February 2026, Augustinian Recollect Missionary Year.
Dear Augustinian Recollect family:
I have been invited, in my capacity as a missionary, to address a letter to the Augustinian Recollect family. I understand that a contribution is desired, in this especially missionary year, to keep alive and increase that spirit which has encouraged the life of the community throughout more than four centuries of its institutional life.
I will begin with a brief introduction and say that my name is Emiliano A. Cisneros, born in Spain eighty years ago; that I have felt drawn to the missions—in the traditional sense of the expression—since childhood; that the Lord guided me toward the Recollect family when I was unaware of its existence—such are His ways—and in it, I have felt at home until today. In the seminaries, I had my first encounter with religious brothers who had served the Church in the Order’s missionary outposts, and from them, I began to hear and love the names of people and places that have since become part of my life and apostolate. Having completed the formative stages in the Order’s seminaries, I arrived at the Chota mission in the lands of Peru fifty-seven years ago, and in those same lands, I continue in the final stretch of my life.
Over the years, I have been called to serve in the mission as a parochial vicar, parish priest, in formation, animation, and governance tasks, and even as a missionary and diocesan bishop. I have served in rural and urban settings, in large cities and in others of less prominence, almost always among the simple and the poor of Yahweh. I have had to travel many hours by mule and horseback, and in all-terrain vehicles, along basic trails and high cliffs… A life rich in experiences and service.
The most important thing has been to proclaim Jesus Christ, the universal Savior, at all times and in all places. Throughout the years, I have tried to let myself be guided by the Lord, who is the one who calls and leads; a Lord who likes surprises, or at least that is how I have felt; who takes us out of our certainties; who permanently keeps us on our way and never leaves us alone. He is fulfilling His promise to be with us every day, day after day.
What He expects from the one called is availability, which is the surrender of one’s will to be ready for whatever He wants, whenever and wherever He wants. This is how the life of a religious is shaped, and especially that of a religious who feels called and sent by Someone who is above everything and everyone. And that is what a missionary must be.
It seems appropriate to highlight, for the benefit of lay readers, that the missionary vocation is not for a few specially called individuals. We must become increasingly clear that everyone has a vocation from God, not just priests and religious, and that every vocation entails a mission, unique to each person according to their state, age, and condition. It is important to understand our lives in this way and strive to live them from that basic and fundamental relationship and dependence on the Lord.
In stating this, I think of that growing multitude of young people and fraternity members, also called by their baptismal vocation and by Augustinian Recollect spirituality to know and feel themselves as missionaries according to their own specific vocation. The missionary potential they must contribute will enrich the missionary spirit of the Augustinian Recollect family and further enliven that of consecrated men and women. This is my hope and desire.
With my fraternal affection and blessing.
