The Mystic Time Image: St. Monica Brings the Constitutions to the Agustinian Recollect nuns of Puebla de los Ángeles

Abstract

For the founder of the convent of Agustinian Recollect Nuns in Puebla de los Ángeles, Bishop Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, it was essential to provide it with its own corporate identity and a sense of belonging to the Order of Agustinian Recollect Nuns. That is why he put all his efforts in obtaining constitutions, ceremonies and everything that would contribute to the correct assimilation of the Augustinian charism by his future nuns, even when they were a mere schoolgirls. In order to strong this filiation on the spiritual level, the community use a series of visual resources for meditation and reflection on its legitimate Recollect origin. One of the most eloquent evidence of this, is the painting entitled "Augustinian Recollect Religious (Santa Monica teaches the rule to the Augustinians)", currently located in the Museum of Religious Art, Ex Convento de Santa Mónica. The picture represents the mystical moment in which the nuns received the pattern of the Augustinian charism at the hands of her patron, the mother of St. Augustine. The present article tries to problematize by means of this example, the statute of the corporate image in the context of a foundation of secular origin, concerned with generating a regular identity.