Recollects of Saint Augustine

RECOLLETTI DI SANT'AGOSTINO. — A reform toward a more austere way of life within the Order of the Hermits of S. Agostino, which arose in the province of Toledo in 1588. Its legislator was Fr. Luigi de León (1537–91), and the first Recollects gathered at the convent of Talavera de la Reina (1589).

Because of the increased number of convents, Pope Gregorio XV (1621) formed, within the Augustinian Order, a congregation of Recollects with 4 provinces, to which a fifth was subsequently added (1629), arising in the new Kingdom

(by courtesy of Fr. Gennaro Fernandez, RECOLLETTI DI SANT'AGOSTINO — Portrait of Ezequiel Moreno (d. 19 Aug. 1906), apostle of Columbia.
RECOLLETTI DI S. AGOSTINO - RECUEIL DES HISTORIENS DE GAULES

(courtesy of Fr. Gennaro Fernandez)
RECOLLETTI DI SANT'AGOSTINO - Church of the Convent and of the “St. Sebastian College” of the R. The church is built entirely of iron (1891) brought from Belgium - Manila.

of Granada (Colombia). In 1605 the R. undertook the evangelization of the Philippines: in 1623 four of them went to Japan, where Fr. Francesco di Gesù and Fr. Vincenzo di S. Antonio won the palm of martyrdom and were beatified by Pius IX, while the other two, Fr. Melchiorre di S. Agostino and Fr. Martino di S. Nicola, also martyrs, have a cause for beatification in progress. They also had missions in Arabia. Meanwhile, in Spain, as the desire for a life of retreat and piety continually increased, the “Desert of La Viciosa” was founded for the contemplative life, while in Colombia the “Desert of La Candelaria” became, and still is, a center of devotion. In 1835 all the convents of the R. in Spain were suppressed and the religious dispersed, with the exception of the convent of Monteagudo, because it served as a seminary for vocations to the Philippines. The same occurred in the province of Colombia, so that by the end of the nineteenth century it was necessary to undertake almost a new foundation. The Colombians venerated in the person of the Servant of God Fr. Ezequiele Moreno their great apostle (born at 2 Alfero [Spain] on 9 April 1848 and died at Monteagudo on 19 August 1906; the Antepreparatory Congregation for his beatification was already held in 1948). Until 1911 the R. formed a single family with the Augustinian Order, when Blessed Pius X granted them complete autonomy with their own prior general. Today the Order has 5 provinces with more than 1000 religious spread across 14 nations and six missionary districts; it directs large teaching colleges in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and the Philippines, one of which, that of Cebu, accommodates 3000 students.