Fr. Teodoro accepts answering our questions in an amiable and friendly way. Nevertheless he is the one who proposes a first answer before the interview. “Perhaps the first answer is that I am embarrassed by the interview and the fact that it will be published. You can publish that, if you wish, at the start of the questions. You can do what you want with it. And in passing let me take the opportunity to thank you once more for the interest you show.
Q. You were born in a small town where there were many vocations to the Augustinian Recollect way of life. Why did you enter the Order?
A. I started in the junior seminary in Artieda when I was eleven years old. Why? There’s no question that God was calling me, though at that age I wasn’t conscious of the call. Perhaps, too, because in Caseda, my home town, there was an abundance of Augustinian Recollect vocations. And also due to the religious environment people and my family lived in at that time.
Q. What moved you to write books on Augustinian spirituality?
A. I have to say straight away that I am not an Augustinologist. I am merely a modest Augustinophile. I admire St. Augustine for his life and for what he says in his writings. He is an inexhaustible source of knowledge and spirituality. I have limited myself to transcribing simply some of his teachings. “In Augustine’s style” was my first book. I wrote it to help in vocations promotion. “Searching and finding” and “Clay lamps” were to help serve the Secular Fraternity of the Order. These include reflections for their scheduled meetings. The most recent “Words for the journey” , is also aimed at members of the Fraternity, but for personal use for prayer or spiritual reading.
Augustinology
Q. You belong to the Institute of Augustinology of the Order, do you think that among religious and lay people there is a desire to know the teaching and experiences of St. Augustine?
A. There has been a certain movement in that direction, although it is very slow. I think there is still a long road to cover. We are enthusiastic about the figure of St. Augustine, yet we ought to know more about his life and works. In my contact with groups of the Fraternity I have noted a lot of interest and enthusiasm in getting to know our Father, Augustine, more and better and, as laypeople, become more a part of the Augustinian Recollect Order. More still, I see in them a real stimulus to get closer to Augustine and love the Order more.
Q. Where did the idea of writing “ Words for the Journey” come from?
A. I can’t really put my finger on it. It just came to me and I started writing. The book is written in simple language, like all the books I write.
Q. To see the life of faith as a journey is very Augustinian. Can you point out the main characteristics of an Augustinian journey?
A. I am presenting the “Confessions” to a parish group and I discover each day that the itinerary Augustine followed up to his conversion, and during his life, can also be our itinerary. It’s a journey full of searching, of looking within, of humility, of being open to the needs of the Church and the world, of love of God and neighbour, of living in community …..
Editorial Success
Q. Your books have been welcomed by the Augustinian Recollect Fraternity members, what’s the secret of engaging with the lay people?
A. There’s no secret. I am the first to be surprised by the welcome the books have had in the Fraternity and among some religious. Perhaps it’s because I use a language that is both simple and easy to understand. And also because of the “hunger” some brothers feel about knowing St. Augustine and living the Augustinian charism.
Q. What would you propose so that lay people could live the Gospel as Augustine did?
A. I would set up the Fraternity in all our ministries, help out with true dedication where it already exists, enrich our homilies with some words or phrases of our Father, celebrate the Augustinian feast days among the people, make it easier to celebrate and buy books, pamphlets etc. which have an Augustinian character. And above all, present the figure of St. Augustine as a life model to better follow Jesus Christ and live deeply the gospel.