"I am yours, for you I was born: what do you want from me, Jesus?"

On January 9, 1902, Carmen Escrivá de Balaguer became a big sister: that night, Jose María Julián Mariano was born. His parents, José and Dolores, lived with their two young children in Barbastro, a city in northern Spain. Josemaría (he combined his first two names out of devotion to the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph) grew up in a Christian family, where he learned his first prayers and the Catechism. Even as a child, he showed a strong character (which, as you can imagine, has its advantages and disadvantages) and a great ability to make friends.

His childhood was not free of difficulties and sufferings. His three younger sisters died when they were very young, and he himself almost died at the age of 2 from an illness. Later, when Josemaría was 13 years old, his father lost his job, and the whole family had to move to Logroño. These unfortunate events kept the Escrivá family particularly united, struggling to maintain trust in God and joy amidst the problems.

The Escrivá family lived in Barbastro, a town of about 8,000 inhabitants in northern Spain. Josemaría was born around 10 PM on a cold winter night, January 9, 1902. The same year saw the founding of Real Madrid CF, the registration of the first car in Madrid, and the publication of Peter Rabbit stories.

The next day, January 10, he was registered at the Civil Registry with four names: José, María, Julián, Mariano. Such was the custom of the time. Years later, he decided to combine his first two names out of devotion to Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary. Therefore, from this point on, we will write his name as Josemaría.

His older sister, Carmen, was barely two years old (by the way, her full name was María del Carmen, Constancia, Florencia). The family lived in Calle Mayor, No. 26, in a large apartment whose balconies overlooked the corner of the nearby square, right in the city center. It was “a Christian home, like those in my country, with exemplary parents who practiced and lived their faith.”

On Monday, 13 January, he was baptized in the cathedral of Barbastro. Another curious thing: the priest who performed the baptism was named Ángel Malo (literally “Bad Angel”). It was an easy name to remember, and Josemaría prayed for him every day of his life.

Josemaría’s father, José, was a kind and cheerful man, although somewhat quiet. He usually wore a bowler hat (a mushroom-shaped hat) and had several walking sticks. He owned a business located on Calle Ricardos, a few meters from their home. Dolores – Lola – his wife, was a gentle and resolute woman, well-remembered for her patient character.

On April 23, 1902, the bishop of the diocese, Don Juan Antonio Ruano y Martín, administered the sacrament of Confirmation to all the children of Barbastro. Thus, on that same day, Carmen (3 years old) and Josemaría (3 months old) were confirmed.

When he was just over two years old, Josemaría suffered a serious illness and almost died. The family doctor, Ignacio Camps, upon visiting him, told his father, “Look, Pepe, he won’t survive the night.”

Amid the pain, José and Dolores promised the Virgin Mary to take Josemaría on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Torreciudad if he recovered. Dolores began a novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The next day, the doctor returned to Escrivá's house to offer condolences for the child's death, and to his surprise, found him completely healed, jumping in his crib. Shortly after, father, mother, and son fulfilled their promise to the Virgin and went up to the shrine in thanksgiving.

The Escrivá family lived their Christian faith like many others. Josemaría recalled, “My mother, dad, my siblings, and I always went together to hear Mass. My father would give us the alms, which we carried joyfully, to the lame man who leaned against the episcopal palace. Then I would go ahead to take holy water, to give it to my family.”

Some prayers that Josemaría learned as a child and prayed throughout his life were:

• “Guardian angel, my sweet companion, do not forsake me, neither day nor night. If you forsake me, what will become of me? Guardian angel, pray for me to God.”
• “I am yours, for you I was born: what do you want from me, Jesus?”
• “Oh my Lady, oh my Mother, I give myself entirely to you, and in proof of my filial affection, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my heart. In one word, my whole being. Since I am all yours, oh Mother of goodness, keep me and defend me as your thing and your possession.”

Josemaría had a very strong character, which especially stood out when he had to “kiss my mother’s friends who came to visit, and put on new clothes.” He also threw loud tantrums when he had to eat something he didn’t like (once, he even threw the plate against the wall) or sit in the high chair at the dining table (because he wanted to sit like the adults). Once, when he was 7 or 8 years old, he had a fight with one of his classmates, nicknamed “Dirty Paws.”

From the age of three, Josemaría attended a school run by nuns, which had only one classroom (students sat by levels and ages). There he learned to write (he had learned to read at home with his parents). In 1908, he entered the school of the Piarist Fathers in Barbastro, whose entrance was very close to the Escrivá’s house. His subjects ranged from Basic Hygiene and Fundamentals of Law to Singing and Drawing.

