Born 9 January 1902.
Died 26 June 1975.
As a young man,
Josemaria saw the
bare footprints left in
the snow by a monk;
the sight moved him,
and kindled a desire for
a religious vocation.
He studied for the
priesthood in Logrono
and Zaragoza, where he was ordained on 28 March 1925.
Josemaria was assigned for a while to a rural parish, and
then in Zaragoza. He moved to Madrid in 1927 to study
law. Following a profound spiritual retreat, he founded
Opus Dei in Madrid on 2 October 1928, which opened a
new way for the faithful to sanctify themselves in the midst
of the world through their work and fulfillment of their
personal, family and social duties. The next few years
were spent studying at the University of Madrid, teaching,
ministering to the poor and sick and working to build the
foundation of Opus Dei.
Religious persecution in the Spanish Civil War forced him
into hiding, and he ministered covertly to his parishioners.
He escaped across the Pyrenees to Burgos. At the end of
the war in 1939, he returned to his studies in Madrid.
On 14 February 1943, he founded the Priestly Society of
the Holy Cross, united to Opus Dei. St. Josemaria moved
to Rome in 1946 where he obtained a doctorate in theology
from the Lateran University. He was Consultor to two
Vatican Congregations and honorary member of the
Pontifical Academy of Theology. He was named a prelate
of honor by Pope Pius XII. Opus Dei received the approval
of the Holy See on 16 June 1950.
St. Josemaria traveled frequently throughout Europe and
Latin America to work for the growth of Opus Dei. By the
time of his death, Opus Dei had spread to five continents
with over 60,000 members of 80 nationalities, and today
has over 80,000 members, mostly laymen.
The first edition of The Way, his most widely read work,
was published in 1934 under the title Spiritual
Considerations. Expanded and revised, it has gone
through many editions since then; more than four million
copies in many different languages are now in print. His
other spiritual writings include Holy Rosary; The Way of the
Cross, two collections of homilies, Christ is Passing By;
Friends of God, Furrows and The Forge, which like The
Way are made up of short points for prayer and reflection.
Readings
“With supernatural intuition, Saint Josemaria untiringly
preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate.
Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of
everyday life. Hence, work too is a means of personal
holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with
Jesus Christ.” - Pope John Paul II in his homily at the
beatification of Saint Josemaria