CONTENTS

Foreword

Álvaro del Portillo. Biographical Sketch

1 A Christian family

2 At university

3 The divine call

4 Days of war

5 In Rome and from Rome

6 St. Josemaría’s first successor

7 Pastoral government of the Prelature of Opus Dei

8 A holy death

Programme for the Beatification

Ceremonies

Access to the ceremonies

How to get to the Valdebebas site

Accreditation

Information points

Volunteers

Other suggestions

Medical attention

Alms and donations

Map of Valdebebas site

Useful Information

Documentation

Changing money

Cash machines

Credit cards

Travellers’ cheques

Lost property

Public transport

Useful telephone numbers

Calls from Spain

Masses

Embassies and consulates

Transportation map (Metro)

Transportation map (Cercanías)

Sites in Madrid

Sites linked to Saint Josemaría and Opus Dei

Sites linked to Blessed Álvaro del Portillo

Harambee Projects

1 Nigeria

2 Ivory Coast

3 Democratic Republic of Congo

4 Scholarships for African priests to study in Rome

Selection of texts from the preaching of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo

1 Called to be saints

2 To follow Christ

3 Christ urges us on

4 Contemplatives in the middle of the world

Treasury of prayers

The Sign of the Cross

Our Father

Hail Mary

Glory be

Hail, holy Queen

I confess

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament

Adoro te devote

Angelus

Memorare

Holy Rosary

Other prayers

Share this book

FOREWORD

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo —a faithful man deeply in love with Christ— announced the Saviour with his words, his deeds of service, his peace and his permanent smile.

When he became a bishop he chose as his episcopal motto an aspiration which St Josemaría frequently repeated: Regnare Christum volumus! (We want Christ to reign). This was the great passion of the new Blessed: to lead souls towards Christ who “entered through the door of humility —Mary— , and lived in humility with his Mother and with Saint Joseph”1.

Regnare Christum volumus! We want Christ to reign! May this be our aspiration during the days of the beatification and always: to welcome Christ into our souls, opening the doors of our hearts to him, allowing him to be ever more our journey’s guide, knowing full well that this is the way to attain the happiness we all aspire to.

Christ’s reign is one of love and service. Moved by his charity that overcame all difficulties, Don Álvaro carried out a constant and generous apostolate in the middle of the world: through his professional work as an engineer; then as a priest; and later, as shepherd and prelate of Opus Dei.

His self-giving moved very many people to seek holiness in their workplace, their family and social surroundings, and their yearning to build a just and fair society, where men and women can flourish. “Enlarge your heart” he said in 1993 “so as to understand everyone and make your own the spiritual and material needs of those around you”2. With the help of grace, God makes use of us so that Christ may reign in all souls.

A beatification is a gift from God, a present for the Church, and we are very grateful for it. Our gratitude to Pope Francis will be shown in copious prayers for him and his intentions, as he is always asking of Christians. That way we will also be fulfilling the desire which Blessed Álvaro put before us on 7 January 1991: “United to the Pope, let all of us go to Jesus through Mary. Love the Vicar of Christ a lot and get others to love him! Today we wish once more to reaffirm, with renewed strength, our union with the Roman Pontiff and the love we have for Mary most Holy. We ask her, our Mother, with filial trust, to keep the path safe for us: Cor Mariae Dulcissimum, iter serva tutum!” Most sweet heart of Mary, keep our path safe!3.

† Javier Echevarría

Prelate of Opus Dei

1 Álvaro del Portillo, Letter 2 February 1979, 24.

2 Álvaro del Portillo, Homily, 5 September 1993. Published in Romana XVII (1993), p. 230.

3 Álvaro del Portillo, Homily, 7 January 1991.

ÁLVARO DEL PORTILLO
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Álvaro del Portillo died unexpectedly in Rome at 4 a.m. on March 23, 1994, a few hours after returning from an exhausting pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The then Vicar General of the Prelature of Opus Dei, Msgr. Javier Echevarría, immediately gave the sad news to the Pope’s secretary and asked him to inform the Holy Father. His reply was that John Paul II would offer Mass for Bishop Álvaro’s soul. That same morning L’Osservatore Romano published a long telegram of condolence. In the afternoon, to everyone’s great surprise, the Pope himself decided to go to pray at his wake, which was held in the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace.

The Pope knelt before Álvaro del Portillo’s mortal remains and prayed for several minutes in deep recollection. It was suggested to him that he might recite a responsory prayer for the soul of the departed, but he chose to say the Salve, followed by three Gloria’s and the invocations Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine and Requiescat in pace. He sprinkled the body with holy water and knelt again in prayer.

As the Pope was leaving, Msgr. Echevarría expressed his gratitude and John Paul II replied: Si doveva, si doveva (I had to do it, I had to do it). He thus implicitly recognized the faithfulness to the Church and the Roman Pontiff shown by a bishop who departed from this world with a reputation for sanctity.

Bishop Álvaro’s cause of beatification was opened in March 2004. When the Congregation for the Causes of Saints completed the study of his life, Pope Benedict XVI declared on June 28, 2012, that the heroic virtues and the reputation for sanctity of the Servant of God were evident, and authorized the publication of the corresponding decree.

Just over a year later, on July 5, 2013, Pope Francis opened the path for Álvaro del Portillo’s beatification by granting his approval for the decree recognizing a miracle obtained through the Venerable Servant of God’s intercession.

Thus, the first three Pontiffs of the twenty-first century all agreed in declaring that Álvaro del Portillo was a good and faithful man, a teacher of Christian life who served the Church and souls selflessly.

