God is my Father!

This tour of some streets in Madrid highlights some events in St Josemaria’s life. A notable aspect was his experience of divine sonship – the fact of having God for his Father – expressed in trust in God’s providence, simplicity in talking to God, a deep sense of human dignity and of fraternity, real Christian love for the world and everything created by God, serenity, and optimism. Tags: Abandonment to God, Divine sonship, Madrid, sick

Opus Dei’s First Steps in Madrid

On finishing the spiritual retreat during which he had received the light to found Opus Dei, St Josemaria returned to his activities in Madrid. At the same time, he started to look for people with whom he could begin the new apostolate that God had entrusted to him. This new foundation took first place in his heart, head and actions. Tags: Founding of Opus Dei, History, Madrid

St Josemaria Escriva in Madrid: the founding of Opus Dei

Fr Josemaria Escriva moved to Madrid in April 1927. He once said, “It was in Madrid that I received my mission, and for that and other reasons I feel that I have full right to call myself ‘a person of Madrid’.” Tags: Founding of Opus Dei, Madrid

Homily given by the Prelate of Opus Dei for the feast-day of St Josemaria Escriva, 2011

Bishop Javier Echevarria, Prelate of Opus Dei

The Opening Prayer of the Mass of St Josemaria summarize the basic points of the spirit of Opus Dei: “proclaiming the universal call to holiness and apostolate” as children of God in the middle of ordinary work and in the situations of daily life, in order to “serve the work of Redemption with burning love” through a personal apostolate of friendship and trust. Today I would like to dwell on that last aspect Tags: Apostolate, Faith, June 26

St Josemaria’s final moments

Thursday, June 26, St Josemaria celebrated Mass at eight in the morning. At nine-thirty, he went by car to Castel Gandolfo, where he had a get-together with his daughters, in the living room. About twenty minutes into it, he started to feel ill. After a little while, since he was still not feeling well, he took his leave. They entered Villa Tevere a few minutes before noon. He headed for the room he usually worked in “I don’t feel well,” he said in a weak voice to Fr Javier. And at that point he collapsed Tags: Death, June 26, Priestly soul

Saint Josemaría’s love for the Eucharist

Bishop Javier Echevarría

Saint Josemaría often talked about the need for Christian life to be essentially Eucharistic. He summed it up in a classic phrase: having a “Eucharistic soul”. Tags: Love of God, Eucharist, Javier Echevarria, Piety, Priesthood

1928-1936: Historical, political and social situation in Spain

The early years of Opus Dei: Historical, political and social situation in Spain. Condensed from the book written by the history expert John F. Coverdale, Uncommon Faith: the early years of Opus Dei (1928-1943), Princeton: Scepter, 2002., chapters 1 and 3-18. Tags: Suffering, Spanish Civil War, History, Youth, Opus Dei

1928-1930: The birth of Opus Dei: social, economic and political background in Spain

John Coverdale

Father Josemaria Escriva, born in Barbastro, north-east Spain, in 1902, was ordained a priest in Saragossa in 1925. In mid-April 1927 he moved to the capital, Madrid, to study for a doctorate in law while working as assistant priest at the church of St Michael. Tags: Founding of Opus Dei, Spanish Civil War, History, Madrid, Isidoro Zorzano, Women of Opus Dei, Opus Dei name, Opus Dei's foundational charisma

1931-1932: The Second Spanish Republic and Spanish anticlericalism

John Coverdale

When King Alfonso XIII forced Primo de Rivera to resign in January 1930, the king hoped to reestablish political normality under a constitutional monarchy. Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Suffering, Sickness, Spanish Civil War, History, Madrid, Poverty, Politics, Women, Juan Jimenez Vargas, Maria Ignacia, Opus Dei members, Anti-clericalism, Spanish history

1933-1934: A Background of Tension and Violence

John Coverdale

Political tension and violence continued during 1933 and 1934. Tags: Spanish Civil War