On November 13th, the entire Malvern community gathered in mass to celebrate our patron saint, St. Augustine’s birthday. Since Malvern is an Augustinian School, the entire community sang “Happy Birthday” to celebrate him. 

Fr. Bill, an Augustinian Priest here at Malvern, and Mrs. Goyer, a 6th and 7th grade Theology teacher, shared thoughts about St. Augustine and his birthday celebration. When the two were asked about why it is important to celebrate this saint’s birthday, Mrs. Goyer mentioned that it’s important to celebrate his birthday because we are Augustinians. “I think in a way it reminds us to learn more about our founder, why to follow his examples, where our values come from […] it’s a good way to remember it and to celebrate,” Mrs. Goyer said. Fr. Bill talked about how it’s important to celebrate the great things St. Augustine did with his life. “Like any birthday, you want it to be about celebrating someone’s life and legacy,” Fr. Bill said.

Next, the two reflected on what they found most interesting about St. Augustine’s life. Fr. Bill said it was interesting that his mother always hoped he would become a Christian and she prayed for him all the time. Fr. Bill found his restlessness most interesting. “[He wasn’t] satisfied or not fully complete and what he does is he taps into that, shares his story in a very real way about how he missed and made mistakes along the way, but to help us learn from them so that we could then become people who also come to realize that God is that which gives us ultimate rest, peace, like fullness,” he said.