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Into Eternal Life + Fr. Etelvino Iglesias, OAR 1935-2006 |
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Fr. Etelvino Iglesias, OAR 1935-2006 |
The telephone was ringing. I glanced over at the clock. It was 2:00 AM, early on the morning of March 7. Normally, when the phone rings at that hour it’s either a wrong number or bad news. Unfortunately, it was very bad news, indeed. The friars at Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Oxnard, California, were calling to inform me that Fr. Etelvino Iglesias, assistant pastor, had died earlier that evening in his room at the parish rectory. It would later be verified that he had died of a severe heart attack. There didn’t seem to be a lot to say at the moment. I expressed my sympathies to my brothers and assured them that I would help in any way I could. Of course, they said, they would let me know when funeral arrangements had been made.
I thought about Fr. Etelvino . . . I hadn’t known him very well. We were from different generations—not to mention different countries. Fr. Etelvino was born in Spain in 1935. He joined the Augustinian Recollects and was professed in Monachil in 1954. However, he had come to the United States and was ordained a priest in 1960 at our monastery in Kansas City, Kansas. For the next 46 years. Fr. Etelvino worked diligently in a great many of the ministries of the province in Kansas, New York, and California, as well as in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. He had been active in the Cursillo Movement. From time to time we would see each other at different community events, although we never lived or worked together. My impression of Fr. Etelvino was always of a man who spoke very quickly and could never sit still for very long. He was a bundle of nervous energy. He had a good sense of humor, a quick wit, and always seemed groomed well enough for a meeting with the Holy Father. He looked like the picture of health for his age.
Fr. Etelvino’s funeral was delayed for a full week, in part so that his sister and nephew, who lived in Madrid, would have time to arrive. They were, of course, devastated and shocked by the suddenness of Fr. Etelvino’s death, as were his brother Recollects. The friars at Mary Star as well as local staff members worked very hard in the face of their own grief to organize a fitting “send off” for Fr. Etelvino, one that would allow his family, religious brothers, and many friends to share the emotional and religious sentiments that are so well expressed by our Catholic liturgical rites for the dead.
Our final “journey” with Fr. Etelvino began with a solemn reception of the body at the doors of the church at 3:00 PM on Monday, March 13. Present for the reception were Recollect community members along with Father’s family. Fr. Etelvino was placed in front of the altar where people were free to come for personal prayer until 6:00 PM at which time a prayer vigil was held. When I arrived for the vigil I was surprised to see the church totally full, with many people standing. When all was ready, a bilingual rosary was recited, enhanced with meditations and music provided by one of Mary Star’s choirs. A very special touch was added by the local Knights of Columbus, who provided an honor guard which changed after each mystery. Following the rosary, a prayer service was held presided by Fr. Domingos Machado, prior at St. Augustine Priory, and Fr. Antonio Zabala, pastor of Mary Star. Fr. Fidel Hernandez gave the homily in which he effectively captured the character of Fr. Etelvino, reminding those assembled of his very unique personality and mannerisms.
On the following day the funeral Mass was celebrated at 10:30 AM at Mary Star. I was the main celebrant, but was joined by a great many of my fellow Recollects from all of our houses in Southern California and by a number of local diocesan priests. Our regional bishop, Thomas Curry, always a faithful friend, was also present for the Mass. A moving homily was delivered by Fr. Antonio Palos, a companion of Fr. Etelvino for virtually his entire life as a religious, and a fellow worker in many assignments, most especially at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Ana. Hundreds of people attended the Mass, many coming by bus from our parishes of Guadalupe and Cristo Rey—in all, a great outpouring of love and respect for this Recollect friar. Our religious sisters were present as were many of our SAR members. Fr. José Antonio Arias, another long-time companion of Fr. Etelvino, came from Mexico to say farewell to his old friend. Fr. Michael Kenny, assistant pastor, did a splendid job organizing the music for the liturgy, and Br. Anthony Torretti kept everything moving smoothly as master of ceremonies.
Fr. Etelvino’s burial was to take place at the community plot in San Fernando Mission Cemetery at 1:00 PM. Since the cemetery is a rather long way from the parish, the local community wisely decided to serve bag lunches in the parish hall to all who attended the funeral so that people could get together to converse and have something to eat, and then leave for San Fernando (or go home) at their own pace. Fr. Kenny led the services at the graveside and prayers were ended with the traditional singing of the Salve Regina. People lingered, however, and continued to pray and sing as Fr. Etelvino’s coffin was lowered into the grave, his final resting place.
Our Constitutions remind us that we must pray for and remember our deceased brothers. As I headed back to the East Coast, I felt that our community had truly united in faith and in friendship as we helped accompany our brother Etelvino “into eternal life,” as well as to bring some measure of consolation to his family. Certainly part of the grace of being a baptized Christian and an Augustinian Recollect is the awareness of belonging to a reality greater than ourselves, an awareness that gives us hope, even in the face of death. May this hope as well as the models of fidelity “unto death” that we see in our brother Recollects continue to sustain and strengthen us in our own commitment to serve the one who has told us that he is the Resurrection and the Life.
Fr. John Gruben, OAR
Prior Provincial
Fr. Etelvino's sister, Alexandra (to right of flowers), accompanied by Frs. José Antonio Arias and Antonio Palos, and friends pray over the coffin of Fr. Etelvino at San Fernando Cemetery.
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