“The Lord is compassionate and merciful” (Psalm 102).

I send a joyful and fraternal greeting to all the religious and lay people of the Augustinian Recollect Family on the feast of the patron saint of our Province, Saint Nicholas of Tolentine. I thank the Lord of Creation and Providence for all the goods we have received during this year. I ask God for his protection and blessing so that in the next year we can guide ourselves.

By the light of the star of Saint Nicholas and by the love of his compassionate gaze and heart. Nicholas of Tolentine was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, from whom he learned the art of loving and being loved. He had a loving, affable, fraternal lifestyle and was attentive to the needs of weaker brothers. He especially served the sick, the elderly and the poor with generosity and true compassionate love.

The star of Nicholas symbolizes his holiness. At the center of his holiness is his relationship emotional relationship with God through prayer and his affable relationship with his brothers, especially those most in need, through generous service.

The Jewish star is formed by two triangles that join together, one pointing to the sky and the other that is heading towards the earth. It is the communion of two loves, the love of God and the love of neighbor.

In the message that I addressed on this day to the religious and lay people of the Augustinian Recollect Family- I focus on five gazes of Jesus that arise from his heart full of love.

• From the mystical perspective, Jesus Christ is placed in the sanctuary of his heart to dialogue with the Father of his God, to value and enjoy the beauty of all creatures and to creatively transform the negative into positive.
• From a compassionate perspective, he captures the pain of the needy, allowing himself to be affected in his guts for that suffering and does good generously.
• From an appreciative perspective he values and favors the talents of his brothers and luminous of life's events.
• From a fraternal perspective, Jesus Christ associates with his brothers to grow together and promote the maturation and inner development of all.
• Finally, from an ecological perspective, he takes care of all the beings in the common home and gives testimony of the care that the Father has of him, God of him, especially in favor of human beings, his children.

Starting in the month of November we will celebrate in the different areas of the Province the Zonal assemblies. We want them to be meetings of close and fraternal dialogue so that all of us find the light and wisdom to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ in the communities and ministries that have been entrusted to us.

We ask Nicholas of Tolentine, the saint of the star, to be our intercessor so that the dialogue of these assemblies is based on a mystical, appreciative and fraternal perspective.

On August 16, 2023, Frater Miguel Ángel Hernández, prior general of the Order, sent protocol CG 117/2023 through which it communicated the launch of the School of Formation In imum cordis (towards the depths of the heart).

I echo this good news and encourage all the religious of the Province to let us benefit from the wisdom of this Training School of the Augustinian Recollects. I express my recognition to all the religious and lay people who have collaborated in the creation and launching of the Order's Training School.

The School wants to favor the processes of interiority, that is, going to the depths of the heart, with the style of Jesus Christ and from the experience of Saint Augustine, pastor and servant. Its workshops and courses are specialized in support and leadership processes for ecclesial service.

We hope that this School does a lot of good and that those of us who are part of the Augustinian-Recollect Family, religious and lay, let us benefit from this valuable offer that will help us to grow in our religious identity and in our evangelizing service, in our mystical outlook, compassionate, appreciative, fraternal and ecological.

I remind all the religious and lay people of the Augustinian-Recollect Family that on the 4th of April 2024 marks one hundred years of our presence in the Shangqiu Mission, China, and that, as a Province, we want to thank God for the fruits that we have collected in that mission, deepen the meaning of the cross and promote the missionary spirit among our religious and secular.

I ask everyone for their prayers for the fifteen Augustinian Recollect religious and our sisters. Augustinian Recollect missionaries who work in China, so that from a mystical perspective know how to transform the negative into positive and for this celebration to be a reason to stoke the missionary fire.

May Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, patron of the Province, bring us closer to the master Jesus Christ and help strengthen our compassionate eyes and hearts.

Happy feast of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine. A big hug for everyone.

Fray Carlos González, Augustinian Recollect.