1 A Christian family

Álvaro was the third of eight children in the family of Ramon del Portillo and Clementina Diez de Sollano, who were married on January 11, 1908. Ramon had been born in Madrid on January 28, 1879, and worked as a lawyer in an insurance company, while Clementina had been born on April 16, 1885 in Cuernavaca, Mexico. They met during the vacations that both families spent in La Granja, Segovia, Spain.

Álvaro del Portillo, 1917

On March 11, 1914, Álvaro was born in the family home, at 75 Alcalá Street, Madrid. The family soon moved to the nearby Conde de Aranda Street, no. 16, where Ramon’s two sisters, Pilar and Carmen, also lived.

Álvaro was baptized in the parish church of San José on March 17, 1914, with the names of Álvaro, José, Maria, and Eulogio (the saint of the day, a name that was frequently added back then). His godparents were his uncle and aunt, Jorge Diez de Sollano and Carmen del Portillo. Carmen, as we shall see, fulfilled her role as godmother in an admirable way.

Not long afterwards, as was then customary in Spain, on December 28, 1916, he received the sacrament of Confirmation, conferred by Bishop Eustaquio Nieto y Martin of Sigüenza, in the parish church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

Álvaro’s brothers and sisters, and other relatives, have described the family’s warm Christian atmosphere. Álvaro himself once said that “God our Lord wanted me to be a friend of my father.” His mother Clementina instilled in him a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Holy Spirit, and a special veneration for Mary Most Holy under the title of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. As in so many Catholic homes, he learned from his mother vocal prayers that he prayed right up to his death. It is worth mentioning that the devotion to the Holy Spirit that Álvaro learned from his pious mother was perhaps not very common in families at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Álvaro at home

Both at home and at school he was prepared for his First Communion, which he also received at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, on May 12, 1921, shortly after his seventh birthday. From then on, with simplicity and no little spirit of sacrifice (the fast before Communion in those days meant not eating or drinking anything, not even water, from midnight on), he attended Mass and received Holy Communion regularly. He also did so during his summer vacations in La Granja, alternating between several nearby churches: the “Colegiata,” the convent of the Poor Clares, the church of Christ Crucified, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows. He always remembered the community of Poor Clares, who eventually had to abandon their convent.

His childhood was quite a normal and happy one, much like that of his brothers and sisters and classmates at the school of Our Lady of the Pillar, a very good school run by the Marianists close to where he lived.

His mother taught him to accept sickness with joy, since his health was not that good. At the age of two or three, he began to suffer from attacks of rheumatism. After dinner, his two older siblings got to drink a large glass of eggnog, while he had to take some medicine. He would tell them enviously, with a Mexican accent: “How lucky you are; you get eggnog and I have to take (a bad tasting medicinal concoction).”

During the holidays, with some relatives

Siblings and friends remember him as a likeable boy, open and courteous, but also strong and energetic, with an interest in the sports common at that time. But above all it was his generosity and deep sincerity that people noticed. His younger sister Pilar stated that she never heard him tell a single lie.

A classmate, Javier Garcia Leániz, says: “There is one boy, an adolescent, whom I’ve never been able to forget. He was my desk mate. (…) He left a deep impression on me that has never been erased. His name was Álvaro del Portillo.”

On the day of his First Holy Communion

Both at home, with the help of private language teachers, and at school he acquired deep cultural and intellectual formation. This culture came to the surface naturally throughout the years. In his mature years his preaching sometimes contained exact quotations from poets and authors, above all from the classics of Spanish literature. Many years later, for example, he made reference to the devotion to the Stations of the Cross that he had learned in high school:

With pupils of his school in 1921

“In the last station, the Burial of our Lord,” he said in 1983, “we repeated some verses that were very poor, but that I still find moving. Here is what they say: al rey de las virtudes, / pesada losa encierra; / pero feliz la tierra, / ya canta salvación. (The king of virtues, / lies enclosed by a heavy stone;/ but the earth is happy / and now sings salvation.) For God died, so that we might live; he is buried, so that we can reach everywhere. That is why the earth joyfully sings its salvation.”

He also gave evidence from a very young age of a talent mentioned by his sister Pilar: “He drew very well, but didn’t boast of it. On the contrary, he was very simple and humble.”

When he was still a young boy, his father Ramon would take him to Mass on Sunday morning at the local parish church. Afterwards, they would cross Alcalá Street to take a walk in Retiro Park. His sister Pilar says that, over the years, Álvaro “continued to preserve, deep in his soul, the innocence and simplicity, the sincere seeking for God, that he had when he was still quite young.”

Álvaro with his parents and siblings

In an article published after his death, Álvaro del Portillo wrote: “The family —a communion of persons among whom there reigns a gratuitous love that is disinterested and generous— is the place, the environment where we learn to love. The family is a true school of love.” Perhaps that is why so many favors attributed to his intercession concern difficult family situations, as was pointed out by the postulator of his cause, Fr. Flavio Capucci: “spouses who make up after quarreling; the birth of children, sometimes after waiting for many years before asking for his intercession; reconciliation with angry relatives; the birth of a healthy child after a diagnosis that the baby would be born with problems.”

2 At university

On finishing high school, Álvaro had to decide what he should study at university. He chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps, and enrolled in engineering. After all, he had a strong grounding in mathematics and was quite good at drawing. With this goal in mind, he entered an academy that prepared students for the entrance examination for the engineering school.

