Opus Dei

A recollection is time spent in silence with God, talking to Him and “recollecting” who we are before Him. This is a package of resources for a recollection in your own home, including a downloadable PDF.

"Sisu" is a Finnish word that translates to perseverance, courage or determination. Ilona is a good example of this concept: born in a country where Catholics are a minority, she dreams of changing the world through her work as an academic. "I tackle polarisation from a statistical perspective, with data. Not everything is black and white," she says.

Inma lives in Valencia and is the second of seven siblings. She was an assistant numerary of Opus Dei for a time. After a period of reflection and prayer, she realized that her place was elsewhere: “It was very hard for me because I love the assistant numerary vocation deeply.”

Andy is from Santa and studied gastronomy. After many years living and working in Buenos Aires, she recently decided to return to her hometown to look after her nephew: "I realised that it was necessary and that I couldn't fail to react when I had the chance to help."

Mariana is from the province of Buenos Aires, but over the course of 13 years, she lived in three European countries: "I met a lot of people with very different mentalities and ways of being," she says. "This allowed me to learn about other ways of life and to expand my perspective." Her own choice of life as an assistant numerary in Opus Dei has allowed her to meet more people and give many others a place in her heart.

Laura, a doctor in Barcelona, was a numerary member of Opus Dei for 25 years. In 2020, after a long process of reflection, she decided to leave the Work. "The overall experience was positive, without a doubt; I don't consider those years to have been wasted at all," she says, highlighting the formation she received, the people she met, and the way she learned to live the virtues naturally.

Mercedes and Concha are sisters and both are assistant numeraries. After many years of working in the administration of Opus Dei centres, they now dedicate themselves to caring for their brothers, who suffer from spastic paraplegia, and to carrying out apostolic activities in places on the Levantine coast, including Gandía and Alzira. This is a conversation between the two sisters.

Abi grew up in Perth, in western Australia. There she studied Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and developed a lot of hobbies, which, however, did not fulfil her completely: “So, I had all this time and had all this money and all these opportunities. But I felt like I was wasting my time... Well, not wasting my time, but wasting my life!”

Rebekah, better known as Bek, is from Wollongong, Australia. Bek has many hobbies: she likes sailing, painting, reading, music and cooking. Her passion for cooking ended up being her field of professional development. The purpose of her work is to ensure that people know that they are loved, something that requires continuous learning: "I don't think anyone can say that they've reached the summit of learning how to love people."

We asked seven young people to read ‘The Way’ and to choose their favourite points. In this video, Veronica Maria, Michele, Angelica, Giulia, Angelina, Roberto, and Federico tell us why they chose the points they did.