“Once you know love, you can’t leave it”: the Augustinian family celebrates vocation with a concert of testimonies

Celebrating vocation and remembering that faith and God’s call are the notes that give meaning to the symphony of life. That was the spirit of the concert of testimonies organized by the Augustinian family, an evening marked by music, emotion and the power of the vocation stories shared by religious men and women, married couples and young lay people linked to the charism of Saint Augustine.

The music was provided by the Augustinian sisters of the Monastery of the Conversion, whose singing accompanied an event focused on showing how God still calls today in the midst of everyday life.

“I never learned to play the guitar, but I found Christ”

The first to share his experience was Fr. Abraham Montoya, an Augustinian Recollect of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. With warmth and simplicity, he told how his vocation story began with a seemingly simple invitation: to learn to play the guitar in the parish choir.

“I only went because I wanted to learn the guitar,” he admitted with a smile. Yet, although he never learned the instrument, that path led him to discover the Eucharist, the Christian community and the charism of the Augustinian Recollects. “I never learned to play the guitar, but I found Christ,” he summed up.

Fr. Abraham recalled how living alongside the friars awakened in him the desire to follow Jesus. After a time of discernment, a relationship and a period away from the Church, he found God again through the Augustinian Recollects and a Holy Week retreat. “I experienced the love and mercy of Jesus Christ and realized I wanted everyone to know that love,” he said.

A life shaped by the Augustinian spirit

The second testimony came from Julio and Julia, a married couple deeply linked to Augustinian spirituality since their youth. She grew up in the parish of La Paz in Pamplona and he is a former student of the Colegio Agustiniano in Madrid. Today they both live their faith in the parish of La Consolación in Madrid, accompanied by communities and groups linked to the Augustinian Recollects.

The couple recalled how they met at a youth Easter retreat organized by the Recollects. “The Augustinian Recollects introduced us, and thanks to having them close we were able to find each other,” they said, visibly moved.

After more than thirty years of marriage, they highlighted how the spirit of Saint Augustine has shaped their whole family life. “Our life has always been bound up with the Augustinian Recollects,” Julio explained, adding with humour that they both want to remain part of the Augustinian family “to the end of their days”.

Discovering God in everyday life

The third testimony was that of Blanca Antolín, a young woman linked since childhood to the Augustinian Recollects in Granada, who is now in formation to become an Augustinian Missionary Sister.

Blanca explained how she discovered at a very young age that the Augustinian charism was the place where she could be herself and live an authentic faith. “God called me in ordinary life, day by day,” she said.

She recalled that, little by little, the Lord won her heart through small responsibilities, community life and service to others. In the Augustinian Missionary Sisters she found the chance to unite her two great vocations: consecrated life and education. “I want to bring others the joy and peace I have found in God,” she said.

“Faith cannot be lived alone”

Next, two young Augustinian lay people shared their experience: Daniel, a former student of the Augustinian Missionary Sisters’ Inmaculada school, and Mariano, a former student of San Agustín School.

Daniel explained how he discovered Augustinian spirituality in youth groups, summer camps and community life. After going through a deep personal and spiritual crisis, he experienced God’s love again in a transforming way. “Once you know that love, there’s no going back,” he said, moved.

For his part, Mariano focused his testimony on the importance of community and of the people God puts on our path. A catechist and camp leader, he explained how sharing his experience with other young people and with the children he accompanies has helped him grow in faith and make peace with himself. “Faith cannot be lived alone; we need to walk in community,” he said.

The silence and prayer of contemplative life

The last testimony was that of Sister Alicia, a contemplative Augustinian nun of the monastery of San Ildefonso in Talavera de la Reina. She shared how she found in Augustinian contemplative life an answer to the deep search for love and meaning that dwelt in her heart.

Sister Alicia explained that contemplative life still has much to offer today’s world, especially amid noise and superficiality. “The world needs to listen,” she said, highlighting the value of silence, prayer and interiority.

She also recalled that a life given away is not a life lost but a fully fruitful one: “A life that is given is a life full of meaning.”

A grateful song to vocation

The concert of testimonies ended with words of thanks from Fr. Francisco Oyanguren, vocations promoter of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino of the Order of Augustinian Recollects and member of the FAE Vocations committee, who encouraged everyone to keep living and promoting vocation as a call to love, community and service.
The evening closed with the presentation of the Augustinian Family’s official hymn for the visit, composed by Sister Lilian García, an Augustinian Sister of Amparo.