In his diary “Stories from the Amazon” the Augustinian Recollect bishop Santiago Sánchez tells us how much activity he has had from August until the end of the year. Intense moments were the celebrations with the Sister Church of Vitoria or the National Missionary Congress.
The personnel situation of the Augustinian Recollects in the Prelature is not the most adequate and in August I went to Pauini to accompany and support the pastoral work of Frater Roberto Carlos Alvarado who, due to circumstances, had been left alone in the community.
August is the month of vocations and we celebrate it according to the calendar proposed by the Brazilian Church: the first week is dedicated to the priestly vocation; the second, to the family vocation; the third, to the consecrated religious vocation; and the fourth, to the lay vocation with an impact on catechists.
During the week dedicated to the Family, field masses were organized in the different communities; The Day of the Solidarity Heart of ARCORES, the Augustinian-Recollect International Solidarity Network, and the 74 years of life of the Parish of Saint Augustine were also celebrated, which in turn served to open the 75-year jubilee of 2024.
The novena and the feast of the patron Saint Augustine began on August 19, dedicated to Saint Ezekiel Moreno. It was a beautiful, different, fraternal, collected month… I had to return to Labrea, so Roberto Carlos organized the pastoral trips through Purus in September and in October he had the help and company of a religious displaced from Manaus.
September began in Labrea with the patron saint festivities of Our Lady of Nazareth: we had the novena, a huge motorized procession with the image of the patron saint throughout the city, several nights of celebrations, procession, mass, bingo… This town loves our Lady, not only patron of the city and owner of the cathedral, but also of the Prelature and of Amazonas.
On September 10 we celebrate Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, patron saint of the Province.
Since September is Bible month, several trainings on biblical topics were organized. On the 17th we had the institution of ministers of Communion and the Word.
As a curiosity, the delegate from Brazil and member of the Manaus community, the Augustinian Recollect Juan Cruz Vicario, visited us with his family for several days and on the 21st, in a simple celebration in the cathedral, his nephew Carlos received the sacrament of the confirmation.
On September 22, I stopped at the Our Lady of Aparecida Missionary Area (Km. 70), attended by clergy from the Diocese of Ponta Grossa, Paraná. He was precisely on his way to this Diocese to direct the spiritual exercises of the clergy, with the presence of Bishop Sergio Artur Braschi and a good number of priests.
The topic was Synodality and its missionary dimension. The atmosphere was very good and participatory, I think they were satisfied and feeling even more affection for the sister Church of Labrea.
Afterwards I spent a few days in the Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Iratí, attended by two priests who have already lived in Labrea. I visited the families of the priests of this Diocese who currently work in Canutama and celebrated two masses in the neighboring Parish of San Miguel on the 29th.
I started October in Foz de Tapaua, in the San Francisco and San Sebastián Parish, to celebrate the co-patron on the 4th. Saint Francis of Assisi is truly loved throughout the Prelature. There I met the Josephine Sisters, the Marists and representatives of the rural communities. We had the blessing of the animals, a mass, a procession and a party and we celebrated in the small community of Camaruão, run by two Marists.
In October we completed the training on the protection of minors and vulnerable people in Labrea, after two conferences held with Dr. Adriano Martins (September 21) and Dr. Thandra Pessoa de Sena (October 9). The Prelature has thus completed what is necessary both for the presentation of projects and for legal purposes.
I then visited the Diocese of Vitoria (Espíritu Santo), to celebrate the 50 years of its Twinning with the Prelature of Labrea in the mutual support program created by the Brazilian Episcopal Conference. I stayed in the Recollect Parish of Santa Rita, where I felt like a brother with the brothers.
They were intense days with celebrations in very varied localities and parishes of Cariacica, Serra, Vila Velha, Vitória, Guaraparí… I visited and celebrated the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries and was able to give talks on missionary promotion at the Agustiniano College, with the Carmelites, in the Center of CECATES Theological Studies and on Radio América.
