“She invited us to look inward to identify our foundational experience and relive those encounters with the Lord that sustain our vocation. This is how one of the participants sums up the axis of the Ongoing Formation Course-Workshop held at the “House of the Recollection” in Ahuatepec (Morelos), guided by Martín Luego Cid, Vicar Provincial in Mexico.
The meeting was held from September 1 to 5, 2025 and was aimed at sisters in solemn vows. The proposal, entitled “Founding Experience”, combined exposition, moments of silence, work in teams and sharing. ” All that we receive is grace“, repeated the religious as they reread their own history in the light of the History of Salvation and the Augustinian facets – search and encounter, discernment, interiority and contemplation – which ran through the sessions.
Among the ideas most quoted by the participants was a concrete slogan: “the founding experience must be cared for every day so that it does not grow cold. It was, they say, a practical reminder for daily life in community.
The Word marked the rhythm of the formation: on the second day, the reflection focused on the experiences of Moses and St. Peter, models of response born of a personal encounter with God. “It helped us to see how the Lord makes himself present in our own history and asks for a response today,” explained another of the sisters.
The liturgical life supported the itinerary: on Sunday afternoon, August 30, the Religious Assistant, Fr. Gerardo Ruiz Murillo, presided at the opening Eucharist; during the week, the Solemnity of Our Lady of Consolation, patroness of the Recollection, was celebrated with fervor and was also accompanied by Isaac Almaraz Pinal the house manager. In the middle of the week, the neo-priest Fr. José Antonio Hernández Hernández On September 5, he celebrated one of his first masses, the occasion for the traditional kissing of hands. The closing ceremony took place on September 5 with a Eucharist of thanksgiving.
There were also dynamics to reinforce fraternity and interiority, as well as the singing of the Liturgy of the Hours, which united them – as the charism says – in “one soul and one heart“. The participants expressed their gratitude to the formation team, the kitchen staff and the sisters who remained in the monasteries supporting the daily work.
The 47 nuns came from the monasteries of Ahuacatlán de Jesús (S.L.P.), Cuautinchán (Pue.), Cuernavaca (Mor.), Jalpan de Serra (Qro.), Macuxtepetla (Hgo.), Morelia (Mich.), Papalotla (Edo. Méx.), Puebla (Pue.), Tecamachalco (Edo. Méx.), Tepeyahualco (Hgo.), Tlaxcala (Tlax.), Tula (Hgo.) and Xalapa (Ver.), testimony of a wide and diverse participation.
“I leave with concrete tasks: to take care of the founding experience every day and to be grateful, because everything is grace. That keeps the call alive,” shared one of the participants at the end of the meeting.