Talavera de la Reina Convent: Cradle of the Augustinian Recollection

by Angel Martínez Cuesta OAR

Translated from the Spanish by Emmanuel Luis A. Romanillos

Introduction1

The first convent—albeit very short-lived—of the nascent Augustinian Recollection was, strictly speaking, at Pastrana in Guadalajara, . It was founded in April 1589 but without the permit required by local and provincial authorities. The admission of the donado2 Francisco de Jesús on 22 April 1589 made him the first professed of the Recollection. In the wake of intrigues posed by some clerics of Pastrana, the convent was ordered closed exactly a year later by the cardinal-archbishop of Toledo. The dispersed conventuals moved out to other Augustinian convents. The first Recollects at Talavera de la The Convent of Talavera de la Reina: Iconic Reina For the Augustinian Cradle of the Recollection in Toledo, Spain Recollects, the Convent of San Agustín el Viejo in Spanish city of Talavera de la Reina of the is part of the being and of the bosom of its history. It was the cradle that forged the spiritual image of the Recollection, configured its profile and gave concrete form to its religious anxieties and

1 This article is based upo Father Ángel Martínez Cuesta’s books Historia de los Agustinos Recoletos I (1995), The Augustinian Recollect Charism (1994), and The Order of Augustinian Recollects. Its Charismatic Evolution (1994). 2 A conventual with no professed vows. He cultivates the orchard, the poultry or livestock of the community. projects. The name “Talavera” signifies for generations of Augustinian Recollects a symbol of spiritual vigor, of evangelical radicalism and, at the same time, of family tenderness and nostalgia of a definitely bygone world. “Talavera” shall resound and shall never cease resounding wherever an Augustinian Recollect heart beats. The primitive convent was poor and bereft of comfort. It was founded by the Augustinian Saint Alonso de Orozco in 1566. Since 1569 it was an Augustinian novitiate. In 1576 there were twenty religious, known for their poverty and observance. On account of the failed experience at their convent in Pastrana, many friars desirous of embracing the new way of life repaired to Talavera. On 19 October 1589 the Recollects were able to make their dream come true. Father Cristóbal de Orellana, a native of Talavera and nephew of Saint Alonso de Orozco, was commissioned by the prior provincial Father Pedro de Rojas, who in turn Forma de vivir, the first was pressured by the Spanish monarch Philip Constitutions of the Recollects II and his almoner García de Loaísa, to written by Fray Luis de León dissolve the old community and to establish the first Augustinian Recollect group. This first convent was handed over by the Calced Augustinians to those who wished to live “the yearnings for greater austerity by a group of friars.” The convent was the realization of the foundational act of the Toledo Chapter of the Augustinian Province of Castile on 5 December 1588: Since there are or can be among us some brothers so desirous of monastic perfection that they would want to follow a more austere plan of life, and whose legitimate desire is to be furthered so that no obstacles be placed in the part of the work of the Holy Spirit, after duly consulting our most reverend father general and having implored his leave, we determine that, in our Province, three or more monasteries for me be set aside or newly founded and the same number for women, in which a stricter form of life may be practiced, which the father provincial with his council shall prescribe after a mature reflection. Eight Augustinian religious who originated from various houses in Castile composed the pioneering community that was headed by Father Prior

Interior of the Conventual Church of San Agustín el Viejo now Francisco Briones and Father Vice-Prior José de Parada. Father Briones was at the helm of the community for two years. He then became novice master. Lastly he lived in Nava del Rey where he returned to the Father in 1600 with the fame of sanctity. Information has been gathered with a view for the eventual canonization of Father Briones. Father José de Parada excelled in his love for the sick. In order to serve them more, he learned the profession of surgeon. He had to return to the original province for health reasons. He passed away in Salamanca in 1619. He was seen him “crippled, unable to move or turn.” Among the other members of the community were Baltasar Martel, prior of Pastrana Convent; Andrés Díaz, a professed from , to whom primitive history would attribute the transfer of the Discalced movement to Italy; Gabriel Hurtado; Juan de ; Francisco de Tapia, first prior of the convent of Portillo in , and García de Prado.

