The renewal visit to the Delegation of Brazil took place, from January 13 to February 14, the boundary of the Augustinian-Recollect Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine.
Eighteen Augustinian Recollect religious reside in the Delegation of Brazil, distributed in five communities located in the states of the Brazilian Amazon and Ceará, and two bishops: the head of Lábrea, Santiago Sánchez, and the emeritus Jesús Moraza.
After a trip of eleven hours by plane and nine hours by bus, with two brief stops in Manaus and another in Porto Vello, the prior provincial and the secretary arrived in Lábrea, on January 12, where they were expected by the three members of the community and the bishop of the Prelature.
The renewal visit is characterized by coexistence with the religious of the house, community meetings, and personal interviews with the prior provincial, at the internal; and external, through the meeting with the most representative groups of the ministry, especially with the brothers and sisters of the Secular Fraternities Augustinian-Recollects (FSAR) and the Augustinian-Recollect Youth (ARY).
In Brazil, five Parishes and several social projects are served, among which the LAR Santa Mónica de Fortaleza stands out. The pastoral care in each Parish is organized around the so-called “Matrix” (headquarters) and the parish “communities”. In the town, there are 12 communities in Lábrea, Pauiní 4, Tapauá 6, Manaus 5, and in Guaraciaba do Norte 52.
Both the matrix and the communities are named after a saint, one of the devotions of our Mother the Virgin Mary, or different titles of Christ Jesus, and function as if each community were a sub-parish within the great parish. The Parish Council includes the parent and all the communities, but the rest of the groups and pastoral care are specific to each matrix and community.
During the renewal visit, the annual Assembly took place of the religious residents in the Brazilian Delegation, from January 24 to 29; assembly in which 16 religious and two bishops participated, the titular and the emeritus of the Prelature. Before the assembly carried out a renewal visit to the communities of Lábrea and Pauiní and, once the assembly is over, to the communities of Tapauá, Manaus, and Guaraciaba do Norte.
During the visit to the city of Lábrea, a special event, the deacon ordination of frater Sergio Pérez, an Augustinian Recollect, who was finishing his year of community and pastoral integration, and the meeting with all the workers of the Hope Center.
In the visit to Pauiní, it is worth highlighting the morning dedicated to visiting both the matrix like all the communities in the city, with the presence of the teams of coordinators in each of them, to end with a lunch in the so-called “Sitio Frey Loreto”, retreat house in honor of the great Filipino missionary Loreto Dacanai.
There is little to highlight about Tapauá, since the visit to the religious was carried out in the city of Lábrea, because there was no time this year to travel to Tapauá. The prior provincial promised to visit the community, which has already been marked for next year.
In Manaus the activity was intense, with individualized group meetings in each community, in which he was always present, at the end of the meetings, the fellowship fraternal, and, as something common, the logical meetings with the Secular Fraternity and the ARY group.
The visit to Guaraciaba do Norte had the addition of a meeting with the coordinators of the LAR Saint Monica and the group of the Secular Fraternity of Fortaleza, a place from which was suppressed the community almost a year ago. In Guaraciaba do Norte, apart from the vitality and energy of the Secular Fraternity and the young Augustinian Recollects, must note the presence of the cloistered monastery of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters which they always offer an oasis of peace and joy on each visit.
On Ash Wednesday, February 14, the Prior Provincial and the Secretary of the Province, together with the director of the LAR Santa Mónica, headed to the city of Fortaleza; a place from which they left, at dawn, towards San José de Costa Rica, a country in which will continue the renewal visit to the religious of the Province.