During the Spanish Civil War, in 1937

During those years, as a result of the Mexican revolution and the 1929 economic crisis, his family was going through a period of financial hardship. Therefore Álvaro decided to postpone his entry into the School of Civil Engineering and in 1932 began to take courses for the position of Adjunct in Public Works, which required only three years. Thus he would be able to support himself financially while continuing to study for an engineering degree.

In 1933 he took the examination for entrance into the School of Civil Engineering in Madrid, which admitted less than ten percent of the candidates each year. He passed on his second attempt, one of the 23 students admitted of the 549 who took the test.

“HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL, AND YET WAS ALSO VERY APPROACHABLE AND SIMPLE”

He began classes there for the 1933-34 school year, while in the evenings he took the courses required for the second year of the Adjunct in Public Works degree. But the Director who headed both Schools told him that he had to choose one of the two courses. The Director was worried that Álvaro’s example in getting both degrees might lead other students to underestimate the difficulties of their studies. So Álvaro decided to concentrate on the Adjunct in Public Works program, since he only had one year left to finish his degree and begin working and assisting his family financially. He would complete his degree in engineering later on.

With St. Josemaría in “Jardines de los Viveros” (Valencia)

His classmates recall him as a generous friend, always ready to help those around him. He continued in his love for reading good books (many days after class he would make a quick visit to the nearby bookshops on Cuesta Moyano), his love for photography, and for sports.

He also continued feeding his spiritual life, with practices of traditional piety. He saw God’s hand in the events of daily life and in the beauty of creation.

Years later, he recalled summer vacations in La Isla, Cantabria, where he savored the marvelous spectacle of the natural setting. “God began getting into my soul,” he said.

Álvaro was never a solitary person. From at least the school year 1933-34, he took part in the activities of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Specifically, he dedicated hours at weekends to works of mercy for the poor people in the slums surrounding the capital. He would go with friends to distribute alms, food and medicine. He recalled years later: “I always learned from them: people who didn’t even have enough to eat, and I never saw anything but joy. They were a tremendous lesson for me.”

One of his companions in the activities of St. Vincent de Paul, Angel Vegas, wrote after Álvaro’s death: “There was one person who really impressed me. He was studying Highway Engineering and had great human and intellectual prestige. He was truly exemplary in our work with the needy people. I say that he surprised me because he was one of the most brilliant students at the School, and yet was also very approachable and simple. He was very intelligent, cheerful, refined, friendly, and above all (which is what caught my attention) deeply humble, with an extraordinary humility that made an impact. His name was Álvaro del Portillo. As I just said, Álvaro truly made an impact on me. Many years have gone by and, although I never saw him afterwards, I have never been able to forget his example. And I have noticed Álvaro’s impact on many other people’s lives: one of affection, goodness, and love for God.”

During those years, the social situation in the large cities of Spain was highly volatile, with negative repercussions for the practice of religion. Álvaro was never frightened by the very real possibility of suffering violence. On February 4, 1934, after giving a catechism class in the parish church of San Ramon, in the impoverished Vallecas district, a group of angry agitators attacked the four or five young men who had just given those classes. Álvaro was hit on the head with a heavy wrench. As he later recalled: “I was saved from even greater injury because the attack took place near a subway entrance and I ran into the station just as a train was arriving. With blood on my overcoat, and with those who had just attacked me in close pursuit, I managed to jump into a car on the train just as the door was closing. Perhaps that saved my life.”

When he arrived home, his parents were out. He went to a nearby emergency clinic. Perhaps because the medical care he received there wasn’t adequate (it was a Sunday), the wound became infected and he spent several months in a lot of pain. But as his younger brothers and sisters recalled, he never complained about it.

A companion, Manuel Perez Sanchez, recalls another event from that period. Álvaro and he went to visit some families living in shacks on the banks of the Arroyo del Abroñigal River, and came upon the aftermath of a domestic fight. The police had arrested the parents but left the four children in the shack, at least one of them too young to walk. The children had no food and were shivering from cold. They took the children to the police station, but it was closed; they then gave some money to a neighbor to get the children something to eat. They returned the following day, but the police would not get involved in the matter. Álvaro brought the children to a charitable institution, the St. Cristina Shelter, in the university district. Sixty years later, Manuel Perez Sanchez recalled the scene: “I still have a vivid memory of Álvaro walking through the streets of Madrid with one of those poor children in his arms, on the way to the shelter.”

At the beginning of 1935, he finished his studies as Adjunct of Public Works. On March 30 he began working in the afternoons at the Hydrographic Confederation of Tajo, in the Bridges and Foundations Section. He was permitted to attend classes in the mornings at the School of Highway Engineers, and was now receiving a salary to help support his family.

3 The divine call

In the early 1930s, his aunts Carmen and Pilar del Portillo helped out in the works of mercy organized by the Apostolic Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Here they got to know Fr. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Since June of 1927, he had been chaplain for the Foundation of the Sick, a charitable initiative run by the same religious. They spoke to him about their nephew Álvaro. The founder of Opus Dei began to pray for him, even without having met him.

HE WAS AMAZED TO HEAR ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR THE FULLNESS OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD

In 1935, on one of Álvaro’s visits to the poor neighborhoods with his friends, he heard one of them speak enthusiastically about a young priest, Fr. Josemaría. Álvaro asked Manuel Perez Sanchez to introduce him to him, which he readily agreed to do. They met in March 1935, in the residence at 50 Ferraz Street. On learning his name, the founder of Opus Dei asked him: “Are you a nephew of Carmen del Portillo?”

