Blessed Stephen Bellesini is protagonist of the Augustinian Week 2025 in Czech Republic

The traditional Augustinian Week, whose 27th edition was celebrated this year in the cities of Prague and Brno, coincided with the Octave of Easter and offered several enriching opportunities to immerse ourselves in our Order’s spirituality.

On Tuesday, April 22nd, the first lecture of this Augustinian Week was delivered by Fr. Javier Pérez Barba, OSA. Given in Spanish and translated into Czech, the talk focused on the figure of Blessed Stephen Bellesini, an Augustinian friar who lived in various parts of what is now Italy between the 18th and 19th centuries.

Fr. Javier highlighted Bellesini’s crucial contribution to public education: he championed a free, public, and universal school system in 19th-century Trentino and firmly advocated for dignifying teachers’ role and for the moral and religious formation of students.

His Augustinian vocation was so steadfast that, at the height of his educational career, he did not hesitate to leave his homeland and secretly cross the border into the Papal States in order to resume wearing the habit and fully embrace his religious consecration. Later, as novice master and ultimately as parish priest in Genazzano, he dedicated himself entirely to pastoral service. He practiced the virtues to a heroic degree, something that became especially evident during the epidemic that devastated the city. He ultimately gave his life while attending to the spiritual and material needs of his ailing parishioners, thus becoming a model of Augustinian life for the entire Order.

Fr. Javier would go on to deliver the same lecture a few days later at the Abbey of Brno.

On Wednesday, April 23rd, the Augustinians of Prague and Brno organized spiritual workshops for all those interested in the teachings of Saint Augustine.

Participants had the opportunity to experience an evening devoted to issues such as humility, friendship, and the obstacles on the path toward God, all within a spirit of prayer and fellowship.

The Augustinian Week concluded on Thursday, April 24th, with an evening Mass at the Church of Saint Thomas, which featured a performance by the renowned organist Jiří Lang. He formerly served as principal organist and choir director of the Augustinian Basilica of the Assumption in Old Brno, where he also founded the choir.