On November 13, the feast of the birth of Saint Augustine, the Augustinian Recollect family renews its desire for holiness, looking to its saints and blesseds, remembering that holiness is here, on the path of each day.
A story of holiness that is still alive
On November 13 we celebrate the birth of Saint Augustine. And every year, when this date arrives, something inside us is rekindled. We celebrate not only the day the great bishop of Hippo came into the world; we also celebrate the beginning of a story of holiness that has not ceased to multiply throughout the centuries. We celebrate a spiritual family that is still alive, that continues to inspire, that continues to send us on our way with restless hearts.
Because holiness—that word that we often imagine is far away—in the Augustinian family has very concrete faces: men and women who allowed themselves to be reached by God and who responded with their whole lives. And today, when we remember Augustine, we feel that it is a good day to ask for his same grace: we want to be saints.
Everything begins with Augustine. He was that tireless seeker who went through doubts, wounds, and crooked paths until he discovered, almost without realizing it, that God had always been calling him from within. His life as a follower of Christ did not begin when he found the truth, but when he decided to let himself be found by it. Since then he taught us to live with a restless heart, always searching, always on the way to Love.
The Augustinian Recollect family opens up like a great mosaic of lives given. Each face, a story. Each yes is an opportunity to follow him, and today we celebrate that, our call to holiness.
Lives that sustain our journey
At his side, as in every good story, appears the silent and strong figure of Saint Monica. A woman who prayed tirelessly, who waited without despairing, who believed when no one believed. If today we continue to find Monica-like mothers in our communities, it is because her example is still alive: women who sustain the faith of their homes, who accompany, who sow tears turned into hope.
Saint Ezekiel Moreno, for example, tells us of a holiness that wears out. He loved to the extreme, especially among the sick and the poor. His life teaches us that fidelity becomes luminous precisely in the midst of fragility, when pain does not drown love but purifies it.
Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki reminds us that faith, to be authentic, needs courage. She defended Christ even when everything around her was marked by persecution. In her we recognize so many lay people and secular fraternals who, with simplicity and firmness, live their faith in difficult environments, without renouncing charity or truth.
And how not to think of Saint Rita of Cascia, the saint of the impossible, who obeyed the voice of God in the midst of pain and forgiveness that cost. Her life is the living memory that the Gospel continues to open paths where there seemed to be no way out.
We are also inspired by Friar Jenaro Fernández, a man of government, of silent work, of faithful study and constant prayer. His memory leads us to so many friars who sustain the life of the Order from the invisibility of service.
And we meet Monsignor Alfonso Gallegos, pastor of those who needed him most, who knew how to walk at the speed of the people and offer his life for those he accompanied. In him we see so many friars who, in parishes around the world, continue to make their dedication a home for the wounded on the road.
The Blessed Stephen Bellesini takes us to the classrooms, where he discovered a privileged place to evangelize. His life is an encouragement for all the educators of our EDUCAR Network, who announce the love of God every day in the simple gesture of teaching.
A shared and fruitful vocation
We cannot forget Saint Alypius and Saint Possidius, the friends that Augustine needed to sustain his vocation. They are still alive in every young person of the JAR who learns that true friendship is a sure path to God.
And, in Amazonian lands, the dedication of Clesua Coello resonates like a river that does not stop moving. Her martyrdom and her service to the indigenous communities of Brazil are a light for our missionaries, those friars who navigate rivers, cross mountains, and take Christ to the ends of the world, trusting every day in Providence.
All these lives—the known, the canonized, the silent—form a single story: the story of Augustinian and Augustinian Recollect holiness. A holiness that is not measured by visible miracles, but by the ability to let God do his work in us.
Therefore, on this November 13, while we celebrate the birth of Saint Augustine, we say again with humility and deep desire: we want to be saints. We want to live with an ignited heart. We want the restlessness of Augustine, the prayer of Monica, the dedication of Ezekiel, the courage of Magdalene, the hope of Rita, and the fidelity of so many brothers to impel us to build, day by day, the City of God.
Because holiness is not far away. Holiness is here, on this path that we travel together. And God continues to say to us: “Come. I want you holy”.
