The month-long preparation began on June 26 and ended on the 23rd of July 2011. All religious from different provinces and are considered candidates for solemn profession participated. This is a new experience. Before such event was organized by continent. In the Granada experience the young religious were gathered in one place as one Order. Only the candidates from the Philippines failed to come. This is due to some bureaucratic difficulties.
The nineteen participants came from Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic. It was an opportunity for the friars to know the varied faces and different presence of the Order in the Church and in the world.
Prayer and Reflection
As practiced in many parts it is obligatory for couples to make extended immediate preparation before marriage, so are the religious asked to have proper preparation before they can definitively commit themselves to a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In the case of the Augustinian Recollects, this lasts for a month. A month-long life of intense fellowship lived out in tranquility in one of our houses, a life dedicated to prayer and reflection.
Each week of the month is dedicated to a specific topic, the reflection of which is guided by a religious who is expert in the matter. The first week is focused on the human basis of religious life. This is followed by the Augustinian way of living community life. On the third week the young religious are exposed to the different evangelization activities the Order has in many parts of the world. And on the fourth day the candidates, guided by the teachings of Augustine, were accompanied and helped to listen to the voice of God in their interior.
Visitors
There was proper organization and coordination of activities that included group dynamics, integration exercises, excursions and visits to places related to the Augustinian Recollection. They also visited convents and monasteries of our religious sisters and nuns.
Visitors also came to greet our candidates. The prior general, some priors provincial and Recollect bishops came to Monachil and interacted with the young friars. Indeed, a sign of the varied, enriching and fulfilling life of the Order!
Evaluation
It can be said, and with much confidence, that the month-long preparation before the definitive profession of vows was a very positive experience. The evaluation made by both participants and organizers is proof enough. The experiences that got the highest rating are the following: the fellowship (convivencia), experienced by friars coming from different countries, the warm welcome extended by the community of Monachil and, above all, the sense of belonging to a big family, the family of Augustinian Recollects, and all that this implies.