On the afternoon of the 20th of October the various members of the Secular Fraternity of the Augustinian Recollects were brought together in the parish of Holy Family, Union City, New Jersey.
They were the English speaking section, who were celebrating their patron, Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki. As the main act of the celebration Enrique Eguiarte presided the solemn celebration of the Eucharist in the chapel of Centro Guadulape Union City. In his homily Eguiarte demonstrated the many virtues of Saint Magdalene, especially her love for the Augustinian Recollect way of life, her passion for the Holy Scriptures, her imitation of Saint Augustine and her courage to confess her faith including the giving of her own life. He also indicated that the times in which we live demand a clear witness of faith in an environment of indifference and the regrowth of paganism in the contemporary culture.
At the end of his homily he made a commentary on the Augustinian phrase “caritas uincit omnia”, stating that “the Christian sense” of the phrase of the Latin poet Virgil (love uincit omnia), affirms that this phrase of St. Augustine could have been the life axiom of Saint Magdalene. For she was moved and inspired by the love of God, and that of her brothers and sisters. In no other way could we understand her life and the witness of her faith up until death.
Only love can give the extraordinary strength to the martyr to support the cruelest of tortures. Magdalene is, therefore, an example of a profound living-out of the love of God, and how this love calls us to give witness to faith with vitality and joy.
In the Eucharist they prayed especially for all the deceased members of the Secular Fraternity of the Augustinian Recollects and they commemorated the tenth anniversary of its installation.
Once they had concluded the mass, Eguiarte gave thanks to Carol Ann Stronach and Anne Marie Sweeney for their work to have been able to print some small booklets to facilitate the prayers of the Office of Saint Magdalene and for having taken charge to coordinate all the many details of the celebration.
Afterwards, the Secular Fraternity of the Augustinian Recollects had shared time together, enjoying a classic American meal – with donuts of all possible varieties -, and the members had the opportunity to express their experiences, their lives, their needs and worries. They took advantage of the opportunity to devise the plan of reunions, formation sessions and prayer meetings for the coming year.
After giving thanks to God, the time together reached its end with the sense of having grown yet more the Fraternity amongst the English-speaking community of the parish of Holy Family Union City, New Jersey.