St. Josemaría, Bl. Álvaro del Portillo and the Servants of God José Luis Múzquiz and José María Hernández Garnica

Their first conversation was very brief. They made an appointment to chat at greater length at another time. Álvaro came punctually, but Fr. Josemaría didn’t show up, since an unexpected situation had arisen at the last moment and he wasn’t able to notify him because he didn’t have his telephone number. Álvaro regretted not finding him there, since he would have liked to get to know that priest better, since he had made a very favourable impression on him.

At the beginning of July, Álvaro decided to go to the Ferraz residence to greet Fr. Josemaría before going to La Granja for his vacation. More than forty years later he said: “When I was about to leave Madrid for the summer, the thought occurred to me: I will go and say goodbye to that priest who was so likable. Although I hadn’t seen him for more than four or five minutes, I went in the end. He received me and we spoke calmly about many things. Afterwards he told me: tomorrow we have a day of recollection (it was Saturday); why don’t you stay and attend it, before leaving on your vacation?”

HE WAS CONVINCED HE HAD RECEIVED A SPECIAL GRACE FROM GOD, ALTHOUGH WITHOUT ANY EXTRAORDINARY MANIFESTATIONS

He accepted the invitation. The founder of Opus Dei gave the meditations, centered on love for God and for our Lady. Álvaro’s heart was deeply moved, as he later recalled: “I had never heard anyone speak about God with such strength, with such love, with such faith.”

He was amazed to hear for the first time about the search for the fullness of Christian life in the middle of the world, through one’s professional work. And the divine call penetrated powerfully into his soul: “On that morning of July 7, 1935, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes. He made use of a day of recollection preached by our founder to put into my heart a new restlessness, which led me to begin my true life.”

HE STROVE TO SANCTIFY HIS WORK AND DAILY CIRCUMSTANCES, TURNING THEM INTO A PATH OF SERVICE TO OUR LORD, TO THE CHURCH AND TO SOULS

At Fr. Josemaría’s suggestion, a member of Opus Dei spoke to him about the possibility of committing himself to that exciting apostolic panorama. Álvaro responded without hesitation and asked for admission to the Work: “It was obviously a divine call because the idea of a vocation of that kind had not even remotely passed through my mind. All I was thinking of was getting my degree in engineering and beginning a family.”

The founder, who had great discernment into people’s hearts, accepted Álvaro’s petition that same day. He was convinced that God was acting, and also realized the human and Christian maturity of the person for whom he had been praying for so long. Álvaro was twenty-one years old. As various witnesses confirm, he was always very prudent in his decisions, and never improvised.

He was convinced he had received a special grace from God, although without any extraordinary manifestations. And he was always very grateful. As he said in Barcelona in August 1991: “Lord, how good you are; how good you are for having chosen me, choosing me from among so many people, with no special merit on my part.”

Given this new direction for his life, Álvaro put off his vacation. He began to take part in a course of formation that St. Josemaría organized for him. Soon a new participant joined him, José Maria Hernández Garnica, who had also asked for admission to Opus Dei recently.

During those days, the founder spoke with him frequently about living his Christian dedication in the midst of the world. With God’s grace, he was growing in interior life and learning to keep God present throughout the day, with short prayers and small mortifications. He also strove to sanctify his work and daily circumstances, turning them into a path of service to our Lord, to the Church and to souls.

In August he joined his parents and brothers and sisters at La Granja. While continuing to live his new plan of spiritual life, he began passing on to his friends the joy of knowing that he was a son of God. An idea of his apostolate can be gleaned from his letters to St. Josemaría. In the September Noticias (a hectographed bulletin with recent news sent during the vacation period to the students who were receiving formation in the Ferraz residence), we read regarding Álvaro that “in La Granja, the famous fishing episode St. Mark speaks about in the first chapter of his Gospel has been repeated with abundant success.”

In the first days of his new life he felt great enthusiasm, and saw God in every event. Little by little, as Álvaro himself realized, this enthusiasm was becoming “more reflective, of a different style, more serious; it was the same love, but of a different kind, with greater maturity and sureness. This isn’t meant to imply that the enthusiasm at the start wasn’t serene, but that perhaps at the beginning God wanted to help me by granting me a special joy.” These words from a letter of his to Fr. Josemaría gave rise to point number 994 in The Way: “‘My enthusiasm is gone,’ you write. You have to work not out of enthusiasm but out of Love: conscious of duty, which means self-denial.”

He was learning to practice the theological and moral virtues in the middle of the world, in a way suited to a person who works with and helps others in life’s ordinary circumstances, including the works of mercy. From 26 to 31 December he took part in his first retreat, preached by the founder. It proved another strong spur for his ardent interior struggle. The maturity of his self-giving, amid his great simplicity, was evident to everyone. On March 19, 1936, Fr. Josemaría granted him definitive incorporation in Opus Dei. Shortly afterwards he received the task of substituting for Fr. Josemaría in the classes of formation given to university students in Ferraz, while St. Josemaría was in Valencia. The founder was beginning to rely on Álvaro to carry out Opus Dei.

4 Days of war

After an intense 1935-1936 school year, Álvaro began making plans for the summer. But everything changed with the military uprising on July 18, 1936, when the Spanish Civil War began. Shortly beforehand, aware of the seriousness of the situation, the founder of Opus Dei asked him, as he did other members of the Work:

“I HAVE NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN ANY POLITICAL ACTIVITY… AND I WAS PUT IN PRISON MERELY BECAUSE I WAS FROM A CATHOLIC FAMILY”

“You see how things are going; I could be murdered at any moment because I am a priest. Do you freely commit yourself to take the Work forward if I’m killed?”

“Yes, Father, of course,” he responded immediately.

