Coinciding with the meeting of the General Council with the prior provincials of the Order (November 30 – December 4, 2015), a local secular fraternity celebrated its 25 years of existence. The summit of the Order took place in the Convent of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the neighborhood of Monachil, and the fraternity which celebrated its birth was the one that of St. Thomas of Villanova, with its seat in the same parish, in the city of Granada, Spain, which is 7 kms from Monachil.
For the secular brothers, it was an opportunity to give significance of its anniversary, in which they arranged the participation of its feast the Prior General, his Council and the highest representing authorities of the eight provinces of the Order. In this way, the commemoration for reasons of the dates is marked in the context of the Day of the Recollection (December 5), was reinforced with this universal outlook with the presence of theses illustrious authorities.
Internal Celebration
The celebration was carried out for three days and in different events. On December 3, the General Council and the provincials cut a bit short their schedule of meetings to celebrate in the conventual church the Eucharist which is presided by the Prior General, in which 21 more other recollects concelebrated. It was held within the atmosphere of triduum preparation for the Day of the Recollection (December 5) and the memory of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of the Missions. Ideally were present all the augustinian recollect missionaries, specially the hundreds who came out from the house of Monachil, with a special destination to Brasil.
The third day of the day was complete with a cultural presentation presented by the formands of the convent. And it continued the following day, in a restaurant of the city, with a fraternal ,meal in which the Fraternity invioted invited the Prior Generala and his Council, as well as the eight prior provincials and the priors of the communities of the area.
Together with civil and ecclesiastical authorities
From outside, the principal events took place on Day 5, Saturday, in the afternoon. In the same parish church seat of the Fraternity, one of the brothers, Jose Antonio Lechuga, gave the sketch of the history of the group, who presented as “a journey thru the area of waste ground of the life of the fraternity, gathered in shelter, to return to the heart”. He was followed by the city councilor of Culture of the City Council, Juan Garcia Montero, who greeted all those present and gave them with the coat of arms of the city.
It was followed by the solemn celebration of the Eucharist by the archbishop of the place, Francisco Javier Martinez Fernandez, who spoke of very warm words to the brothers. Aside from all the members of the Fraternity, the formands and the Fraternity of Monachil participated in the Mass, as well as a large number of the faithful and friends as a whole. With all of that, in the closing ceremony, a dinner was shared in the parish hall.
The most dynamic Fratenity of Spain
The present fraternity of St. Thomas of Villanova, Granada, started in December 6, 1990, on the occasion of the Day of the Recollection of that year and as a ripe fruit from various communities which sprang out revolving around the augustinian recollect Julian Hernandez Cuadrado. On that day the first group of 52 persons made a promise to look for a Christian perfection within the Augustinian recollect charism. It was the first fraternity constituted ine in Spain according to the Rule of Life approved by the Holy See of December 1984. That initial group was slowly growing until reaching 88 active members as of today. From that fraternity came out three presidents which have succeeded in the National Council in Spain. And among its crowns are 29 brothers already finished their journey and are now in the eternal abode of the Father.