Msgr. Javier Echevarría in the Mass in suffrage for Mons. Álvaro Del Portillo. Rome, March17, 2008

Bishop Javier Echevarría

Dear brothers and sisters. Today we offer this Eucharistic Sacrifice for the soul of the Servant of God Mons. Álvaro del Portillo, Prelate of Opus Dei, on the fourteenth anniversary of his dies natalis. We do so with six days of anticipation because the 23 of [...] Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Generosity, Opus Dei prelate

St Peter’s Square

Places in Rome (3)

The majestic façade of St Peter’s Basilica was completed in 1614, when the thirteen statues of the risen Christ, St John the Baptist, and eleven Apostles were placed on the balustrade surmounting the edifice. Tags: Church, Places in Rome, Pope

The Pantheon and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

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On entering the Piazza della Rotonda, the Pantheon looms unexpectedly before one’s eyes, looking as though its gray stone bulk has emerged unscathed from the depths of time. Tags: Church, Places in Rome, Our Lady

The Catacombs of St Callixtus

Places in Rome (5)

The Catacombs of St Callixtus are located just outside Rome on the Appian Way. This area began to be used for burials in the second century AD, and some of the local proprietors, who must have been Christians, allowed the bodies of their brethren in the faith to be buried there too. Tags: Early Christians

The Holy Cross in Jerusalem

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In the basilica the precious fragments of the Holy Cross are displayed for the veneration of the faithful. It became the object of devotional visits by the Christian people. St Josemaría went to pray in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme on August 4, 1946. Tags: Cross, Places in Rome, Holy Week

The Roman Forum

Places in Rome (7)

Among the ruins of the Roman Forum it is easy to recall the phrase St Josemaría often used to sum up Opus Dei: “The easiest way to understand Opus Dei is to consider the life of the early Christians.” Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, Places in Rome, Early Christians