St Josemaria Escriva

St Jose Maria Escriva (1902-1975)

Born Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás on January 9, 1902, in Barbastro, Aragon, Spain, he founded the Order of Opus Dei (The Work of God) He died on June 26, 1975, and was canonized on October 6, 2002. The order he founded was an organization of lay people and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness by God and that ordinary life can result in sanctity. Escrivá gained a doctorate in civil law at the Complutense University of Madrid and a doctorate in theology at the Lateran University in Rome. His principal work was the initiation, government, and expansion of Opus Dei, which he founded on October 2, 1928, and Pope Pius XII gave it final approval in 1950. After his death, his canonization attracted considerable attention and controversy, by some Catholics and the worldwide press. He was reviled by some and venerated by millions more. Escrivá's best-known publication is ‘The Way’, which has been translated into 43 languages and has sold several million copies. It consists of 46 chapters and the titles are the various values and virtues we are to live in our Christian lives. In the chapter on humility, he writes: “Don’t wish to be like a gilded weather-cock on top of a great building: however much it shines, and however high it stands, it adds nothing to the solidity of the building. Rather be like an old stone block hidden in the foundations, underground, where no one can see you: because of you, the house will not fall. Remember that you are humble not when you humble yourself, but when you are humbled by others and you bear it for Christ.”