Recollect religious from the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in Madrid meet to celebrate the solemnity of the saint at the Formation House in Las Rozas, with a Recollect bishop presiding at the Eucharist and the provincial prior preaching.
The religious from the four communities of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in the regioun of Madrid and several religious from various communities who were in the capital of Spain at that time met at the Saint Augustine Formation House in Las Rozas on the solemnity of St. Augustine, father of the Augustinian Family.
This year’s celebration could be defined as clearly multicultural, multiracial and plurinational: like Augustine himself, of universal value.
The religious from the four communities in Madrid (provincial curia, Saint Rita’s Parish, Getafe and the house that hosted the ceremony) were joined by others who currently work in Brazil, China, the Philippines, England, Mexico and Sierra Leone.
Augustine himself would undoubtedly have been grateful and happy to see people who continue his lifestyle almost 1,600 years later from such diverse nationalities and cultures, showing that community life and Augustinian fraternity does not understand passports or borders: there were Spaniards, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Brazilians, Chinese and Filipinos.
This year the Eucharistic celebration had a different president and preacher. Thus, the presidency of the celebration was in the hands of the Augustinian Recollect bishop Carlos Briseño, who currently serves the Church of Veracruz, in Mexico.
Along with the bishop and the 18 concelebrating Recollect priests, three diocesan priests joined in, representing the local parish or distant friendly dioceses, who wanted to accompany the Augustinian-Recollect Family on this solemnity of the saint who is a guide to life and heritage not only of the Church, but also of universal human thought.
The homily was given by the Augustinian Recollect Carlos Gonzalez, prior provincial of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, who based his address on the book Saint Augustine, Man, Pastor, Mystic, by Agostino Trapé (1976).
He proposed the life experience of Saint Augustine for following Jesus Christ. Thus, as a man, Augustine invites us to seek the truth with sincerity, with ardour and with concern and to support his programme of knowing oneself and knowing God with the sincerity of the mind and the flame of the heart.
As a pastor, Augustine teaches us to live like Jesus, the Good Samaritan, having a compassionate and tireless heart for the people, especially the most disadvantaged.
As a mystic, Augustine proposes a method to reach the beauty of God: to strengthen the capacity to admire and be moved by contemplating the order, harmony, light, song and beauty of creatures, as well as the heart of man made in the image of God to elevate us to the encounter with the source of beauty. And thanks to the mystical encounter with God, and the profound joy and experience of God’s love, to collaborate with Him in His project of love.
After the Eucharist, and after the obligatory souvenir photo, the attendees, joined by those religious who had had to celebrate Eucharists in their ministries and who arrived after the Eucharistic celebration in Las Rozas, went to the dining room: in total, about forty-five people.
The meal was followed by a good time of community dialogue, warm greetings, telling anecdotes and learning about each other’s lives, especially those who had come from far away and those who had not seen each other for a long time.
This is the way of being an Augustinian Recollect, with community, dialogue, friendship and knowledge as sources of coexistence and personal and community growth.
