SAN DIEGO — Augustinian Father Max Villeneuve, 36, serves as the chaplain at St. Augustine High School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school founded in 1922 by the Order of St. Augustine.
Born in Houston and raised in Los Angeles, Father Villeneuve made his first profession of vows in 2014 and his final profession four years later. He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy on Dec. 15, 2018, at St. Patrick Church in North Park.
He is currently in his eighth year of ministry at St. Augustine High School, popularly known as Saints, which began a new academic year on Aug. 15.
Question: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
Answer: I started discerning the call when I was a student at San Diego State University, where I was majoring in Religious Studies. I was very involved with the Newman Center there, helping out with retreats, Bible studies, socials and things of that nature.
Father Bruce Orsborn, then director of the Newman Center and now pastor at St. Mark’s Parish in San Marcos, encouraged me to discern the priesthood. And so, I did. It just seemed like the natural thing to do.
What happened next?
After graduating from SDSU in 2009, I spent one year in the priestly formation program at St. Francis Center, where I studied philosophy. I loved my time there, and my favorite part was living in community with the other seminarians. Ultimately, I realized that I wasn’t called to be a diocesan priest, but to be part of a religious community. I left the seminary and began a two-year discernment process that led me to the Augustinians.
What did you find attractive about the Augustinians?
The Augustinians’ charism is community life. So, what I had loved at St. Francis Center, I was able to fully find with the Augustinians.
As an Augustinian, I’m a member of a worldwide brotherhood. Everywhere I go in the order, wherever I am, even if there’s a language barrier, that brotherhood transcends everything. I have brothers all over the world living out this charism with me.
To find the right religious order for me, I started looking here in my back yard in San Diego. I was living in the College Area, and the Augustinians were in North Park, not very far away. Part of my discernment was just going to the monastery next-door to St. Augustine High School and having dinner and socializing with the friars. It didn’t take long before I felt like I was at home, that I was where I needed to be and where I was being called to be.
What have you found most fulfilling about priestly ministry?
I love celebrating the sacraments. I love being someone who can be a guide in showing others the beauty of our faith, how it’s rational, and how living with faith brings joy to our lives.
That’s certainly been at the forefront of my ministry at Saints, but I also try to bring that message to diocesan parishes as a supply priest. On the weekends, I celebrate Masses at different parishes, filling in for priests who are on vacation or out of town.
What is it like to minister in a high school setting?
It’s never boring. There’s always something happening. There’s always a game, or a practice, or a school play. There’s always something to do. You can’t be bored in this ministry.
The boys keep you on your toes, but they’re very wholesome. They’re curious, they’re adventurous, they want to know things, and they keep asking questions. That’s a quality that they share with Augustine. So, I try to foster an environment where they can ask their questions and also to channel their energies into good places, so that they can recognize how God is calling them as they prepare for the next steps of their life into college and beyond.
You have also led students on several international trips. Isn’t that right?
Yes, I’ve attended every World Youth Day since Rio de Janeiro in 2013 with students from St. Augustine High School. And then, every January for the past two years, I’ve led students on a two-week Augustinian pilgrimage through our heritage sites in Italy.
The pilgrimage starts in Milan, so we get to encounter St. Ambrose, the fourth-century bishop of Milan who converted St. Augustine. We’re also able to visit the Duomo of Milan, where Augustine was baptized in 387; we pray and renew our baptismal promises there. And, in Pavia, just outside Milan, we visit Augustine’s tomb.
From there, we head to Tuscany, to a town called San Gimignano. The Augustinians have a monastery there that’s very historic and very important in the life of the order; we’re able to stay there and experience how the first Augustinian friars formed a community in the 13th century.
We end in Rome, where we visit the major basilicas, including St. Peter’s; the Vatican Museums; and also St. Augustine’s, where we visit the tomb of Augustine’s mother, St. Monica. We also attend a general audience with the Holy Father, which is always a highlight of the trip.
What do you hope the boys take from this experience?
For a lot of them, it might be their first time in Europe and their first time seeing all the tremendous history that’s there. It’s certainly a very boy-friendly trip; they get to eat all the pizza and pasta that they want. But, while we do fun and interesting things, we’re intentional about calling it a pilgrimage; it’s not an Italian vacation. The focus is definitely on the important heritage sites of our Augustinian tradition and of our Catholic faith.
What advice do you have about discerning a vocation?
First of all, don’t be afraid. Reach out to the vocation directors of religious communities that interest you, and make arrangements to visit them. Go and really get a sense of what life in that religious community is like. Pay attention even to the vibes that you get during your visit.
Every religious community is a little bit different, and different communities call to different people in different ways. In-person visits are essential; you can’t rely on online research. You might be interested in a particular community, but until you visit, you’ll never know if it’s the right one for you.
