The archbishop of Pamplona and bishop of Tudela, Mons. Franciso Pérez González, presided the Holy Eucharist at 12 noon on the 5th, Foundation Day of the Augustinian Recollects. Also present where Fr. Samson Silloriquez, Augustinian Recollect, (Postulator of the Cause of Canonization), Mother General, Sister Myrian Neira; Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Fr. Javier Guerra; and other Augustinian Recollects, the novices and a good number of faithful.
Esperanza Ayerbe, died in 1967. She left the peaceful Monastery of Encarnación in Madrid and by the invitation of Mons. Francisco Javier Ochoa, she went along with two other Augustinian Recollect Sisters, to the mission of Kweitehfu, Province of Henan, China. Her life of prayer and apostolic zeal have moved her sisters in the faith to promote her cause of canonization.
The Augustinian Recollect Missionaries owe their origin to three contemplative nuns who responded to the invitation of the bishop. The bishop, urged by the abandonment of the little girls in his diocese of Kweitehfu, visited the monasteries of Augustinian Recollects in Spain asking for help to remedy the situation.
Esperanza Ayerbe, nun of the Real Monastery of the Encarnación, in Madrid, and Angeles Garcia and Carmela Ruiz, nuns of the Convent of Corpus Christi, in Granada, are the three who left in 1931 the contemplative life for the missions to enter a new way of life, where material, cultural, and spiritual needs did not permit a peaceful tranquility similar to the one they had left behind.
On December 10th, 1918 Esperanza Ayerbe made her religious profession at the age of 28; this signified for her an ardent commitment and unconditional love for Christ and his cross, as was expressed by the name she chose at her profession: Esperanza Ayerbe of the Cross. After fourteen years in the Monastery of the Encarnación feeding her desires of dedication and commitment to Christ were enough, that upon the call of Mons. Francisco Javier Ochoa, her missionary spirit was set aflame and she volunteered to go to the mission of Kweitenfu, China.
For nearly ten years, 1931-1941, she remained in China, taking care of various needs and radiating love to all. With this wealth of missionary and contemplative experience, she establishes, along with Bishop Ochoa, the Congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries of Mary, opening a Novitiate in Monteagudo.
The establishment of the Congregation forced her to visit various countries to consolidate the birth of the religious institution: Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil. On June 5th, 1964 she was granted the Pontifical approval of the Congregation.
The last years of her life Esperanza Ayerbe suffered a serious illness, but accepted it with serenity until her death on May 23rd, 1967, in the mother house she founded in Monteagudo.
Recognized as “Servant of God”
The exemplary life of Esperanza Ayerbe, led Sister Rosa López, Superior General of the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries, to ask the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to open her cause of canonization in 1991. Once given the authorization, Fr. Romualdo Rodrigo, Postulator of the Order of Augustinian Recollects at the time, was asked to contact the Archbishop of Pamplona, Mons. José María Cirarda to proceed with the process.
The last years of her life Esperanza Ayerbe suffered a serious illness, but accepted it with serenity. Three years later, September 4th, 1994, the diocesan phase for the cause of canonization was closed and on April 4th, 1997, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declared her “Servant of God.”
The current General government, led by Sister Myrian Neira, with a desire to make the life and virtues of Mother Esperanza better known, as an example and inspiration for the religious of the Congregation and for the people of God, decided to exhume her body.
MAR: 250 religious in 11 countries
Some years after Second Vatican Council the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries of Mary changed their name to the current one: Augustinian Recollect Missionaries.
The near 250 religious who make up the Congregation are distributed in eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Taiwan and Venezuela. This Congregation in its short history has suffered a decrease of new members interested in joining the community, due to a secularized society, this decrease of interest in the religious life is most evident in the West.
The Augustinian Recollect Missionaries are present: in various mission territories, Labrea (Amazons, Brazil), Casanare (Colombia), Chota (Peru), Taiwan and Shangiu (Henan, China); with the elderly and infirmed; in education (in some cases with special attention to marginalized children, Barranquilla, Colombia); and a limited presence in parishes.