About us
The Augustinian Recollects are a Catholic religious order with approximately 1,000 friars in the world. We live in community, follow the chaste, poor, and obedient Christ, and serve the Church by always seeking truth and charity, in the style of Saint Augustine.
Origin
Our history began in 1588, with the birth of the Augustinian Recollection, a path of interiority and evangelical radicalism.
We are defined by one word: amantiores, which in Latin means “more loving.” Being amantiores is
Charism
Our charism was born one night, in the conversation of three friars who dreamed of a poorer and more evangelical life. From that light arose the Augustinian Recollection: a way to return to the heart of the Gospel and live it with more love, being amantiores, more loving of God and the world. This was the inspiration of the Form of Life of Fray Luis de León.
We, the Augustinian Recollect friars, live above all in community, sharing faith, prayer, and fraternal life. From there we serve the Church where we are most needed: in parishes, missions, schools, and social works. Wherever Christ must be proclaimed, there can be an Augustinian Recollect.
Recollect Family
The Augustinian Recollect family is made up of thousands of people who are walking forward together, with their eyes and hearts set on Jesus. It is integrated by cloistered nuns, religious sisters, young people, secular fraternities, teachers, and lay people who share the same spirit.
Each member of this great family lives in fraternity, committed to proclaiming Christ and serving the Church and the world with growing love, apostolic creativity, and renewed generosity.
Comendadoras de Santiago
Augustinian Recollect Nuns
Barefoot Augustinians of Saint John of Rivera
Augustinian Recollect Missionaries
Augustinian Recollect Sisters
Augustinian Recollects of the
Heart of Jesus
Augustinian Recollects
of the Sick
Secular Fraternity
Augustinian Recollect
Augustinian Recollect Youth
Bishops
Structure
To better organize ourselves and live in communion, we, the Augustinian Recollects, are divided into four provinces. Each of them coordinates the life of the friars, their communities, and the works where we serve.
The provinces are not the buildings or the houses, but the religious who, from different parts of the world, live and serve the people of God. Through them, the Order maintains the unity, closeness, and shared mission that unites us as one family.
Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Province of Our Lady of Candelaria
Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova
Province of Saint Ezekiel Moreno
Prior General
The Prior General is father, teacher, and brother. His service does not consist of being above, but in
The Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects for the six-year term 2022–2028 is Fray Miguel Ángel Hernández Domínguez. Together with his General Council, he has the mission of encouraging and guiding the life of the entire Augustinian Recollect family, according to the guidelines of the General Chapter of 2022.
For six years, the Prior General takes care of the unity and spiritual vitality of the Order, reminding all religious and lay people that the center of our life is Christ, the Love we follow together.
Our Prior General: Fray Miguel Ángel Hernández Domínguez
Fray Miguel Ángel Hernández Domínguez was born in Collado Villalba (Madrid) in 1965. He joined the Order at a young age and, after his formation in Los Negrales and Burgos, he professed as an Augustinian Recollect and was ordained a priest in Madrid in 1990.
He spent more than fifteen years in Brazil, serving in communities in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belém do Pará, where he accompanied young people and formed new religious. Afterward, he was provincial prior of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova, a task he carried out with a close and fraternal spirit.
During the following years, he dedicated himself to the formation of young friars in Monteagudo and Granada. In 2022, the Augustinian Recollects elected him Prior General of the Order, entrusting him with the mission of leading the Recollect family, encouraging everyone to follow Christ with joy and hope.
The Current Prior General
General Curia
The General Council is made up of the Prior General and six councilors. Together they have the mission of guiding and encouraging the life of the Order, faithfully interpreting the Constitutions and the guidelines of the General Chapter.
The councilors accompany the Prior General and put at the service of the Order the gifts that God has entrusted to them, for the good of all the brothers. They not only assist the Prior in governing, but they also accompany and sustain the life of the communities, coordinating the different bodies that strengthen the unity and mission of the Augustinian Recollect family.
Their work is supported by dialogue and fraternal communion, always seeking the common good and the growth of the charism in each province, community, and apostolic work.
General Council
Fray Javier González Velazquez
Friar Francisco Javier Monroy Rodríguez
Fray Antonio Carrón De la Torre
Fray Jaazeal Estelou Jakosalem Dineros
Friar Fabián Martín Gómez
Friar Ismael Xuruc Santizo
Where are we?
We, the Augustinian Recollects, are present in 22 countries on four continents. In each of them, we try to share the gift of our vocation, living and proclaiming the Gospel from the charism that God gave us.
Wherever there is a Recollect community, we seek to serve, accompany, and love, making present the spirit of Saint Augustine and the desire to be amantiores: more loving of God and the world.
And so we live
