During the last five years of his life, Josemaría traveled to various Latin American countries: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala... He spoke and held family gatherings with hundreds of people of all backgrounds, languages, jobs, ages, and social conditions. He reminded everyone that what transcends into eternal life is what is done out of love, regardless of whether it is recognized here on Earth.

On June 26, 1975, Josemaría suddenly passed away after looking at an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as he had wished. On May 17, 1992, he was declared blessed, and on October 6, 2002, John Paul II canonized him in St. Peter's Square, calling him "the saint of ordinary life."

It was April 1970. Around the world, 15 soccer teams were preparing to travel to Mexico to play in the World Cup. In Rome, Josemaría was also preparing for a trip. And, as you might have guessed, he was not traveling to play soccer.

The years after the Second Vatican Council were particularly painful within the Church. Josemaría—with his characteristic trust in the Virgin Mary—decided to go to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City to pray for this intention and for Opus Dei to soon find an appropriate juridical form within the Code of Canon Law.

He spent more than a month in Mexico, filled with endearing experiences. Pedro, the young man who had been so close to Josemaría during the Civil War and across the Pyrenees, welcomed him with joy. As a priest, Pedro had come to Mexico in 1949 to start the work there. Twenty years later, it seemed there was not enough time for the founder to greet all his Mexican children.

Josemaría left Mexico with the assurance that the Virgin had heard him: “I ask you no more, Mother. I have left in your hands everything that was burdening my soul, my heart, my head, my whole being. I am sure you have heard me, and I leave here satisfied and at peace.”

This trusting prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe once again manifested that childlike love Josemaría felt for the Church and the Pope: “What joy to be able to say with all my heart: I love my Holy Mother the Church!” Moved by genuine affection, he began to offer his life every day for the Church and the Pope.

One December night in 1971, Josemaría exclaimed: “This is our destiny on earth: to fight for love until the last moment. Deo gratias!” Perhaps he sensed that the end was slowly approaching. He would repeat: “The length of a life is very short. But how much can be accomplished in this short time, for the love of God!”

Time seemed short to him. In 1972, he made a two-month trip around the Iberian Peninsula, speaking with many faithful of Opus Dei and their friends: Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Oporto, Fatima, Lisbon, Seville, Valencia... In Barcelona, he visited José María Hernández de Garnica, a priest of Opus Dei, and one of his oldest friends since the years of the Civil War. "Chiqui," as he was affectionately called, was already very ill with cancer, and Josemaría visited him at the Opus Dei center where he lived. “Today I was with one of your brothers... I have to make a great effort not to cry because I love you all with my whole heart, like a father and a mother,” he said afterward. Chiqui died a few days later.

In 1974 and 1975, Josemaría crossed the Atlantic twice more for a tour of South America: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala... On his return to Rome, he wrote: “How much I have learned in America! My faith and piety have become stronger, deeper, more Joseph-like, because I have discovered more clearly and profoundly the figure of my Father and Lord, Saint Joseph.”

Josemaría celebrated 50 years as a priest on March 28, 1975. With his characteristic sense of humor, he commented: “I tried to sum up these fifty years, and it made me laugh. I laughed at myself and filled with gratitude to Our Lord, because it is He who has done everything.”

In mid-May of that same year, Josemaría traveled again, this time to his homeland, to visit Our Lady of Torreciudad. As a gesture of love for the Virgin, he had asked some faithful and friends of Opus Dei to build a shrine there where his parents had taken him seventy years earlier in thanksgiving for his recovery. He consecrated the altar and silently admired the altarpiece from one of the pews in the church. What might have crossed his mind at that moment?

In Mexico, there is a retreat house located by Lake Chapala. It is said that the sunsets there are unforgettable. During his visit to these lands in 1970, Josemaría spent a couple of nights there. In his room, there was a painting depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe giving Saint Juan Diego a flower. Upon seeing the painting, Josemaría commented: “That is how I would like to die; looking at the Virgin and receiving a flower from her.”

This may have been the last request that God granted him on Earth. On Thursday, June 26, 1975, shortly after noon, Josemaría died suddenly after looking at an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that he had in his workspace. He was 73 years old.

Álvaro del Portillo, a faithful friend of many years, recalled: “We resisted believing that he had died. For us, certainly, it was a sudden death; for the Father, it was undoubtedly something that had been ripening—dare I say—more in his soul than in his body because every day, he offered his life more frequently for the Church.”

In many ways, at the time of his death, Josemaría was still the same: a proud Aragonese from Barbastro with a strong and impulsive character and a great sense of humor. At the same time, seventy-three years of struggle had prepared him to give a final “yes” to God: a “yes” for all eternity.

On May 17, 1992, Josemaría was declared blessed, and on October 6, 2002, John Paul II canonized him in St. Peter's Square, calling him "the saint of ordinary life."

During a meeting with faithful and friends of Opus Dei in Argentina, someone asked Josemaría:

“When you leave, what do you want to leave in the hearts of all your children?”

“That you sow peace and joy everywhere; that you do not say any words that are hurtful to anyone; that you know how to walk hand in hand with those who do not think like you. That you never mistreat each other; that you are brothers to all people, sowers of peace and joy, and that you give them this restlessness of thanksgiving that you have given me with your words.”

Sowers of peace and joy, loving God and others in everyday life, in daily work: at school and at a concert; at work and on the beach; when we are healthy and when we are sick; when we are in love and when we don't want to see anyone. Peace and joy, with our hearts set on Heaven... and also on the good things of Earth, which also lead us to God.