History of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of the Augustinian Recollects.
The establishment of the Province of San Ezequiel in 1998 marked a new phase in the history of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine. This was not the first time it had given rise to a new Province: in 1907, it birthed what would become the Province of Santo Tomás de Villanueva in 1909, with houses in Andalusia (Spain) and Brazil. Then, 40 years later in 1948, it formed the Province of San José, with houses in Venezuela, Trinidad, Peru, and San Millán de la Cogolla (La Rioja, Spain).
However, the situation in 1998 was different, as the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Philippines seemed to lose its unique character, the noblest part of its tradition, which had shaped its identity and even given it its name for centuries.
Strictly speaking, it was not a loss, but rather the maturation of a daughter who had reached adulthood. The mother Province was now free to follow the voice of the Spirit in accordance with its original missionary vocation, which called it to explore new paths.
These paths could no longer have the epic tones of the past. The reserves from the years of prosperity were dwindling, and it was necessary to assess the available resources. Instead of launching new projects, it was time to restructure existing ones. Three assemblies were dedicated to this task of reflection in 2005.
The conclusion was to establish priorities by favouring the works most aligned with the charismatic identity. Indeed, ministries were being left in Spain, Costa Rica, Brazil, the United States, England, and Mexico, but the Province never succumbed to disillusionment or inaction. Instead, it faced problems decisively under the ecclesial formula of “creative fidelity”.
New priorities emerged, such as caring for elderly or dependent religious, for whom specialized care facilities were built in Spain (Valladolid 2010), the United States (Oxnard 2010), and Mexico (Querétaro 2021).
Simultaneously, fraternal dialogue and intercommunity communication were encouraged. All religious were made co-participants in the search for solutions through surveys, assemblies, meetings, and dialogues during the more frequent visits of the major superiors and other members of the governing teams.
Greater self-knowledge of the community was also promoted, significantly enhancing the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity. Between 2004 and 2010, eight new fraternities were created in the Province. By the end of 2020, the fraternities of the Province numbered 33, with a total of 717 members.
The Province also soon welcomed the RAY (Augustinian-Recollect Youth) movement, which had emerged in the Province of Santo Tomás in 1995. From the second decade of the century, it breathed life into the Augustinian-Recollect Spirituality Centres (CEAR), which quickly multiplied and were adopted by the entire Order.
1. Formation: A Process
One of the fields that has seen the most changes compared to previous times is formation, in its two variants: initial, for those preparing to become Augustinian Recollects, and ongoing, which affects all religious and implies both theological-pastoral updating and a conception of life as a continuous process of improvement.
Following the Second Vatican Council, the Order as a whole promotes a Formation Plan adapted to the conciliar teachings, with a greater focus on human, spiritual, and charismatic aspects.
Human sciences –primarily psychology and pedagogy– are integrated into the formation plans as common resources. The formation of formators is enhanced, contact between them is promoted, spaces for listening and dialogue are created, and formation is rediscovered as a vital and integral process.
This vision has materialised in the Augustinian-Recollect Formation Itinerary (IFAR), which views formation as an integral, progressive, community-based, charismatic, and shared process.
Along with these internal changes promoted by the Order, substantial changes in the sociology of candidates have been consolidated throughout this century: their origin is more universal, they have their first contact with the Order at an older age, they arrive with a broad range of previous life experiences and are unaccustomed to life in a community.
The candidates will be accompanied by specific teams and specific programmes for each stage. The postulants undertake philosophical studies, depending on their origin, in formation houses in Mexico City, Pozos de Santa Ana (San José, Costa Rica), Las Rozas (Madrid, Spain), or Franca (São Paulo, Brazil) –in this last case with interprovincial collaboration, as this house belongs to the Province of Saint Thomas.
On the other hand, since 2010, the novitiates have become interprovincial, and the formation teams are appointed by the Prior General. The novices of the Province of Saint Nicholas continue in Monteagudo, now the only novitiate for Europe. The Desert of La Candelaria (Colombia) is for America; and the third, for Asia, is in Antipolo (Philippines).
