The Way, Saint Josemaría’s best-known work, first published when he was 37 years old, is now available in a special edition to mark the hundredth edition brought out by Rialp in Spanish. It is a spiritual classic that has crossed borders and generations, becoming the fourth most translated book in Spanish history (after Don Quixote and two works by Gabriel García Márquez), according to the Cervantes Institute.
The universal character of this little book — made up of 999 short points for personal meditation — is borne out by the more than five million copies sold worldwide, with over 500 editions in 142 translations. Addressed to anyone seeking God, the book distils the message of Saint Josemaría’s preaching during the early years of his pastoral work as founder of Opus Dei.
Now, nearly ninety years after its first edition (in 1939), Rialp has now published a special edition prepared by the philologist Fidel Sebastián Mediavilla, an expert in Spain’s Golden Age and editor of critical editions of Teresa of Ávila, Baltasar Gracián and Luis de Granada. This hundredth edition of The Way at Rialp presents the original text with brief annotations and an introduction on icontent, style, and context.
In the preface, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, the Prelate of Opus Dei, links this edition to the spiritual preparation for the centenary of the Work, which will be celebrated from 2028 to 2030.
He writes: “The centrality of Christ is the core of The Way and the reason for its enduring value, which is of fresh relevance now, in the first quarter of the 21st century. God granted St. Josemaría intimate union with Himself and a deep knowledge of souls and their aspirations. In direct dialogue with the reader, he managed to touch the deepest chords that give life its meaning: to love and to be loved. St. Josemaría was a shepherd of souls who knew how to pour his experience of spiritual accompaniment with hundreds of people into the points of The Way. Many others continue to discover in in it a path, a means of seeking, finding, and loving Christ in their ordinary life (The Way, no. 382): women and men, young and old, healthy and sick, sinners and saints alike.”
The Way is still a publishing phenomenon today. In March of this year, it reached seventh place in the general list of Amazon’s best-selling books in the United States (and first place in the spirituality category). This rise in sales was due to Hallow, the world’s most downloaded Catholic prayer app, using passages from the book in its Lenten prayer challenge.
Digital versions have also greatly broadened the book’s reach. It is available in 28 languages, free of charge, on escriva.org.