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THE AUGUSTINIAN PRAYER

c. Evangelizing – CSA-B educates its pupils and
PRAYER BEFORE THE CLASS students to become agents of social change
  according to the Gospel and Augustinian values.
Leader : Let us turn to God with hearts filled d. Community – CSA-B is an institution of learning
or a school wherein the members, namely, the
with gratitude and praise. (short pause)
administration and administrators, the pupils and
When we live in unity. students, the faculty and non-academic
personnel, with the collaboration or help of their
All : How good and how pleasant it is. co-partners, namely, the parents and the alumni,
work together harmoniously in a conducive and
Leader : Pray for us, O Holy Father St. friendly atmosphere for the holistic growth of
Augustine every member in particular and of the entire
institution in general so that every member and
All : That we may dwell together in peace. co-partner will become closer to Jesus Christ or to
God.
Let us pray: GOD OUR FATHER, your Son
promised to be present in the midst of all CSA-B’S VISION AND MISSION
who come together in His name. Help us to
recognize His presence among us and The Vision Statement
experience in our hearts the abundance of
your grace, your mercy and your peace, in An Augustinian educative and evangelizing
truth and in love. We ask this through Christ community of dynamic lifelong learners with
our Lord. high ethical standards and global competence
intent upon the holistic transformation of the
 All: Amen human person and society.

Leader: Our Lady of Good Counsel The Mission Statement

All: Pray for us Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod is a Filipino

  Augustinian school that fosters a community
Leader: You have made us for Yourself life that is of one mind and one heart on the
way to God, and pursues premier Catholic
All: Our heart is restless untiI it rests in You. education through innovative instruction,
relevant research and sustainable community
service.
PRAYER AT THE END OF THE CLASS
Vice President of Augustinian Formation
Leader: Praise be the name of the Lord. Religious Affairs and Mission (VPAFRAM)

All: Now and forever. Amen. The Vision Statement

An evangelized and transformed community
of Augustinian stakeholders exemplifying
Distinctive Characteristics of CSA-B Augustinian values in service of the church
and the community.
a. Augustinian – CSA-B is administered by the
Order of St. Augustine (O.S.A.), particularly by the The Mission Statement
Filipino Augustinians. The quality of education The office of the VPAFRA is committed to
given and earned at CSA-B is in accordance with provide programs that imbibe the Christian-
the teachings of the Catholic Church and of its Augustinian values and moral refinement
spiritual founder, St. Augustine of Hippo. through religious activities, community
b. Educative – CSA-B is an institution of learning service and Augustinian formation and
that provides quality education in the following
pedagogy.
major areas of discipline: Arts, Sciences,
Education, Information Technology, Engineering,
Nursing, Medical Technology,Pharmacy, VISION-MISSION DEFINED
Accountancy, Library Science, Entrepreneurship,
Business Education, Basic and Pre-elementary Vision Statement a verbal expression of our
Education. It aims to pursue premier Catholic wish or desire for an ideal institution, for
education through innovative instruction, relevant example: CSA-B it answers the question:
research and sustainable community service. “What do we wish CSA-B to be?” We wish

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CSA-B to be “An Augustinian educative and HAIL MARY, full of grace, the Lord is with you,
evangelizing community of vibrant lifelong blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
learners with high ethical standards and fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of
global competency providing quality Catholic God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.
Education,” so that everyone will become
closer to Jesus Christ or to God. Glory Be
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, and to the Son, and to
Mission Statement a verbal expression of the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now,
what we must do in order to accomplish our and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
task of doing the necessary so that our vision
statement will eventually be materialized. The Creed
  I BELIEVE IN GOD, the Father almighty, Creator of
ON PRAYER heaven and earth.
What is Prayer?
 Prayer is turning the heart toward God. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He
 When a person prays, he enters into a was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and
living relationship with God. [2558-2565] born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under
(YOUCAT (Youth Catechism). Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
 Prayer is the great gate leading into faith. He descended to the dead. On the third day he
 Someone who prays no longer lives on rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is
his own, for himself, and by his own seated at the right hand of the Father. He will
strength. come again to judge the living and the dead.
 He knows there is a God to whom he can
talk. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic
 People who pray entrust themselves Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
more and more to God. of sins, the resurrection of the of the body, and
 Even now they seek union with the one the life everlasting. Amen.
whom they will encounter one day face
to face. Guardian Angel
 Therefore, the effort to pray daily is part ANGEL OF GOD, my guardian dear, to whom God’s
of Christian life. love entrusts me here. Ever this day be at my
 Of course, one cannot learn to pray in side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
the same way one learns a technique.
 As strange as it sounds, prayer is a gift Hail Holy Queen
one obtains through prayer. HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, mother of mercy, hail our life,
For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry,
simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send
recognition and of love, embracing both trial and up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley
joy. of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate,
 ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX (1873- your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our
1897) exile show unto us the blessed fruit of your
Do what you can, and pray for what you cannot, womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin
and so God will grant you the ability to do it. Mary.
 ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430) Pray for us O holy Mother of God. That we may be
made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Review of Prayers
Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended
The Sign of the Cross (1 Cor. 1:18; Gal. 6:14; Mt. you; and I hate and detest all my sins because of
28:19) your just punishments. But most of all because I
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of have offended you, my God, who are all good and
the Holy Spirit. Amen. deserving of all my love, I firmly resolve with the
help of your grace, to confess all my sins, to do
The Lord’s Prayer penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
OUR FATHER in heaven, holy be Your name, Your
kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and The Augustinian Prayer (Sign of the Cross)
forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin
against us. Do not bring us to the test, but deliver Leader: Let us turn to God with hearts filled with
us from evil. Amen. gratitude and praise. (Short Pause) When we live
in unity
The Hail Mary All: How good and how pleasant it is
Leader: Pray for us, O Holy Father Augustine

