The Order of Augustinian Recollects experienced a particularly significant day on Sunday, January 18 in Sos del Rey Católico (Zaragoza): the Eucharist of thanksgiving and farewell at the convent and sanctuary of Our Lady of Valentuñana, after 124 years of uninterrupted presence. With this gesture, and in compliance with a decision of the chapter of the Province of Our Lady of Candelaria, the community handed over the complex to the Diocese of Jaca, in a climate of faith, gratitude, and ecclesial communion.
The celebration brought together numerous faithful from Sos and nearby towns, along with civil authorities from the region, as a sign of the bond woven over generations around Valentuñana, a place of prayer, accompaniment, and sacramental life.
A multitudinous Eucharist, a sign of communion and gratitude.
The mass was presided over by the Bishop of Jaca, Monsignor Pedro Aguado Cuesta , and concelebrated, among others, by Cardinal José Luis Lacunza, the Prior General of the Order, Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández Domínguez, the Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of Candelaria, Friar José David Niño Gómez, and more than 30 religious and priests.
In his homily, the bishop expressed the shared sentiment of the local Church:
“There are many things, many feelings, but above all there is a desire to thank God for the presence of the Augustinian Recollect fathers in this house and in this sanctuary”.
He also recalled the long history of service and mission:
“The order arrived in Sos in 1902. Therefore, it has been 123 years of life, of mission, in the proclamation of the faith ”.
“They have been here to speak of Christ.”
Monsignor Aguado situated the offering experienced in Valentuñana within the horizon of the Gospel and ecclesial service. With a direct reference to Saint John the Baptist, he summarized the key to a fruitful presence: to prepare the way for the Lord. Therefore, he stated clearly:
“This and no other has been the mission of the Augustinian Recollect fathers in this house… They have not been here to speak of themselves… They have been here to speak of Christ”.
And he added a synthesis of the priestly identity that also illuminates religious life:
“A priest consists of announcing the Gospel, accompanying the faith of the people, and living in such a way that those who approach understand the reason for their life”.
Civil and ecclesial recognitions of a presence that leaves its mark.
During the celebration, gestures of gratitude multiplied. The Mayoress of Sos del Rey Católico, María José Navarro Lafita, accompanied by mayors from nearby municipalities, presented the community with the gold medal of the town, the highest institutional recognition of the municipality.
The diocese also wanted to publicly express its gratitude. At the end of the Eucharist, the bishop presented the Prior General with a silver reproduction of the Chrismon from the Cathedral of Jaca, as a symbol of the service provided for decades to the diocesan Church.
Valentuñana, Marian shrine and seedbed of mission.
In his homily, the bishop highlighted the profoundly Marian character of the place:
“Valentuñana is a Marian shrine… At least since the 10th century there has been evidence of devotion… to the Virgin Mary”.
And he underlined the spiritual richness of a space where Mary is loved, a school of faith for the Christian people. In that context, he recalled that the Recollect community not only sustained local pastoral life, but was also an area of formation and missionary sending:
“There have been many, very many, Augustinian Recollect Fathers who have been trained here and who have then been missionaries… especially in the American continent”.
The word of the Prior General: “We do not do it with nostalgia, but with evangelical freedom.”
On behalf of the Order, the Prior General, Friar Miguel Ángel Hernández, offered a “serene and confident” thanksgiving, evoking the hidden and fruitful life of so many religious:
“We give thanks… for the silent steps of so many religious who silently gave their lives here”.
And he offered the key with which the community wanted to live this moment:
“In saying goodbye to this residence, we do not do so with nostalgia, but with the evangelical freedom of one who knows that nothing is definitive, if not the love of God”.
From that freedom, he reaffirmed the continuity of the charism wherever the Church calls:
“History continues and the Recollect charism remains alive wherever the Church needs us”.
The intervention concluded with a confident plea to the Virgin:
“Holy Virgin of Valentuñana… continue to bless your Recollect children… and do not fail to welcome under your protection all the devotees who come to this sanctuary”.
A farewell that opens the way.
The farewell to Valentuñana marks the closure of a historical stage and, at the same time, reaffirms what is essential: the mission remains. As the bishop recalled, “an Eucharist is essentially an act of thanksgiving”, and that is how this day was lived: giving thanks for the good received and sown, for the faith accompanied and for the life given.
Entrusted to Our Lady of Valentuñana, the Augustinian Recollects place this step in the hands of God and look to the future with hope, convinced that only the love of God remains and guides history.