At the Escrivá’s home, María Asunción (in 1905), María de los Dolores (in 1907), and María del Rosario (in 1909) were born. With five small children, José and Dolores became experts in patience and serenity; they also had the help of a cook, a maid for cleaning, a nanny, and a servant.

The little Josemaría discovered a great talent for storytelling: “What he liked most when he was with us,” recalls Adriana, a friend of Carmen, “was to sit in a rocking chair in the living room and tell us stories—usually scary ones, to frighten us—that he made up himself. He had a vivid imagination, and we listened to him attentively and a bit scared.”

Sometimes, Josemaría visited his father’s business, where he amused himself counting the coins in the cash register. Also, Don José would take him for walks through the streets of Barbastro, during which the child took the opportunity to ask all the questions that his child’s imagination led him to formulate.

The summer of 1910 was a very difficult time for the Escrivá family. The youngest member, María del Rosario, died at 9 months old. The death of young children was very common at that time, but it was no less difficult for families.

On April 23, 1912, Josemaría made his First Communion. While waiting for the anticipated date, he constantly repeated a prayer he had learned at school: “I would like, Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your Most Holy Mother received you; with the spirit and fervor of the saints.”

Three months after Josemaría’s First Communion, a new sorrow struck the family: the illness and death of María de los Dolores, affectionately called Lola, who was five years old at the time. Thus, only Carmen, Josemaría, and Chon (María Asunción) remained.

That same year, Josemaría began secondary school. His uniform consisted of a navy blue coat with metal buttons. In the morning, classes were from nine to twelve, and in the afternoon, he returned to school from two to five. Among the subjects in the program were Spanish Language, Geography, Arithmetic, and Geometry. However, his favorite was Mathematics.

One day during that school year, Josemaría entered the room where his sisters, Carmen and Chon, were playing with several friends. With a swipe, he destroyed the card castle the girls were building. “That’s what God does with people: you build a castle, and when it’s almost finished, God knocks it down,” he said, very seriously. These words probably reflected the inner pain and incomprehension he felt at the death of his little sisters.

It is therefore difficult to imagine what he felt when, in the summer of 1913 (Josemaría was 11 years old), his sister Chon fell seriously ill. On October 6 of that year, Josemaría was playing in the street with other children. At one point, he said, “I’m going to see how my sister is.” He asked about her, and his mother replied, “Asunción is well now, she is in heaven.”

Josemaría, naturally, constantly questioned the sequential death of his younger sisters, from youngest to oldest. “Next year it’s my turn,” he said. But his mother reassured him, reminding him how the Virgin had cured him when he was little: “She will take care of you.”

The following year, he found solace in his studies at school and in the friendships he maintained with classmates and teachers. Suffering, as often happens, gave him a particular maturity, although he essentially remained the same child. His strong character, although perhaps a bit more controlled, still led him to have impulsive reactions. On one occasion, a teacher called him to the front of the class to ask him about previously explained topics. One of the questions was about a subject that Josemaría insisted they had not yet studied. The teacher insisted. The student insisted. Finally, Josemaría violently threw the eraser against the blackboard, turned around, and, while sitting down, continued to protest loudly.

However, the difficulties did not stop coming for the family. Due to a bad move by a former partner, Don José’s business went bankrupt. Between the autumn of 1913 and the autumn of 1914, the family’s economic situation changed radically. Shortly after Chon’s death, they dismissed the nanny; later, the cook, and eventually the maid. They ended up selling the house because Don José, with a strong Christian sense of justice, liquidated everything he had to pay the creditors (that is, those who had lent or invested money in the business). Along with the financial ruin came many humiliations; many friends turned their backs on the family due to their change in social position.

For Josemaría, this new difficulty again became a source of incomprehension and doubts: “I felt a strong inner rebellion because the trial was so hard and the humiliations so painful. So, later, I would ask the Lord for forgiveness” for this rebellion. The example of his parents’ firm faith helped him move forward, little by little.

After a short period, Don José found a job in a fabric business in Logroño, owned by a friend of his. Thus, in the summer of 1915, the Escrivá family left Barbastro to move to this city located 300 kilometers to the west. Josemaría was 13 years old.

His parents: José Escrivá and Dolores Albás.

His paternal grandparents: José Escrivá and Constancia Cerzán.

His maternal grandparents: Pascual Albás and Florencia Blanc.