Opus Dei

"Passionately Loving the World: The Message of Saint Josemaria Escriva", Elmar J. Kremer and Teresa A. Tomory, editors. Publisher: Legas, Ottawa, 2004. Saint Josemaria was a passionate man. He was not one to sit back passively. Witnesses say he spontaneously ignited those around him. He showed tremendous affection and kindness to anyone who came across his path. He became enthralled even by the wonders hidden in humdrum tasks and daily affairs. “God waits for us everyday”, he said in 1967, “in t...

The Marian Shrine at Torreciudad in the Spanish Pyrenees became a family shrine on September 4 when a multitude of people from many cities in that country and several neighboring ones gathered there. The Prelate of Opus Dei presided at Mass. His entire homily can be found in an adjoining column.

“The knowledge that I’m a much-loved daughter of God, my “divine filiation”, and that everything that happens to me is either willed or permitted by God, gives me a wonderful feeling of security, a great peace.” Testimony of Virginia McGough, homemaker in Cheshire, Great Britain, married with five children between 5 and 13.

In 2002 Pope John Paul II declared Saint Josemaría Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, to be the “saint of the ordinary”. Saint Josemaría has helped thousands of souls throughout the world give divine value to apparently very ordinary realities of everyday. This past June 26 solemn Masses marked his feast day in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

The text of Bishop Javier Echevarría’s remarks, drawn from his book, The Christian’s Journey through Life:

Thousands of people joined Bishop Echevarría on September 4 at the Marian shrine of Torreciudad in the Spanish Pyrenees. He spoke to them about the family as a divine gift.

For St. Josemaría, one form of charity is “making life more agreeable for others.” A way to do that might be painting someone’s house if he can’t do it himself. This is what the Alazores University Association is doing in Málaga, Spain.

On his eighth visit to France, John Paul II has gone to Lourdes to inaugurate the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1954, St. Josemaría prayed at the tomb of St. Nicholas in Bari, asking his intercession at a time of grave financial need. Fifty years later, the Prelate wanted to make a return visit to Bari.

At the Angelus of July 18, the Pope said that a vacation is a good time to renew the interior life; “the most important thing in life is listening to the Word of God.”