Eucharist: Sanctity and Salvation

As regards personal sanctification, Saint Josemaría did not hesitate to state that the Eucharist is “the centre and root of the spiritual life”, as the Second Vatican Council would later repeat. In his lifetime, Saint Josemaría encouraged hundreds of thousands of men and women to [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Sacraments

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I shall never forget that Mass

During the Spanish Civil War, when Saint Josemaría could not minister as a priest and was in constant danger of death because of the violent religious persecution, he had no option but to escape from Spain over the Pyrenees and go through Andorra to re-enter [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Spanish Civil War, Piety

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Saint Josemaría’s love for the Eucharist

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”. He liked to make explicit acts of faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament: “I [...]
Tags: Love of God, Eucharist, Javier Echevarria, Piety, Priesthood

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His whole day was a Mass

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. His whole day was a Mass, an offering that he joined to the one he celebrated [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Faith, Piety

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Priestly Holiness and Ministry: Priests that Love the Mass

“A priest's worth can be measured by the way he lives his Mass.”--St Josemaria When I was a young man serving Mass at my local parish, I was struck by one particular priest who was resident in the parish. He was a veteran of the [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Priesthood, Sacraments

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Letter to the faithful of the Prelature and cooperators of Opus Dei

Rome, 3 April 2005 May Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me! My dearest children: We were already preparing for the painful event of the death of our much-loved Pope John Paul II, who, yet more frequently in these last years and months, offered the [...]
Tags: Love of God, Beauty, Eucharist, Faith, Pope, Sacraments, Interior life

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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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Those Masses made me love the liturgy

José María Casciaro met Saint Josemaría in 1939. The next year he moved to Madrid to study, and lived in Jenner hall of residence, where Saint Josemaría was also living. He spent more than five years close to the Founder of Opus Dei. When I arrived [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Piety, Plan of life, Priesthood

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The brass chalice

One Sunday morning in June 1974, in the Coliseo Theatre in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Msgr. Escrivá had hardly started speaking when a gentleman from that land, with a smile on his lips and a somewhat mischievous gesture, intervened: “When a very close friend of mine [...]
Tags: Love of God, Eucharist, Poverty, Catechetical trips

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Bishop Javier Echevarría, Prelate of Opus Dei. Rome, June 25, 2005

Dear brothers and sisters, Once again we joyfully celebrate the liturgical feast-day of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, bringing it forward to June 25 this year, as tomorrow is a Sunday. This means that we are commemorating the Founder of Opus Dei on the anniversary of the ordination [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Javier Echevarria, Ratzinger