The Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino of the Order of Augustinian Recollects began its 129th Provincial Chapter on May 18 at the convent of Marcilla (Navarre, Spain). With more than four centuries of evangelizing, missionary, and pastoral presence in Asia, America, and Europe.
The Provincial Chapter, the highest authority of the Province according to the Constitutions of the Order, brings together the capitular religious for several days to discern the present and future of the Province, review the path traveled in recent years, and establish pastoral, community, and missionary priorities for the next four-year period.
The inaugural session was presided over by the Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández, who delivered a profound spiritual message to the capitulars focused on interior renewal, fidelity to the charism, and hope in the face of current challenges of religious life.
“This Chapter cannot be just another formality”
In his opening words, the Prior General invited the religious to experience the Chapter “as an appointment with the Spirit” and not merely as an administrative or structural exercise.
“This Chapter cannot be just another formality, but an appointment of the Spirit with us,” affirmed Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández, emphasizing that this time should help the Province to “return to the heart, where God speaks and renews.”
The Prior General insisted that capitular discernment cannot be limited to reviewing structures, statistics, or projects, but must focus on the identity and mission of the Augustinian Recollects in the current context of the Church and the world.
“We do not seek to preserve a work, but to safeguard a fire,” he expressed during his intervention, one of the most significant phrases of the inaugural address.
A Province with more than 400 years of history
The Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino is one of the historic circumscriptions of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. Since its origin, it has developed an intense evangelizing and missionary work especially in the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Taiwan, the United States, Mexico, and Spain, among other countries.
In this new Provincial Chapter, the religious are called to discern how to continue living the Augustinian Recollect charism in a context marked by new pastoral, social, and vocational challenges.
The Prior General acknowledged during his message the difficulties currently experienced by the Province, especially the aging of the religious and the decrease in the number of members, but also highlighted important signs of hope.
“The Report of the Provincial Prior shows a Province that knows its limits,” he affirmed, also noting that there are “serene communities, young religious in formation, committed laity, and fruitful ministries.”
“Numbers do not measure the strength of the Gospel”
One of the central themes of the address was the call to walk with “realism and hope,” avoiding both pessimism and resignation.
“Numbers do not measure the strength of the Gospel; fidelity does,” affirmed the Prior General when reflecting on the future of the Province.
In this regard, he insisted that the renewal of the Province will not depend solely on external reorganizations, but above all on interior conversion and the spiritual quality of religious communities.
“External restructuring is necessary, but without soul it becomes mere engineering,” he noted, inviting the capitulars to return to the sources of Augustinian Recollect spirituality: interiority, fraternity, and conversion of heart.
A mission shared with the laity
Another highlighted aspect of the inaugural message was the importance of strengthening the shared mission between religious and laity within the Augustinian-Recollect family.
Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández recalled that the charism “is a gift of the Spirit for the People of God” and encouraged continued deepening of collaboration with the Augustinian Recollect Secular Fraternities, the Augustinian-Recollect Youth (JAR), and the educational and missionary communities.
The Prior General called for opening more spaces of co-responsibility and participation, insisting that communion and shared mission are essential parts of the charism of Saint Augustine.
Council of the Provincial Chapter
For the development of the 129th Provincial Chapter, the Chapter board has been constituted, an organism that helps coordinate the order of the coming days:
- President: Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández, Prior General.
- Moderators: Friar José Sergio Sánchez Moreno and Friar José Alberto Moreno Carrillo
- Counselor: Friar Carlos González Castellanos, Provincial Prior elect.
- Secretary: Friar Benjamín Miguélez Sastre
Follow the news of the Provincial Chapter
The news, documents, and updates of the 129th Provincial Chapter of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino can be followed through the official portal snt.recoletos.org, a space dedicated to the life and news of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.
