Opus Dei founder St Josemaria Escriva, his life day by day, teachings on holiness, apostolate, laity, Catholic Church. Testimonies from Opus Dei members http://www.josemariaescriva.info/ The Novena to the Holy Spirit is a long-standing custom through which the Church encourages the faithful to prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit in the best possible way.

Some prayers to the Holy Spirit, in preparation for Pentecost, are downloadable here in pdf and epub format.


The Novena begins 10 days before Pentecost, i.e. on the day that Christ our Lord ascended into Heaven. On that day, Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them the Paraclete.

St Josemaria, founder of Opus Dei, describes this moment in the Church’s history as follows: “Let's turn now to the days between the ascension and Pentecost. As a result of the triumph of Christ's resurrection, the disciples are full of faith; they eagerly await the promised Holy Spirit. They want to stay close to one another, and so we find them ‘with Mary, the mother of Jesus,’ praying as a single family.” (Christ is Passing By, 141)

Don Alvaro del Portillo tells us that “precisely because the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity is the one who is invoked the least, our Father had a special devotion to him. I can say unhesitatingly that the Father, in his preaching, was a great herald of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

He often told me that ever since 1926 or 1927 he had practiced the devotion to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity very intensely. Every year he followed the Novena to the Holy Spirit using the book by Francisca Javiera del Valle. In April 1934 he composed a prayer to the Paraclete, and gave a copy of it to Ricardo Fernandez Vallespin, who was then the Director of the first Opus Dei hall of residence.”

“The Holy Spirit performs God’s works in the world. He is, as the liturgical hymn sings, the giver of gifts, the light of hearts, the soul’s guest, rest in work, and consolation in sorrow. Without his help, there is nothing in man that is innocent and worthy, because it is the Holy Spirit who cleanses what is stained, cures what is sick, enkindles what is cold, straightens what has gone astray, and leads men to the door of salvation and eternal joy” (Christ is Passing By, no. 130).]]> Holiness for Everyone is a guidebook which gives practical advice on how anyone can become a saint. "Since I am not a saint, however, I cannot write such a guidebook on my own, so I instead use the teachings of an actual saint – St. Josemaría Escrivá – as the basis for the book." said the author Eric Sammons.*

When Catholics hear mention of St. Josemaría, too many think, “Oh, he’s the Opus Dei saint,” and then relegate his life and teachings as applicable only to Opus Dei members. What a shame. As you will see in Holiness for Everyone, St. Josemaría developed over many years of work and prayer among laypeople a spirituality whose goal is the sanctity of every man and woman. He insisted that every person could, with the grace of God, achieve holiness through ordinary life and work. In other words, he did not intend his spirituality only for an elite group, or for those separate from the world, or for a select subset of laypeople. He intended it for all people, no matter their state in life.

The spirituality of St. Josemaría is for everyone – laborer, executive, mother, teacher – regardless of your state in life, the teachings of St. Josemaría can help you draw closer to God in ordinary life and grow in holiness. In this book I hope to make St. Josemaría’s teachings accessible to non-Opus Dei members so that they can benefit from them just as so many members of the apostolate he founded have for decades. St. Josemaría is a canonized saint of the entire Catholic Church, not just one segment of it.

Scott Hahn, a member of Opus Dei, wrote the foreword to the book. In it he says:

"My family within the family is called Opus Dei (Latin for “The Work of God), which was founded by St. Josemaria Escriva in 1928. The teachings of that saint are the subject of this wonderful book by Eric Sammons. I myself have written a book about “The Work.” It’s titled Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Journey in Opus Dei, and it’s a personal account, an insider’s view, though addressed to anyone who might be interested or curious.
I could not have written a book like Eric’s. Perhaps I could not have written a book as useful as Eric’s, for he sees my family inheritance from a different perspective. He is not a member of Opus Dei — though he has studied its spirit and learned from it — and so he sees it from the outside. Sometimes that means he sees it more clearly and more attentively and more appreciatively. He has helped me to gain a better appreciation for the family life to which God has called me.
Eric knows that the heart of family life is the parent-child bond. In natural families, that heart is not always healthy. In no natural family is it perfect. But the heart of Opus Dei is something greater. Opus Dei draws its life from the fact of divine filiation — the fact that all Christians become children of God through baptism. That doctrine took hold of St. Josemaria Escriva as God inspired him to spell out what it means for children of God to live in a material world… Eric Sammons shows that St. Josemaria has recovered the most powerful truth of classic Christianity and restated it in a way that is compelling for men and women (and children) of our time."

*Eric Sammons is the Director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Venice in Florida. He began his study of the Catholic faith in 1991 as an Evangelical Protestant, converting to the Catholic Church in 1993. He regularly speaks to parish groups and other organizations on a variety of topics.


* * * The following is the Introduction to the book:

What is your goal in life? When I was a kid, I wanted to be a baseball player, a fireman, and a super-hero. As I got older, my goals became more modest: have a happy family and be able to provide for them. Such goals are not uncommon today.

What is God’s goal for your life? It might surprise you to know that God’s goal for you is nothing less than sainthood. St. Paul wrote, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3).

And what is “sanctification”? It is the perfecting of our minds and wills so that they are more and more like God’s. In other words, God wants us to be like him! This becoming more and more Godlike is what saints such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thérèse of Lisieux did in their lives, and it is what God wants — and expects — from each of us.

But how do we become a saint, especially in the modern world, which constantly pushes us away from sanctity? Fortunately for us, there was a twentieth-century priest who was devoted to answering this question — and we should listen to him, for he was canonized a saint.

Who is this priest and saint? Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. I am always intrigued by the mysterious aura that surrounds this modern saint. Although Opus Dei numbers only around ninety thousand members (out of two billion Catholics), its reputation is outsized. And its mystique predates Dan Brown. Even before the popular author made an Opus Dei albino monk-assassin a main character in his blockbuster The DaVinci Code (in spite of the fact that there are no monks in Opus Dei, and presumably no assassins … at least not unrepentant ones), many rank and file Catholics already viewed Opus Dei — and by extension, St. Josemaría — with suspicion. Not since the early days of the Jesuits had a Catholic organization stirred up such mystery. Brown’s book augmented this aura and popularized it.

Fortunately, a number of books in recent years have done much to clarify the work of Opus Dei. John Allen’s Opus Dei gives an objective overview of the organization and its history.

And, of course, there are many books published by Opus Dei itself, usually directed toward the group’s own members, that explain the purpose of the organization. This, however, is not a book about Opus Dei, nor is it directed toward members of the organization — though I
hope they, too, benefit from it. I am not a member of Opus Dei, although I have participated in a number of its spiritual activities. The intention of this book is to spread the message of St. Josemaría on becoming a saint beyond the boundaries of Opus Dei.

When Catholics hear mention of St. Josemaría, too many think, “Oh, he’s the Opus Dei saint,” and then relegate his life and teachings as applicable only to Opus Dei members. What a shame. As you will see in these pages, St. Josemaría developed over many years of work and prayer among laypeople a spirituality whose goal is the sanctity of every man and woman. He insisted that every person could, with the grace of God, achieve holiness through ordinary life and work. In
other words, he did not intend his spirituality only for an elite
group, or for those separate from the world, or for a select subset of laypeople. He intended it for all people, no matter their state in life.

