Since 1951, each year on the Solemnity of the Holy Family, in all the centers of Opus Dei throughout the world a special prayer is addressed to God asking Him to bless the families of the faithful of the Work. Here is a fragment of the prayer:
O Jesus, our most lovable Redeemer, you came to light up the world with your example and doctrine, and chose to spend the greater part of your life subject to Mary and Joseph in the humble house of Nazareth, sanctifying the family that all Christian homes were to imitate. Graciously accept the consecration of the families of your children in Opus Dei that we now make to you. (...) Take them under your protection and care, and fashion them after the divine model of your Holy Family (...)
Grant them, Lord, to come to know better each day the spirit of our Opus Dei, to which you have called us for your service and our sanctification. Instil in their hearts a great love for our Work, and an ever-growing appreciation of the beauty of our vocation, so that they may feel a holy pride in your having deigned to choose us, and learn to thank you for the honor you have bestowed upon them.
Bless especially their cooperation in our apostolic work, and make them always share in the joy and peace that you grant us as a reward for our dedication.
The story of how this consecration to the Holy Family began is found in Andres Vasquez de Prada's biography of Saint Josemaria, The Founder of Opus Dei, vol. III, pp. 136-141, which we reproduce partially below:
“‘Now I would like to tell you the details about the consecration I made of the Work and the families of its members to the Holy Family on May 14 of this year. It was done in the oratory (which for this reason will in the future be called the oratory of the Holy Family), which still has no walls, amid nails and pieces of wood from the formwork that supported the cement for the beams and ceiling until it set. But some exact notes, written down at the time, have been saved, so I won’t go more into that here.
“‘I will just tell you that I could only turn to heaven when faced with the diabolical schemes (which God permitted!) of certain unscrupulous individuals who got some fathers of families to sign a document full of falsehoods, and made sure it ended up in the Holy Father’s hands. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph saw to it that the storm clouds passed over without a deluge; everything was cleared up.’
The Holy Family’s help was quickly forthcoming. One of the petition’s signers backed out the very same week it went to the Pope, and the rest soon realized how senseless their claim of a “distressing situation” was. From then on they did not try at all to hold their children back, and peace returned to their homes. The complaints to the Holy Father faded away, for lack of evidence to support them. To Monsignor Escriva’s great joy, the affection of the families of his children for Opus Dei grew.”