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All: That we may dwell together in peace o It is the humble, poor devotion of a
Leader: Let us pray creature that drops all masks, believes in
All: O God, our Father, Your Son promised to be love, and seeks God from the heart.
present in the midst of all who come together in o Interior prayer is often called the prayer
His name. Help us to recognize His presence of the heart and →CONTEMPLATION.
among us and experience in our hearts the o Keep your soul in peace. Let God work in
abundance of Your grace, Your mercy and Your you. Welcome thoughts that raise your
peace, in truth and in love. We ask this through heart to God. Open wide the window of
Christ our Lord. Amen your soul. ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA (1491-
Leader: Our Lady of Good Counsel 1556)
All: Pray for us!
Leader: You have made us for Yourself What can a Christian accomplish through
All: Our heart is restless until it rests in You meditation?
 In →MEDITATION a Christian seeks
Various Ways to Pray silence so as to experience intimacy with
 there is vocal prayer, meditation, and God and to find peace in his presence.
contemplative prayer.  He hopes for the sensible experience of
 All three ways of prayer presuppose his presence, which is an undeserved gift
recollecting one’s mind and heart. [2699, of grace; he does not expect it, however,
2721] as the product of a particular technique
of meditation.
What is vocal prayer?  →MEDITATION can be an important aid
 In the first place, prayer is lifting the to faith that strengthens and matures
heart to God. the human person.
 Jesus himself taught his disciples to pray  Nevertheless, techniques of meditation
with words. that promise to bring about an
 With the Our Father he left us the perfect experience of God, or even the soul’s
vocal prayer as his testament to show union with God, are deceptive.
how we should pray. [2700-2704, 2722]  On account of such false promises, many
 While praying we should not try to think people believe that God has abandoned
pious thoughts. them just because they do not perceive
 We should express what is in our hearts him.
and offer it to God as complaint, petition,  But God cannot be compelled to show
praise, and thanks. up by particular methods. He
 Often it is the great vocal prayers—the communicates himself to us whenever
Psalms and hymns of Sacred Scripture, and however he wishes.
the Our Father, the Hail Mary—that  MEDITATION (from Latin meditor = to
direct us to the true substance of prayer practice, think over): Meditation is a
and lead to a kind of free, interior prayer. spiritual exercise practiced in various
religions and cultures in which man is
There are many paths of prayer. supposed to find his way to himself (and
 Some people follow only one, to God).
while others walk along all of  Christianity recognizes and treasures a
them. variety of meditative practices, but
 There are moments of a lively rejects those practices that promise
certainty: Christ is there, he is union with God or with the divine as the
speaking inside us. result of a particular technique of
 In other moments he is the meditation.
silent one, a distant stranger. . . .
 For everyone prayer remains, in The study of Theology courses in this school
its infinite variations, a (CSAB) includes the following aspects:
passageway to a life that does 1. Doctrine – knowledge of the Catholic faith
not come from ourselves but
2. History – knowledge of the origin and
from somewhere else.
-BROTHER ROGER SCHUTZ tradition of the Catholic faith
3. Bibliology – knowledge of the Sacred
What is interior or “contemplative” prayer? Scriptures
o Contemplative prayer is love, silence, 4. Praxis – reflection on faith and its practice
listening, and being in the presence of in real life experience
God. [2709-2719, 2724]
o For interior prayer one needs time, Goals of Theology
resolve, and above all a pure heart. 1. To Glorify God - To give glory to God always
in everything we do

