Jenaro, the canonist who investigated, studied and disseminated the origins of the Recollection

“I was born into a holy family.” This is how Fr. Jenaro Fernández described his family, a way of acknowledging the influence of his parents and siblings on his character, his vocation, and his way of being and doing. He was born on January 19, 1909, in Dicastillo (Navarra, Spain), which at that time had about 1,400 inhabitants, compared to fewer than 600 today.

It was a society where life, politics, and religion were intimately intertwined. The day unfolded in the shadow of the church and to the sound of the bell; the chimes of dawn, midday, and dusk marked the daily rhythm; Sunday Mass and Vespers, the rhythm of the week; and Christmas, Holy Week, Corpus Christi, and the patron saint festivals of Saint Emeterius and Saint Celedonius at the end of August, the rhythm of the year.

His parents, Epifanio Fernández and Hilaria Echeverría, raised their family with deep Christian values, and five of their nine children embraced religious life. “Nine siblings, nine Christians, nine worshippers of God on earth,” Jenaro said. Furthermore, eight of Jenaro’s nephews and nieces also became priests, monks, or nuns, three of them Augustinian Recollects.

Jenaro’s youth. We can deduce his probable involvement in the family’s agricultural work after his older brothers left for the seminary and after his father’s illness in his later years.

Jenaro’s love for his family penetrated to the very depths of his heart, even though from October 1922, when he entered the Augustinian Recollect apostolic college in Ágreda (Soria), he was only able to share his life with them on rare and sporadic occasions. It was only from 1950 onwards that his visits became somewhat more frequent.

This did not compromise his relationship with his siblings and nephews, nor did it diminish his interest in their lives or cool his filial affection. His letters were frequent, and he was always remembered in prayer. In 1990, his niece Cándida recalled with emotion that his visits were warm, full of affection and spontaneity.

Jenaro learned from his family to give his life a Christian orientation and to discover God’s will within it. There he absorbed two of his favorite devotions: that of the Sacred Heart and that of Saint Joseph; and his brother Saturnino played an important role in his vocation: “My brother Saturnino was a priest of angelic purity. How much he influenced my soul! “

We will now review, in eight chapters, his adult life: in the first two, his formation as a religious, priest and canonist; and then the different roles and tasks that his religious community and the Church requested of him: historical research, apostolate, advice, the study of the charism and spirituality of the Augustinian Recollects, his participation in the Second Vatican Council and the support of post-conciliar consecrated life.

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