Death of Don José Escrivá, November 27, 1924

Andrés Vázquez de Prada

On November 27, 1924, Josemaría received a telegram from his mother asking him to come to Logroño because his father had come down with a serious illness. Tags: The Escriva family, Death, Vocation

The Rose of Rialp: November 21/22, 1937

John F. Coverdale and François Gondrand

Moved by his devotion to the Blessed Virgin, who is invoked as the Mystical Rose, he prayed that our Lady would show him which way he should go by means of a specific sign that he laid down for her: he asked her to give him a gilded rose if God wanted him to continue the attempt to cross over to the other zone of Spain. Tags: Spanish Civil War, Crossing the Pyrenees, Our Lady

November 2, 1948: Javier Echevarría, currently Opus Dei’s Prelate, met St Josemaría for the first time

Bishop Javier Echevarría and Salvador Bernal

“Javi!” And he added, in a much weaker voice, as Fr Javier came into the room, “I don’t feel well.” Those were the last words on earth of St Josemaría, founder of Opus Dei. It was mid-day on June 26, 1975, in Rome. Fr. Javier Echevarría was the person to whom that final phrase was addressed, after twenty-five years of daily life together. Tags: Love of God, Charity, Javier Echevarria, Madrid

How the Founder of Opus Dei experienced the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Bishop Javier Echevarría

In the book-length interview in which Bishop Javier Echevarría relates his memories of Saint Josemaría, founder of Opus Dei, Salvador Bernal says: “Meditating on the Cross also gave rise, in Msgr. Escrivá’s soul, to contrition and a spirit of atonement, culminating in his reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” Bishop Echevarría’s response was as follows. Tags: Sacrament of Reconciliation, Contrition, Humility, Javier Echevarria

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Ana Sastre

St Josemaria's first trip to Latin America in May 1970. Tags: Poverty, Priesthood, Get-together, Catechetical trips, Our Lady

The Sanctity of Human Love

Salvador Bernal

The Founder of Opus Dei taught people all over the world to love the family. At a time when sanctity seemed to have become more or less the preserve of the religious and priests, God made use of him to make many married couples see that married life is a true path to sanctity on earth. Tags: Marriage, Vocation

The founder of Opus Dei in Pompeii, Almudena, Sonsoles and Fatima, 1968-1970

Ana Sastre

“My dearest daughters and sons: you will have wondered why in these last few years I’ve been going from one shrine of our Lady to another, in a continual pilgrimage over many countries, which also enables me to thank our Lord for the chance to [...] Tags: Church, Our Lady

St Josemaría arrived in Rome for the first time on June 23, 1946

Pilar Urbano

On June 23, 1946 the founder of Opus Dei arrived in Rome to expedite pontifical approval of Opus Dei. This approval would enable Opus Dei, which was universal from the very start, to spread its apostolate to different countries. Pilar Urbano wrote an account of the journey after interviewing the people concerned. Tags: Church, Opus Dei, Pope

Working summers

Pilar Urbano

Whenever Cardinal Pizzardo met Monsignor Escriva, regardless of who was looking, he would take Escriva’s head between his hands and give him a big loud kiss on the nape of the neck, exclaiming, “Thank you for teaching me how to relax.!” And if he saw that people were surprised he would go on, “I used to be one of those people who think that in this life, when you’re not working you’re wasting time. But he gave me a new, wonderful idea: resting does not mean doing nothing, it’s not laziness or idleness, but changing one’s occupation, turning to a different, useful, relaxing activity for a while.” Tags: rest

"Holy Rosary": To help people say the Rosary

Andres Vázquez de Prada

One morning, after saying Mass, at the end of his thanksgiving, he wrote the little book Holy Rosary. He wrote it all in one go, in the sacristy of St Elizabeth’s Church. It is not certain which day it was, but what is known is that on December 7, the day before the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he was reading to two young men in St Elizabeth’s about how to say the rosary, because that was his intention on writing it: to help other people to say it. Tags: Spiritual childhood, books, Holy Rosary, Our Lady