Minds to Lead – Hands to Serve – Hearts to Love

Core Values & Seal

Core Values & Seal

From St. Augustine’s guidance and the experience of Augustinian educators through the centuries, we define the characteristics of an Augustinian school.

  1. We are one family pursuing God together.
  2. We are relentless in helping one another find the truth.
  3. We respect the inner wisdom which must confirm the truth for each person.
  4. We believe in faith so that we can understand.
  5. We learn to love God by our love for one another.
  6. We measure our love of God by our love for one another.
  7. We acknowledge Jesus as the cause of our community.
  8. We see the ultimate end of our existence as union with one another and union with God in Jesus.

The beliefs detailed in the Augustinian Philosophy of Education can be distilled and focused in a set of Core Values which should characterize all the members of the Augustinian school family.

 

  • Veritas (Truth) – Confident that truth is objective and ultimately grounded in God, we are committed to help one another pursue truth with enthusiasm.

 

  • Caritas (Love) – Confident that communion in love with God is the goal of our lives; and sure that we lean and experience God’s love first in other human beings, we strive to be men and women of love.

 

  • Unitas (Unity) – Confident that our Christian relationship of love with others in God makes us one community, we cultivate mutual communion as a means of helping one another pursue truth and deepen our love so as to enjoy ultimate oneness with God, together.

The Seal of the Augustinian Order

The flaming heart is the human heart.  It symbolizes Augustine’s love of God and his fellow brothers and sisters.  The Augustinian heart is passionately alive, with the desire to know God and experience divine love in our lives.

The open book represents St. Augustine’s own conversion to Christianity and the Scriptures.  It also symbolizes the Word of God, source of light and truth and the quest for wisdom.

The arrow which pierces the heart represents the Spirit of God piercing our hearts, calling us to continued growth in faith, hope and love.  This is the basis of that great restlessness, so typical of St. Augustine, which led him to seek God in all things and above all things.

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