Opus Dei

Here is a short summary of the favors that I have received by praying to Dora del Hoyo. Thank you for all this, Dora - I will continue handing out your prayer card!

In my work, we make an order for fruit two days a week. Normally the fruit arrives on Fridays at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. But something unexpected ​came up earlier that week and we ended up being without fruit, and needing to prepare food for 50 people.

Knowing how to be creative with what one has at home: perhaps this example could serve as inspiration. Every year on the "Friday of Sorrows" (the Friday before Palm Sunday), the mother of Saint Josemaría, Dolores Escrivá, used to prepare a special dessert called "crespillos".​ It was a simple dessert that she ​would only make on that day, and thus the family would look forward to it. The recipe is easy to follow and inexpensive, and makes for a tasty and original dessert for your family.

I am very impressed with Dora. About three weeks ago, I came across her prayer card in a chapel and I said to myself, "If I feel like I'm 'in a hole' for how bad I feel, then what could be better than to pray to Dora 'del Hoyo' (Spanish for 'of the hole')." I even started to use her name as a password, to remind myself to pray to her.

I met Dora in 1995, when domestic work was far from my life and even farther from my mind. Dora and I happened to coincide on two occasions in particular in a period of about two months time. This however was enough for me to realize how she was, how she lived, for whom and why she had spent her days giving of herself to the full. There was no need for long explanations to grasp the meaning of her existence. Dora knew the meaning of her life and the path to achieve it to the full.

"Diligence is a virtue that especially characterized Dora," recalls Ma. Carmen Cominges, "She really knew how to maximize her time. It was typical to hear her say, 'As I have a few minutes to spare, I'm going to take advantage of them.'"

Isabel Garcia Martin knew Dora and worked with her from 1991 until Dora's passing on January 10, 2004. “In life we get to know a lot of people, and we value and remember them. But there are some people who are unforgettable because, doing things that no one notices and without calling attention to themselves, they make a deep impression on us. We ask ourselves what it is about them...and we begin to discover the heroes of the world, the ones who know how to make us happy in little things."

I recently told Dora that if she could get me this one favor, I would write up all the other ones that she's gotten for me as well. Since Dora never lets me down, here I am following suit.

As a custom, I usually check the Opus Dei website to see if there is any new material I can pray with, or any piece of news to keep me informed. One day I read the news that the Prelate of Opus Dei was asking for testimonies of favors received through the intercession of Dora del Hoyo. I had no idea who Dora del Hoyo even was.

The first issue of the newsletter about the Servant of God Dora del Hoyo is now in print and available for download. Its title is "Dora del Hoyo: A Professional Homemaker."