Write a short explanation (2-4 sentences) about VERITAS. use these as reference to give you an idea on what VERITAS is.

Reference 1: Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.[1] In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences.[2]

Truth is usually held to be the opposite of falsehood. The concept of truth is discussed and debated in various contexts, including philosophy, art, theology, and science. Most human activities depend upon the concept, where its nature as a concept is assumed rather than being a subject of discussion; these include most of the sciences, law, journalism, and everyday life. Some philosophers view the concept of truth as basic, and unable to be explained in any terms that are more easily understood than the concept of truth itself.[2] Most commonly, truth is viewed as the correspondence of language or thought to a mind-independent world. This is called the correspondence theory of truth.

Various theories and views of truth continue to be debated among scholars, philosophers, and theologians.[2][3] There are many different questions about the nature of truth which are still the subject of contemporary debates, such as: the question of defining truth. If it is even possible to give an informative definition of truth. Identifying things are truth-bearers and are therefore capable of being true or false. If truth and falsehood are bivalent, or if there are other truth values. Identifying the criteria of truth that allow us to identify it and to distinguish it from falsehood. The role that truth plays in constituting knowledge. And if truth is always absolute, or if it can be relative to one’s perspective.  

Reference 2:The value of veritas signals the Augustinian search for God through the love for and pursuit of truth. But what is truth in a world containing a plethora of religions, viewpoints, lifestyles, cultures, and perspectives?

All Christians, by virtue of their Baptism, are called to holiness (1 Thes. 4:3), of which Christ is the author and the goal. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) because God is the source of all that is true. In God alone do we find complete and final happiness. Because we are made in His image and likeness, we are capable of knowing and loving God (Gaudium et Spes, 12). Therefore the pursuit of knowing and loving God is the ultimate goal of all Christians.

Yet, God is ultimate mystery. The pursuit of knowing God is therefore a lifelong journey. We often discover this most clearly in the difficult moments of life, when prayers seem to go unanswered; when things turn out differently than we thought they would or should; when we discover just how much we do not know; when we discover just how little control we actually have over the circumstances of our lives.

In his intellectual and spiritual pursuits, Augustine avidly and fearlessly sought answers to the tough questions concerning faith and life. In his Confessions, we see Augustine wrestle with questions about who and where God was in the concrete circumstances of his life: Why did he rebel as a kid? Why did he lust? How can bad happen in the world when it is governed by a God who is all good? What could a humble teacher like Jesus teach a successful professor and rhetorician like Augustine (Confessions Book VII)? Why does he struggle to give up the things he enjoyed to follow Christ more closely (Confessions Book VIII)?

These questions are not unlike some of the questions we may find ourselves asking today.

As Augustine’s journey demonstrates, truth is discovered as the mind devoutly reflects on the mysteries of our faith in light of the life circumstances we find ourselves in. We actively engage in the pursuit of truth when we continually reflect on

1) what Scripture says about our faith in the God we cannot see or feel with the senses;

2) what Tradition tells us the people of God and the Church have learned throughout the centuries of salvation history;

3) what our own unique experience might teach us along with current bodies of knowledge such as the sciences;

4) what our own rational mind surmises from the three aforementioned sources of knowledge.

The Augustinian way of life engages these four sources through several practices:

Communal and individual prayer and worship
Contemplation.
Dialogue on the issues of our day in a way that invites others to the discussion and empowers one to think critically, expand boundaries, and articulate new visions
Study of numerous disciplines (e.g., theology, the sciences, etc).
While Augustine was an avid searcher of truth, the deeper he got into his search, the more he realized he could not search for truth alone. He recognized that he needed the company of friends and established a community through which he could search for God with others. In this community he encouraged a type of unity through which he could journey with them through the varying circumstances of life and at the same time engage in a common search for the author of all truth: God.

“Let all of you then live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually honoring God in yourselves, whose temples you have become.”

The Rule I, 9
Thus, the Augustinian way of life is founded on the search for God with others, leading to our second core value: Unitas.