Discovering family among the Augustinians

(Vatican Radio) A conference on lay Augustinian spirituality, entitled “Walking with Saint Augustine: being the Body of Christ in today’s world,” concluded on Tuesday in Rome.

Around 200 lay Augustinians from twenty-eight countries and five continents gathered together this week to attend the talks about Augustinian spirituality and the role of lay Catholics in spreading the Gospel through the world.

Vatican Radio spoke with Megan Barzaq, a young attendee of the conference from London, about the role of Augustinian spirituality in her life.

“Before I met the Augustinians, I wasn’t Catholic,” she told Vatican Radio. “I always practiced religion, but I never had a route. I never had a way of worship. I never had security in my faith. But when I met the Augustinians, and I started to going to the youth groups… They gave me a sense of being part of a family – a much, much wider family in the whole world… I know now that I have brothers and sisters all of the world.

“I get a lot from Saint Augustine himself and Saint Monnica, just reading about their lives and how they struggled with different things. It makes me feel like I’m not alone.”

Listen to Vatican Radio’s full interview with Megan Barzaq: