An Augustinian seminarian finds purpose in a restless heart

(OSV News) -- Frank Connor, a seminarian with the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, has embraced a divine invitation to service and purpose that has unfolded gradually throughout his life.

Raised Catholic, Connor, began to drift away from the faith in high school. It wasn't until he attended Villanova University, an Augustinian institution, that he began to reconnect with God.

His return to the faith mirrored that of St. Augustine, whose story deeply resonated with him.

"It wasn't a dramatic moment, but a slow reversion, sparked by conversations with the Augustinian friars on campus," Connor recalled.

One of those friars was Father George Magee, who had known Connor's father when he attended Villanova. Connor met him frequently at the monastery on campus.

"Even when I wasn't going to Mass, I was visiting him, having lunch and talking," Connor said.
These seemingly small moments planted seeds on his path to discernment.

A pivotal moment came at Father Magee's funeral in April 2019, shortly before Connor graduated from Villanova with a degree in economics.

"I saw the line of friars walking up behind the casket … and something just clicked," he recalled. "The question came: 'Should I be an Augustinian?'"

Unsure whether this question was just the result of graduation nerves, he took time after his studies to reflect on it.

Connor realized that God's grace was at work in the relationships he had cultivated.

"For Augustine, God's grace was almost always mediated through others, which is part of the Augustinian charism," he said. "We're always listening to God's will in others."

Connor entered the Order of St. Augustine in the summer of 2021. "The love of Villanova, my connection to the friars, and the story of St. Augustine -- all of it came together," he said. "It wasn't a straight path, but it was real, and it was leading me here."

Not that "here" is the end of the road, of course. "The goal is not to be here," Connor said. "The goal is heaven, to be with God. We're made for him, and this world won't ever satisfy us fully."

"But that restlessness isn't a bad thing," he added. "It's an invitation to keep seeking God's will."

Indeed, restlessness is a hallmark of the Augustinian vocation: "The openness to where you're called, and the recognition that even that calling won't fully satisfy you, is part of being an Augustinian," he said.

That restless path, it turns out, shares a surprising parallel with someone now at the very center of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV, the first Augustinian pope, also studied at Villanova and completed his formation at the same school in Chicago where Connor is now.

"It is a surreal experience to live in a house where Pope Leo XIV lived, to have gone to the same schools that he went to, and to know well some of his good friends in the order," Connor said. "From everything I have heard about him, I think we as a church are truly blessed. It's definitely a good time to be an Augustinian and to be a Catholic in the United States."

Connor's journey has also led him to use his talent for writing to serve the church. He is the author of a novel and a book-length satire, and now he's working on a book about the Augustinian order, hoping to make its rich history more accessible to a wider audience.

"Working on the history has been great because it pulls together some of my previous experiences, discerning the things I'm bringing in and including them in my purpose going forward as a friar," Connor said. "Having that be affirmed in others around me in community is kind of an indication that it is part of God's will for me."

In his discernment and writing, Connor draws inspiration from St. Augustine's "Confessions," which he considers a model for reflective discernment.

"In 'Confessions,' Augustine realizes that God was always active in his life -- even in moments that didn't seem significant at the time," Connor said. "Be open to the motions of the Spirit. Even if you push the idea of a vocation away, God doesn't give up on you."

As Connor continues his formation, his understanding of his vocation has become more certain, though it is still developing. The journey toward the priesthood is one of constant reflection and growth -- a path that, like St. Augustine's, is marked by a restless yearning for God's will.

"Ultimately, our true home is not here," Connor said.

Quoting St. Augustine, he added, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."