Not one of the first conventuals was renowned for scientific training, scholarship, eloquence or communitarian prestige. They were very ordinary friars, without remarkable traits, other than their love for God and the will to live their vocation with utmost seriousness. Such love and spiritual tension constituted their wealth which enabled them to realize the ideals and goals conceived of in the Chapter of Toledo. Every Recollect religious would look back with tenderness the first conventuals of Talavera.3 Austerity and asceticism at Talavera de la Reina The life of the Recollect pioneers at Talavera was poor, austere but totally focused on God in whose praises a great part of the day was spent. Very few friars were contented with the six hours of daily prayer imposed by the provisions of the Forma de vivir [Way of Life], written by Fray Luis de León for the first Augustinian Recollects in 1589. Many of them spent hours and hours, day and night, prostrate or kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, bowed before the Crucifix and absorbed “in the contemplation of heavenly matters.”4 A strong ascetical spirit completed their spiritual physiognomy. Silence, seclusion and engrossment in devout prayer, fasts, disciplines and other penitential acts accompanied the Recollect conventuals all throughout the day. Pros and cons The asceticism practised by the Recollects had earned for them the admiration of the Talavera laypeople who for some time provided for their sustenance without the need of soliciting house-to-house collection. A donado collected alms in the town which had Church of San Agustín el Viejo. 17th some eight thousand inhabitants at that century. Baroque style. Work of Fr. time. When he fell ill, people without Lorenzo de San Nicolás waiting for a substitute voluntarily proceeded to the convent to give help.

3 The first Recollect convent is known as Convento de San Agustín el Viejo, known later in our history as Convento del Ave María or convento cuna de la Recolección. The present church—Baroque in style—was restored in 2002-2004. It was converted in the past into a theater and warehouse but was completely restored as an auditorium with funds from the Comunidad Caja de Madrid. Inaugurated on 15 June 2004, it is now a private property which in 2006 was the site of the exhibit dubbed as Spanish Ceramics and Don Quijote commemorating the fourth centennial of the publication of the world classic of Cervantes. The other rooms of the old convent are used as Ruiz de Luna Ceramics Museum. 4 Crónicas OAR 1, 156a-157a; Angel MARTÍNEZ CUESTA, “La Forma de vivir en las constituciones y en la vida diaria del siglo XVI,” in INSTITUTO DE ESPIRITUALIDAD AGUSTINOS RECOLETOS, Forma de vivir de los frailes agustinos descalzos de Fray Luis de León (Madrid 1989) 365-371.

Such show of affection by the townspeople for the Recollects was repeatedly exhibited in subsequent years. In 1590 or 1591 a crew of farm workers and mechanics, who were joined by some haughty noblemen, pulled down the wall that diametrically crossed the orchard of the convent and thus obstructed ventilation. In 1608, the municipal authorities of Talavera defended the Recollects against the Calced Augustinian prior provincial who had ordered them to wear shoes. They generously donated 300 reals to defray the expenses of the second general chapter of the Recollect Congregation. However, there were attempts by some Augustinian friars who originated from Talavera. Intent of getting back the convent from the Recollect religious who were living a “different way of life,” they sought the assistance of two town councilors but all their efforts proved fruitless.

Subsequent conventuals Since its inception, the convent had always been a novitiate. And the first fruits were copious. Francisco de Santa Cruz professed in April 1590. Renowned Recollect friars lived in this convent of Talavera. First and foremost was Father Lorenzo de San Nicolás who was the architect and builder of the Talavera convent itself, the church of the Monastery of the Incarnation of the Bernardine nuns just across the street, and the dome of the Basilica of Nuestra Señora del Prado with Renaissance and Baroque features. Other renowned of Talavera de la Reina included Father Jerónimo de la Resurrección, the first general of the Congregation of the Augustinian Recollects, and Father Juan de San Jerónimo (†1610),5 first Recollect provincial (1602-1605). Father Juan was likewise the superior of the first expedition of Augustinian Recollect missionaries to the Philippines in 1605- 1606 and two-time vicar provincial of the Philippine missions. The Scottish Father Thomas Bort de Santa María (†1599) spent the last eight years of his life in the evangelization of his fellow Scots. A Talavera native, Father Bernardino de San Ildefonso (†1642) was provincial of Castile and Andalusia and in 1640 third vicar general of the Congregation. Father Gabriel became a professor of philosophy

5 Father Juan de San Jerónimo of Malagón, Toledo, was a priest of the Congregation of Saint Jerome when he joined the first community of Talavera where he professed in 1594. Cf. Francisco SÁDABA, Catálogo de los Religiosos Agustinos Recoletos de la Provincia de San Nicolás de Tolentino de Filipinas desde 1606, en que llegó la primera misión, hasta nuestros días (Madrid 1906) 35. and theology in various seminaries of the Congregation. Father Agustín de San Ildefonso (1585-1662) wrote one of the best pioneering works of spiritual theology entitled Teología mística [Mystical Theology] in 1644. A great number of Talavera friars linked hands with their confreres in the far-off Philippine mission territories, never to return to the land of their birth.