What the DYA Residence looked like after the Spanish Civil War

The religious persecution rapidly intensified. Álvaro was living with his parents and brothers and sisters on Conde de Aranda Streeet. His father Ramon was arrested on August 13, because the wife of a prominent military officer had taken refuge in his house. His mother Clementina, fearing the worst, sought asylum with her children in the Mexican embassy, since she had been born in Mexico.

Álvaro’s age meant he would probably be conscripted into the army, but he decided to stay out of the conflict. For a while he hid with his brother in a house on Serrano Street, the property of some acquaintances. When that became too risky, they took refuge in the embassy of Finland. But at the beginning of December 1936, the police stormed the Finnish legation and took the refugees to the San Anton prison, a school run by religious that the Republican authorities had confiscated. It housed hundreds of prisoners living in inhumane conditions, subjected to mental and physical tortures.

Álvaro endured everything with calm charity. Throughout his life, he almost never spoke about those sufferings. One of the few times he did so was in 1987 during a trip to the Far East, in a get-together with priests. One of them asked him about our duty to forgive others: “I have never been involved in any political activity… and I was put in prison merely because I was from a Catholic family. At that time I wore glasses, and occasionally one of the guards would come up to me —they called him Petrof, a Russian name— and put a pistol to my head and say: ‘You are a priest, because you wear glasses.’ He could have killed me at any moment.”

With St. Josemaría and other students at the DYA Academy

But providence was watching over him. Surprisingly without any trial or sentence, Álvaro was freed at the end of January 1937. His family knew that Álvaro’s father was also being held in San Anton. So many people were being held there incommunicado that father and son spent a considerable time there without seeing each other. When his mother Clementina learned of it, she began negotiating through the Mexican embassy and eventually was successful in getting her husband freed.

After several efforts, Álvaro was accepted in mid-March in the Honduran consulate on the Paseo de la Castellana. The founder of Opus Dei was staying there with his young brother Santiago and three members of the Work. Álvaro offered to help the consul’s family with the bookkeeping. He also dedicated time to studying languages, including Japanese.

The day of his ordination to the priesthood in 1944

Ramon del Portillo’s health had been severely affected by his stay in prison. He was suffering from laryngeal tuberculosis that was getting steadily worse, and that possibly had been the reason for his release. The founder of Opus Dei, who had left the Honduran Consulate at the beginning of August and now had diplomatic accreditation that enabled him to move freely around Madrid, looked after him spiritually and administered the anointing of the sick. He died on October 14. Isidoro Zorzano wrote in his diary: “I was present when his father passed away. Not being able to be there with his mother was a further cause of sorrow for Álvaro, added to all the others, but it isn’t prudent for him to leave the Consulate.” Álvaro realized that, since his father was well-cared for spiritually, he shouldn’t risk his life, although that renunciation cost him dearly. Isidoro’s words were certainly a comfort to him: “You can rest at ease that he died in a holy way.”

A week later, his mother Clementina once again made use of her Mexican nationality to get permission to leave Madrid, then the most dangerous place in Spain, with her younger children. By way of Valencia and Marseilles, she reached Burgos, where a Catholic family was free to practice the faith. St. Josemaría also left Madrid in October 1937. All these events convinced Álvaro that he too should leave the Spanish capital, despite all the risks. But he waited until he received the green light from Isidoro Zorzano, who at that moment was acting on behalf of the founder of Opus Dei in Madrid. The way in which he managed to escape on the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar in 1938 shows the clear hand of divine providence. He narrated his adventures in a written account entitled From Madrid to Burgos, Passing through Guadalajara.

Once he reached Burgos, since he was of draft age, he entered the Fuentas Blancas academy for provisional second lieutenants. He was assigned to a regiment whose mission was reconstructing bridges destroyed during the war, first in Cigales, Valladolid, and later in Olot. The founder of Opus Dei began to realize that God had sent Álvaro to his side to be for him saxum, the rock on which the foundations of the Work could be established, despite being so young. He wrote to Álvaro from Burgos on March 23, 1939: “May Jesus watch over you for me, Saxum. That is what you are. I see our Lord lends you strength and makes a reality of my word: saxum! Thank him for it and be faithful to him.” A deep spiritual harmony was established, and Álvaro would soon come to be St. Josemaría’s closest co-worker in governing Opus Dei, especially after his appointment as Secretary General in 1939. Once the war was over, on returning to Madrid, he lived together with the founder, in the students’ residence at no. 6 Jenner Street.

Thanks to intensive courses organized at the end of the war, he received his degree in engineering and began working in the Ministry of Public Works. He stole hours from his sleep to look after all his other responsibilities. It was a period of great expansion in Opus Dei’s apostolic work, and he made frequent trips from Madrid to other cities throughout Spain.

He also was a firm support when misunderstandings arose in some ecclesiastical circles, which St. Josemaría referred to as “opposition from good people.” One positive result of all this confusion was winning the affection and friendship of many bishops and religious superiors, including the Abbot of Montserrat, Dom Aurelio Maria Escarré, who invited him to the Abbey during Holy Week in 1943, to explain Opus Dei to some well-known Catalonian Catholics.

Amid those years of reconstruction in Spain, with a new world war now raging, Álvaro, together with other faithful of Opus Dei, began to prepare to receive priestly ordination as soon as an adequate canonical solution could be found. He dedicated many hours of study to the ecclesiastical subjects, following a plan approved by the bishop of Madrid. On February 14, 1943, St. Josemaría received a special divine light that made him understand how priests could be incardinated who would dedicate themselves to the pastoral care of the members of Opus Dei and their apostolic activities. On the following day, he gave this news to Álvaro and told him to prepare to make a trip to Rome.

