The Last Things

In Christian tradition, "Last Things" is the term used for what faces each person at the end of his or her life on earth: death, judgement and eternal destiny - heaven or hell. Through the liturgy, the Church brings these realities before us particularly in [...]
Tags: Abandonment to God, Heaven, Death

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Pope John Paul II dies

Vatican City, April 2 (Vatican Information Service). This evening, the director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, sent the following declaration to journalists: “The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in [...]
Tags: Pope John Paul II, Death

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Christ overcame death

On November 2, the Church invites Catholics to pray for the departed souls. Here are some texts that St. Josemaría wrote on the topic of death. I give you thanks, my Jesus, for your decision to become perfect Man, with a Heart which loved and is [...]
Tags: Heaven, Faith, Jesus Christ, Death

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I Seek Your Face

St Josemaria’s soul burned with the desire to see God’s face. “Lord, I long to see your face, to contemplate you in wonder!” On March 28, 1975, Father Josemaría completed fifty years of priesthood. He did not want any festivities, he wished to spend that day [...]
Tags: Contemplation, Death, Prayer, Our Lady, Torreciudad

Testimony

The things that really matter

My daughter Sofia was born on December 24, 1983, and her mother died a few days later. From then on, helped by her mother’s parents and a large and very supportive family network, I took up my changed life. Six months later I learnt that [...]
Tags: Cross, Sickness, Death

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Death of Don José Escrivá, November 27, 1924

On November 27, 1924, Josemaría received a telegram from his mother asking him to come to Logroño because his father had come down with a serious illness. He took the train that very afternoon. At Logroño station he was met by Manuel Ceniceros, a godson [...]
Tags: The Escriva family, Death, Vocation

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St Josemaría’s own account of his sister’s death

After St Josemaría died, a sealed envelope was found among his papers. Written on it were the words, “Not to be opened until my death. Mariano, 2-VII-1957.” Inside were six handwritten sheets that read as follows: When Alvaro told me that the doctor gave my sister [...]
Tags: Eucharist, The Escriva family, Death

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Account of St Josemaría’s death

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

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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 [...]
Tags: Joy, Death, Get-together

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Anniversary of the death of Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo, St Josemaría’s first successor

Early in the morning of March 23, 1994, God called his good and faithful servant to Himself. Bishop del Portillo had returned only a few hours before from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where, with deep prayer and piety, he had followed Jesus’ footsteps [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Death, Opus Dei prelate