"How can I fail to take up your soul-pure gold-and place it in 'the forge,' and fashion it with fire and hammer, until that gold nugget is turned into a splendid jewel to be offered to my God, to your God?"
These words of St Josemaria introduce the reader to The Forge, a book for prayer and meditation with 1055 points, arranged in 13 chapters. The first edition in Chinese has just been published this November.
With a format similar to The Way and Furrow, The Forge is the last published work of St. Josemaria. It was first published posthumously in 1987. Almost half a million copies have been sold in 14 different languages, which include Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, German (1987), French, Hungarian (1988), Japanese (1991), Catalan, Polish, Romanian (1992), Dutch (1999), Slovak (2000) and Czech (2001).
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei, the first edition in Chinese saw the light of day on 2nd Oct 2008, published by Spring publications. It is dedicated to the memory of Margaret Hsueh-Chao, a Taiwanese supernumerary who battled cancer with the determination to finish the proofreading and correction of this translation. Margaret died on the Solemnity of Pentecost, 11 May 2008.
Many of these points, written down for the most part in the 1930's by St Josemaria, refer to events in the author's own life, although they are usually related in the third person.
The book follows the interior itinerary of a Christian as he seeks an ever closer identification with Christ. "The Forge accompanies the soul on the path of its sanctification, from the moment one's Christian vocation is first glimpsed right to the final light of eternity" (Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, Foreword).
As Bishop Alvaro del Portillo points out, reading and meditating on the points in The Forge "will lead many souls to the forge of divine Love and enkindle in them an ardent desire for holiness and apostolate".
Copies in Chinese and English can be ordered from the East Asia Education Association (EAEA). Please contact us at publications@eaea.org.hk
You can browse through more writings of St Josemaria at www.escrivaworks.org