Opus Dei

Rosaura’s parents’ conversion completely transformed the atmosphere in their home after years of living a New Age spirituality. Her family went from following New Age practices to encountering Christ. Both she and her mother, who passed away in 2024, share their journey back to the Church and their vocation as supernumeraries in Opus Dei.

María José is a lawyer who lives with her husband and son in Madrid. Since the return of the Taliban regime to Afghanistan in August 2021, she has been helping women from that country to find asylum in Spain. There were only a few of them at the beginning, but now they've formed a network that supports 110 families. "Prayer helps me understand the things that happen and God's calls," she says. Her faith inspires her commitment to improving the world around her through her work.

Sandra had no faith when she first set foot in a centre run by the Work, invited by a friend. Now, fifteen years later, she is an associate and she tells the story of her encounter with God, in whom she discovered the experience of paternity.

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.

María José was an associate of Opus Dei for 20 years and about 5 years ago, at the age of 35, she left the Work. "Even though it was a very painful decision, it was definitely one where I was supported, and absolutely one where I was free," she says. "It’s beautiful to think that every vocation has a mission that transcends time."

María Ángeles discovered Opus Dei by chance, when a teacher at the secondary school in her village told her about the opportunity to live in a Study and Work Centre (CET). There she learnt three things above all: “First, it helped me learn to balance study and work, to make better use of my time... Then it helped me to understand what true Christian life lived with coherence really is. And the third thing I’d say, which then led to discovering my vocation, was discovering Opus Dei from the inside.”

In March 2018, Eloisa was just leaving Mass on Sunday when she heard a faint cry: “Elitoo…” She turned around and saw her husband, Manolo, who had suddenly begun feeling dizzy. They brought him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and an aggressive bone metastasis, and was told he didn’t have long to live.

Anastaçia was born in Kisii, Kenya, and after studying Psychology and Criminology, she travelled to Spain for an exchange program.

Clips from a meeting with St Josemaria in Barcelona in October 1972, showing him answering a variety of questions about Christian living.