Community

Community Biographies

Friar +Joseph Augustine Menna, AIHM

Friar Joseph serves as Prior General and Bishop of the Order and is a founding member of the Augustinians of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He received a degree in Religious Studies at La Salle University, earned a M.S. Ed., and has been an educator for over 25 years.  A former OSA Friar, Friar Joseph has a background in religious studies, personal development, spirituality, psychology, and math.  Bp. Joseph was ordained to the priesthood in 2005 and consecrated in 2014

Friar Shane+ Nicholas Neese, AIHM

Friar Shane has a passion for intercessory prayer and is entrusted with the prayer and Mass request ministry of the Order.  He works as the mentor – supervisor of a team of data collectors to gather survey data for a Social Science Research company.  Friar Shane has taken the lead in expanding our digital resources for outreach and community prayer, and also serves as the community counselor, archivist, and Formations Director.  Ordained to the Priesthood on June 4th, 2016, he lives in Chester, PA with his long-time partner, their dog and two cats.

Friar Thomas+ Gabriel Bradshaw, AIHM 

Originally from Southern New Jersey, Friar Thomas now lives in Hagerstown, MD with his wife and their family of two cats. Fr. Thomas originally came to us from another jurisdiction but upon meeting the AIHM during Bp. Joseph Augustine’s consecration in 2014, felt the calling to an Augustinian life and is now incardinated with the AIHM, living as a professed friar with the Order. Fr. Thomas is drawn to Eucharistic adoration, intercessory prayer, and advocacy for all of creation. Fr. Thomas offers the sacraments and other ministries to all on request and is currently serving the Order as our Vocations Director.

Friar Michael Simeon Marino, AIHM

Friar Michael Simeon comes to the Order from Northeast Pennsylvania on the outskirts of the city of Wilkes-Barre. Originally from New York City, Michael carries with him a deep compassion for the marginalized and seeks to protect human dignity. Called to intercessory prayer and different service projects, he leads a quiet life with family in a rural village and works in the foodservice industry.

From the Constitutions of the AIHM

“We are self-supporting religious who live on our own, with our families, or in small communities, bound by sacred profession under the Rule and Statues
to pray for the Body of Christ, share our lives together in communio, and spread that love through acts of mercy and justice.

Our very lives proclaim that God is love, a love that he has breathed into us in the most quiet of ways.  Accepting that God’s love is unconditional, overflowing with mercy, we seek to reflect that love to others in what we say and do, in acts of social justice and loving friendship in community.

In our Augustinian family, in the Church, and in the greater human community, we know that God’s reign will come to be only in and through His Body.