The Augustinian Recollect Secular Fraternity is spread in 15 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, United States, Philippines, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Peru, England, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. At present it is composed of 111 local fraternities with a membership of about 3,450 brothers and sisters who live their faith in the world desiring to have one soul and one heart directed towards God. During the meeting of provincial and national assistants of the secular fraternity, organized by the General Secretariat of Spirituality and held in Rome on 8 -13 October 2007, the situation of the secular fraternity was studied and the religious were invited to heed the request of lay people who feel the call to live the Order’s charism. During the meeting, following the guidelines of the last General Chapter, it was urged that the secular fraternities hold regional, national and international encounters. Although in some countries national assemblies have already been held, in others they started only in 2008.
Spain
National gatherings in Spain are held every three years: the first was in 1997, with the theme: “One Heart for a More Fraternal World”; in 2000: “The Secular Augustinian Recollect in the Third Millennium”; in 2003: “Unity and Diversity”, and the last, on October 21-22, 2006 with the theme: “Let us Spread Our Life”. The national council, in their meeting last June, has decided to hold three regional assemblies in Spain – North, South and Center – on the occasion of the vocation year in order to deepen on the vocation of the secular Augustinian Recollects.
Philippines
The Secular Fraternities (SAR) have in the Philippines an ancient tradition. From May 18th to 20th, the Fraternities celebrated its VIII Biannual National Meeting in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, in St. Monica Beach Resort. Almost 300 delegates and 10 spiritual assistants participated in the meeting. After one suggestion of Fr. Lauro Lárlar, prior provincial, the chosen theme for the meeting was "The answer of the Secular Fraternities to the calling of the Church in Philippines for the renovation and social, moral and spiritual development". It has been programmed too the Regional Meeting of Luzon in October, from the 17th to the 19th, in the San Sebastian Recoletos College in Cavite.
On 21 – 23 June 2008, the seventh annual national gathering was held in Barquisimeto. For the second or third time, fraternity members from the Vicariate of Saint Thomas Province participated. But this time, Ricardo Riaño and Pablo López, vicars provincial of the Provinces of Saint Joseph and Saint Thomas of Villanova, also were present. Participants numbered 180 brothers and sisters from 18 fraternities of both vicariates. During the assembly the statutes of the fraternity were revised and the national council of Venezuela was established, unifying both vicariates and provinces.
United States
Two conventions of the secular fraternity have been held this year, one in the East and the other in the West of the country. Present in the Eastern convention were some fifty participants, coming from West Orange, Suffern, St. John Kinsbridge and from Union City. The California convention was participated in by 200 brothers and sisters coming from the parishes of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Pillar, and Saint Benedict. There were also some participants from the parishes of Christ the King, from Mary Star of the Sea as well as a group of Filipinos from Milpitas.
Colombia
The new provincial assistant of the secular fraternity in Our Lady of Candelaria Province, Father Juan de Dios Tibocha, in coordination with the presidents of the secular fraternities in Colombia, has convoked a “National Gathering of the Fraternity” on October 10 – 13, 2008, for the purpose of strengthening the formation of the members and communion among the Colombian secular fraternities.
Brazil
The assistant to the secular fraternity in Saint Rita Province, Father Alcimar Fiorese, has convoked all fraternity members of the province and will invite the Brazilian fraternities of the provinces of Saint Thomas and Saint Nicholas to a national gathering to be held in Franca, SP, on November 14-16, 2008. Considering that 2008 is year of Augustinian Recollect vocations and desiring to promote vocations to the lay fraternity, the organizers have put the theme of the gathering as "The Secular Augustinian Recollect Vocation".
Saint Thomas of Villanova
The prior provincial of Saint Thomas of Villanova Province, Father Miguel Ángel Hernández, has convoked all the members of the Augustinian Recollect fraternity of the province to a gathering with the theme “In Communion with the Brothers”. The gathering will be held in Our Lady of Good Counsel House of Spirituality in Monachil (Granada, Spain), on September 13 – 17, 2008. The objectives of the encounter are: mutual knowledge, sharing of experiences, evaluation of the progress of the fraternities, giving a new impulse to the fraternity, and consolidating our charismatic identity. 
The participation of the laity often brings unexpected and rich insights into certain aspects of the charism.
Gift and chllenge for the Order
All Christians are called to follow Christ (Mt 16, 24). “This – Saint Augustine said – is something that not only the virgins, but also the married women, must hear; not only the widows but also the wives; not only the monks but also the husbands; not only the clerics but also the lay people; the whole Church, the whole body, all the members with their proper and distinct functions, which is that of following Christ (Sermon 96, 7, 9). In following Christ, some lay people, in the course of history, have felt the call to join and participate in the spirituality and mission of the different religious families. These associations and other new movements are at present experiencing a particular impulse. Lay participation is a phenomenon that today is spreading extensively in the whole Church. Sharing the charism and the mission with the laity is a gift and a challenge for the whole Order, which cannot afford to disregard the request of those lay people who feel called, from their lay state, to live the charism and mission of the Order. John Paul II in Vita Consecrata (1996) said that “The participation of the laity often brings unexpected and rich insights into certain aspects of the charism, leading to a more spiritual interpretation of it and helping to draw from it directions for new activities in the apostolate” (n. 55). The Augustinian Recollect secular fraternity is the association that, in historical continuity with the Third Order, welcomes the Christians who, inspired by the Holy Spirit to progress in the way of charity, commit themselves to living, in a manner proper to their state, the Gospel in light of the exprience, the spirituality and the mission of the Order of Augustinian Recollects (cf. Rule of Life 4).
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Members of secular fraternity BY NATIONS |
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Argentina: 71 TOTAL …………………… 3.411 |
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Members of Secular Fraternity BY PROVINCES |
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Saint Nicholas of Tolentine: 704 |