Dear Brothers and Sisters,

+Blessings on this special Solemnity!

+Felicidades!

+Buona Festa a tutti!

Today marks the patronal solemnity of our Province, Our Mother of Good Counsel.  It was in 1941 that the Midwest Province of Augustinians was officially established in Chicago and placed under the patronage of the Order’s Marian devotion to the Madonna of Genezzano.

Even previous to the official foundation of the Midwest Province, many Augustinian Friars labored to establish a viable and solid presence of the Order since 1905.  Currently, there are very few of our older brothers who would remember the beginnings of the Province of OMGC.  There has been a continuum of those early years even until now, albeit fewer Augustinians, who have produced quite a legacy since those early times.  Thank God history gives us context as well as collective memory while we journey together on this continuum. By virtue of the prayerful and generous support of so many people, we continue to provide quality pastoral service that is appreciated and admired in our Province.

It is true that over the course of these past 82 years, we have seen dedicated Augustinian Friars, religious women, as well as the laity invest themselves in Province ministry--even though many have come and gone, as well as have several apostolates.  Many of the older Friars, along with many lay women and men who have been recipients of our pastoral service, may get nostalgic at times over the past.  Yet, nonetheless, it is the movement of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of our Mother of Good Counsel that helps us keep focused as we move forward trusting in Divine Providence.

The Augustinian devotion to Our Mother of Good Counsel in Genezzano played a key role at the opening of the Second Vatican Council when Pope St. John XXIII prayed before the sacred image and invoked her intercession--as did many Popes afterwards.

We have a “jewel” within this Marian devotion.  I encourage us as Province named after her to continue to invoke her intercession and “do whatever He tells us…”

+May Our Mother of Good Counsel intercede on behalf of those who suffer the indignities of war, violence and any injustice that threatens the dignity and integrity of all people+

Anthony Benedetto Pizzo, O.S.A.

Prior Provincial