Prep Talk

Fr. Michael DiGregorio Installed as New Prior Provincial

Posted June 10th, 2014

On Monday, June 9, the Augustinian friars of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova installed Rev. Michael F. DiGregorio, O.S.A. as the new Prior Provincial. The installation serves as the centerpiece of the Provincial Chapter at Villanova, which began on June 8 and continues through June 13.

The Provincial is the major superior of the nearly 200 Augustinians of the province who serve in parishes, schools, and other ministries in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida, and in missions in Peru, Japan, and South Africa.

A native of Staten Island, New York, Fr. Michael entered the Order of St. Augustine in 1965, professed vows the following year, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1973. After 19 years of ministry in various parishes and formation programs of the Province, he served as the director of social communications for the Order in Rome. From 1992-2007, he was the rector of the National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia in Philadelphia. Fr. Michael has also done advanced studies in spirituality, especially Augustinian Spirituality, has given retreats to religious and lay groups, and has worked with the Augustinian Secular Movement. He has collaborated on several books on Augustinian themes and the saints of the Order.

Since October 2013, Fr. Michael has been assigned to the Augustinian community at St. Augustine Prep, after having completed a six-year term as Vicar General of the entire Order of St. Augustine.  During that period, he resided at the Augustinian Curia in Rome.

In addition to St. Augustine Preparatory School, the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova sponsors Villanova University, Merrimack College, and Malvern Preparatory School.  The Provincial has a close relationship to the Prep, serving ex officio as the chair of the Members Corporation and of the Board of Directors.