As any member of Opus Dei will tell you, joining its ranks is a vocation, a call from God. It is not for everyone. Furthermore, because of Opus Dei’s relatively small size, its outreach is not available to everyone. But the spirituality of St. Josemaría is for everyone — laborer, executive, mother, teacher.

Regardless of your state in life, the teachings of St. Josemaría can help you draw closer to God in ordinary life and grow in holiness. In this book I hope to make St. Josemaría’s teachings accessible to non-Opus Dei members so that they can benefit from them just as so many members of the apostolate he founded have for decades. St. Josemaría is a canonized saint of the entire Catholic Church, not just one segment of it.

Our first step toward understanding St. Josemaría’s message will be understanding the traditional Catholic teaching, forgotten at times, but renewed in recent years, of the call that each and every Christian has to holiness. St. Josemaría’s spirituality did not develop in a vacuum, but instead stands on the shoulders of the entire tradition of Catholic spirituality.

Yet he did bring something new to the Church, a way of approaching
holiness that fits perfectly with the modern world. As the saint liked to say, his message was “as old and as new as the Gospel” (Conversations with Josemaría Escrivá 24).

Next, we will examine the life of this extraordinary saint, that we might know the man whose spirituality seeks to sanctify our lives. Then — and before moving on to the practical advice St. Josemaría has for us — we will delve into the foundational principles of St. Josemaría’s spirituality: our calling as children of God through Jesus Christ; our freedom as persons ransomed by Christ’s saving work; and the “holy ambition,” or driving desire for holiness, that should be the hallmark of a believer striving for heaven.

St. Josemaría wove each of these three principles into his entire spirituality of sanctity through ordinary life. But his was not a theoretical spirituality, more comfortable in ivory towers than the streets and homes of regular Catholics. No, St.Josemaría developed a practical spirituality that gives concrete means for ordinary people to achieve holiness in the midst of their duties and responsibilities. Specifically, I divide his practical advice into three areas of life: the life of prayer; professional work, which we will see includes all the activities of life; and life within the Church. By applying the spirituality of St. Josemaría to each of these areas, we draw closer to God — not by joining a monastery, but by sanctifying the very life we are now living. And, of course, the Christian life is not self-focused: St. Josemaría also emphasized the importance of sharing the faith with others — carrying out an apostolate in the world that is a natural outgrowth of our daily walk with God.

As we will see, St. Josemaría developed a practical means for any person — no matter his vocation — to strive for holiness in the midst of everyday life. Holiness is not an ethereal pursuit, or one reserved only for certain citizens in the Church. It is something that God has, by his grace, made attainable for everyone.]]> I am thanking God for favors received through the intercession of St Josemaria Escriva. I asked him that everything would go well during my pregnancy and giving birth, and that there wouldn’t be any problems. Everything did go well, thank God. I also prayed to him that my husband would find a permanent job and, thank God, he got one. I asked him that a pain I was suffering from would go away, and it did. I am really grateful for all these favors and I have faith that he will always hear my petitions. I will always publish them. Thank you!

]]> Once more the liturgy reminds us of the final moment in Jesus’ life among men, his ascension into heaven.
Christ Is Passing By, 117


Download the Homily "The Ascension of Our Lord" by St Josemaria in pdf format

It has always seemed logical to me that the most holy humanity of Christ should ascend to the glory of the Father. The ascension has always made me very happy. But I think that the sadness that is particular to the day of the ascension is also a proof of the love that we feel for Jesus Christ, our Lord. He is God made man, perfect man, with flesh like ours, with blood like ours in his veins. Yet he leaves us and goes up to heaven. How can we help but miss his presence?
Christ Is Passing By, 117

Redeem the world with Christ
Christ has gone up to heaven, but he has given to all honest human things a specific capacity to be redeemed... And so I keep on repeating to you that the world can be made holy. We Christians have a special role to play in sanctifying it. We are to cleanse it from the occasions of sin with which we human beings have soiled it. We are to offer it to our Lord as a spiritual offering, presented to him and made acceptable through his grace and with our efforts. Strictly speaking, we cannot say that there is any noble human reality that does not have a supernatural dimension, for the divine Word has taken on a complete human nature and consecrated the world with his presence and with the work of his hands. The great mission that we have received in baptism is to redeem the world with Christ. We are urged on by the charity of Christ to take upon our shoulders a part of this task of saving souls.

A great task
A great task awaits us. We cannot remain inactive, because our Lord has told us clearly, Trade till I come. As long as we are awaiting the Lord’s return, when he will come to take full possession of his kingdom, we cannot afford to relax. Spreading the kingdom of God isn’t only an official task of those members of the Church who represent Christ because they have received sacred powers from him. You are also the body of Christ, says the Apostle, with a specific command to fulfill. (1 Cor 12:27)

There is so much to be done. Is it because in twenty centuries nothing has been done? In these two thousand years much work has been done. I don’t think it would be fair or objective to discount, as some people want to do, the accomplishments of those who have gone before us. In two thousand years a great task has been accomplished, and it has often been accomplished very well. On other occasions there have been mistakes, making the Church lose ground, just as today there is loss of ground, fear and a timid attitude on the part of some, and at the same time no lack of courage and generosity in others. But, whatever the situation, the human race is being continually renewed. In each generation it is necessary to go on with the effort to help men realize the greatness of their vocation as children of God, to teach them to carry out the commandment of love for God and neighbor.
Christ is Passing By, 120-121

The feast of our Lord’s ascension also reminds us of another fact. The same Christ, who encourages us to carry out our task in the world, awaits us in heaven as well. In other words, our life on earth, which we love, is not definitive. We do not have a permanent dwelling place here, but we seek that which is to come (Heb 13:14), a changeless home, where we may live forever.
Christ Is Passing By, 126

Let’s turn now to the days between the Ascension and Pentecost. As a result of the triumph of Christ’s resurrection, the disciples are full of faith; they eagerly await the promised Holy Spirit. They want to stay close to one another, and so we find them with Mary, the mother of Jesus (cfr. Acts 1:14), praying as a single family.
Christ Is Passing By, 141

Jesus has gone up to heaven, as we have seen. But a Christian can talk with him, in prayer and in the Eucharist, as the twelve Apostles talked with him. The Christian can come to burn with an apostolic fervor that will lead him to serve, to redeem with Christ, to sow peace and joy wherever he goes. To serve, that is what apostolate is all about. If we count on our own strength alone, we will achieve nothing in the supernatural order. But if we are God’s instruments, we will achieve everything. I can do all things in him who gives me strength (Phil 4:13). God, in his infinite goodness, has chosen to use inadequate instruments; and so, the apostle has no other aim than to let the Lord work in him and through him, to put himself totally at God’s disposition, allowing him to carry out his work of salvation through creatures, through that soul whom he has chosen.
Christ Is Passing By, 120

In the heart of every single person
I never talk politics. I do not approve of committed Christians in the world forming a political?religious movement. That would be madness, even if it were motivated by a desire to spread the spirit of Christ in all the activities of men. What we have to do is put God in the heart of every single person, no matter who he is. Let us try to speak then in such a way that every Christian is able to bear witness to the faith he professes by example and word in his own circumstances, which are determined alike by his place in the Church and in civil life, as well as by ongoing events.