He arrived in the Eternal City on May 25, 1943, and on June 4 was received in audience by Pius XII. He explained to him the nature of Opus Dei and its apostolates in detail. Thus one of his great ambitions was fulfilled: videre Petrum —to see Peter. A few days later he had a long interview with Msgr. Montini, at that time Substitute of the Secretary of State and the future Pope Paul VI.

On his return, Álvaro had abundant work awaiting him. Besides his ordinary work and activities, he finished his ecclesiastical studies and completed a doctorate in history. On June 25, 1944, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Madrid, along with José María Hernández Garnica and José Luis Múzquiz. St. Josemaría had accompanied him for years with his prayer, reflected in a hand-written note dated July 1, 1940, in Avila: “My God, enkindle Álvaros heart so that he is a holy priest!”

As St. Josemaría stated publicly, Fr. Álvaro heard his confession for the first time on June 26, 1944. From then on, the center of his life was his priestly ministry, in the service of the Church and souls.

5 In Rome and from Rome

Bishop Javier Echevarría once summed up Fr. Álvaro’s priestly ministry in these terms: “humble intelligence, simple piety, complete self-giving to others, solicitude and mercy for the weak and needy, the fortitude of a father, contagious peace.”

In Villa Tevere, with St. Josemaría and Fr Jose Luis Massot, in 1954

His contemplative dialogue with God, with the Holy Mass as the center and root of his interior life, was what sustained his untiring pastoral activity, as well as his work in governing Opus Dei, which, when the Second World War ended in 1945, began to spread to other countries.

Approval of Opus Dei as an institution of pontifical right was becoming urgent, in order to reflect and facilitate its universality, including its geographical universality. Therefore the founder sent Fr. Álvaro to Rome once again, carrying with him the necessary documentation. He embarked from Barcelona on February 25, 1946.

In the Eternal City, he began working diligently to attain the needed approval. Msgr. Montini received him again with great affection and arranged another private audience for him with Pius XII. He had the opportunity to open his soul and inform the Holy Father of the steps taken and the difficulties that had arisen.

After a number of attempts, he reached the conclusion that the problems could not be overcome without the founder’s presence in Rome. Despite being gravely ill, St. Josemaría arrived on June 23, 1946. They worked hard until the end of August at getting things moving in the Vatican. After spending six weeks back in Spain, Fr. Álvaro returned to Rome in October, where he helped prepare the Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia, which opened the way for the first pontifical approval of the Work and of many other groups in the Church that had arisen under the name of “new forms.” Less than a year later, on March 25, 1947, Pius XII named him secretary of a new Commission. It was the first in a long series of his appointments in the Roman Curia at the service of the universal Church.

Another big concern was getting the central headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome underway, with almost no human means, in order to spur forward its apostolate in new countries all over the world. Fr. Álvaro played a key role in finding the required financial resources. He had to find the money needed to pay the suppliers and workers each Saturday. Frequently he had to seek donations and loans from friends (if necessary, getting out of bed with a high fever), negotiate mortgages and credits, and get letters of exchange accepted. He knew how to win others’ trust, and even the gratitude of those who were doing such favors for him. As St. Josemaría would say, when Álvaro wasn’t present: “When you’re with this man it is impossible not to have faith.”

Those Roman years were very hard on the founder and Fr. Álvaro, who bore on their shoulders the weight of the Work’s apostolic expansion. At times Fr. Álvaro’s body would give out and he would fall sick, including on days when he had to help solve problems to keep the canonical approval of Opus Dei on track, or seek a remedy for their complete lack of money. St. Josemaría remarked years later that the “medicine” he really needed was “two poultices of a million dollars, one on each kidney.”

Despite everything, classes began in the Roman College of the Holy Cross, an international center for the formation of faithful of the Work, some of whom would receive priestly ordination. Fr. Álvaro was its first rector, from 1948 to 1954. Moreover, he was also the Counsellor of Opus Dei in Italy from 1948 to 1951. Part of his work involved making many trips to tell bishops about the spirit of the Work and ask for their permission to begin apostolic activities in their dioceses. They were years filled with joy and hope, amid all the privations and hardships. The heroic support he gave the founder was obvious to all. St. Josemaría once even said: “I’m taking advantage of the fact that he isn’t here to tell you that, if anyone in Opus Dei could be called a cofounder, it is Álvaro del Portillo.”

His illnesses, some of them quite serious, did not prevent him from doing everything needed to assist the work of the founder in making Opus Dei a reality in the world. In the late 1940s, stable apostolic work began in various countries of Europe and America. In the 1950s, the Work’s apostolate expanded to Chile, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries in Latin America. In the 1960s, its apostolic wok began in Paraguay, Australia, the Philippines, Belgium, Nigeria and Puerto Rico. Fr. Álvaro helped the founder in drawing up the preparatory studies needed, in forming the people who came to Rome, and in incessant prayer for these countries.

In St Peter’s Square, while he was working on the Second Vatican Council

At the same time he worked faithfully in the service of the Holy See, where his humble simplicity was accompanied by a growing reputation. No one was surprised when he was appointed a member of various preparatory commissions for the Council convoked by John XXIII. He presided over the De laicatu Catholico preparatory commission. Later he was a peritus and consultor for the ecumenical council, and secretary of the commission for the Discipline of the Clergy and the Christian People, presided over by Cardinal Pietro Ciriaci.

