Curso de Preparación 2019: The preparation for the definitive “yes” to Christ

Note: This was translated from the original Spanish article posted in the official website of the Order of Augustinian Recollects (www.agustinosrecoletos.com)

For six weeks, 10 Augustinian Recollects prepare themselves for their definitive “yes” to Christ as religious. It is the course of preparation for the solemn profession.

SPAIN–The Solemn Profession of Vows puts an end to the preparatory stage of the vocational journey. It is the moment in which the Augustinian Recollect religious says “yes” definitely to the call of Christ. This culminates a long process that takes years of effort, reflection and training. This Course of Preparation was organized by the General Secretariat of Spirituality and Formation which started on June 29, 2019.

For six weeks, religious from the Philippines, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Nicaragua and Mexico delve into their decision to follow Christ as Augustinian Recollects, and reflect on the dimension of this decision and what this means for their lives. During this time they will go through the various basic aspects of the Augustinian Recollect charism: the wisdom of interiority, the wisdom of ecclesiality and the wisdom of the community; to be pilgrims returning one and a thousand times to the heart to find the truth, where the interior Master lives.

The conclusion of this course will be the personal project of life, aiming at the growth in the points that base and build the Augustinian Recollect religious.

For the formative work and the accompaniment of the young people, the Prior General has appointed a team formed by the Augustinian Recollects José Gabriel Rodríguez, Kenneth Onda and Javier Monroy. They are in-charge of making the journey together with these young people, of accompanying them in this formative moment, prior to the definitive surrender of their life to the Lord.

The religious will be trained in the aspects related to the Augustinian Recollect religious life -contemplation, community, apostolate, chastity, poverty and obedience-, as well as in the communication of values ​​or the social dimension of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. In addition to training, these weeks of preparation will bring the pilgrimage experience to Lourdes or Santiago. Through the Camino de Santiago, they will be able to experience in a concrete way what St. Augustine invites us to live: “We are pilgrims together with the pilgrim Jesus Christ, who incarnates himself to accompany all the pilgrims of the world.”

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The first week was centered on the wisdom of interiority. Fray Carlos González Castellanos, OAR, the facilitator in this topic, helped the participants to understand the human and spiritual process of interiority. This is the contemplative path that is proper to a religious: to live from the inner man, the path proper to the Augustinian Recollect, who identifies and forms with Christ, and in which he travels with other men.

Fray Kenneth Onda, OAR, has introduced the wisdom of ecclesiality in the second week. It is the second great column of the Augustinian Recollect charism. Topics such as the sense of belonging, what is gathering, growing in love for the Church, and understanding the priesthood as a service with the topics that are offered to the participants as essential to grow charismatically.

This year’s candidates for Solemn Profession are the following:

1. Fray Antonio Max Oliveira, OAR
2. Fray Fernando Ferreira, OAR
3. Fray Pedro Santos da Silva, OAR
4. Fray Hugo Badilla, OAR
5. Fray Hector de Jesus Molina, OAR
6. Fray Jordan Tijerino, OAR
7. Fray Cristito Rey Pulga Tepace, OAR
8. Fray Virgilio Cruz Calalang Jr, OAR
9. Fray Ingemar Dario Duran Barreto, OAR
10. Fray John Eduard Olarte Murillo, OAR.