January 9, 1902 - Josemaría Escriva's arrival into the world

Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was born in the Spanish city of Barbastro on January 9,1902, and died in Rome on June 26,1975. A few weeks before his death, trying to bring his life into sharp focus, he expressed a deep awareness of Divine Providence: "Our Lord [...]
Tags: Barbastro, The Escriva family

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If Opus Dei had no members till the 1930s, why did Josemaria Escriva say it was founded in 1928?

Father Josemaria always said that “Opus Dei was founded on October 2, 1928,” because that was the day that God made him “see” Opus Dei, and what he had to do, deep in his soul. From that moment on, Opus Dei (which didn’t yet even [...]
Tags: Barbastro, The Escriva family

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Why did Josemaria’s father’s business fail?

Between 1912 and 1915 the effects of successive bad harvests impacted on textile sales. At the same time, a former partner in the family business opened up a competing business in the same town, which he had previously committed himself not to do under the [...]
Tags: Barbastro, The Escriva family, Poverty, Josemaria Escriva

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What sort of childhood did Josemaria Escriva have?

Josemaria’s home town was Barbastro, a small but prosperous city with its own cathedral, in the north-east of Spain. Although at that time, in the first decade of the twentieth century, much of Spain was suffering the effects of the loss of its overseas colonies, [...]
Tags: Barbastro, The Escriva family, Logroño, Josemaria Escriva

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Christian Parents

Saint Josemaría was born in Barbastro at about ten o’clock at night on January 9, 1902. His parents were José Escriva and Dolores Albas The Escrivas came originally from Narbonne in France, but had been settled for centuries in the Catalonian district of Balaguer. José’s parents [...]
Tags: Barbastro, Cross, History