All this work demanded of him an enormous effort, as Cardinal Julian Herranz, who worked alongside him during those years, testified: “Frequently, Fr. Álvaro’s working day, and that of his closest collaborators on the Commission, ended well after midnight.” He pointed to Fr. Álvaro’s serenity and supernatural approach when he was asked to make substantial revisions to the decree Presbyterorum Ordinis. It was approved on December 7,1965, with only four contrary votes from the 2,394 Council fathers.

With St. Josemaría, after an audience with St. John XXIII in 1960

Pope Paul VI, besides confirming his appointment to these tasks, appointed him a consultor for the commission to revise the Code of Canon Law. in 1966, he also appointed him consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and later Judge of the Tribunal for the same Dicastery.

Along with St. Josemaría, he accepted the teachings of the Second Vatican Council with immense joy. He thanked the Holy Spirit for that life-giving impetus for the Church’s fidelity and expansion in the twentieth century. As a sure criterion for the application of the Council’s decisions, he always put the good of the Church and souls in first place. He was especially gladdened by the Council’s teaching on the universal call to holiness, which lay at the heart of the charism of Opus Dei.

During St. Josemaría’s pastoral journey to Spain and Portugal in 1972

But along with that joy, he suffered (like Paul VI himself) on seeing the disobedience and misinterpretations that arose in the name of a so-called “spirit of the Council.” Fr. Álvaro reacted with a deeply supernatural spirit. When sometimes he had to speak about a problem, his usual welcoming smile was briefly replaced by a flash of pain, accompanied by incisive words that moved one to pray more, to make reparation (for one’s own omissions as well), and to feel humbly sorry for not living with more love and loyalty. I often heard him urge those listening to be very faithful to the traditional teaching of the Church and to go deeply into its content through serious study, but also through a sincere life of piety.

Fr. Álvaro loved the Church and helped others to love her ardently. He rejoiced with her joys and suffered with her sorrows. Nothing of her earthly pilgrimage was indifferent to him. And he insisted that the greatest service that the faithful and cooperators of Opus Dei could render the Church was “to live a Christian life in every circumstance, bringing this life to every sector of society.”

His love for the Church was also reflected in his scholarly writings, such as, for example, the books Faithful and Laity in the Church, published in 1969, and On the Priesthood, in 1970. Other writings of his are collected in the volume Rendere amabile la verità, published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana in 1995.

HE WORKED FAITHFULLY IN THE SERVICE OF THE HOLY SEE, WHERE HIS HUMBLE SIMPLICITY WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A GROWING REPUTATION

In a letter to Bishop Echevarría in 1994, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger recalled Fr. Álvaro’s work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1966 to 1983: “He served this Dicastery for many years as a Consultor, a service characterized by his humility and availability in every circumstance. He enriched this Congregation singularly with his competence and experience, as I was personally able to verify in the first years of my ministry here in Rome.”

FR. ÁLVARO LOVED THE CHURCH AND HELPED OTHERS TO LOVE HER ARDENTLY. HE REJOICED WITH HER JOYS AND SUFFERED WITH HER SORROWS. NOTHING OF HER EARTHLY PILGRIMAGE WAS INDIFFERENT TO HIM

These were intense years of service, with continual prayer addressed to Jesus through his Blessed Mother Mary. He made regular pilgrimages to many Marian shrines, including Torreciudad, Fatima, and finally to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where he felt especially at home owing to his Mexican roots.

6 St. Josemaría’s first successor

On March 11, 1973, Fr. Álvaro’s birthday, the founder of Opus Dei took advantage of his absence to tell the students from the Roman College of the Holy Cross: “He has the faithfulness that you should always have, and he has given up everything of his own with a smile, like you. He doesn’t think he is an exception, and I don’t think so either, nor that he will ever be: all of you should act as he does, with God’s grace. And if you ask me: Has he ever been heroic? I will answer: Yes, he has been heroic many, many times, with a heroism that seemed something ordinary. I would like you to imitate him in many things, but above all in loyalty.”

Praying before the body of St. Josemaría in the prelatic church of Our Lady of Peace

Scarcely two years later, Msgr. Escrivá died suddenly. It was perhaps the most painful moment in Fr. Álvaro’s life, but he “didn’t even have time to cry,” said Bishop Javier Echevarría, “and surely he was the son who felt it most deeply. In those difficult circumstances he poured himself out in serving, supporting everyone else with extraordinary strength and peace.” He consoled the faithful of Opus Dei throughout the world by immediately sending a long letter, in which he recounted the final steps of the founder’s life on earth and urged everyone to follow his example with renewed fidelity.

This formed the core of his preaching from then on. On September 15, 1975, he was elected to succeed St. Josemaría at the head of Opus Dei. Shortly thereafter, he wrote another extensive letter, in which he defined the new phase of Opus Dei as “the stage of continuity in fidelity to the founder’s spirit.” And with humble insistence, he asked for everyone’s prayers: “Pray for me so that I may be very faithful to the spirit of our founder, and so that this splendid heritage that we have received may bear much fruit.”

During a pastoral journey to Ireland in 1987

His faithfulness gave ample scope for initiative. During the nineteen years he guided Opus Dei, besides strengthening what already existed in 1975, he oversaw the beginning of apostolic activities in twenty new countries all over the world.

In 1984, he helped fulfill another desire of the founder in the service to the Church: the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. To assure the spiritual care of the students, he began several residences for priests in Rome and opened the international Sedes Sapientiae seminary, for seminarians coming from many different countries.