By the very fact of being human, a Christian has a full right to live in the world. If he lets Christ live and reign in his heart, he will feel – quite noticeably – the saving effectiveness of our Lord in everything he does. It does not matter what his occupation is, whether his social status is high or low; for what appears to us to be an important achievement can be very low in God’s sight; and what we call low or modest can in Christian terms be a summit of holiness and service.
Christ is Passing By, 183]]> Personal prelatures are in the news again – a good opportunity for Fr Eduardo Baura, Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, to elucidate the nature of personal prelatures in the Catholic Church.


Personal Prelatures
Personal prelatures are in the news again – a good opportunity for Fr Eduardo Baura, Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, to elucidate the nature of personal prelatures in the Catholic Church.

Do personal prelatures come directly under the Pope?
Personal prelatures are headed by a prelate, who governs them with ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but obviously, subject to the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope. So they come under the Pope like dioceses or other ecclesiastical circumscriptions, through the Congregation of Bishops, or, where applicable, through the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Are personal prelatures independent of the Bishops?
Like any other circumscription, they come under the authority of the Ordinary who heads them. Prelatures don’t supplant the authority of the diocesan Bishops, but offer them additional help for their pastoral activity. Additionally, the faithful of personal prelatures continue to belong to the local church or diocese where they live, and consequently they are subject to the authority of the local Bishops just like all the faithful. Before a prelature can start up its apostolates in any diocese it has to have the consent of the local Bishop. The Prelate only has authority over what refers to the specific mission of the prelature.

What does “personal” mean here?
They are called “personal” prelatures as distinct from “territorial”. For instance, dioceses are territorial – they are defined by a given territory, and the faithful belong to the diocese by the fact of living there. In the case of personal prelatures, the sphere of jurisdiction and mission is determined at the personal level – i.e. according to the type of people they are for. This is the case, for instance, with military ordinariates (so that members of the Armed Forces belong to them no matter where they live); and also with other personal ordinariates (like those for convert Anglicans, which are composed of faithful who have come from the Anglican Communion and who have freely asked to belong to them); and with the personal prelature Opus Dei (made up of faithful all over the world, from very different backgrounds, who are united by the desire to practise and spread the universal call to holiness in ordinary life).

What are personal prelatures for?
Personal prelatures are a type of ecclesiastical circumscription set up by the Second Vatican Council and the Code of Canon Law to develop, with great flexibility, pastoral activities that will be of service to the faithful of different dioceses. It is one of the ways in which the Church organizes herself to carry out her mission and respond to the pastoral needs that a diocese would find it hard to fulfil. A personal prelature can provide pastoral care for members of the faithful who are not defined in terms of territory or location, but in personal terms (for instance, who belong to a given professional category or a particular nation or language, or who opt for a specific type of formation, or other factors).


For further details about personal prelatures, see the book The Juridical Mind of Josemaria Escriva by Ernesto Caparros published by Wilson & Lafleur, 2007, www.opusdei.es
]]> 300 Brixton Road is a bright light on the horizon of Lambeth, one of London’s most deprived and troubled areas. It’s the home of the Baytree Centre where for 20 years now 1,000s of women and girls who are local residents yet come from all over the globe, have been receiving help with a host of skills ranging from literacy and numeracy to parenting and ballet!

Back in the 1980s, inspired by the message of St Josemaria Escriva “…to feel their brotherhood with their fellow men, and to manifest these sentiments in a disinterested service of humanity.” (Conversations with Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer, No.31), and with the encouragement of Fr Hugh Thwaites SJ who did such sterling work for the local people in the wake of the Brixton riots, a few women of Opus Dei began to work with others, who were not necessarily Christian, and acquired the disused warehouse which became the Baytree Centre.

Overall, Lambeth is a relatively deprived borough. Two in five children in the borough are living in poverty. It is also incredibly diverse: there are over 130 different languages spoken here and nearly three-quarters of school pupils are from an ethnic minority background. Baytree has worked hard to attract funding, and has been supported by local public funding sources, European, national and multinational corporations, private companies, as well as national and local trusts and foundations, who see the what an impact it is having on the area. Baytree also has some private benefactors who support their work with their generous contributions according to their means.

CEO Caroline Guarnaccia explained: “Our beneficiaries are women from the refugee, asylum seeker, immigrant and settled-resident local communities, as well as girls aged between 6 and 19 years. They are part of our socially disadvantaged communities and are in danger of social exclusion, which is why this place – which welcomes everybody – is such a good melting-pot. We are the only non-faith-specific, non-culture-specific women’s group in South London, and everyone feels at home here.” The words of a former Baytree student H. Seglah illustrate this point: “I have never seen such love and unity since I came to this country as I have seen among you, my colleagues, my teachers and all others at the Baytree Centre.”

A former Mayor of Lambeth, Cllr Marion Schumann, commented when visiting Baytree back in the early days: “I believe God helps those who help themselves to create a new beginning. Baytree has done this, bringing together the private sector, the local government and local volunteers to make the project work”.

The PEACH project at the Baytree Centre


P- Parents,
E- Education,
A- Achievement,
CH- Character... It’s PEACH!

Educate a boy, and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community. (African proverb)

Those involved in the PEACH project in the Baytree Centre in Brixton believe that parents are the first and most important educators of their children. PEACH –Parents, Education, Achievement and Character building – aims to support parents in their task as the primary educators and role models for their children. PEACH also helps girls by giving them personalized study support each week from trained volunteers, and regular workshops in maths, literacy and science.

Aimed at those who are hard to reach, unemployed, on low income or benefits, and generally those disengaged from the community, Baytree tends to reach its target community in Lambeth and Brixton via word of mouth from former or current beneficiaries. Baytree is now well-established, celebrating its 20th year of service in 2012, and people keep flooding through the door. Thousands of families have been given personalized support to help improve their situation via this supplementary education. Many of the mothers are very young and 40% of them are single parents. Parents have regular one-to-one meetings with the Parent Service Coordinator, with whom they draw up their individual Character Development Programme with personal goals for their children to achieve each month, in terms of respect, responsibility, persistence, etc. They also attend a parents’ forum one day a term, for face-to-face meetings with their children’s mentors.

Suzanne Mahon, 27, formerly a music teacher in an inner-city comprehensive school and now one of the PEACH project leaders, explains that the volunteers are trained via bi-weekly group workshops and helped to build tailor-made action plans for the children and their families in regular Character Development Workshops. The volunteers, who come from all walks of life, are recruited via University Fairs, the Guardian’s “Hands-on London”, Gumtree, etc. Once trained, they give one-on-one academic support to the children and monitor their progress via the National Foundation for Education Research tests at the beginning and end of programmes.

