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

An Italian song that St Josemaria loved

Aprite le finestre - 'Open the Windows', an Italian song that St Josemaria wanted people to sing to him as he was dying. The following is the account of this episode as given by Pilar Urbano in her biography of St Josemaria, 'El Hombre de Villa Tevere'. Tags: Joy, Death, Get-together

Account of St Josemaría’s death

Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo

On June 26, 1975, Msgr. Josemaría died suddenly in Rome. The previous month he had made his last visit to Spain, where he received the gold medal of his native town, Barbastro, and visited the nearby shrine of Torreciudad, which had been built at his [...] Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Death

A song of farewell

Pedro Casciaro

St Josemaria visited Mexico from May 15 to June 22, 1970. The day before he went back to Rome, he had a get-together with a group of young university students. One of them took up a guitar and told the Father he wanted him to listen to a song which is normally sung when people go to serenade the Virgin of Guadalupe at the Villa early in the mornings. Tags: Catechetical trips, Our Lady

St Josemaria and Our Lady of Mercy, Barcelona

Marc Argemí

St Josemaria Escriva was a devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary his whole life long. Each of her titles found a place in his heart and some took on special resonance at particular eras in his life. One of these was Our Lady of Mercy, patron of Barcelona, Spain. Tags: Gratitude, Barcelona, History, Our Lady

Who is Her?

Getting to know Our Lady through St. Josemaría's teachings... Video Loving our Lady How can we love our Lady as tenderly as children? Video Our Lady and St Joseph During an encounter with diocesan priests in Guatemala, St Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei, talked about devotion to our Lady and [...] Tags: Our Lady

March 28, 1925: Priest of Jesus Christ

In the fifth week of Lent, on the Saturday before Passion Sunday, March 28, 1925, Bishop Miguel de los Santos Diaz Gómara, Bishop of Tagora, conferred priestly ordination on Josemaria Escriva in the Church of the Royal Seminary of San Carlos, Saragossa. Tags: Priesthood, Sacraments, Holy Mass, calling

February 16, 1932: “Deeds are love – not sweet words”

Andres Vazquez de Prada

This divine locution gave rise to n. 933 in The Way: "There is a story of a soul who, on saying to our Lord in prayer, ‘Jesus, I love you,’ heard this reply from heaven: ‘Love means deeds, not sweet words.’ "Think if you also could deserve this gentle reproach". Tags: Generosity, Javier Echevarria, Ascetical struggle

I saw three hundred, three hundred thousand, thirty million, three thousand million…

Andrés Vázquez de Prada

At the beginning of 1933 St Josemaria gave the first of what would afterwards be called "St Raphael circles". The St Raphael circles or classes are the axis of all the other Christian formational activities for young people on the human, spiritual, and religious-doctrinal levels. They include a preparatory course and a professional course. Tags: Spiritual guidance, Doctrine, Formation, History, Youth, Catechesis