Opus Dei

In his September 3 General Audience, Pope Francis said that "by looking at Mary, we discover the most beautiful and tender face of the Church." The Church is our Mother who protects us against evil.

"Housework is something of primary importance. Besides, all work can have the same supernatural quality. There are no great or mean tasks. All are great if they are done with love. Those which are considered great become small when the Christian meaning of life is lost sight of. On the other hand, there are apparently small things that can in fact be very great because of their real effects." (Conversacions with Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer, 109).

Saturday 30th August at 10 am saw the launching of the exhibition A Saint in Figures about don Alvaro del Portillo, soon to be beatified in Madrid on 27 September 2014. The auditorium of Strathmore Business School was full.

25 students from 6 different countries come together to build an accommodation block for 200 schoolgirls in Homa Bay, Western Kenya.

Mr. Martyn Drakard, born in England, studied French and Italian literature in Birmingham University, taught for two years in Italy and finally joined Strathmore College, summarizes the beginnings of the Community Service Centre (CSC).

​My friend was painting a stone wall. Nothing artistic. Just plain white. It was the wall surrounding the college in Rome where we were studying. The young men living there were members of Opus Dei doing studies in philosophy, theology and canon law. The head of Opus Dei at that time was Father Alvaro del Portillo. He was the first successor of Saint Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei.

Bishops Javier Echevarria suggests going to our Lady's help to prepare well for the beatification of Alvaro del Portillo, and asks for prayers for those suffering religious persecution throughout the world.

Bishop Alvaro del Portillo insists on the importance of small things done for love, in the spirit taught by Saint Josemaria.

Eelis Nguyen, a convert from Buddhism, lives and works in Helsinki. He says that he is looking forward to going to the beatification of Alvaro del Portillo because it is "a great feast for the Church."

The texts for Alvaro del Portillo's Beatification Mass and Mass of Thanksgiving are now available in various formats in English, along with an extensive biography and information about sites related to his life and maps of Madrid.