
The Augustinian Recollect Bernardo Contreras (San Ignacio Cerro Gordo, Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico, 1985) professed his solemn vows on January 24 and received diaconal ordination the following day in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Nazareth in Lábrea (Amazonas, Brazil).
Bernardo entered the St. Pius X Aspirancy in Querétaro (Mexico) in 2015; He studied Philosophy at the Intercontinental University of Mexico City, residing in the Saint Augustine Postulancy in this city, and completed his novitiate year in Monteagudo (Navarra, Spain), where he professed in 2019.
After completing his theological studies at the Pontifical University of Comillas, residing in the Saint Augustine House of Formation in Las Rozas, Madrid, Spain, he was sent to the community of Pauini (Amazonas, Brazil) for the year of community and pastoral integration.
With his solemn profession, last Saturday, January 24, he has put the finishing touch to this path of vocational discernment, the offering of his life being accepted by the provincial prior Carlos González, who has incorporated him into the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine as a full member.
The town of Lábrea witnessed this personal offering by Bernardo, together with three members of the local clergy and twenty Augustinian Recollect friars: the provincial prior and nineteen residents of the Delegation of Brazil (communities of Pauini, Tapaua, Labrea and Manaus in the Amazon and Guaraciaba do Norte in Ceara) and the resident formator in the community of Franca in São Paulo; of these Recollect religious present at the ceremony, 15 are priests and two are bishops.
The delegate in Brazil, Juan Cruz Vicario, presented the candidate to the people and the provincial prior, while Carlos González conducted the preliminary interrogation to find out Bernardo‘s decision, was the main witness of the profession and welcomed the religious into the Augustinian Recollect community on behalf of the prior general.
In his homily, the provincial prior gave a catechesis on the religious vocation, emphasizing the love of God and of the brothers as the main reason for the consecration. With quotes from St. Augustine and a story about a traveler welcomed into the home of a wise man, he wove some words full of encouragement for Bernardo in his purpose:
“You have been called to live the evangelical counsels: obedience is a path of humility and freedom; poverty is a source of austerity and freedom; chastity is a door to love God and serve others with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength.”
At the end of the Eucharist, Bernardo recalled that St. Francis de Sales said that God ardently desires the love of people and that is why he inspires some to give themselves more fully. He thanked God for his vocational journey, the Augustinian Recollect Family, his formators, those who have prayed for him, his family and the Prelature of Labrea that has welcomed him as a missionary and his brothers in the community in Pauini and all those who participated in the Eucharist in the cathedral and on social networks or prepared the celebration. He concluded by recalling the words of St. Augustine: “Love and do what you want.”
The next day, in the same place and at the same time, half past seven in the evening, the diaconal ordination took place, this time presided over by the bishop of the Prelature of Lábrea, the Augustinian Recollect Santiago Sánchez.
In his homily he also used the genre of the story to encourage Bernardo in his new ecclesial ministry, about a friar who continually delayed the time of passing on to a better life because he always had things to do for others and asked the angel to wait a little longer before taking him; until the angel told him that he was already in heaven, because he had always been serving others.
He conveyed the idea that the diaconal ministry is to serve, it is not a category: “Let us ask that this vocation of the deacon be that of Bernardo, the vocation of service to others.”
In thanksgiving, Bernardo thanked all those present and shared a biblical text that was especially motivating for him:
“I want to share with you Psalm 84, which marked my vocational life:
‘How lovely are your dwelling places, Lord! My soul longs and even languishes for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the God who lives […]’.
We are weak, humanity is weak, but God always remains faithful and I thank God for being here and for remaining faithful to his promise to me. […]
Thank you for having welcomed me with such affection and kindness, for having taught me to love this jungle, your language, your culture, your customs and your food. Thank you, Amazonian people.”
Both ceremonies of solemn profession and diaconal ordination have taken place in the context of the Assembly of religious of the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Brazil and within the centenary year of the Prelature of Labrea and the presence of the Augustinian Recollects in this region of the Purus Valley in the Brazilian Amazon.