Pope Leo’s Augustinian order is seeing a ‘Leo bump’ : NPR

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Domenico Stinellis/AP When James Schloegel took his vows as an Augustinian friar this summer time, he knelt earlier than the altar in a Chicago church, surrounded by buddies, household, and fellow friars. At 32, he had spent years discerning his calling to non secular life — a journey rooted in prayer, non secular examine, and group.

"I, James Michael Schloegel, led by the Holy Spirit, declare my intention to observe Jesus Christ extra carefully," he stated through the ceremony, "and to present a fuller expression of my baptismal consecration."

Schloegel is one in every of three males who formally entered the U.S. province of the Order of St. Augustin, generally known as the Augustinians, in latest months. And he's a part of a noticeable uptick in curiosity within the small Roman Catholic non secular order — a development sparked, partially, by the election earlier in Mayof Pope Leo XIV, the primary North American pontiff and the primary Augustinian to steer the worldwide Church.

The Augustinians quantity fewer than 3,000 friars worldwide, making any enhance in individuals involved in becoming a member of the order vital.

Earlier than coming into the discernment course of, Schloegel stated his life in his twenties was typical for somebody his age.

"Something {that a} younger man would do, I used to be doing," he stated.

However he felt a persistent craving for one thing deeper.

"My coronary heart was hurting. It was open. And I wished route," Schloegel stated. The self-discipline of non secular life and the vows concerned appealed to him. "Poverty, chastity, obedience — these are methods we are able to open ourselves as much as Christ and to the individuals He asks us to serve."

Group and friendship attracts males to the Augustinian order The method of discernment wasn't solitary. Schloegel commonly met with others exploring an analogous name.

"We prayed the Liturgy of the Hours," he recalled. "We spoke about the place we felt like we had been being led. Father Phil additionally posed books from Saint Augustine to us to learn."

"Father Phil" is the Rev. Philip Yang, vocations director for the Augustinians within the western United States. He is seen a marked rise in curiosity since Pope Leo's election in Might.

"Earlier than, we'd get two or three discerners. However after Pope Leo, I now have 15," Yang stated. "It is unbelievable."

However Yang believes it is not simply the papal highlight driving curiosity. It is also the Augustinians' mannequin of non secular life — centered on group moderately than solitude.

"Most monks reside alone," Yang stated. "With Augustinians, there's what we name intentional group. When the day is completed, you come again dwelling to share a meal together with your brothers, to hope the Psalms collectively, and to have this holy time of friendship."

For Saint Augustine, the 4th-century bishop and theologian whose teachings impressed the order, friendship was greater than companionship — it was a path to holiness.

"When Christ talked to the disciples, He stated, 'You might be now not slaves. You might be my buddies,'" Yang stated. "Saint Augustine took that very severely. True holiness can come from deep friendship."

The Rev. Max Villeneuve, an Augustinian pastor at Our Mom of Good Counsel in Los Angeles, says Augustinian group isn't merely about residing collectively. It is about non secular unity.

"We're not like holy roommates," he stated. "It is one thoughts and coronary heart intent upon God, as St. Augustine says. Earlier than all else, love God and each other."

That objective — to like extra deeply and develop nearer to God — is central to the Augustinian lifestyle. Villeneuve usually returns to a recurring theme in Augustine's writings: the inward journey of figuring out oneself as a path to figuring out God.

"Lord, let me know myself that I could know You," Villeneuve stated, quoting one in every of Augustine's prayers.

Outdoors his parish, a mosaic of Augustinian saints — together with Saint Monica, Clare of Montefalco, and Saint Rita of Cascia — displays that non secular lineage. These are Villeneuve's cloud of witnesses who drew near God by way of friendship and religion.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2F8a%2F8839387a4abe99f35e90a76b79b4%2Fimg-4052.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2F8a%2F8839387a4abe99f35e90a76b79b4%2Fimg-4052.jpg" class="img" alt="A mosaic of Augustinian saints, shown here outside the church of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Los Angeles, reflects the order's spiritual lineage." loading="lazy"/> A mosaic of Augustinian saints, proven right here outdoors the church of Our Mom of Good Counsel in Los Angeles, displays the order's non secular lineage. Jason DeRose/NPR disguise caption

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Jason DeRose/NPR Group shapes individuals into higher variations of themselves Schloegel remembers feeling anxious in the beginning of his novitiate, the interval of residing in group with different Augustinians earlier than taking his vows. "The primary two days, fairly frankly, I used to be terrified," he stated. "I requested the Blessed Virgin Mary, 'Assist me keep right here.' And she or he did."

Since then, he stated, the group has formed him — generally in tough however transformative methods.

"Group is sort of a tray filled with valuable gems," Schloegel stated. "Every one, lovely, however they're jagged. And what group does is it shakes that tray, which then results in the opposite gems grinding one another till it turns into clean."