The final stage of initial formation, after 140 years in Marcilla (Navarra), moved in 2005 to Saint Augustine Formation House in Las Rozas (Madrid). Theological studies are undertaken in external institutions –currently, the Pontifical University of Comillas–, while the formation in consecrated, charismatic, and spiritual life is conducted at home and is reinforced with the spaces shared with the Order through its General Secretariat of Formation.
Another novelty is that once ecclesiastical studies are completed, candidates for solemn profession undertake a year of community and pastoral integration that takes place in a community not designated for formation.
2. Accompanying as a Team
In the vocational field, a new mentality has been emerging that leaves the vocational promoters of yesteryear far behind.
In 1993, Saint John Paul II coined the term “vocational culture” and recalled the vocational condition of the human being as such and, a fortiori, of the Christian.
The Province of Saint Nicholas gradually adopts the rhythm set by the Church in this pastoral care, which must be the task of all ecclesial apostolate, in which all the baptised and all religious must be involved. Vocational promotion should no longer be the work of a single promoter, but a process of proposal, accompaniment, and discernment in which the team plays a special role.
These changes in vocational pastoral care affect both the promoters and the aspirants themselves, who are no longer primarily children and adolescents, but university students or those inserted in the world of work; even people with extensive prior life experience and from heterogeneous backgrounds.
The General Chapters held in the 21st century insist on highlighting the charismatic aspects of the Order, and this particularly affects vocational pastoral care.
The result of this trend and these capitular decisions is the Augustinian Recollect Vocational Itinerary (IVAR), which programmatically includes these elements. Vocational pastoral care currently operates within the channels marked by this document.
3. Evangelization Platforms
In the educational field, a superficial glance may lead to pessimism. After 80 years of activity, there has been a drastic decline in the actual presence of religious in classrooms, caused by a lack of vocations and limited prospects for generational succession.
However, a closer look reveals a positive and hopeful outlook. Far from yearning for the past, the centres of the Province are fully engaged in the present, maintaining a high level of performance, quality, and services.
Efforts are being made towards the methodological updating of the teaching staff and the improvement of educational tools. Experiences of quality and educational excellence have been promoted, with an emphasis on innovation and creativity in the classroom.
Above all, the future is viewed with optimism, as the schools of the Province are seen as genuine platforms for evangelisation, especially in certain contexts and regions where the voice of the Church is fading or does not reach a significant portion of society except through desks and classrooms.
The presence of the friars in education cannot be like in the past. It must be visible and tangible, but also efficient and realistic according to the available figures.
And for this to happen, there must be a change in roles. Friars will no longer be mere teachers, administrators, or directors, but rather animators of evangelisation and the soul of Christian and Augustinian proposals in the educational community.
This is not only expected of friars, but of all educators. In fact, the term “educational community” is used to refer to all those involved in maintaining the distinctive character of the institution (friars, teachers, parents and families, students, non-teaching staff).
Likewise, the focus is not on a pastoral programme in the school, but on schools engaged in pastoral care, where everyone is committed to promoting Gospel and solidarity values.
The path traced during the first 20 years of the 21st century by the Educational Pastoral Secretariat to ensure the charismatic sustainability of the centres is based on two pillars: identity and community.
In 2014, the Institutional Educational Project (PEI) was approved, defining the tasks, mission, vision, values, pedagogical and methodological principles, and identity of the centres. And in the provincial chapter of 2018, the Ownership Team was created to coordinate and unify the centres, while including laypeople in the forefront of organisational and managerial responsibilities.
In the field of education, the Province had previous experiences before 1941. From 1885 to 1897, 1916, and 1924 to 1928, a Latin Preceptory for children operated in Marcilla. The first day school was opened in the Philippines in 1896, but it was closed during the Revolution. And between 1904 and 1933, in Puente La Reina (Navarra, Spain), the Recollects were teachers at the Mena Foundation.