Volunteers act as mentors for the young people for an academic year or for as long as the mentee wishes, meeting their pupils on a weekly basis at Baytree and helping them with their learning and also with character development. Isabelle Derobert, a Fund Manager for a major City bank, found Baytree via the Lambeth Council website in 2009. She finds the volunteering very rewarding and the running of PEACH well-organized, creating a dynamic experience for volunteers, parents, staff and students. She particularly appreciates the strong community feel and diverse mix, as, she says, “often in Brixton Latinos and Caribbeans for example, don’t mix… Baytree however brings them all together, everyone feels at home there and they can hang out with whoever.”

Isabelle finds the freshness and simplicity of the young people very energizing. “There is great merit for a start in those young people getting themselves to Baytree by ten a.m. on Saturday mornings. I work long hours all week, and I find that time with the young people here gets my mind completely off work”. Once a month the mentors stay on for brunch with the PEACH staff, bringing food to share and taking the opportunity for a lot of interaction and experience-sharing.

Fatimah Kelliher, who works in international development at the Commonwealth Secretariat, has been a PEACH volunteer for two years. She grew up in Brixton Hill and knows the area inside out, and also how insular and isolating it can be. She was fortunate to go to university in Sussex, finding it a mind-blowing experience: “I met such different sorts of people there in comparison to the estate where I grew up.” She knows how hard it is for people from her background to have access to information, as they do not know where to look for things such as scholarships, or that every university has a bursary programme for students who fall below a certain income bracket. Fatimah is dedicated to addressing this inequality of opportunity, issues of gender inequality in development, and equality issues around education. “In PEACH, the emphasis on the parents’ role is so important, we can work together in harmony for the girls’ best interests. We try to ensure that the markers of success are more than just in the material or consumerist spheres. Ultimately we want to help in the formation of happy, aspirational young women.”

It certainly seems to be working, PEACH has excellent retention rates for both mentors and mentees. In their most recent report (July 2011), 80% of the girls demonstrated an improvement in academic performance, study habits and virtues, and 80% of parents demonstrated improved engagement in school, Baytree or the community.

In the words of one volunteer mentor: “I have been working with M. for 18 months and have seen a massive improvement in her behaviour, motivation, and respect for me and others at Baytree. She struggles in group settings and we are still working on some anger issues, but one to one we have a great time and are able to cover a lot of ground.”

Another commented,“A. was initially quite restless and easily distracted, particularly when doing homework such as literacy, which she found difficult. We have focused on her literacy, and I find that she can now focus for longer on this subject, without getting bored. Her mum has said that she is much more willing to read and write of her own accord, and concentrate on this than she was previously.”

Apart from academic achievement PEACH has a definite effect on families. “It has made a huge difference to us. We now eat together at the table. Before, I was in the kitchen, L was on the sofa, and the little one was the only one at the table. Now we sit and talk whilst eating and my relationship with L has improved.” (Parent)

The fruits – forgive the pun – of PEACH are already visible but they will undoubtedly be seen in the years to come when these young girls strive to fulfill their potential and play leading roles in their family and working lives. That effort starts now – or when the alarm clock rings on Saturday morning and the temptation to stay in bed is strong.

Naturally there are inherent difficulties in running a programme that relies on volunteers to deliver it. Baytree struggles to recruit mentors in time for the beginning of the school year, and interviews and replaces mentors throughout the school year. As the project grows, there are more and more applications from girls each year (through no advertisement other than word of mouth) and the need for more mentors to commit. If you think you could spare an hour or two each week please do contact Suzanne Mahon – details below. It could make all the difference to a young girl’s life – and her family’s. “Before I participated in PEACH, my marks in school were not that good, but my mentor has improved my marks.” (Mentee)

“I think it has improved my marks in school because you learn new things, I got 18 out of 20 in my test.” (Mentee)

For more information: www.baytreecentre.org

The Baytree Centre is a social inclusion project of Dawliffe Hall Educational Foundation, registered charity 278720
]]> What is a personal prelature?

The idea of the juridical structure known as the personal prelature was introduced by the Second Vatican Council. The Council decree Presbyterorum Ordinis (7 December 1965) stated that, among other institutions, “special dioceses or personal prelatures” could be established “to carry out special pastoral tasks in different regions or among any race in any part of the world”.

What are the characteristics of personal prelatures?

The Council laid down that this new juridical figure was to be flexible in nature, in order to contribute to the effective spreading of the Christian message and Christian life. In this way the Church could more aptly respond to the demands of its mission in the world.

Personal prelatures, as envisaged by the Second Vatican Council, are made up of a pastor, a presbyterate consisting of secular priests, and men and women lay faithful. The prelate, who may be a bishop, is appointed by the Pope, and governs the prelature with power of governance or jurisdiction.

The Church has the power of self-organisation in order to pursue the aims set for her by Christ. Exercising this power, she has established personal prelatures within her hierarchical structure, with the special feature that the faithful of the prelature continue to belong to their local church and to the diocese where they live.

The establishing of Opus Dei as a personal prelature

Opus Dei was established by John Paul II as a personal prelature of international scope. The document effecting this was the apostolic constitution Ut Sit, of 28 November 1982. For the reasons given above, personal prelatures are clearly different from religious institutes and the consecrated life in general, as well as from associations and movements of the faithful. The Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church stipulates that each personal prelature must be regulated by general Church law and by its own statutes.
]]> Social Development at Metro Achievement Center: A Legacy of St. Josemaría

Guided by St. Josemaría Escrivá’s passion for social development and the education of youth, the Metro Achievement Center opened its doors twenty-five years ago in the heart of Chicago’s inner city. Metro is one example among many social initiatives inspired by Opus Dei throughout the world where people with limited access to economic and educational opportunities receive academic support and an encouragement for their Christian life. (1)

Metro began with only a few girls (the 40 attending the first summer program in 1985), and now assists over 500 Chicago girls between the ages of eight and 18 each year. Since its founding, the center has served more than 5,000 young women. Metro’s mission is to motivate and educate these young women through after-school and summertime programs to become better students and virtuous individuals. Key to our approach is the integration of academic enrichment classes with a character education program based on the human virtues.

Why does Metro stand out among hundreds of educational enrichment programs in the city of Chicago? Without a doubt, Metro’s ability to effectively serve numerous inner-city families in this great metropolis is owed in a particular way to St. Josemaría’s vision of social development. While providing a well-rounded educational experience for our students, our curriculum is grounded in two social teachings of the Church: the dignity of the person and the recognition of parents as the primary educators of their children. Discovering specific ways to reinforce and reflect these teachings forms an important part of our mission and institutional culture. (2)

Historical and environmental background

Rising immigration and population shifts in Chicago greatly impact the social and educational institutions in this third-largest city of the United States. As young professionals move into revitalized and upgraded neighborhoods, lower income residents, many of whom are African-American families, are often displaced to other areas of the city or beyond its borders. Simultaneously, growing numbers of Latin Americans migrate into the city, thereby shaping Chicago’s ethnic profile. Since 2000, government and not-for-profit programs that aim to serve minority populations have grown exponentially in an attempt to provide these groups with adequate economic, educational and social services.

