Augustine Joseph Chen, O.P. is a Kuching youth born to Cecilia and Anselm Chen who went to study Law in Oxford, England but found his calling to the religious vocation too strong to dismiss.
Before completing his degree, he “felt he had to experiment with religious life.” Although Bro Augustine had an “inkling to explore at various points in his life,” his calling was a “gradual process—a pilgrimage filled with realisations and revelations.”
He first encountered the Dominicans at his university and was attracted to their way of life and their public preaching. It was during this time that the seeds planted in his younger days by “holy priests and religious” began to bear fruit. It was in university that he encountered the saints he has a growing devotion to, such as St Augustine. His mother was involved with a group in Kuching called St Monica’s (mother of St Augustine).
Archbishop Emeritus John Ha’s exhortation when celebrating 40 years of priesthood in 2012 also had a profound impact on him. The thought of “devoting one’s life to the service of God and his Church” in a radical way—“the gift of the whole self”, made Augustine look at religious life, a consecrated life, differently.
Further encounters with Jesuits and Franciscan sisters and Carmelite nuns opened his eyes to the zeal with which they carried their faith. He took these as signs to explore a religious life. However, he was too young then, only 13 years of age and hence not ready. But these were thoughts planted that ran concurrently into adolescence and adulthood, contemplating religious life yet wanting a professional career as a lawyer.
Augustine chose to become a Dominican (the Order of Preachers) after completing his Law degree, because “their intellectual tradition influenced the conduct of their lives.” To be a Dominican is “not only to be a preacher, but to be a brother and sister.” A religious must “make a gift of the whole self, professing the vow of obedience in which the evangelical councils of poverty and chastity are applied.”
His religious name Augustine Joseph is taken after St Augustine who was a very human saint (“he was a sinner like me”—St Teresa of Avila) and St Joseph, the patron saint of the parish he was brought up in.
Augustine has completed one year of noviciate and his first year’s studies in philosophy in Blackfriars Studium, Oxford. He is on holiday in Kuching to visit his parents to whom he is grateful for their generosity and support. He has an older brother who works in Australia.
In an interview with editor of Today’s Catholic, Bro Augustine’s advice to those contemplating a religious vocation is, “Pray but don’t worry.”