Many friars have taught countless classes in religion, languages, and other subjects in parish schools and public institutions in various countries.
These are the centres directly opened by the Province, arranged by year of foundation. Those marked with an asterisk* are currently managed by other Provinces of the Augustinian Recollects:
- 1896-1898 • San Jose School, Bacolod, Philippines.
- 1941 • San Sebastian School, Manila, Philippines*.
- 1941 • St. Thomas of Villanova High School, San Carlos, Philippines*.
- 1941 • Fray Luis de León High School, Caracas, Venezuela*.
- 1947 • University of San Jose – Recollects, Cebu, Philippines*.
- 1955 • San Agustin College, Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain.
- 1962 • University of Negros Occidental, Bacolod, Philippines*.
- 1963 • San Pedro Academy, Valencia, Philippines*.
- 1966 • San Sebastian College, Cavite, Philippines*.
- 1966 • Saint Augustine High School, Valladolid, Spain.
- 1968-2004 • Augustinus University Residence, Madrid, Spain.
- 1968-1974 • San Jose High School, Lodosa, Navarra, Spain.
- 1970 • Fray Luis de León College, Querétaro, Mexico.
- 1971 • Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Recollects College, Talisay, Philippines*.
- 1974 • Romareda High School, Zaragoza, Spain.
- 2007 • Augustinian Technical College (Boys’ Town), Cartago, Costa Rica.
4. The Evangelizing Community
Since the era of Vatican II, a new direction for the Parish has been emerging within the Church. Its primary objective has shifted from merely overseeing worship and administering sacraments to those who approach it, to actively going out and evangelizing the society in which it is situated.
From the 1980s onwards, this shift has also been evident in the Province, particularly in Mexico, where there have been efforts to transform the parish into an evangelizing community. Many of the religious are receptive to initiatives or movements that strongly advocate for this new pastoral attitude, such as the New Image of Parish, Integral System of New Evangelization, and others alike.
In some cases, religious of the Province have become facilitators of this pastoral care and are highly regarded by the diocesan bishops. Quite a few seek to update their knowledge in pastoral care, catechesis, or evangelization. At times, they have attended courses, updates, and workshops in Madrid or Mexico City; others participate in the training offered by the same movements, whose leaders, in several cases, have been or are also religious of the Province.
As the appreciation for our own Augustinian-Recollect spirituality is solidified in initial and ongoing formation activities, the spirituality and doctrine of Saint Augustine and the Recollection are also presented as part of parish pastoral care.
The presence and collaboration of the laity, which has been ongoing for decades, is now being redefined, gaining much greater substance. The expression “mission shared with the laity” is a compulsory motto that articulates an aspiration and strives to be embodied in the community projects that govern the life of the religious. It has been very prominent in all the capitular ordinations since the end of the 20th century.
5. A Province Going Forth
Borrowing an expression from Pope Francis, we could say that the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine is a Province that is going forth: it reaches out to the crossroads in search of a wounded and needy humanity.
A) Social Works
In recent decades, the Province has not only fortified existing projects it was already leading, such as the Boys’ Town in Cartago (Costa Rica) or the Hope Centres in Labrea, but it has also breathed life into new projects. These are not only new because they are starting from scratch, but because they embrace previously unexplored fields of work. Some are very original, such as CARDI in Mexico City, or the Saint Monica Home in Fortaleza (Ceara, Brazil); others, of a more traditional nature, include assistance to migrants and support for prisoners.
To coordinate all these projects, the Province established the Missions and Social Development Commission in 2000. After the General Chapter of 2016, all this work in the field of social economy, volunteering, and NGOs has been integrated into the structure of a new Augustinian Recollect International Solidarity Network, ARCORES, coordinated from the general curia.
B) Social Communication
Another invaluable tool in the realm of presenting itself to society and opening dialogue with it has been, since its creation in 1986, the Sing and Walk Friendship Bulletin, distributed free of charge in ministries in Spain, and at times, also in Mexico, Costa Rica, and the United States.