Chicago public high schools have long been notorious for their high drop-out rate. An estimated 30% of high school students quit before they graduate. In response to this astounding statistic, which is twice as high as the drop-out rate for the state of Illinois as a whole, there are now over 600 after-school academic programs in the city, each aiming to keep students in school and learning. Eighty-three percent of public school students come from low-income families and are disproportionately from minority populations: African-American (44%) and Hispanic (41%).(3) Metro directly serves this student population.

Students from over 125 public, parochial, and independent schools look to Metro for academic enrichment. Sixty-three percent of these students come from the public school system and more than 95% are from minority backgrounds (Hispanic, African-American, and Asian). Since 2000, 100% of Metro’s high school students have graduated from high school and continued on to college, most of them the first in their families to attend a college or university.

More than social action

The center is located just west of the financial district of Chicago. Students must leave their neighborhoods and travel across the city to attend Metro. Meeting and socializing with students from other neighborhoods and different schools helps to break down racial prejudices and neighborhood rivalries, thus building a spirit of unity and solidarity. In a 1966 New York Times interview, St. Josemaría spoke of the value of the work that Midtown (Metro’s counterpart for boys) was doing in Chicago, “An important part of its work consists in bringing together, in an atmosphere of friendship and collaboration, the different ethnic groups that live there.” (4) Similarly, by connecting inner-city students with hundreds of volunteers from the corporate community and major universities, Metro girls are introduced to new and varied social environments. The diversity of individuals is a microcosm of Chicago’s urban community. Experience has shown that the social exposure girls receive at Metro equips them to handle with greater ease and confidence the new and diverse social settings they later find at the university or at work in their profession.

Mercy goes beyond justice
Historically, Catholics and other concerned citizens have joined forces to find just solutions to help the poor and needy. The work of Metro can be best understood as more than a “just solution.” It is, rather, a “work of mercy.” This phrase most accurately describes our efforts and captures the spirit of St. Josemaría’s social concern. Mercy goes beyond justice. Mercy encourages us to serve and to meet the needs of others out of love rather than strict duty. A work of mercy consequently includes the dimension of compassion; a concern for the poor and underprivileged which is at the same time both human and spiritual.(5) The fifth Beatitude reminds us: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mt 5:7). Seeing all mankind as one race, the race of the children of God, was St. Josemaría’s vision for humanity and for charitable works.(6) This conviction shapes our education model in numerous ways. Our site is located centrally and we make a concerted effort to admit and mix students from different ethnic neighborhoods rather than offer our services to one particular ethnic population. Most importantly, we treat each individual girl with the respect she deserves as a child of God, which provides the context for all of our educational work at Metro.

A Christian spirit
For a social program to be a work of mercy, a Christian spirit is essential. Several years ago, a benefactor of educational programs that Opus Dei organized in Lithuania reminded us of this. She commented: ”I’m glad to hear that your summer program includes the option for the girls to attend catechism classes. There are plenty of wonderful agencies providing social services. But Opus Dei is here to help people get closer to God.” Her perspective brought to mind well-known words of St. Josemaría directed to those who strive to help the needy: “Until now you had not understood the message that we Christians bring to the rest of men: the hidden marvel of the interior life. What a wonderful new world you are placing in front of them!” (7)

We now turn our attention to three areas where St. Josemaría’s vision regarding the dignity of each person as a child of God shapes the charitable work done at Metro. First, we consider educational development from both a human and spiritual perspective; second, how faith can be fostered in a secular setting; and lastly, the importance of inculcating personal responsibility for building solidarity.

Unity of the human and divine

St. Josemaría often spoke of “unity of life,” a harmony among the different facets of a person’s life founded on a single guiding principle--that we are children of God. Unity of life leads to the conviction that the human and divine dimensions of our existence are distinct but intertwined and inseparable. The unity between the human and divine is reinforced in several ways at Metro.

Our academic curriculum reinforces basic reading, writing, mathematics and science skills as well as classes in the humanities. Students also benefit from individual tutoring and homework help. Interactive classes in the fine arts and sports offer students the opportunity to develop social skills and improve physical fitness. In addition to academic support, character-building classes for students and their parents are essential to Metro’s program and focus on human virtues such as responsibility, generosity, and sincerity. Each girl also receives individual mentoring that provides practical advice on how to put the human virtues into practice. These classes in academic and human formation are complemented by an optional religious education program that emphasizes the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

Unity of life is also fostered by encouraging students to work well, not just for themselves, but with an eye to serving others and the common good. A mother put it this way: “You teach our children that it is still good to be good.” The idea that one can turn work into prayer simply by working well and offering it to God is often a new discovery for our staff and students.

A Christian attitude toward material things is another way we foster unity of life. Finding ways to incarnate what St. Josemaría referred to as “Christian materialism” is an ongoing effort on the part of our staff. “Authentic Christianity, which professes the resurrection of all flesh, has always quite logically opposed ‘dis-incarnation,’ without fear of being judged materialistic. We can, therefore, rightfully speak of a ‘Christian materialism’, which is boldly opposed to that materialism which is blind to the spirit.” (8)

In this spirit, the staff strives to keep the facility clean, orderly and home-like in appearance, knowing that this fosters interior serenity and a willingness to serve others. Dedicating space in our center to a chapel, a parent room, and a living room is a material way of highlighting the importance that God, parents and family have in our lives. We entrust our work with families to the Holy Family; our chapel has an image of Jesus, Mary and Joseph that reflects St. Josemaría’s great love for the “Trinity on earth.” While professional women serve as mentors to our girls, an image of the Virgin Mary in each of the classrooms and common areas serves as a reminder of Mary’s protection and love for each of us.

Our comprehensive approach to education—¬¬¬educating the mind, heart, body and soul—emphasizes the link between the human and divine in each person and contributes to personal growth. At Metro we prefer to speak of “self-worth” rather than “self-esteem,” because true self-esteem springs naturally from a girl’s awareness of her personal dignity and value as a daughter of God. St. Josemaría’s keen appreciation for the unity that should exist within each person has a great influence on the academic programs and other activities at Metro.

Fostering faith in a secular setting

In the United States we find great respect for religion and openness to faith. In the spring of 2008, Benedict XVI spoke of this reality during his Apostolic trip to the United States: “This country has a long history of cooperation between different religions in many spheres of public life...members of different religions come together to enhance mutual understanding and promote the common good.” (9)

Metro’s work is directed and carried out by lay Catholics working alongside people of many different faiths. It is not an ecclesial work but rather a collaborative effort of individuals who share a concern for improving education, and, in turn, the economic and social condition of those in need. In 1967, St. Josemaría spoke with Time Magazine and underscored the importance of Christians and non-Christians working together to promote activities that benefit society and that “are open to everyone, without any kind of racial, religious or ideological discrimination.”(10) St. Josemaría challenged lay people to feel personally responsible for discovering solutions to society’s problems; for example, raising the standards of low-income families and immigrants is not a task meant to be left to clerics and religious.