The convent through the years In January 1603, the town council of Talavera authorized the Recollects to set up a college of ecclesiastical studies in La Estrella, although shortly afterward it had to withdraw the permit in the face of the stiff opposition posed by Trinitarians, Franciscans and Dominicans. In 1608, the council defended them against the arbitrary actions of the Augustinian provincial who ordered them to wear shoes.

The province closely followed their lifestyle and very soon came other religious who were anxious to share it. Among them was Juan de Castro (1547-1611), a man of great holiness and distinguished oratorical talent being appointed later as royal preacher and archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia, and Juan de Vera, the great defender of the Recollects in their initial confrontations with the Calced Augustinians. Their lives showed that those friars did not disassociate themselves from the people. They preached the Word of God, took care of the sacramental needs of the people and cultivated the devotion to the Crucified One and the Blessed Virgin under the special invocation of Our Lady of Peace. The devotion to the title of Ave María which in time would give the name to the convent of Talavera de la Reina dated back to 1629 with the patronage of Marquis of , former viceroy of and Peru. In his last will and testament, he ordered his executors to comply with a provision in his old last will—done in Lima in September 1614—in which he and his first wife Ana Mejía provided for the foundation of a Recollect convent with such title.

The Convents of Portillo and Nava del Rey After Talavera, the foundation of other Recollect convents ensued. The Convent of Portillo in Valladolid was juridically established on 29 June 1590 by Fray Luis de León. Father Francisco de Tapia, a Talavera pioneer, was appointed prior of the new community. There used to be an ancient hermitage dedicated to the Mother of God under the invocation of Virgen de la Fuensanta. In due time about twelve friars resided in it. In some occasions, such as Lent, the friars went out to assist adjoining churches in confession and preaching. The town council agreed to their complete sustenance in exchange

for some conditions, like no property ownership, and it would perpetually remain Recollect. The third Recollect convent was founded in Nava del Rey, also in Valladolid, in June 1591. Its site was beside a hermitage dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The friars were obliged to attend to the people’s spiritual care in exchange for such condition as sustenance of eight friars in the community, “two of whom should be preachers and another two confessors, and a donado tasked to ask for alms.”

Talavera until 1835 A new convent was constructed on the same spot in 1625 with Father Luis de San Lorenzo as architect and constructor. Well-to- do people and the nobility defrayed the costs of the construction and embellishment of the new Convento de San Agustín el Viejo. The façade of the church was totally made of bricks. An extensive orchard which was necessary for the subsistence of the religious community was petitioned by the friars from the Council of Castile. It was later learned that the Archbishop of Toledo owned the land and when he visited the convent in 1669 he generously donated it to Coat-of-arms of the the Recollects.6 Augustinian Recollects in Talavera de la Reina Oftentimes, the convent served as the convent venue of the provincial chapters of Castile. The population of the community ranged from 20 to fifty. In 1834, on the eve of the desamortización [despoliation] of Church properties by the Liberal Finance Minster Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, there were only five friars. The religious for centuries continued to be poor but they still observed the primitive practices of yore. However, the passage of time witnessed the erosion of the religious fervor, generosity and joy of its first dwellers. Apostolate was somewhat intense inside and outside the house. The faithful who came to the conventual church were always attended to. The friars assisted adjoining parishes in the pulpit and in the confessional during feast days. They also supervised the sacramental needs of chaplaincies in the vicinity and the Augustinian Recollect nuns at Calzada de la Oropesa in

6 Angel MARTÍNEZ CUESTA, Talavera de la Reina y los agustinos recoletos, 22- 31 Toledo. Some friars served as curates of adjoining curacies. A religious served as a grade-school teacher in one town. Upon the expulsion of the Jesuits from Talavera, the Recollects took over their house in June 1789, in compliance with the royal order of 29 September 1788. Renamed Convento de San Agustín el Nuevo, the dilapidated house had to be reconstructed at a great expense. However, during the War of Independence, the French invasion troops turned the remodeled spacious church into a stable for horses of their generals and field-marshals. The friars were outright expelled from their own convent by the French.