Alongside other local publications, such as the Santa Rita Newsletter from the Madrid parish of the same name (1990-2009), they prepared the groundwork and tools so as not to miss out on the digital revolution that was on its way.
The Province caught the wave and ventured into the digital jungle with firm steps, setting itself an extremely ambitious program that it has managed to carry out with the help of professionals.
The need to coordinate and animate communicative activities led to the launch of the Province’s Communication and Publications Commission in 2003, building on the experience of the existing editorial team of the Sing and Walk magazine.
The Commission was assigned two essential objectives, one internal: to strengthen communion, and the other external: to promote evangelization and dialogue with society.
The following year, 2004, saw the creation of the official website agustinosrecoletos.org, which has continuously strengthened in content, dissemination, and resources. It channels all kinds of materials, information, and communicative initiatives. It is a major square open to the entire Augustinian Recollect Family and to any sympathizer or curious person. Moreover, more channels were opened from 2009 (YouTube) and 2014 (Facebook and Twitter) on the main social networks used in the western world.
In the communicative task of the Province, the miracle of communion is worked daily; it is a lecture hall, pulpit, library, agora, meeting point, and fairground for all that is the Augustinian Recollection.
A newsletter of friendship and diffusion of the charism
In 1986, “Canta y Camina” [Sing&Walk] emerged following the 1984 provincial council and the 16th Centenary of the Conversion of Saint Augustine, aiming to strengthen the bonds of knowledge and communion with all those around us.
The inaugural issue set forth its purpose: to rekindle the flame we have received and to enhance its visibility; not for recognition or to dazzle, but with the humble intention of illuminating the path for everyone. “Canta y Camina” is an imperative that seeks to be a voice of encouragement and a password; a joyful invitation to lift our heads and look forward with hope to the journey ahead; a loving encouragement to each other in the shared pursuit of our common goal.
As a bimonthly publication taking a break in July and August, the editorial team, led by a cleric at the centre of philosophic-theological studies in Marcilla, produced the first fifty issues (1986-1997) with four pages in two colours. In 1992, the general curia assigned it the special mission of promoting Fray Ezekiel Moreno, then Blessed, throughout the Order in anticipation of his canonization. Consequently, it compiled various monographs that were printed simultaneously in five different countries.
Following a short hiatus, it resumed publication in the 1999-2000 academic year with an editorial team and eight pages in full colour.
The distribution was complimentary in the ministries in Spain. Over time, the delivery expanded from Mexico to the entire country, and then to Costa Rica and the United States. All issues are available for download from the official website of the Province, and since 2018, the Portuguese version of the newsletter has been included.
“Canta y Camina” was the first publication aimed at lay readers. Another goal was to foster a culture of vocation in its March-April edition. Significant centenaries have been marked with special issues and additional pages: Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (2005), Saint Ezekiel Moreno (2006), the recognition of the Augustinian Recollect as an Order (2012), and the Centennial of the Province of Saint Nicholas (2021).
“Canta y Camina” discusses spiritual and charismatic theories as well as everyday practices. It features religious figures and personalities with impactful messages (through testimonies and interviews), contemplative monasteries, ministries (pastoral, missionary, educational, initial and ongoing formation, Congregations), social projects and acts of solidarity, and lay activities (Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity, Recollect Augustinian Youth, Non-Governmental Organizations, volunteer groups)…
NEXT PAGE: 8. Epilogue: Living the present with passion and embracing the future with hope
TABLE OF CONTENT
History of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine:
‘Always in mission’
- History of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine: ‘Always in Mission’
- 1. Introduction: “Navigare necesse est”
- 2. 17th Century: The Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine
- 3. 18th Century: The Philippines, Land of Heroic Deeds
- 4. 19th Century: The Philippines, Zenith, and Collapse
- 5. 20th Century until Vatican II: Breakthrough
- 6. 20th Century after Vatican II: High Seas Swell
- 7. 21st Century: Facing the Future
- 8. Epilogue: Living the present with passion and embracing the future with hope
