"You have made us for Yourself, oh God, and our hearts are restless, until they rest in You."

Saint Augustine Confessions, Book 1

St. Augustine As A Young Adult (in brief)

The story of St. Augustine's conversion is a familiar one - at least, if you're a young person in our Parish it is! A scholar, playboy, and a bit of a rascal in his youth, St. Augustine sought fulfillment in all sorts of interests. Despite his mother, St. Monica, constantly praying and urging (and crying) for him to consider conversion to Catholicism, he paved his own way in the wild world for many years.

Then, in a moment of conversion (to see a depiction of the scene, check out the foremost left panel painting of the Augustinian Cycle in our church), he lifted up the bible and read the word of God. The rest, as they say, was history.

There are a million parallels between the life of St. Augustine and the life of young adults in the modern world. We all struggle with diversions and distractions, while seeking something bigger than us that will bring rest to our restless hearts. In our patron, we find not only an example, but a friend who has lived the challenges we wrestle with daily. He, too, found peace in Christ, and we join in our community to emulate this as best we can.

St. Augustine's Young Adults

We come from all over. Some are Villanovans, some are out of towners, some are former Augustinian Volunteers, some just moved into the neighborhood and heard the bells calling, so they came to see what we were all about. We even let Jesuits join our rambunctious and rag-tag group. (That's an inside joke; come ask us about it.) St. Augustine's Young Adult Group ranges from 24 to 30-something, but age is just a number, anyway. We have an informal network of gatherings throughout the year, and predominately rendezvous at the 7 PM Mass. If the weather is nice, we may go out for drinks after Mass, to catch up and brace for the upcoming work week. We'll have scheduled events during Lent and Advent, but other than that, we're friends in the city, growing and seeking and being restless, but together in community.

Come join us. Bring a talent, or a conversational topic (doesn't have to be churchy in nature), or a question, or just a smile. We all started as strangers, once.