Just as the remains of Cervantes were found in the churches of the old Madrid, the memoirs and writings of his illustrious contemporaries were also excavated. This happened in Thursday, May 14, in the church of the Real Monasterio de la Encarnacion, next to the Palacio Real de Madrid.
After almost more than four hundred years, the Works of Mariana de San Jose turned up, known in the history as “the Prioress of the Encarnacion” and died there with so much ardor in 1638.
Those in attendance
Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez, archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Bishops Conference, was the presider. With him was the bishop of Tarazona, Eusebio Hernandez, Augustinian recollect. The prior general of the Order, Miguel Miro and sister Eva Maria Oiz Ezcurra, president of the Federation of Augustinian recollects of Spain, were also present.
Among those present, in places of honor, were the two ex-generals of the Order, Jose Javier Pipaon and Javier Guerra, the superior general of the Augustinian Recollect Misioneras, Myrian Neira, and several provinces from Spain, Augutinians and Augustinian recollects alike.
Together in the place of honor, though unnoticed, a score of Augustinian recollect monks were heartily following the event from the choir loft. The community itself of the Encarnacion, headed by the prioress Visitacion Arroqui, three mothers of the Federal Council and several sisters from the monasteries of Madrid of Santa Isabel and of Palencia, fourth convent founded by Mariana, also graced the occasion.
Civil representatives were also present, the Representative of the National Patrimony, in which the monastery of Real Monasterio belongs, and the Director of the Bibliotecas de Autores Cristianos Publishing, publisher of the volume.
A good number of the assisting public who occupied the seats of the Church were religious from the 14 augustinian recollect ministeries from the neighborhood of Madrid and young Augustinian recollects from San Agustin de Las Rozas Center, in the vicinity of Madrid. Added to their number were also a handful of Augustinian recollect missionary sisters, brothers from various lay fraternities, faithful people from its parishes and friends of the Order and of the Encarnacion in general.
A Program of two voices
After the welcome of Pablo Panedas, president of the General Secretariat of Spirituality of the Order, in a way of initial prayer, the first of the compositions of mother Mariana was heard. The program would be like alternating her revived word and the participation of those present in the church.
From the initial prayer followed a total of five salutations. The first to take the word was Cardinal Blazquez. The Archbishop of Valladolid emphasized on the value of the published volume, repeatedly describing it as “monumental” and said that this could be an “implausible, painstaking and careful work”. After marking out already the context within the Year of the Consecrated Life, he would also describe it “the foundation in lieu of the future”. He concluded making a parallelism between Mariana de San Jose and St. Teresa of Jesus; a parallelism he reduced to a fact and a phrase: “In Alba de Tormes a star eclipsed and in Alba de Tormes another star is born”.
Mons Eusebio Hernandez himself emphasized in the importance of desire which constitutes the intimate fabric of Mariana. He delved into her relevance, for being a great “teacher of desire”, that which answers to what Benedict VXI claimed: “it would be useful to promote a sort of a teacher of desire”.
Fray Miguel Miro touched on the mercy of God in Mother Mariana, according to her confession. He thanked the Foundress as well as its children, and how this means to the Order. “The contemplative sisters, he said, are the heart of the Recollection as well as of the Church”.
Afterwards Sister Eva spoke, president of the Spanish Federation, who positively highlighted its coincidence with the Year of the Consecrated Life: “We never thought, she said, such an opportune and convenient situation”. And the final greeting came far from Mexico thru a video presentation by Sister Rosa Maria Mora Correa, president of the Federation of Mexico, in the name of those almost three hundred of its Mexican members.
The counterpoint of these interpositions from the members of the chair was again the presentation on the word of Mariana, ennobled by a chant. The same as in the initial prayer, the one in charge in singing the texts of Mother was the baritone Jose Bernardo Alvarez, with an organ accompaniment by the master of the chapel of El Escorial, the Augustinian Pedro Alberto Sanchez. Both performed the melodies composed by Isidoro Gambarte, a spanish composer residing in Germany.
If the motivating aim of the event was the volume of the Complete Works, the principal intervention was made by its editor, the Augustinian recollect Jesus Diez Rastrilla. The title of his presentation was plain and evocative: “The face of Mother Mariana”. Within 20 minutes he unfolded the chromatic scope of the topic, and concluding: “I commend the meeting of this face to the direct reading of her writings which we furnish you with the book that we just presented”.
Once again and for the last time, the voice of Mariana curded with mystical emotions sounded. This time the singer was a singer-composer, Jose Manuel Gonzalez Duran, Augustinian recollect. He also composed melodies to the words of Mariana, as another of the landmarks of the “Discalced”, his musical project for the Year of Consecrated Life. In the Encarnacion, Duran presented four of the spiritual poems of Mariana.
Home invitation
The event was closed with a tour and visit of the ground floor of the monastery which Mariana established, where she was a prioress for 22 years, died and entombed. There was a wide exposition of posters and pictures on the life of the Mother and of the contemplative charism of the Augustinian recollect sisters.
Those present went around the sacristies, the choir and the beautiful reliquary hall, where the miraculous relic of St. Pantaleon is kept. They admired the personal things of the Foundress. They had the chance to pray in her tomb, asking for her speedy beatification. Finally they were able to savor the tranquility of the cloister and trace there her presence, as well as in the other premises of the Real Monasterio.