From March 14 to 16, 22 members of the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity of Navarre, Madrid, and Granada, accompanied by the coordinator and some advisors, gathered at the Navarrese convent to share, encourage, and prepare for Easter.
The convent of the Augustinian Recollects in Marcilla (Navarre, Spain) hosted the 2025 edition of the Lenten retreat of the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternities in Spain. Given the geographical distances, most of those present came from Navarre and Madrid.
It is customary during Advent and Lent, two intense seasons for Christian spirituality, for the Secular Fraternities to gather to share, encourage, and prepare together for the great celebrations of Christmas and Easter, respectively.
In addition to members of the local fraternity in Marcilla, there were also participants from the Madrid fraternities of Getafe, Saint Florentine, Saint Monica, and Saint Rita. Pepita Olivas, from Granada, a member of the National Council of Fraternities and the formation team, was present, along with the Augustinian Recollect Germán Antonio Antón, the person in charge of accompanying the fraternities in Spain.
On Friday evening, the national president of the fraternities, Maricela Valles, welcomed those gathered at the entrance of the convent. Once seated, the meeting formally opened with a Stations of the Cross. The entire weekend was filled with spiritual intensity and a communal experience of faith.
There were three talks throughout the days: Lent: Prayer, Charity/Almsgiving, and Fasting, by Pepita; The Gratuity of Grace, by Maricela; and Jubilee of Hope, by Germán Antonio. There was also time for personal reflection and group activities to reinforce the experience of the Augustinian Recollect charism.
This spirit was further enhanced in the rest of the daily life: meals, recreation afterward, walks through the convent rooms guided by a Recollect member of the local community, Manuel Herrero; photos and informal conversations, laughter, singing… Everyone wanting to live out a shared charism.
One of the participants described these days of retreat this way:
“The journey from Madrid to Marcilla is almost four hours; although the road, the car, and the driver were safe, it is long, at times tiring, like life itself. With every kilometer traveled, however, one feels the anticipation of what is to come.
Upon arriving at the doors of the retreat, a profoundly evangelical gesture occurs: knock and it will be opened to you; and so, pilgrims of hope, we begin this encounter with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters.
One of the most beautiful moments is community prayer. The world pushes us toward noise and dispersion; here we meet with others to praise God together, a balm for the spirit. In the chapel, in the shared silence, the songs, and the recited prayer, one experiences the communion of saints, that profound unity that only the Spirit can bring about.
The talks illuminate the path and invite us to rediscover the meaning of fasting, the importance of almsgiving, and the depth of prayer from the Source: Our Father. We learn to be aware of God’s grace as a gift given in the sacraments, and then say with Saint Augustine: Give what you command and command what you will. The cycle closed as we approached the Jubilee 2025, a year of grace, of encountering the happiness of God’s love.
In the midst of the retreat, a thought emerged that many of us experienced: How good it is to be here!, we said like the disciples on Mount Tabor.
The time has come to return to our homes and leave Marcilla behind, but not in the same way we arrived. Prayer, teaching, and the grace received have transfigured us. Like the disciples, we descended from the mountain with a new light on our faces, with renewed hope, ready to live Lent with a more open, more generous heart, more willing to accept God’s will.
