SAINT JOSEMARÍA
Founder of Opus Dei

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
• A brief biography
Summary
• Saint Josemaría in brazil
What is Opus Dei?
• Message
• Main features of the spirit
of Opus Dei
• History
• People in Opus Dei
SAINT JOSEMARÍA
Founder of Opus Dei

Work, family life, and other ordinary activities are occasions for spiritual union
with Jesus Christ.
SAINT JOSEMARÍA

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
A brief biography
• Josemaría Escrivá was born in
Barbastro, Spain on January 9,
1902.
• He was ordained on March 28,
1925.
• He studied civil law along with
his ecclesiastical studies, and in
1927, he moved to Madrid to
obtain a doctorate in law.
• While there, he worked hard with
the poor and sick, and also with
students, workers, and
professionals.

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
A brief biography
• On October 2, 1928, he saw
by divine inspiration that
God was asking him to
spread the universal call to
holiness, and that a new
path would be opened up
within the Church – Opus
Dei – to spread this call
throughout the world.
• History has borne out this
vision: there are now
around 87,000 people in
Opus Dei and his spiritual
message has reached
millions.

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
A brief biography
• Escrivá was always a proponent
of understanding and dialogue,
and in 1950 he won the Holy
See's approval to allow Opus Dei
to appoint Cooperators, who
could be Catholics, non-Catholic
Christians or even non-believers.
• Inspired by Escrivá's teaching and
his promotion of the apostolic
and social responsibility of
Christians, the members and
Cooperators of Opus Dei have
started hundreds of evangelical
works and social initiatives all
over the world, especially among
the poor and disadvantaged.

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
A brief biography • Willing to innovate, but always faithful to
the Magisterium of the Church, Escrivá was
described by Pope John Paul II as a
precursor of the Second Vatican Council.
• He anticipated by thirty years many of the
teachings that, after the great ecclesial
assembly, became the patrimony of the
whole People of God.
• He is the author of books of spirituality
which are read around the world. His best-known
book is The Way, which has sold
nearly four million copies in 43 languages.
• Escrivá died in Rome on June 26, 1975.
• He was beatified on May 17, 1992.
• He was canonized by John Paul II on
October 6, 2002, before a crowd of
350,000.

SAINT JOSEMARÍA
In Brazil
• A decisive factor for the development
of the apostolic work of Opus Dei in
brazil was the stay of St. Josemaria
Escriva in Sao Paulo, between May
22 and June 7, 1974.
• Many people had the opportunity to
meet him and hear him in meetings
of catechesis, which reached over
3,000 participants gather at Anhembi
Park, and close to 2000 in the
Auditorium Maua.
• On May 28, St. Josemaria,
accompanied by numerous members
of Opus Dei, cooperators and friends,
made a pilgrimage to the National
Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida.

Work, family life, and other ordinary activities are occasions for spiritual union
with Jesus Christ.
WHAT IS OPUS DEI?

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?
Message
• Work, family life, and other ordinary
activities are occasions for spiritual
union with Jesus Christ.
• As the Second Vatican Council noted,
every baptized person is called to
follow Jesus Christ, by living
according to the Gospel and making
it known to others.
• The aim of Opus Dei is to contribute
to that evangelizing mission of the
Church, by promoting among
Christians of all social classes a life
fully consistent with their faith, in
the middle of the ordinary
circumstances of their lives and
especially through the sanctification
of their work.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?
Main features of the spirit of Opus Dei
• Divine filiation
– “Divine filiation is the foundation of the spirit
of Opus Dei,”
• Ordinary life
– “It is in the midst of the most material things
of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves,
serving God and all mankind,”
• Sanctifying work
– Sanctifying work means to work with the
spirit of Jesus Christ, to work competently and
ethically, with the aim of loving God and
serving others, and thus to sanctify the world
from within, making the Gospel present in all
activities whether they be outstanding or
humble and hidden
• Prayer and sacrifice
– The formation given by Opus Dei encourages
prayer and sacrifice in order to sustain the
effort to sanctify one’s ordinary occupations
• Unity of life
– St Josemaría explained that Christians
working in the world should not live “a kind of
double life. On the one hand, an interior life,
a life of union with God; and on the other, a
separate and distinct professional, social and
family life.”
• Freedom
– The members of Opus Dei are ordinary
citizens who enjoy the same rights and are
subject to the same obligations as any other
citizen
• Charity
– To meet Christ is to find a treasure that one
cannot stop sharing. Christians are witnesses
to Jesus Christ and spread his message of
hope among their companions, with their
example and their words.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?
History
• 1928
– 2 October: While on a spiritual retreat in
Madrid, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, under
divine inspiration, founded Opus Dei.
• 1930
– 14 February: In Madrid, while Saint
Josemaría was celebrating Mass, God
made him understand that Opus Dei was
for women too.
• 1936
– The Spanish Civil War temporarily delayed
Saint Josemaría’s plans to expand the
apostolic work of Opus Dei to other
countries.
• 1943
– 14 February: Again during Mass, God let Fr.
Josemaría see the juridical solution that
would enable priests to be ordained for
Opus Dei: the Priestly Society of the Holy
Cross.
• 1946
– St Josemaría moved to Rome. In the years
that followed, he would travel from Rome
throughout Europe to prepare the
beginnings of the apostolic work of Opus
Dei in several different countries.
• 1957
– Opus Dei began its work in Brazil
• 1970 – 1975
– Saint Josemaría made various trips around
Europe and the Americas to speak to
people about the Christian faith.
• 1975
– 26 June: Josemaría Escrivá died in Rome.
Around 60,000 people belonged to Opus
Dei at that time.
• 1992
– 17 May: Beatification of Josemaría Escrivá
in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
• 2002
– 6 October: Canonization of Josemaría
Escrivá in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?
People in Opus Dei
• Opus Dei has around 90,000
members, both men and women.
98% are laypeople, most of
whom are married. The
remaining 2% are priests.
• Most members of Opus Dei seek
God also in marriage.
• Family atmosphere
– A characteristic feature of Opus Dei
is its Christian family atmosphere.
– This is present in all the activities
the Prelature organizes.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?
People in Opus Dei
• Membership distribution
• The geographical
distribution is
approximately as follows
– Africa 2,000
– Asia and the Pacific 5,000
– The Americas 30,000
– Europe 50,000

http://www.opusdei.us/
REFERENCE