Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

Walking with Aguchita in Peru: ‘Love is our vocation’

SHARE

By Sr Karla Bernabe, Province of Peru

On September 21, 750 pilgrims from San Ramón participated in the Youth Pilgrimage “Walking with Aguchita to meet Jesus.”

The pilgrims traveled 7 kilometers from four different starting points, praying, singing, and reflecting while admiring the beauty of the Amazon. They were welcomed into the shrine by the mayor of La Florida, the sisters, and the local community.

The Eucharistic celebration was preceded by songs dedicated to her memory, following which a painting of Aguchita and a relic of hers were processed through the streets.

The young people brought the procession alive by creatively representing different stages of Aguchita’s life, and it came to an end at Aguchita’s tomb, where all joined together in a prayer for world peace.

Between September 23 and 25, three days of prayer were held leading up to Aguchita’s feast day. Each day, a sister gave a spiritual reflection, together with personal testimonies from people who knew Aguchita and were present on the day of her martyrdom.

During these days, the community made a commitment to form a new grassroots community at the shrine, an example of how Aguchita’s legacy lives on and offers encouragement to her small community.

On September 26, the Solemnity of Blessed Aguchita was celebrated in the presence of sisters, partners-in-mission, local dignitaries, many pilgrims, and representatives from the three local schools. The Mass not only gave thanks for Aguchita’s total gift of self but also to Sr. Elena Carrillo who celebrated her 60 years of consecrated life on this same day.

Following Mass, all present took part in a ‘route of martyrdom’ which stopped at four locations. The first was the house where Aguchita taught baking classes to the girls and from where she was taken to the square; the second was the place of her execution; the third was the place where she was mourned together with her companions in martyrdom; and the fourth was her tomb where she rests in peace.

In tribute to her spirit of environmental care, everyone present was given a plant in a recycled pot, symbolizing the example of Aguchita as a caretaker of the environment.

On September 27, we commemorated the 34th anniversary of the martyrdom of Aguchita and the six companions who were murdered with her: Efigenia, Jesusa, Juan, Luis, Herber, and Pedro.

At just after sunrise, pilgrims walked to the cemetery in prayer and song, from where they continued on to her shrine.

Although pain lingers in the memory of those who knew and loved Aguchita and the other women and men who were martyred alongside her, hope for a future of peace and justice for the poor and forgotten prevails.

Aguchita’s legacy lives on – together with her people!

To mark Aguchita’s beatification in 2022, REPAM, a Catholic Church network that promotes the rights and dignity of people living in the Amazon, produced a video about her in partnership with Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. The English and French versions were produced by the Congregational Spirituality Center in Angers to mark her feast day. Watch the video below.

EN  /  FR  /  ES

our global presence

Africa and Middle East

Kenya, Congo, South Sudan, Uganda

Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion

Senegal, Burkina Faso 

Europe

Belgium, France, Hungary, Netherlands

Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain

Latin America

Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Honduras

Brazil, Paraguay