Today ends a year to which we have dedicated a great effort to remember, promote and update the missionary spirit in the light of the history of the mission in China, a good occasion and reason to prepare the Jubilee 2025.

The Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, through its public communication, has offered during this year 2024 that ends today a total of 377 current publications, has added 42 documents to its virtual library, has reported 266 events on the agenda and has left 41 new videos on its YouTube channel.

The current publications are divided into 221 news items dedicated to activities carried out in communities and ministries, 108 liturgical commentaries and tools for pastoral care and 48 testimonies of people from the present or past with experience in living the Augustinian Recollect charism, as agents of evangelization or as volunteers and missionaries.

One of the most important communication efforts of the year 2024 has been the dissemination of the history, present and future of the mission of the Augustinian Recollects in Shangqiu (Henan, China), on the occasion of the first centenary of its foundation. In total there have been 67 publications of the Centenary that have allowed us to recover moments, photographs, situations and characters.

It has also been the source of several videos, both for the documentary Sowers of Hope and for the audiovisual summary of the opening and closing ceremonies and the Congress that took place in October in Madrid; and the source of a new book published by the Province that collects all the material that has come to light during the Centenary.

This matter has also appeared in the magazine Canta y Camina, which has continued to be published faithfully in Spanish and Portuguese every two months, with the summer break; There have been, therefore, five new issues:

We have also given attention to publications that are not our own but are made by members of our religious Family or related to it. Thus, the new book by the Recollect Bishop Eusebio Hernández, entitled Prayer tunes us with God; a new book published in Costa Rica, With a shepherd’s heart, with the pastoral letters of Saint Ezequiel Moreno; or the new book by the Augustinian Recollect Fabián Martín, Steps that transform the heart.

In addition to the daily life of communities, ministries and social projects, this year the website has collected special information on several anniversaries that have taken place in 2024:

This year we have seen with joy how the Family has grown, with the diaconal ordination of Sergio Pérez, the priestly ordination of Eduardo Chávez and Sergio Pérez and the solemn profession and diaconal ordination of José Antonio Hernández; and with the professions of two Augustinian Recollect nuns of contemplative life, Francisca Izabela in Guaraciaba do Norte (Brazil), Joan Amoding Ojilon in Lodwar (Kenya).

The Secular Fraternity in Mexico Center added 13 members, three more in Madrid during the Advent retreat, the Chinese section of the Secular Fraternity of Santa Rita in Madrid was opened and we saw with joy the arrival of a new member and six candidates in the Secular Fraternity of Querétaro, which has also celebrated its 15th anniversary.

It is also with affection, gratitude and some sadness that we have definitively said goodbye to the NGO La Esperanza after 30 years of tireless work (Part 1, Part 2), which also played a crucial role in the foundation of the Secular Fraternity in Lodosa (Navarra).

Within the Family there have been many meetings of all kinds and entities; the usual meetings of ongoing formation or of the sections and service bodies of the Province (secretariats, teams and commissions).

Among the most important events of the year that we have reported on, we highlight the meeting of the American schools, the Assembly of Spain, the Assembly of the Secular Fraternities of Spain and the Assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Recollects of Mexico.

Another noteworthy event has been the presentation of a new Protocol for the care of elderly and sick religious, which is one of the most important concerns and efforts that the Province has carried out in recent years.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who have wanted to leave their Testimonies through interviews or first-person reflections, which always provide encouragement and a stimulus to continue forward with the task of service and mission that all members of the Augustinian-Recollect Family feel as part of our charismatic experience according to the wishes of Saint Augustine and the notes of the Recollection.

Thank you, 2024, for so many opportunities to do good; and may we all continue the work in 2025 with enthusiasm, hope and joy.