y Monasterio, Bishop of
Nueva Caceres in the Philippine Islands; Giovanni
Camilleri, Bishop of Gozzo; Jose Lopez de Mendoza y
Garcia, Bishop of Pampeluna, Spain; Giuseppe Capecci,
Bishop of Alessandria in Italy; Francisco Xavier
Vakles y Norieja, Bishop of Salamanca; William A.
Jones, Bishop of Porto Rico; the Vicars Luis Perez
of Northern Hu-nan (China) and Dominic Murray,
Cooktown, .\ustralia; the Prefect Apostolic (Paulino
Diaz Alonso) of San Leon de .\mazonas — and, finally,
two mitred abbots.
The order has produced many saints, for example, Sts. Nicholas of Tolentino (d. 1305), John of Sahagiin (a Sancto Facundo) (d. 1479), and Thomas of Villanova (d. 1555). Stefano Bellesini (d. 1S40), theAugustinian parish priest of Genazzano, in the Roman province, was beatified by Pius X. 27 December, 1904. The pro- cess for the beatification of .seven .\ugustinians, among them the papal sacristan Bartolomraeo Menochio (d. 1827), is under consideration.
.^s to the devotional practices specially connected with the .\ugustinian Order, and which it has striven to propagate, we may mention the veneration of the Blessed Virgin under the title of "Mother of Good Counsel ", whose miraculous picture is to be seen in the Augustinian church at Cienazzano in the Roman province. This devotion has spread to other churches and countries, and confraternities have been formed to cultivate it. Several periodicals dedicated to the honour of Our Lady of Good Counsel are publi-shed in Italy, Spain, and Germany by the Augustinians (cf. Meschier on the history of the miraculous picture of Genazzano in "Stimmen aus Maria-Laach", LXVII, 482 sqq.). Besides this devotion the order fosters the .\rcnconfraternity of Our Lady of Consolation, a so-called girdle confraternity, the members of which wear a blessed girdle of black leather in honour of Sts. Augustine, Monica, and Nicholas of Tolentino, recite daily thirteen Our Fathers and Hail Marys and the Salve Regina, fast strictly on the eve of the feast of St. Augustine, and receive Holy Communion on the feasts of the three above-named saints. This confra- ternity was founded liy Pope Eugene IVat S. Giacomo, Bologna, in 14:59, made an archconfraternity by Gregory XIII, in 1575, aggregated to the Augus- tinian Order, and favoured with indulgences. The Augustinians, with the approljation of Pope Leo XIII, also encourage the devotion of the Scapular of Our Lady of Good ('ounsel and the propagation of the Third Order of St. .\ugustine for the laity, as well as the veneration of St. Augu.stine and his mother St. Monica, in order to instil the Augustinian spirit of prayer and self-sacrifice into their parishioners.
The Augustinians hold an honourable place in the history of foreign missions. Before the middle of the fourteenth century, Father Nikolaus Teschel (d. 1371), auxiliary Hishcip of Ratisbon, where he died, with some brethren preached the Gospel in .\frica. In 15,33, after the subjugation of Mexico byCortez. .some Augustinians, sent by St. Thomas of Villanova, ac- complished great missionary work in that country. Monasteries sprang up in the principal places and lie- came the centres of Christianity, art. and civilization. The Patio (Cloister) of the former monastery of St.
Augustine, now the post office, at Queretaro, is one of
the most beautiful examples of stone-carving in
America. The Augustinian monasteries in Mexico
are to-day either deserted or occupied by a few
fathers only; some even only by one. The Provincia
Michoacanensis (see above. Present Co.vdition) at
present has about 55 members, while the Provincia
Mexicana has 31, most of whom are priests. Augus-
tinian missionaries extended their laliours to South
.\merica (Colombia, Venezuela, Peru) with great suc-
cess. Political events in these countries prevented
the order from prospering and hindered the success of
its undertakings, so that in course of time tlio monas-
teries became deserted. Late events in the Philippine
Islands, however, have permitted the Augustinians to
return to their former churches and monasteries and
even to found new ones.
In the Republic of Colombia, 26 members of the Philippine province are employed, including (i at the residence of Santa Fe de Bogotd, 8 in the college at Facatativd, and 12 at other stations. In Peru 49 members of the same province are employed: 14 priests and 2 lay brothers iielonging to the convent at Lima; 12 priests to the college in the same city ; (i in each of the two seminaries at Cuzco and .\yacucho. In the Prefecture .\postolic of San Leon de .\mazonas, at the mi.ssion stations of Peba, Rio Tigre, and Leticia in the territory of the Iquito Indians there are 9 priests. In June, 1904, Father Bernardo Calle, the lay brother, Miguel Vilajoli, and more than 70 Christians, were murdered at the recently erected mission station, Hualiico, in Upper Maraiion and the station it.self was destroyed. The Augustinian settlements in Brazil also lielong to the Philippine province. In the pro- curation hou.sc at S. Paulo (Rua ,\peninos (j) and in the college at Brotas there are 4 Augustinians each; in the diocesan seminary at S. Jose de Manaos, O; and in the other settlements, 27 priests — in all, 42 members of the order, including one lay brother. In .\rgen- tina, there are 25 priests and two lay brothers in the si.x colleges and .schools of the order. In Ecuador, which forms a province by itself, there are 21 members of the order; 9 priests and 7 lay brothers in the monastery at Quito; 3 priests in the convent at Latagun and 2 in that at Guayatiuil. The province of ('hile has 56 members, including IS lay brothers; 11 at Santiago,
4 at La Serena, 5 at Concepcion, 22 at Talca, 8 at .San Fernando, 4 at Melipilla, and 2 in the residence at Picazo. The province of the United States of .Vraer- ica is verj- large, as the .\ugustinians driven out of many European countries in 1S48 sought refuge in that republic. This province now niunbers 200 mem- bers. The largest convent is at Villanova, Pa.; it is also the novitiate for North America, and among the 117 religious occupying the convent 21 are priests (see above, Present Condition). The other convents contain 60 members, of whom 5 are lay brothers. To the province of the LTnited States belongs also St. Augustine's College at Havana, Cuba, where there are
5 priests and 3 lay brothers.
The greatest missionary activity of the .\ugustinian Order has been displayed in the Philippine Islands, and the first missionaries to visit these islands were .■\ugustinians. When Magalhaes discovered the Philippines (16 March, 1521) and took posses.sion of them in the name of the King of Spain, he was accom- panied by the chaplain of the fleet, who preached the Gospel to the inhabitants, baptizing Kings Colambu and Siagu and 800 natives of Mindanao and Ccbii, on I,ow Sunday. 7 .Xpril. 1521 . The good seed, however, was soon almost destroyed: Magalhaes was killed in a fight with natives on the little island of .Mactan on 27 April and the seed .sown by the first Spanish mission- aries all l>\it perished; nor were those missionaries brought from Mexico in 1.543 by Ruy Lopez Villalo- bos more successful, for they were obliged to return to Europe by way of Goa, having gained very little hold
