In the Augustinian-Recollect Family there are male religious, contemplative nuns, female religious of active life, lay people committed from their adult life and young people with restless hearts. They all have in common a feeling of being attracted by the Augustinian and Recollect values: community, interiority, love of wisdom, solidarity, austerity, service to the Church wherever and whenever she asks for it.

In the history of the Province, we frequently encounter persons dedicated to prayer and a reclusive life surrounding the religious. These were predominantly women known as beatas.

From the outset, beatas were present in the Philippines. Notably, Clara Caliman (†1639) and Isabel (†1646), both from Butuan in Mindanao, are mentioned. Nearby, in Surigao, was Rosa de la Cruz (1647). They typically joined the ministers in the Divine Office, engaged in mental prayer, and read books of piety, many authored or translated by the religious themselves.

A similar situation occurred in Japan. Catalina the Bikuni (the beata) is mentioned in the letters of Blessed Francisco de Jesús and those of Blessed Vicente de San Antonio. She resided in a private home in Nagasaki and was a Recollect tertiary, belonging at that time to the Cofradía de la Correa, or Confraternity of the Cincture, dedicated to Our Lady of Consolation. Blessed Francisco described her role: “She was our feet and our hands in this land.”

In some instances, these devout women lived communally and established a beaterio. In Spain, a beaterio was founded in 1636 under the auspices of the Albaicín convent in Granada. In 1643, this beaterio divided, and a second one emerged in the city centre. Between 1655-1676, they spawned two monasteries of Augustinian Recollect nuns, which subsequently led to the creation of other Recollect monasteries in southern Spain.

In the Philippines, beaterios proliferated, channeling the religiosity of native and mestiza women. Over time, they welcomed female students and residents to nurture them and improve the living conditions of native women. This institution, part community and part school-residence, long remained the predominant form of women’s education in the Islands.

Manila boasted five notable beaterios, nearly all affiliated with a male religious Order: Santa Catalina de Siena (Dominicans); San Ignacio or Beaterio de la Compañía (Jesuits); Santa Rita in Pasig (Augustinians); and since 1725, Beaterio de San Sebastián, linked to the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Recollects, founded by Dionisia Mitas and Cecilia Rosa Talangpaz, sisters from Calumpit, Bulacan.

A fifth beaterio, Beaterio de Santa Rosa, was established in 1750 by Paula de la Santísima Trinidad from Catalonia, Spain, who came to the Philippines committed to women’s education. It has endured to this day, partly due to the patronage of the Augustinian Recollects. Since 1981, the Augustinian Recollect Sisters have managed three Colegios de Santa Rosa in Intramuros, Makati, and Trece Martires in Cavite.

In 1719, two sisters from Calumpit, Bulacan (Philippines), Dionisia Mitas (1691-1732) and Cecilia Rosa Talangpaz (1693-1731), established their residence near the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at San Sebastian, Quiapo, Manila. Observing their faith and piety, the friars encouraged them to adopt the habit of the Augustinian Recollect tertiaries in 1725.

They established a beaterio, adopting rules inspired by the Constitutions of the Spanish tertiaries, which emphasized community life, the habit of the Order, recollection, prayer, ascetical practices, and manual labour.

They dedicated themselves to the veneration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the education of young women. They took their vows privately, often on their deathbeds. They were under the jurisdiction of the prior of San Sebastian and ultimately the provincial council.

Their growth was gradual: over a century after the founders’ passing, in 1842, there were twelve beatas and 24 aspirants; fifty years later, there were eight beatas and eleven aspirants.

The expansion began with the changing political landscape in the Philippines and the efforts of some Recollect friars to elevate the institution’s religious and organizational standards. Notably, Celestino Yoldi (1863-1935), prior of San Sebastian in 1902, oversaw the renovation of the beaterio, the organization of the novitiate, and the public profession of the first vows. His tenure concluded in 1910 with the publication of a Rule [Reglamento].

That same year, they opened a school in the former Recollect convent of Cavite and another in Cuyo in 1921.

These developments led to the Institute’s integration into the Augustinian Recollect Family in 1924 and its recognition as a Congregation with diocesan rights in 1929. The visit of the prior general to the Philippines in 1928 resulted in new Constitutions and prepared them to become a congregation with simple vows.

This marked the beginning of the Congregation’s autonomous life and expansion. In 1933, it dispatched three missionaries to China and celebrated its first General Chapter. That year, it also established a school in San Carlos, Negros Occidental, followed by others in Balayan and Dingras (both in 1935), San Juan de Bolbok (1935), Jagna (1939), and more.

In 1970, they attained the status of a Congregation with pontifical rights, and in 1982, their new Constitutions focused on Augustinian Recollect Spirituality were approved. The membership grew from fifteen in 1928 to sixty-six in 1950, and to 252 in 1985. By the end of 2020, they numbered 219.

The Order has always maintained a deep connection with the sisters. The majority are dedicated to educational work in schools situated in rural areas, although they also oversee colleges in Manila, San Carlos City, Cavite City, Toledo City, and elsewhere. In the late 20th century, they established communities in Australia, the United States, and Spain.

Augustinian Recollect Sisters.

NEXT PAGE: 4. Augustinian Recollect Missionaries [Misioneras Agustinas Recoletas]

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