The Missionary Vocation
of an Augustinian Recollect

Spiritual Directors and Presidents of the various Secular Augustinian Recollect fraternities join with
Fr. Provincial at Tagaste Monastery for Lenten day of recollection.

“Is being a missionary an essential part of the Augustinian Recollect vocation?” Our Secular Augustinian Recollects (SAR) were asked to consider this question as part of their annual Lenten day of recollection, held at Tagaste Monastery in Suffern, New York, March 16. The theme for the day was suggested by two major Recollect anniversaries being marked by the Order this year: the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Recollect missionaries in the Philippine Islands and the 100th anniversary of the death of St. Ezekiel Moreno, OAR, the great missionary to the Philippines and Colombia.

Some seventy-five SARs from our four Eastern fraternities—Suffern and the Bronx in New York, and West Orange and Union City in New Jersey—were present for the day, which included several conferences, Stations of the Cross, celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and a community dinner, which incorporated the traditional “St. Joseph Table.” Joining the group were five young men who were making a vocational retreat at Tagaste that same weekend.

Presenters for the day were two of our best prepared Augustinian scholars, Frs. Francis Moriones and John Oldfield. A lively question and answer session followed each presentation. Fr. Frank Wilder, prior of Tagaste, led the Stations of the Cross, and Fr. John Gruben, prior provincial, was celebrant and homilist at the Mass.

The Order of Augustinian Recollects, although originally reflecting a contemplative movement within the Augustinian Order, embodied in the famous Forma de Vivir (“Way of Life”) of the Chapter of Toledo (Spain) in 1588, quickly took on a missionary character when Recollects were sent to the Philippines in 1606. Along with a number of other religious orders, the Augustinian Recollects helped to make the Philippines that “bastion of Christianity in Asia” which it is today. So well did the missionaries do their work that today Filipino priests and religious are coming to the United States in the wake of the vocational crisis in this country, filling parishes and other ministries that otherwise would be left vacant because of the lack of our own native clergy. It should also be mentioned that St. Magdalen of Nagasaki, recently canonized 17th century Japanese martyr and patroness of the SARs, was motivated to become a tertiary through the efforts of Recollect missionaries in Japan. These are the fruits of genuine evangelization!

During the 400-year history of the Augustinian Recollects, the Church has entrusted the Order with many missions. These missions are located primarily in Central and South America, although the Recollects have had a mission in China since 1924 and, most recently, in the West African country of Sierra Leone (1996). The mission in China is currently flourishing and even producing priestly vocations in spite of over 40 years of unrelenting Communist persecution in which foreign missionaries were expelled and native clergy were forced into work camps and even imprisoned. The mission in Sierra Leone is another example of courage in the face of great dangers. It was virtually destroyed during the civil conflicts the late 1990s. Recently, however, it has been reopened, and rebuilding efforts are currently underway.

The missionary character of the Order is reflected in the “Three Loves” of the Augustinian Recollect charism: contemplative love; communitarian love; and apostolic love. Contemplative love, which is the discovery of the God of Jesus Christ through prayer, leads naturally to the gathering together in community “one in mind and heart” of all those who have come to believe in this loving God, and then diffuses or spreads outward through apostolic love, reaching out to all God’s people in imitation of Jesus, most especially to the poor and those in special need. Since all Augustinian Recollects share this charism, all—whether vowed religious or lay associates—are called to prayer, to community, and to apostolic service, although not all in the same way. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) has told us that we participate in the mission of Jesus Christ and of the Church through the circumstances of our lives. Building on this idea and on the realities of today’s world, Pope John Paul II spoke about the “new evangelization” in which all of us are called not only to share our Christian faith with those in foreign (“non-Christian”) places, but also in our own country and our own streets, where many have lost their faith and need to be brought back to the Church, their spiritual home.

Through prayer, fraternity, and reflection the SAR day of recollection provided a challenge to our lay associates, not only to better understand their role in the mission of the Church today, but also to find ways of implementing, of making real, this role in their day to day lives.

The dinner, which followed the spiritual exercises of the day, gave the members of the different SAR fraternities the opportunity to get acquainted or reacquainted, as well as to honor St. Joseph, patron of Tagaste, whose feast is March 19, and to end the day on a sweet note with a variety of Italian pastries that represented just a slight violation of the penitential spirit of Lent!

Fr. John Gruben, OAR
Prior Provincial

Children gather together with Recollect missionaries (back center) in Sierra Leone.

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