Fortunately, Metro can count on the assistance of almost 200 professional women and university volunteers who engage their hands, heads, and hearts by serving inner-city children. Seventy-six percent of the funds Metro needs to operate and support the academic and personal growth of our students come from corporations, foundations, special events, and individuals. The families we serve contribute five percent of Metro’s operating budget, and investments make up most of the difference. (11)

While Metro’s academic and character-building classes are the core of our curriculum and are offered weekly to all students, monthly religious education classes are available to those students interested in learning more about the Catholic faith. Students must freely choose to attend the classes and must “opt-in” with parental permission to lively instructional sessions. Metro does not ask families about their religious affiliation, yet approximately 85% of students choose to take part in these discussions. A chaplain offers spiritual guidance to all interested Metro students, staff, and volunteers. Because of St. Josemaría’s appreciation and respect for people of all religious backgrounds, one finds at Metro a natural and positive approach to faith, and to religious formation. When a professional woman or university student tutors and helps a child academically, she often discovers in the process something deeper: friendship and the love of God. There is always a great respect for persons of all religious views and beliefs. It is precisely within the “faith friendly” environment at Metro that students, their parents and our volunteers often discover--or rediscover-- the Christian faith. In recent years, through the example and help of Metro staff, some volunteers and students were baptized or received into the Church, and parents who had never received the sacrament of Matrimony experienced the joy of receiving this grace.

Part of Metro’s effort to facilitate the connection between faith and life is manifested by our placement of a chapel in the middle of our academic space. Students, parents and volunteers are invited to stop in and pray at any time. For the staff, our chapel is a magnet drawing us to pray for the many individuals who walk through our doors each day. We can say that, for those promoting this institution, the Tabernacle is the center, without Metro thereby losing its secular character, since it is not an ecclesiastical initiative, but one of citizens—some faithful of the Prelature, others not—who in the use of their freedom and independently of their religious beliefs, carry out this social activity.

The chapel, situated in the heart of our facility serves as a constant reminder of how natural our relationship with God should be in the midst of the simple and ordinary things in life, especially study, work, friendship, and volunteer service. Some time ago a Jewish businessman visited Metro and remarked that, being a spiritual man, he was pleased to see how we had included faith in our vision of the person; he also held faith to be an essential aspect of human dignity and happiness.

Priority of the individual over the institution: personal responsibility for building solidarity

Every society is a labyrinth of elaborate structures and institutions. Financial and commercial institutions influence and regulate our monetary well-being. Global networks of communication and technology institutionalize and revolutionize the way we work and communicate. Already in the 20th century, Church institutions developed global structures to provide aid for the needy. Yet it is worth reflecting on the fact that Jesus always reached out to individual souls, healing and comforting them one by one. The parables of Christ highlight the value of each person, who is loved directly and sought out individually by their merciful Father God.

A vehicle for connecting individuals
Although Metro is indeed an institution, it is most importantly a vehicle for connecting individuals. St. Josemaría would warn members of Opus Dei against developing an institutional or collective mentality which would lead one to lose sight of the primacy of persons and their families when operating social or educational initiatives, including those that help the less fortunate. There are abundant examples in the Gospels where Jesus Christ cures and reaches out to souls personally, and we too are only effective when we realize we are personally responsible for fostering development and when we strive to pray and work at serving individual persons. While it is true that Metro is dependent on the generosity of corporations and foundations for its financial sustainability, behind every business entity Metro recognizes individuals. In Caritas in Veritate, Benedict XVI expresses the priority of the individual in this way, “In development programs, the principle of the centrality of the human person, as the subject primarily responsible for development, must be preserved.” (12)

St. Josemaría said that the answer to injustice lies with individuals who act justly. If individuals are just, then over time the structures and institutions that employ them will be just.(13) He affirmed that one must serve not only with justice but above all with charity: “Justice alone is never enough to solve the great problems of mankind… The dignity of man, who is a son of God, requires much more. Charity must penetrate and accompany justice, because it sweetens and deifies everything: ‘God is love.’”(14) When reflecting upon the racial problems in the United States, St. Josemaría explained the connection between justice and charity in this way: “A Christian cannot be satisfied with merely respecting the rights of others. He has to see in every man a brother to whom he owes sincere love and disinterested service.” (15)

The concern for each person
Ultimately, friendship is the context and medium for social integration at Metro. This personal approach, with its focus on the concern for each person’s academic, personal, social, economic and spiritual well-being, helps the children we work with blossom into the strong and caring adults they were created to be. Precisely because of our conviction that people, not structures, are what really count, each girl in our program receives a great deal of individual attention from staff, teachers, tutors and mentors. We aim to make our own what Benedict XVI highlighted as one of the essential elements of Christian and ecclesial charity: “Yet, while professional competence is a primary, fundamental requirement, it is not of itself sufficient. We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity.” (16)

Every year, thanks to the dedication of approximately 200 volunteers working with 500 families, personal attention continues to be the mainstay of the Metro Achievement Center. The Gospel reminds us that patience, kindness, and hope are among the manifestations of a love that endures. (17)

In short, we can say that St. Josemaría’s unconditional love for each person as a child of God is the vision that shapes the work of Metro in the inner-city of Chicago. His perspective encourages Christians to discover and present positive solutions: “A son of God cannot entertain class prejudice, for he is interested in the problems of all men. And he tries to help solve them with the justice and charity of our Redeemer.”(18) His conviction that true human development can only take place when there is an appreciation for the human person in his or her totality, body and soul, gives our work of mercy the impetus and strength to build up our communities from within. Our indispensable work of education is always effective when we treat persons with the full awareness that they are children of God.

M. Sharon Hefferan, Director of Metro Achievement Center
Midtown Educational Foundation in Chicago

Footnotes

(1) The Midtown Educational Foundation in Chicago financially supports the Midtown Center for boys, founded in 1965 and the Metro Achievement Center for girls, launched in 1985.
(2) Metro strives to put into effect the words of the Pope: “social concern must never be an abstract attitude.” See Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, (June 29, 2009), no. 47.
(3) Catalyst Chicago provides an in-depth analysis of education trends in Chicago public schools. Statistics reported are for 2009.
(4) Interview with Tad Szulc of the New York Times, October 7, 1966, published in Conversations with Josemaría Escrivá, no. 56.
(5) See Gerald Vann, The Divine Pity: A Study in the Social Implications of the Beatitudes,
Fount Paperbacks, 1985, p. 120.
(6) “. . . brothers we are, children of the same Father, God. So there is only one race, the race of the children of God. There is only one color, the color of the children of God. And there is only one language, the language which speaks to the heart and to the mind, without the noise of words, making us know God and love one another.” St. Josemaría, Christ is Passing By, no. 106.
(7) St. Josemaría, Furrow, no. 654.
(8) St. Josemaría, “Passionately Loving the World,” in Conversations, no. 115.
(9) Benedict XVI, Meeting with Representatives of Other Religions, April 17, 2008.
(10) Interview with Peter Forbath in Time Magazine, April 15, 1967, published in Conversations, no. 27.
(11) See Midtown Educational Foundation, Annual Report, 2007-2008.
(12) Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, (June 29, 2009), no. 47.
(13) See José Luis Illanes, “Work, Justice, Charity,” in Holiness and the World, Scepter Publishers, 1997, pp. 226-227.
(14) See St. Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, no. 172.
(15) Conversations, no. 29.
(16) Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas est (December 25, 2005), no. 31.
(17) See I Cor 13.
(18) Furrow, no. 303.]]> By JIM GRAVES, published by
National Catholic Register

