The brass chalice

Salvador Bernal

I celebrate Mass each day, and have done for many years, with a chalice which cost me three hundred pesetas. It is a bit like me; people see it and say: “It’s made of gold…” But it’s all show. When you dismantle it, you find written on the inside in big letters the simple statement: “Brass”. Tags: Love of God, Eucharist, Poverty, Catechetical trips

St Josemaria and Pope Pius XII

Pilar Urbano

The first words of affection and encouragement Father Escriva heard in Rome in 1946 were from Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, an intelligent, sensitive Italian from Brescia who, since the end of the Second World War, had been involved in the delicate task of renewing the Vatican’s diplomatic relations. Years later Montini was to become the head of the Church – Pope Paul VI. Tags: Church, Opus Dei, Pope

He asked me to let him stay there alone for a little while

José Llamas Simón

The Augustinian Father José Llamas Simón met Saint Josemaría in 1944, when the founder of Opus Dei was preaching a spiritual retreat to the Community of the Royal Monastery of Saint Lawrence in El Escorial, Madrid. Tags: Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Retreat

Help me to keep him company!

Msgr. Pedro Casciaro

Msgr. Pedro Casciaro first met Saint Josemaría in 1935, when he was studying architecture in Madrid. Right from the start, the Father, as people called him, opened up broad horizons of holiness and apostolate to him. In the following extract, he recalls one of the occasions when Saint Josemaría encouraged him to keep our Lord company in the Tabernacle. Tags: Eucharist, Presence of God

The Founding of Opus Dei

John F. Coverdale

John F. Coverdale, in his book Uncommon Faith, tells how Opus Dei was founded. Tags: October 2, 1928, Angels, Founding of Opus Dei, Retreat

The canonical solution of Opus Dei

Pilar Urbano

By the Apostolic Constitution Ut Sit, dated 28 November 1982, Pope John Paul II set up Opus Dei as a personal prelature. This meant that, in accordance with its foundational charisma, the Work was recognized by the Church”s Canon Law as a secular structure: personal, i.e. not defined by geography, and made up of a Prelate, priests incardinated into Opus Dei, and lay-people. Tags: Church, Prayer, Opus Dei prelature

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

His whole day was a Mass

Msgr. Jose Maria Garcia Lahiguera

Memories of the Servant of God Msgr. Garcia Lahiguera, Bishop of Valencia. He was a close friend of Saint Josemaría from 1932 onwards, and for some years was his confessor. Tags: Eucharist, Faith, Piety

Saint Josemaría’s devotion to our Lady

Bishop Alvaro del Portillo

“We have to love the Blessed Virgin Mary more. We will never love her enough. Love her a lot!” is Saint Josemaría’s advice at The Forge, n. 527. Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo recounts some of his memories of Saint Josemaría’s devotion to our Lady in the following extract from Immersed in God.Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo recounts some of his memories of Saint Josemaría’s devotion to our Lady. Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Prayer, Our Lady

Nanny and The Way

Alejandro Llano

She came from Lastres, a fishing-village in Asturias, Spain. Her name was Azucena Olivar Sanchez, but for us kids she was always Nanny. She’d been our nanny and was an enormous help to our Mom, who had her hands full with nine children, running our house in Madrid, and looking after my Dad’s business when he was away in Mexico looking after the companies he had there. Tags: The Way