Election of Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo as St Josemaria’s first successor

Three months after St Josemaria’s death on June 26, 1975, Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo – “Don Alvaro” – was elected to succeed him at the head of Opus Dei. No one was surprised when, on September 15, 1975, Don Alvaro was unanimously elected as the founder’s [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Faithfulness, Opus Dei

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St Josemaria and the Guardian Angels

Opus Dei was founded (in 1928) on October 2 – the feast of the Guardian Angels. St Josemaria’s devotion to the Guardian Angels, whom he saw as celestial protectors and messengers, went back to his childhood. Here Bishop Alvaro del Portillo recalls some aspects of [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Angels

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"Light, Salt, and Leaven": Lay people's role in the Church's mission

The early Christians, who had lived with Jesus and the Apostles or belonged to the next generation, were very conscious that their mission was to fill everything that they did with faith. In Tertullian’s words, “What the soul is in the body, that the Christians [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Apostolate, Citizenship, Presence of God, Early Christians, Work, Unity of life

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Apostolic constitution "Ut sit" by which Opus Dei was erected as the Catholic Church's first personal Prelature

JOHN PAUL BISHOP SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FOR A PERMANENT RECORD OF THE MATTER With very great hope, the Church directs its attention and maternal care to Opus Dei, which -- by divine inspiration --the Servant of God Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer founded [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Pope John Paul II, Opus Dei prelature

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The Holy Mass was the center of Saint Josemaría’s day

Saint Josemaría often spoke of the Holy Mass as the “center and root of the interior life”. Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the Founder’s first successor at the head of Opus Dei, spent nearly forty years with Saint Josemaría, and was an exceptional witness of how [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Eucharist, Piety, Plan of life, Priesthood

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Msgr. Javier Echevarría in the Mass in suffrage for Mons. Álvaro Del Portillo. Rome, March17, 2008

Dear brothers and sisters. Today we offer this Eucharistic Sacrifice for the soul of the Servant of God Mons. Álvaro del Portillo, Prelate of Opus Dei, on the fourteenth anniversary of his dies natalis. We do so with six days of anticipation because the 23 of [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Generosity, Opus Dei prelate

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Saint Josemaría’s devotion to our Lady

“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 [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Prayer, Our Lady

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Takes affectionate care of your tabernacles!

The loving care which Saint Josemaria took of the liturgy and everything connected with worship is expressed in n. 527 of The Way: “That woman in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, who anoints the Master’s head with precious ointment, reminds us of [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Love of God, Eucharist, Poverty

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Álvaro del Portillo

September 15, 1975, soon after St Josemaría died and went to Heaven, Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo was chosen to succeed him by a general elective congress of Opus Dei. On March 23, 1994, Msgr. Javier Echevarría summed up Don Alvaro’s work at the head of [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Opus Dei

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First ordination of faithful of Opus Dei to the priesthood

The first three priests ordained from among the faithful of Opus Dei, on June 25, 1944 by the Bishop of Madrid were Father Alvaro del Portillo, Father Jose Maria Hernandez Garnica, and Father Jose Luis Muzquiz. All three of them were qualified civil or mining [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Opus Dei, Priesthood, Priestly Society of the Holy Cross