Br Augustino Torres was born April 30, 1976 the second of five children. He grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in Southern Texas.  He attended Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, where he was president of the Brownson Speech and Debate team and graduated Cum Laude with a bachelors degree in History. He joined the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in New York City in September of 1999 at the age of 23. He spent his apostolic years serving the poor in the Bronx and in Honduras, and helping at youth retreats across the nation. He is currently studying for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary which is the seminary for the Archdiocese of New York.

My vocation story began, I think, with my fascination with the divine I had as a kid. My family was not a Church-going family (my parents had fallen away from their Catholic upbringing), but I remember thinking about God often. But then my teenage years hit and I thought very little of God. I aspired to have a successful worldly life as a teenager. Everything from popularity to a good GPA was what I desired. Even through those difficult years I still questioned what my true purpose in life was.

Then a couple of things happened. My mother came back into the Church and we officially became Catholic. I attended RCIA and got my sacraments. My becoming Catholic was sincere on my part, but there was a lack of depth to my relationship with Christ. I just continued to do what my football buddies did. The other thing that happened was World Youth Day. The Pope was going to go to Denver in 1993. The problem was I did not want to attend if I had to go with some other people who I thought were not genuine about their faith. So I decided not to go. Then one night at CCD a seminarian spoke to us about World Youth Day, and I for the first time in my life felt a "calling". I just felt an incredible conviction in my heart that I needed to look into going to Denver. I had never experienced anything like that and I did ask a few questions. 

But my worlds came crashing into each other when, in order to go to Denver, I had to attend a youth retreat which was on the same weekend as the "Open House Weekend" of a really good school I was interested in. I had a tough decision to make; at least it was tough for me at the time. In the end I decided to go to Denver and my life changed. The amount of grace I received at the time to stop doing so much stuff that did not glorify God is amazing. Thanks be to God! I began to pray on my own, and one Lent I decided to go to Holy Mass during the week before going to school. I will never forget having to explain to my football coach (who was my first period teacher) why I was late one day. When I told him it was because I was going to Mass in the morning I totally expected him to think I was lying, or worse that I was mocking him. He just smiled and said nothing else. In my own prayer I prayed that God would show me what my purpose in life was, "Just tell me what you want to do and I'll do it," was my prayer. When the thought of becoming a priest surfaced I shuddered. I struggled with that possibility mainly because I just wanted to have a normal family. In the end I realized that God would give me everything I needed and I resolved to trust Him. I knew I had to go to college to pursue this route and even though I had a number of offers to go elsewhere (even to become a DJ at a local radio station) I decided to go to Seton Hall University to which I had a great scholarship.

When I went to University I knew it was going to be tough. Even at some Catholic universities one must struggle to be Christian. I am so grateful that there were so many wonderful priests to help me during those trying years. Sometimes it felt like I was the only one in a class discussion that would stand up for Christian values. Overall my college years were good. I was in the speech and debate team, the school mascot and I met many wonderful people along the way. 

The best thing that happened was meeting the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal because of my proximity to New York. At first I thought they were a good group but not my "cup of tea", but when I visited them I knew that this was my purpose in life. Another possibility came up, however, and I was offered a really good job. Thoughts crept into my head of putting off my vocation and working in the world for a while. In my discernment I just knew that that was not the right thing to do and, though it has been tough at times, I have never been happier in my life.