Epilogue What the invaders left behind after the war was a completely useless convent with its equally inutile church. Despite the donation of 4,000 reals by the confreres of Saint Nicholas Province in the Philippines for its reconstruction, the Convent of San Agustín el Nuevo could not be finished for the 1818 provincial chapter. The community of twenty-five friars was dispersed by the constitutional government of 1821. The 1835 decree of desamortización [despoliation] by Minister Juan Alvarez Mendizábal put a closure to the annals of the cradle of the Augustinian Recollection. Meanwhile, the Convent of San Agustín el Viejo suffered so much damage done by the French troops. By 1815, it was totally useless. For some years, thereafter, it was converted into a school. After 1835, the temple of God became a storehouse for fodder and animal food. From 1886 until early the 20th century, the church was a theater. Later it turned into a warehouse for agricultural machinery. What reminds us today of the Convent of San Agustín el Viejo, cradle of the Augustinian Recollection in the late 16th century, is the historical marker that reveals its architect and builder as well as its Baroque style. At the apse of the cherished church is the Augustinian coat-of-arms consisting of a heart aflame pierced by two arrows and with the hovering dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, against whose divine work no one should place any obstacle. Sources and Bibliography I. Internet Sources. El día de la Recolección, en Madrid, in http://www.agustinosrecoletos.org/noticias_detail.php?pkeyNoticia=8564 &AGUSTISESSION=265b2278b9a1947bd1f28cad7745b0ea. “Encuentro en Talavera de los colaboradores laicos de las parroquias de los Agustinos Recoletos en España,” in http://www.agustinosrecoletos.org/noticia.php?id_noticia=12684&id_secc ion=5&idioma=1.

La iglesia del convento de Talavera de la Reina, rehabilitada, in http://www.agustinosrecoletos.org/noticias_detail.php?pkeyNoticia=8419 &AGUSTISESSION=8d97f2259dcffed88739db1586ec98a2#. “Talavera de la Reina,” in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Talavera_de_la_Reina. “Talavera de la Reina-Toledo,” http://www.pueblos-espana. org/castilla+la+mancha/toledo/talavera+de+la+reina/ “Talavera de la Reina, un símbolo,” in http://www.agustinosrecoletos.org/noticias_detail.php?pkeyNoticia=8982 &AGUSTISESSION=f87efbaa430d5e0e0179133701e778d6#.

II. Articles. Eugenio AYAPE. Volvamos a Talavera, in Boletín de la Provincia de San Nicolás de Tolentino 56 (1966) 181-185. Raul V. FABELLA. El volver a Talavera, in The Oar (Semestral Publication of the Seminario Mayor-Recoletos, Philosophate, Baguio City) vol. III, no. 1 (1968) 31-33. Ángel MARTÍNEZ CUESTA. Talavera de la Reina y los agustinos recoletos, in Recollectio 14 (1991) 5-171.

III. Books. ANDRÉS DE SAN NICOLÁS. Historia general de los Religiosos Descalzos del Orden de los Ermitaños del gran Padre y Doctor de la Iglesia S. Agustín de la Congregación de España y de las Indias I. Madrid 1664. INSTITUTO DE ESPIRITUALIDAD AGUSTINOS RECOLETOS, Forma de vivir de los frailes agustinos descalzos de fray Luis de León. Edición y estudios. Madrid 1989. Ángel MARTÍNEZ CUESTA. Historia de los Agustinos Recoletos I: Desde los orígines hasta el siglo XIX. Madrid 1995. ___. The Order of Augustinian Recollects. Its Charismatic Evolution. Quezon City 1994. Pablo PANEDAS [ed.]. Las Constituciones, nuestro libro de oro. Madrid 1996. Emmanuel Luis ROMANILLOS. The Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines. Hagiography and History. Quezon City 2001. Francisco SÁDABA. Catálogo de los Religiosos Agustinos Recoletos de la Provincia de San Nicolás de Tolentino de Filipinas desde 1606, en que llegó la primera misión, hasta nuestros días. Madrid 1906.