The Augustinian festivities in August are a time filled with meaning, emotion, and gratitude for everyone who makes up Saint Monica’s Home: beneficiaries, educators, directors, volunteers, and friends. For the foster girls, they bring unusual and novel moments, unaccustomed to celebrations and parties of this kind.
The celebration of the days of Saint Monica (August 27) and Saint Augustine (August 28) is a living experience of unity and remembrance. The inhabitants of the Home, the Augustinian Recollect Family and the guests of the sister projects of the Uirapuru Spiritual Condominium came together as a true family.
The saint who inspires the spirituality of this social work and the patron saint herself have their lives and testimony reflected and continued in the journey of those who build the Home daily: overcoming difficulties, the community as therapy, the recovery of dignity and autonomy.
The celebration centered on and began with the Eucharist, with Bread and the Word, prayers, and hymns. The memory of the saints’ dedication and faith, examples of perseverance, love, and trust in God, provide encouragement for the work accomplished with each beneficiary.
The celebration also reaffirmed the identity of the Saint Monica’s Home as a space of care and evangelization, where each person’s life is respected, valued and led to hope.
The celebration continued in a spirit of sharing with the carefully prepared lunch, a sign of communion and hospitality. It was a feast of delicious food, meetings, smiles, conversations, glances and unity, which is where the strength of this project lies: the sum of outstretched hands, offered hearts, and voices united in a common ideal.
The tributes were moving and recognized the value of each person who, with dedication and love, builds the Home’s history: each beneficiary and each educator, collaborator, volunteer, and religious. Gratitude turned into inspiration, as the care provided would not have been possible without the generous “yes” of each person involved.
After lunch, some games brought lightheartedness, relaxation, and excitement, with challenges, plenty of interaction and friendship among everyone. The community spirit transforms each activity into happy memories that make life easier and better.
The celebrations at Saint Monica’s Home have educational value. The project’s mission is to be a space for recovery and transformation. Experiencing the joy of living, having the real opportunity to care for and entertain others, the celebration itself transforms and heals in the present and sows for the future more love, more life, and more hope in those who have already suffered life’s cruel blows.