The beginning of each of the past three decades has brought about a significant event for Opus Dei, whose mission is to promote holiness among laypeople as they go about their daily work.
In 1982, Pope John Paul II approved changing the organization’s status from a secular institute to a personal prelature. In 1992, Opus Dei’s founder, Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, was beatified, and, in 2002, he was canonized. As the prelature celebrates the anniversaries of each of these major events, it continues to enjoy steady growth and have far-reaching influence as it goes about its mission.

Pope Benedict XVI has long supported the unique apostolate of Opus Dei. Upon St. Josemaria’s canonization, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed the belief that the saint’s message helped correct an erroneous idea of sanctity — that holiness was reserved only for “the great.”

More recently, Pope Benedict told the head of Opus Dei, 79-year-old Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, “When you foster the eagerness for personal sanctity and the apostolic zeal of your priests and laypeople, not only do you see the flock that has been entrusted to you grow, but you provide an effective help to the Church in her urgent evangelization of present-day society.”

Opus Dei (which is Latin for “Work of God”) was founded by a young Father Escriva in 1928, and it was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1950. Today, it has 90,000 members in 60 countries, including 3,000 in the United States. Typical elements of its apostolate include evenings of recollection, retreats, spiritual direction and religious-education classes. Opus Dei members also oversee schools, including the respected IESE Business School, the graduate school of management at the University of Navarra in Spain. IESE recently opened up a campus in New York. In Chicago, Opus Dei priests staff the historic St. Mary of the Angels Parish, the largest church in Illinois.

The “worker bees” of Opus Dei are its numeraries — men and women who have committed themselves to celibacy and typically live in Opus Dei centers. In the U.S., there are 900 numeraries who live and work in 20 American cities. Numeraries work in secular professions during the week and then return home to a family-like environment for prayer, apostolic work and community life on weekends. There are separate centers for men and women.

Most members are supernumeraries, who live in their own homes, generally are married or intend to marry but participate in the prayer life of Opus Dei and support the organization’s apostolic work.

Priests of Opus Dei (only 2% of the prelature) come from among the lay celibate members of Opus Dei (the numeraries or, sometimes, the associates). The numeraries, part-time over many years, take a course of studies which is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in theology — what a diocesan priest typically receives in seminary prior to ordination. The study is pursued full-time once a person becomes a candidate for the priesthood.

The priests also will normally have a secular degree and will have worked in a secular profession. The priests of Opus Dei also normally obtain a doctorate in one of the ecclesiastical sciences.
The largest concentration of Opus Dei members is in Europe. Efforts are under way to establish Opus Dei communities in Eastern Europe, Russia, Indonesia and South Korea.

Membership begins with attending Opus Dei events and developing the Opus Dei habits of prayer and spirituality, which include daily Mass and prayer, weekly confession and yearly retreats. Many who do not join the organization are still positively influenced; for example, young people may be inspired to enter the seminary or join a religious community. Priests and bishops, such as Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., are members of Opus Dei’s Priestly Society of the Holy Cross and benefit from its spirituality.

Personal Prelature
Being composed of priests, married and laypersons, Opus Dei is a unique organization within the Church and requires a unique canonical structure to govern it. (Although the villain in Dan Brown’s fictional Da Vinci Code was a murderous albino Opus Dei monk, there are, in fact, no monks or other consecrated religious in Opus Dei.) The concept of a personal prelature emerged from the Second Vatican Council; essentially, it is an ecclesial organization whose bishop has jurisdiction over priests and laity worldwide, rather than a particular geographical area, and is committed to a particular pastoral work. Opus Dei’s work, explained its communications director, Brian Finnerty, is to “promote the ideal of coming closer to God in one’s work in everyday life. Everyone is called to sanctity.”

To Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, vicar general of Opus Dei, sanctity means “becoming a friend of God, letting the Other act, the only One who can make this world good and joyful.”

Since 1994, Opus Dei’s prelate has been Bishop Echevarria, who was once the personal secretary to St. Josemaria. Each country in which Opus Dei operates has a vicar, who is a priest, and councils of laymen and women who form the next level of governance. At the local level, there is a director, who is a layperson, and a local council.
Opus Dei is currently the Church’s only personal prelature. Although it has some similarities to a personal ordinariate, such as was created for former Anglicans or the military, the distinction lies in that it is carrying out a particular pastoral work, said Msgr. William Stetson, a former Opus Dei vicar and college professor, who was ordained for the organization 50 years ago.

While the establishment of the personal prelature helped with canonical issues of governance with Opus Dei, the beatification and canonization of its founder helped elevate its status in the eyes of the faithful.

Calling him “the saint of the ordinary,” Pope John Paul II raised Josemaria Escriva to the altars 10 years ago. Forty-two cardinals and 470 bishops were among the 300,000 who attended the canonization. Bishop Echevarria told those gathered, “When you return home, bring back with you the teachings of the new saint and try to put them into practice. Ask St. Josemaria to teach you to convert the prose of each day — your most ordinary occupations — into poetry, into heroic verse: into desires and deeds of holiness and apostolate.”

Memories of a Saint
John Coverdale, a law professor at Seton Hall University in Newark, N.J., learned the teachings of Josemaria from the saint himself. A longtime Opus Dei member, Coverdale did public relations for the organization in Rome from 1960 to 68 and worked with St. Josemaria on a daily basis.

“He was a wonderful man, a warm, funny human being, who had an enormous love for God and others,” Coverdale said.
He noted that, despite the saint’s many duties, he took the time to know and express concern for all with whom he interacted. He recalled, for example, encountering the saint while walking down a corridor one day: “He said my name, ‘John’ — he had trouble pronouncing it with his accent — with such warmth and attention. I remember thinking, He really cares for me.”

One of his co-workers had an ill mother. He remembers St. Josemaria regularly asking the man about his mother and mentioning that he was praying for her. Coverdale observed, “Despite all he had to do, it really mattered to him. I can’t imagine a corporate CEO or government leader paying such attention to an individual in his organization.”

Coverdale first began attending Opus Dei events while living in Milwaukee in the 1950s. He was impressed by the way the priests spoke of Christ: “He wasn’t like someone they’d read about in a book, but someone they knew personally.”
He became a numerary and wrote Uncommon Faith: The Early History of Opus Dei (1928-1943) (Scepter, 2001).