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2. To think theologically - To always 6. Salvation – The study of what God has

remember that everything comes from God been doing throughout the history of the
3. To live accordingly - To live according to world in order to redeem His people
God’s Will 7. Sin – The study of the nature of sin and its
4. To connect faith and practices – To believe effects to the people and the world
and have faith always in God 8. Church – The study of the formation and the
structure, leadership and the nature of the church
Branches of Theology 9. Angels – The study of the nature of angels
1. Biblical Theology – it refers to the 10. Last things – The study of prophecy, heaven,
study of the Bible that seeks to hell and the judgment
discover what the biblical writers
under the divine guidance, believed, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel: The
described and taught in the context Creation of Adam
during their time.
2. Historical Theology – it investigates
the development of Christian thought
in its growth through the centuries
since biblical times.
3. Practical Theology – it focuses on
pastoral application of biblical truths in
modern life.
4. Christian Ethics/Moral Theology – is Read the Story:
the branch of theology that studies in One day, there was a man who wanted to see
a systematic way the practical God. So, what did he do? He got up and rode
implication of God’s revelatory his spaceship and started looking for God. On
intervention in Jesus Christ. It is his journey, he was not able to find and see
concerned with the kind of people God. Hence fort, he made a conclusion and
we ought to be and the kinds of said, “There is no God.”
actions we ought to perform or
avoid. JOURNEY
5. Philosophical Theology – is the As we journey into life, just like the event
process of doing theology with the where Jesus Christ appears to His disciples on the
aid and support of philosophical road to Emmaus, many times we are not able to
reflection, language and methods. recognize Jesus in our lives. And maybe many
6. Apologetics – (“Speaking in defense”) times we took Him for granted. But we are
it is the religious discipline of reminded here in the Gospel of St. Luke 24:32,
defending the religious doctrines “And they said to one another; did not our heart
burn within us, while He talked with us by the
through systematic argumentation
way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?”
and discourse. St. Augustine’s Spiritual Vision is with the
7. Christian Apologetics – is a branch of notion of ‘the journey’ in Latin means
Christian theology that defends (peregrinatio) that one finds a key to the
Christianity against objections. understanding and living of Augustinian
8. Systematic Theology – It refers to spirituality, the search for God. Safe arrival could
something being put into a system; a never be taken for granted: one might lose the
discipline of Christian theology that way.
formulates an orderly, rational and What marks Augustine’s spiritual vision is
that he came to know the journey: where he was
coherent account on the doctrine of
going, how he was going to get there, where
the Christian faith.
constantly to direct his gaze and that it was a
journey to be shared; a journey of Grace. Late in
Tasks of Theology/ Areas of Theology life Augustine sums up his position on grace while
1. God – The study of God’s existence; who is commenting on the work written shortly after his
God Episcopal ordination: ‘In trying to come to a
2. Christ – The study of His person, life, solution I was in favor of the freedom of choice of
work/ministry the Human Will – but Grace Won!’ (retr. II.1). The
3. Holy Spirit – The study of His Work spirituality of Augustine, with its insistence upon
4. Scripture – The study of God’s revelation to grace, means that we should be humble and
us through the Sacred Scripture grateful, but certainly not passive or lazy.
5. Humanity – The study of human nature
Guided by the Scriptures

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One of the most remarkable features of

Augustine’s book, Confessions, is the role which
this strikingly original work gives to the Word of
God, the Scriptures. Throughout his life he
repeatedly reminds himself and his congregation
that while his words reach the ears, God’s Word
reaches the heart.

A Pilgrim Heart
Restlessness of the human heart - the journey
of Augustine is indeed a heart’s journey. The
symbol of the heart holds central place in his
efforts to articulate the self. ‘My heart is the place
where I am whoever I am – cor meum, ubi ego
sum quicumque sum’ (Confession 10.3.4) For
Augustine “Heart” symbolizes the God-inspired
journey which is a graced and ongoing journey
that takes us inward. God has stamped the human
heart with the Divine Image (Imago Dei, Gen
1:27), an ineffaceable imprint of identity,
covenant, dignity and love. Sin disconnects us
from that real self, the Imago Dei, and so we must
undertake to return to our inner self: “Return to
your heart” (Redi Ad Cor) - (Io.eu. tr. 18.10). In the
Confessions Augustine says so remarkably to God:
‘You are within me, it was I who was outside’
(10.27.38)! This is the God who is nearer to
Augustine than Augustine is to himself (3.7.12).
In line with this as an Augustinian educative
and evangelizing community we need a verbal
expression; a Vision-Mission of what we must do
in order to accomplish our wish and task following
the will of God for each one of us, “What do we
wish CSA-B to be?” We wish CSA-B to be “An
Augustinian educative and evangelizing
community of dynamic lifelong learners with high
ethical standards and global competence intent
upon the holistic transformation of the human
person and society,” so that everyone will become
closer to Jesus Christ or to God. Hence, as an
individual we need to have our own Vision-
Mission in life as well so that we will not lose our
way.

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