February 14: A new anniversary

Tags: February 14, Founding of Opus Dei, Opus Dei, Priesthood, Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, Priestly soul, Women

"February 14, 1930 and 1943: Historic dates for Opus Dei"
An historical account of A. Vazquez de Prada
Speaking about the paradoxes of the founding, saint Josemaría would say one day: “The foundation of Opus Dei happened without me; the women’s branch, against my personal opinion; and the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, when I was seeking it but unable to find it.”

February 14, 1930: Women

Liliana Iavicoli, from Argentina

At first he thought this path was for men only. "There will never be women in Opus Dei. No fear!" he wrote at the beginning of February 1930. But on February 14, while he was celebrating Mass, he discovered another defining aspect of God’s Will: contrary to what he had thought, God wanted there to be women in Opus Dei.

"My vocation was like falling in love".
Liliana Iavicoli, from Argentina, mother and faithful of the Prelature, tells in this VIDEO how the discovery of her vocation brought new light into her life

Kimlea, a training center in Kenya, was started under the inspiration of Saint Josemaría’s teachings and spirit, and has been working for the benefit of African women for several decades. Children and their mothers are schoolmates and classmates of sorts.

Other Projects from around the world

February 14, 1943: Priests

In the morning of February 14, 1943, while he was celebrating Mass in an Opus Dei women’s center in Madrid, a light shone in his mind. "And when I finished celebrating, he recalled, I drew the seal of the Work, the Cross of Christ embracing the world, set in the heart of the world; and I could talk about the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross."

Fr. Gendreau is a parish priest in the archdiocese of Montreal and a priest of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, an association of clergy intrinsically united to Opus Dei. It is made up of the clergy of the prelature, and other diocesan priests and deacons.

Further information: Priestly Society of the Holy Cross