God's instrument for the Work

The life of the founder of Opus Dei was the most eloquent application of his message. The lesson of every saint becomes explicit in the coherence between his life, his preaching and his writings. Saint Josemaría spoke of "the mute eloquence" of works: "Love [...]
Tags: The Way, Citizenship, Contemplation, Faith, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Sacraments, Supernatural outlook, Vocation

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The Incarnational Vision of Saint Josemaría

Material reality, the visible world around us, is not only created by God but also ordered to God. The One who is Truth and Beauty and Goodness Itself is the end of all things. They exist to reveal and to glorify him. I. Sacramental View [...]
Tags: Gospel, Jesus Christ, Marriage, Work

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Eucharist: Sanctity and Salvation

As regards personal sanctification, Saint Josemaría did not hesitate to state that the Eucharist is “the centre and root of the spiritual life”, as the Second Vatican Council would later repeat. In his lifetime, Saint Josemaría encouraged hundreds of thousands of men and women to [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Sacraments

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Holy Mass, Center and Root of Christian Life

“I have always taught you, my beloved daughters and sons, that the root and the center of your spiritual life is the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar.” 1 Saint Josemaría Escrivá’s words and writings constantly pointed to the Eucharist as the center and root [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Presence of God, Priesthood, Blessed Trinity

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He asked me to let him stay there alone for a little while

The Augustinian Father José Llamas Simón met Saint Josemaría in 1944, when the founder of Opus Dei was preaching a spiritual retreat to the Community of the Royal Monastery of Saint Lawrence in El Escorial, Madrid. In the testimony he wrote for the Cause of [...]
Tags: Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Retreat

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The Way of the Cross

“The Way of the Cross is not a sad devotion. Msgr. Escrivá taught many times that Christian joy has its roots in the shape of a cross. If the Passion of Christ is a way of pain, it is also a path of hope leading [...]
Tags: Contemplation, Cross, Javier Echevarria, Jesus Christ, The Way of the Cross

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Opus Dei founder’s devotion to the Holy Cross

The founder of Opus Dei always had great devotion to the crucifix, and he expressed this, among other places in n. 302 of his book The Way. He recommended people to kiss it on beginning work and again on finishing it, on going to bed and [...]
Tags: Cross, Jesus Christ

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Words from the New Testament, meditated on by the Founder of Opus Dei

The first issue of Studia et Documenta, the journal of the Istituto Storico San Josemaria Escriva in Rome, contains a study by Professor Francisco Varo of eight small pages written by St Josemaría, headed “Words from the New Testament meditated on frequently – June 1933”. This [...]
Tags: Gospel, Jesus Christ, Prayer

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St Josemaria’s book The Way of the Cross – Foreword

“Enter into the wounds of Christ Crucified.” When Monsignor Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer proposed this way, to those who asked him for advice on how to deepen their interior life, he was doing no more than pass on his own experience, pointing out the short [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Contemplation, Jesus Christ, The Way of the Cross

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Father Josemaría’s Baby Jesus

Among the treasures of the Royal Monastery of Saint Elizabeth in Madrid is this sixteenth-century wooden figure of Baby Jesus. The Augustinian Recollect Sisters still have a vivid memory of Saint Josemaría, then a young priest, who was their chaplain from 1931 and rector of [...]
Tags: Jesus Christ, Madrid, Christmas