He put all his love into saying Holy Mass

Msgr Javier Echevarría

Msgr Javier Echevarría saw from close at hand, from 1953 onwards, how St Josemaría prepared to celebrate Mass, how he said it, how he did his thanksgiving afterwards, and how he prolonged it throughout the day. The following is an extract from Msgr Echevarría’s book [...] Tags: Gratitude, Eucharist, Faith, Javier Echevarria, Prayer, Piety, Priesthood

St Josemaría’s stay in Venezuela, August 1974

Ana Sastre

The Father arrived at Maiquetia airport, Caracas, at 5 p.m. on August 15, 1974. Hurricane Alma had caused airports in Venezuela to be on a state of alert, but the worst of the wind had passed off to the west of the country, and all was now calm. Tags: Catechetical trips

Carmen Escrivá

Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo

Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, who knew St Josemaria’s mother and sister very well, spoke in the book Immersed in God about what both of them meant for the founding and development of Opus Dei. “The availability of our Founder’s mother and sister proved of incalculable value to Opus Dei.” Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, The Escriva family, Opus Dei, Administration, Carmen Escrivá

Koichi Yamamoto and the beginnings of Opus Dei in Japan

Antonio Melich

A brief account of the beginnings of Opus Dei’s apostolate in Japan and the life of one of the first Japanese members. It shows the keen affection St Josemaría always felt for Japan, as well as the way the spirit of Opus Dei is lived out in a very different culture. Tags: History, Opus Dei, numerary

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

October 16, 1931, in a Madrid streetcar: Abba, Pater!

John F. Coverdale

I learned to call God “Father” as a child in the Our Father. But to feel, to see, to admire God’s desire that we be his children…, that was on the street, in a streetcar, for an hour or an hour and a half, I’m [...] Tags: Divine sonship, History, Madrid

Prehistory of the founding of Opus Dei (1917-1928)

Opus Dei was founded by Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer on October 2, 1928. At that point he was a 26-year-old priest. Up till that moment, there is no history of Opus Dei as such. There was a prehistory, which was the story of its Founder’s life and which had different stages. Tags: October 2, 1928, Founding of Opus Dei, History, Footprints in the Snow, Vocation

Ten years amidst scaffolding and bricklayers

Pilar Urbano

Saint Josemaría traveled to Rome for the first time in 1946. Later he decided to establish the central headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome. The following extract tells of the search for a suitable property, and the adventures of beginning to build. Tags: Opus Dei, Poverty, Work

A new year, a new struggle

Andrés Vazquez de Prada

Saint Josemaría always taught that what counts for holiness is the ability to correct ourselves constantly. The following extract from a biography of Saint Josemaría tells how he set himself this motto for the year 1972. Tags: Ascetical struggle

Saint Josemaría and God’s approach to man’s freedom

Carlos Soria

In Saint Josemaría’s thinking and life, freedom was a revolution – an attractive and radical one. It was not only directed at his contemporaries but intended for the men and women of all times. Tags: Freedom, Responsibility