Coverdale noted that St. Josemaria encountered many challenges throughout his life. Some thought his teaching on universal holiness was radical, even heretical. He suffered from significant health challenges, including severe diabetes. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), he was forced to go into hiding and flee the country to evade the martyrdom which came to 7,000 of Spain’s priests and religious.
Through it all, Coverdale said, St. Josemaria maintained good cheer and remained “a man who knew how to love.”

Jim Graves writes from Newport Beach, California.
]]> The shrine of Sonsoles in Avila, Spain, was the setting for an event in the history of St Josemaria and Opus Dei, the “May pilgrimage”. How did this custom first take root in Opus Dei?

A study published in Studia et Documenta looks at the account written by Josemaria Escriva and Ricardo Fernandez Vallespin in May 1935 about the pilgrimage they made on May 2 to the shrine of Our Lady of Sonsoles in Avila, Spain.

First-person account
“The reason for the pilgrimage,” wrote Ricardo Fernandez Vallespin, “was a promise I made to our Lady some time previously, before joining the Work. I was in bed with an illness that was going to prevent me from completing a team project for an examination at the School of Architecture. This would have meant finishing my degree a year late. I promised our Lady I would go and visit her in her shrine at Sonsoles, going there on foot from Avila, if I passed the exam. Humanly speaking this seemed impossible. But the project was completed by the rest of the team, and I passed the exam.

“I am ashamed of how long it took me to fulfil this promise. I often thought about it, but never set a date, and I kept putting it off. Some days ago I mentioned it to the Father, and we agreed to go on May 2, together. A few days later Jose Maria G. Barredo decided to join us.

“We left the town at St Thomas’s Convent, and went by a short cut. The shrine could be seen in the distance, because it was a cloudless day and the atmosphere in Avila is clean and transparent. On the way the Father said that with this pilgrimage we were starting a custom in Opus Dei. (…) The road is long and uphill (about 5 km), and when we finished the Rosary I quickened my pace and reached the shrine some time before the Father and Barredo. I went into the shrine, knelt down before Our Lady of Sonsoles, and told her I was sorry I had taken so long to fulfil my promise.”

In 1935, devotion to our Blessed Lady held a foremost place in the spiritual rule of life that St Josemaria sketched out for the people of Opus Dei. Their daily plan included saying the Rosary and the Angelus daily, and other practices of devotion to Mary.

How is a custom born?
May 7, 1935, five days after the pilgrimage to Sonsoles, Josemaria Escriva alluded to it in passing in his “personal notes”. “There, in Avila, a marian custom was born, which will be implanted in Opus Dei for ever. I won’t say any more here, as it is spoken of elsewhere.”

This was his way of saying that the Sonsoles pilgrimage belonged not so much to the sphere of his own spiritual life as to the history of Opus Dei. The Work of God was still in a process of becoming with regard to its pastoral practice and its treasury of customs (a collection of practices that help the faithful of Opus Dei to keep up a constant conversation with God and practise charity). This was the context of the pilgrimage to Sonsoles.

St Josemaria felt the need for a specific outward way of showing devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary during May, the month which the Church traditionally dedicates to her. He found the answer in this event in the life of Opus Dei – the pilgrimage to Sonsoles with Ricardo Fernandez Vallespin.

“In Ferraz, the customs [of Opus Dei] were introduced so gradually and normally that they were virtually unnoticeable,” wrote Barredo (who had gone with St Josemaria and Ricardo Fernandez Vallespin on the Sonsoles pilgrimage), years later. “The first get-togethers I was in after asking for admission to Opus Dei were like the ones we have now, but we didn’t call them get-togethers and they didn’t have a formal beginning and end.”

Taking up an ancient Christian tradition
In the same way, the pilgrimage was born as a custom of Opus Dei on May 2, 1935, with its basic features already in place: a visit to our Lady in May, done in a spirit of prayer and penance (going at least part of the way on foot if possible), and with an apostolic content. One part of the Rosary is said on the way there and another on the way back. A third part, the one normally said on that day of the week, plus the litany, is said at the shrine itself, or before the picture or statue of our Lady that is visited.

At the same time, of course, it is clear that the pilgrimage was not an innovation. Pilgrimages to shrines of our Lady, especially in May, are a centuries-old Christian tradition.

Finally, it is not superfluous to note that the context of a “Work in progress” required St Josemaria to have not only supernatural but historical sensitivity. It was a task of considerable importance to capture faithfully the inspirations with which God progressively specified the spirit and apostolic practice of Opus Dei. “The Father took notes all the time,” Barredo testified. “He would go to his room and write down what he had just perceived, taking note of his lived experiences. This was a basic characteristic of his, because everything was still to be done, and everything needed to be written down.”

The account of the pilgrimage to Sonsoles confirms that this responsibility was one he took seriously.
]]> In Life and Living, a magazine for the elderly, readers wrote describing “the book I’ll never forget”. Esther, 86, wrote about The Way by Josemaria Escriva (Scepter).

I was 24 years old and bedridden with pleural tuberculosis. I’d recently given birth to my son John after a very difficult pregnancy but was too weak to even hold him. The illness was destroying my body and my spirits were so low that I began to lose hope. One day I confided to my doctor that I was afraid I might die. She told me, very gently, not to be scared of dying and she lent me this book.

I wasn’t particularly interested, but started to read – and was soon unable to put it down. The Way was written by a Spanish Roman Catholic priest, who was canonised in 2002, and who believed that ordinary life can be a path to sanctity. The book spoke about being grateful for what you have and focusing on the good, not the bad. For the first time in months I felt at peace. By that Christmas I was able to get up and have dinner and four weeks later I was strong enough to care for John and have him christened.

I still love this book – it changed my perspective on life.

(c) Life and Living, Spring 2012.
]]> Saint Josemaría prayed aloud before the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico: “I offer you a future of love, with many souls. I, [...]]]> Homily: The Ascension of Our Lord]]> A medical doctor asks St. Josemaria how not to act out of routine at work. The answer is to have a "priestly soul", to try to get his patients closer to God.]]> "Christians today are called to bear witness to the power of prayer prayer, to our world that is often closed the Divine horizon and to the hope that leads to an encounter with God." These were just some of the words of Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday morning during his weekly General Audience in Paul VI Hall, where more than 6 thousand faithful from all over the world were present. General Audience , in Paul VI Hall.]]> About 15,000 priests participated in the Vatican in a special ceremony to end the Year for Priests. The pope has answer questions presented by five of them about priesthood, celibacy, vocations and theology.]]> A short videoclip of shots from the beatification of Josemaria Escriva and Pope John Paul II’s words before saying the “Regina Caeli”.]]> Homily To Jesus through Mary]]> Argentina, 1974. St Josemaria was asked, "How can we help others to be more generous with their money?"]]> St Josemaria recalls the dates of Opus Dei’s founding: October 2 1928, February 14 1930, and February 14 1943.]]> An illustrated passage from St Josemaria’s homily “Christ’s death is the Christian’s life”]]>