I held meetings with the archbishop and his auxiliary bishop, with the Presbyteral Council, in the propaedeutic and Major Seminary, in the Epiphany Community, with the Franciscans… I met old acquaintances such as Orly Coco, who was pastoral coordinator of the Prelature, or with the former director of the Missionary Cultural Center of Brasilia.
We celebrated 50 years of Twinning with a solemn mass in the cathedral and a fraternization at the Colegio Agustiniano de las MAR. It was a very positive experience and I have been very grateful to everyone. The 19th was very special and exciting when I visited Guaraparí, the birthplace of Father Éder Assunção, incardinated in the Prelature and who accompanied me, and the Sanctuary of Anchieta.
Before arriving in Labrea I passed through Porto Velho (Rondônia) and visited the bishop, the Court, the headquarters of the Regional Episcopal Conference…
Back in Labrea, I visited the seminary after completing the renovations carried out with the help of two Spanish Foundations and ARCORES: thank you very much! And I participated in the Municipal Education Conference.
After the celebration of the General Chapter of the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries, the community of Labrea has undergone changes. The new prioress is Sister Delza. On November 2 we said goodbye to Socorro and Marlene, with new destinations.
We celebrate the solemn profession of frater Sergio Pérez on November 4. Also on those dates, sisters Suzana and Eloisa arrived, from the Semillas del Verbo Fraternity, a Congregation that works on the recovery of chemical addicts and collaborates in the Fazenda Esperança project. In 20 days they managed to build the new downtown chapel.
I later participated in the V National Missionary Congress that took place in Manaus. In the mornings there were conferences, expert panels and reflection groups. The afternoon of the 12th was the Procession of the martyrs of Amazonas, among them Sister Cleusa, MAR.
On the afternoon of the 13th there was a meeting of bishops and work workshops. That day I celebrated in our Parish of Santa Rita with the congressmen hosted and welcomed by the Parish, among them myself and another Recollect bishop, frater Jesús María López Mauleón. The day ended with a cultural evening organized by the same parish.
On the 15th, the final message and minutes were approved, as well as a Eucharist in which the new auxiliary bishop of Manaus was also consecrated. I took advantage of those days in the capital of the Amazon to make visits and to remember our deceased Recollects in the cemetery.
On November 17 and 18, the Labrea Parish Assembly took place. National Youth Day was celebrated with a few days in which young people from Tapaua, Foz, Belo Monte, Canutama and Humaitá participated. There was dialogue and mutual knowledge, coexistence, training, spirituality, dynamics and sport.
December arrived and the pastoral visit to Tapaua was still pending, so on the 2nd I set out on a trip, during which we stopped in four rural communities, and in all of them they asked for a greater presence of the bishop. I don’t have the charisma of bilocation yet!
Later we also stopped in Jitimarí, where they were holding their community assembly. And in Foz de Tapaua the Augustinian Recollect bishop Jesús Moraza and Sister Merinalva were waiting for us. And finally, after nine hours by boat, we arrived at Tapaua completely soaked by a storm. The entire Recollect community was waiting for us: Juan José Guzmán, Miguel Ángel Peralta and José Arredondo.
On the day of the Order, people honored us with a gift and a cake. We celebrated the triduum of Our Lady of the Conception, we visited the Esperanza Center and the LACIR Center for children of the Oblates of the Assumption, a breakfast was organized with the benefactors…
Visits to the sick and to the local center for the elderly were scheduled, a prayer with the charismatics, a patron celebration with a procession, mass and celebration… I also enjoyed the fraternal coexistence with the religious and with the only oblate who was in Tapaua those days, Sister Sirlene.
I returned to Labrea on December 11, stopping at the community of Gaivota, made of houseboats, to celebrate the Eucharist. On the return trip we stopped again to visit Foz, Aramião, Belo Monte, Canutama…
On December 15, the closing Eucharist of the course at the Esperanza de Labrea Center took place with the delivery of diplomas and tributes. We will have days of fraternizations, weddings, confirmations, Christmas and the end of the year ahead.
I wish everyone that the birth of Jesus is an important moment in our lives, that we let the Child grow with us and grant us health to be his witnesses in 2024.
