The activities have taken place between September 14 and 22 in nine countries where the Order is present. Parishes and schools in Colombia, Spain, Philippines, Guatemala, México, Panama, Perú, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, have celebrated special Masses in thanksgiving to God for their existence and history as community within the Church.
Three months before, on June 13, the Prior General sent a message to all the religious inviting them to take a look with gratitude and from the perspective of faith, at our history and in a most special way, at this last century of the mission and life of the Order”. “Let us try to find in it”, he added, “that which gives testimony, not only to the history of man, but also to the divine intervention in human uncertainties. Let us learn from the dedication and holiness of many of our brothers, and likewise from the failures of the past and the present”.
And, within the framework of the process of restructuration and revitalization that the Order is experiencing, the Prior General made the following corresponding applications: “Today we also have to be an answer to the crisis of the society by living an evangelical life and making new proposals of Augustinian interiority, of service to the Church of mutual charity”.
With the Nuncio and the National Orchestra of Colombia
The Nuncio in Colombia, between Father General and the Prior Provincial of Colombia In response to the call of the Prior General, closing ceremonies were held along the length and width of the Augustinian Recollect geography. The most relevant celebration took place in September 14, in the Augustinian College Salitre of Bogota. It began with a lecture by the Augustinian Recollect Uriel Patiño, rector of the University which the Order has in that city. Patiño made a summary of the promulgation of the brief by Pope Saint Pius X, stressing the importance of the document for the Augustinian Recollects.
After the academic activity, the Holy Eucharist in honor of the Virgin of Consolation, Patroness of the Order, followed. Presided over by Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, Apostolic Nuncio in Colombia, and concelebrating with him were the Prior General, Miguel Miró, the Prior Provincial of the Province of Colombia and the Vicar Provincial of the Province of Brazil of St. Rita, and also of many other religious coming from all the communities in Colombia. The presence of the young professed of the theological seminary of Bogotá, of the novices of the Desierto de la Candelaria(Ráquira, Boyacá) and about twenty aspirants coming from Manizales, was very noticeable at the Eucharistic celebration. Sister Miriam Neyra, the General Mother Superior of the Augustinian Recollect Missionary Sisters, together with other sisters and novices also attended. With them several Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Sick, the congregation founded by the Recollects decades ago. And finally, numerous members of the secular fraternities, representatives of the teachers of the Augustinian University, of the colleges and parishes of Bogotá, relatives of the religious, friends and religious of other congregations joined the festivity were also present.
After the Mass, in the spacious auditorium of the College, the National Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia thrilled the audience with their rendition of the Hymn to the Augustinian Recollection, which the well-known Augustinian Recollect Fray Domingo Carceller composed in the Philippines 60 years ago. It was followed by a concert of sacred music with the compositions of Corelli, Juan Sebastian Bach and Gustav Holst.
The Prior General Miguel Miró, brought to a close the activity by giving thanks to God for the Recollection that appeared in Spain and Colombia more than four centuries ago. He recalled the motto of the Centenary: “Before, yesterday, today and always”, in order to show how the hand of God has guided the human events in history, life and mission of the Order. He stressed that even today the Augustinian Recollects are called to live the communitarian experience of St. Augustine, and as well as to rekindle the missionary spirit of the first Recollects. And, at the end, he invited all to feel united with the entire Augustinian Recollect family with the desire of having only one soul and one heart directed towards God.
In Other Places
Colombia was not the only place where the anniversary was remembered. The entire Augustinian Recollect family in different countries has closed the Centenary with more or less solemnity. Some are worth mentioning, such as Spain, Venezuela or Mexico, where several Provinces of th Order are present. Despite of the autonomy that each Province enjoys have organized the activities in common. And of special resonance have the Eucharistic celebrations presided over by Bishops who were in general Augustinian Recollects. That of Lima celebrated September 14 in the Parish of St. Rita was a concrete example of this. It was presided over by Monsignor Emiliano Cisneros, Augustinian Recollect Bishop of Chachapoyas (Perú), and he was accompanied in the celebration by his fellow Augustinian Recollect Monsignor Carmelo Martínez, Bishop of Cajamarca. And the same thing can be said of that of the Philippines, celebrated in September 16 in the Recollects Formation Center in Quezon City and presided over by Monsignor Leonardo Legazpi, Archbishop Emeritus of Caceres.
Spain could be considered as the center of gravity of the Order, since in this country resides one third of the total number of Augustinian Recollects and in its capital four of the eight Provinces that make up the Order have their headquarters. In September 15, in the Parish of St. Florentina of Madrid, a Eucharistic celebration was held which was presided over by Monsignor Fortunato Pablo, Bishop of Chota (Perú). He was accompanied by another two Augustinian Recollect Bishops, the two Spaniards like him, although these are Bishops in the Amazons in Brazil: José Luis Azcona, Bishop of Marajó, and Jesús Moraza, of Lábrea. Together with them, around the altar, were three of the four Prior Provincials and many other priests, religious and lay Recollects from the whole of Spain.
In other countries which could not count on the presence of a bishop who could preside over the Eucharistic celebration, every possible effort has been made in order to give the celebration a special prominence. Meetings have commonly been convened in houses of formation, and have been linked to cultural or devotional acts. In the Dominican Republic, the fiesta was held on the 16th in the St. Augustine house of formation for aspirants in Panama, the celebration lasted an entire week, which was presented as vocational week. And, finally, in Querétaro, (México), the festivity of the Centenary is celebrated on September 22, combined with the Commemoration of 325 years of the Augustinian Recollect Nuns of Mexico. With this double motive a Eucharistic celebration will be held in the St. Pius X Seminary, which will be followed afterwards by cultural activity, and will culminate with the solemn praying of Vespers.