On Monday, August 28, the Augustinian Recollect Family met in the formation house Saint Augustine of Las Rozas, Madrid to celebrate its titular patron in a Eucharist solemn ceremony which was followed by a fraternal meal in the refectory of the house of formation.
The celebration of the festivity of Saint Augustine took place in the house of formation Saint Augustine of Las Rozas. The community gathered for the Eucharist, which began shortly after 1:00 p.m. The mass was presided over by the prior provincial of the province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, Fray Carlos González Castellanos, accompanied by twenty priests and some altar boys who helped in the development of the liturgical celebration.
Those attending the celebration belonged to different points of the Recollect geography: In addition to religious from the houses of Madrid, others from England, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, the Philippines and Colombia, some fraternities from the parishes of Our Lady of Buenavista in Getafe and Santa Rita in Madrid, and relatives of a friar.
The songs intoned and well interpreted by the choir of professed formandi of the house of Las Rozas belonged mostly to the repository of Augustinian songs of José Manuel González Durán and José Alberto Fontanella, Augustinian Recollects.
In his homily, Fray Carlos commented on the importance that the Word -the Scriptures- they had in the life and spirituality of Saint Augustine and they have or should have for us at the moment. Saint Augustine, refractory before converting to the poor style of the books of scriptures, once humility entered his heart, the scriptures became object of his deep studies and comments, until he affirmed: “Your word is my joy”. Using the two elements of the OAR logo “A book and a heart pierced by a flame”, he encouraged the community to place the center of their lives the of the book the Holy Scriptures and to make them alive in their hearts. With his own words of Saint Augustine, we have to say: “Your Word that sticks in my heart makes that love sprouts in me”.
At the end of the mass, the traditional and solemn hymn to Saint Augustine of Juan Ignacio Busca de Sagastizábal while the prior provincial incensed the beautiful oil painting in which the saint of the day is represented.
After the mass there was an opportunity to share with each other in the time of the table and after-dinner, in which a cheerful and festive spirit abounded. the meal culminated with a space for music and lively songs, led by the students themselves of the host house, thus closing a day of meeting and fraternity of Augustinian taste.