He also put enormous effort into making one of St. Josemaría’s greatest hopes a reality: the definitive canonical solution for Opus Dei, in accord with its foundational charism and the perspectives opened up by the Second Vatican Council. On March 5, 1976, Paul VI granted him his first audience, which lasted more than an hour. One of the topics was the pending juridical solution. Fr. Álvaro considered it prudent to wait, since the founder’s death was still so recent. The Pope agreed. In another audience, held in June 1978, Paul VI encouraged him to begin the steps needed to erect Opus Dei as a personal prelature. But the Pope died on August 6. The new Pope, John Paul I, informed Fr. Álvaro of his desire to reach a solution soon for the canonical situation. But the unexpected death of the newly elected Roman Pontiff meant they had to wait once again.

After the audience with Paul VI in 1976

Fr. Álvaro continued working with great diligence. Above all, he imitated St. Josemaría’s example by praying and asking others to pray for this intention. He turned especially to the intercession of our Lady. With Opus Dei’s golden jubilee approaching, he proclaimed a Marian Year for the Work that would last until February 14, 1979. Later he extended it to the 50th anniversary of February 14, 1930, the day when St. Josemaría had seen that the Work’s apostolate would also include women. And in light of the abundant spiritual gifts received, Fr. Álvaro decided to extend the Marian time again until December 31, 1980.

During those three years, Fr. Álvaro intensified his petition for the Church and for Opus Dei. At least once a week he went to pray the Rosary at a church dedicated to our Lady. He also made frequent pilgrimages to Marian shrines throughout Europe, usually combined with a pastoral visit to spur forward the apostolic work in each country.

Throughout 1982 he continued beseeching our Lady. On November 28, 1982, John Paul II erected Opus Dei as a personal prelature. On that day the Pope appointed Fr. Álvaro the first Prelate of Opus Dei. One of his first decisions was to convoke a year of thanksgiving.

Once five years had gone by after the founder’s death, his process of canonization was begun. Fr. Álvaro dedicated many hours, especially during the summer, to reviewing documents for the cause and writing his own declaration for the process (more than two thousand typed pages). He also organized a team of specialists —historians, theologians, canonists— and closely followed their work on the abundant documentation, which resulted in the presentation of the positio to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in June 1988.

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo with St. John Paul II (May 18, 1992)

In September 1989, the consultors for that Congregation gave a favorable verdict regarding the heroic nature of the virtues of the founder of Opus Dei. In March 1990, the cardinals and bishops at the Dicastery gave their unanimous approval, and on April 9, to Bishop Álvaro’s great joy, the corresponding decree was issued.

He reacted with the same joy on July 6, 1991 when the pontifical decree on a miracle obtained through the founder of Opus Dei’s intercession was made public. In the fall, he received news of the Holy Father’s decision to beatify the founder on May 17, 1992. That day in May was one of the happiest in his life, as he concelebrated the beatification Mass with the Holy Father. The following day the Prelate himself presided over a concelebrated Mass of thanksgiving in St. Peter’s Square. At the end, John Paul II came to greet those attending and asked Bishop Álvaro to join him in blessing them.

7 Pastoral government of the Prelature of Opus Dei

Fr. Álvaro was always eager to have personal contact with the faithful, following St. Josemaría’s example. Shortly before the first anniversary of the founder’s death, he commemorated his life in an academic ceremony at the University of Navarra, where he had succeeded him as Chancellor. In July 1977 he went to Torreciudad, to fulfill a promise made by the founder to our Lady of Guadalupe during his stay in Mexico in 1970: to venerate a mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe which, at the founder’s request, had been installed in one of the chapels then in construction at the shrine.

Speaking with an American Indian woman during a pastoral visit to South America

In the following years, he often went to the European countries where Opus Dei’s apostolic activities were being carried out. in 1979 he traveled to Poland. He went to Czestochowa to pray to our Lady and then visited Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, archbishop of Warsaw, laying the groundwork for Opus Dei’s apostolic activities to begin in that country. With that same purpose in mind, in 1983 he traveled to northern Europe, and visited Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm, Uppsala, and Copenhagen.

In the spring of 1983 he went to Mexico again, where the apostolic work of Opus Dei was very well developed. He wanted above all to make a novena of thanksgiving in Guadalupe. As on his other trips, he dedicated time to catechesis with thousands of people from all walks of life. He urged them to follow Christ closely and to make him known in all environments, to be faithful to the Roman Pontiff and the bishops, and to get to know the social doctrine of the Church.

On a visit to a Convent of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Heart of Jesus in 1990

That same year he traveled to other countries in North and South America. He refused to allow his increasing age and the discomforts that came with changes in schedule and sleep to slow him down. He ardently wanted to encourage the faithful of the Prelature and so many others in their struggle for holiness in the middle of the world, following up the evangelizing goals that John Paul II had marked out.

Although each trip had its own importance, we can mention here especially the one he made in 1987 to the countries of the Far East, including Australia and Japan. In the Philippines he insisted to the faithful of the Prelature that they needed to promote initiatives of solidarity for the less fortunate. Some of the projects that resulted from his visit are now proving very successful, such as the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise in Cebu, for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. On that same visit, he also visited the banks of the river that divides the two Koreas, and prayed for that country’s unification.

In 1993, greeting a sick man before the gathering which took place in Retamar School

Another intense trip was his visit in 1988 to Canada, the US and Mexico. A year later, in 1989, when he visited various African countries he made the visits in three separate stages, returning to Rome after each visit —Kenya; then Zaire (now DR Congo) and Cameroon; and finally, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. His death in 1994 came the day after returning from a trip to the Holy Land, where Opus Dei had just begun its apostolic work.

During a trip to Mexico in 1983

In the pastoral government of the Prelature, he faithfully followed the collegiality established by the founder, which St. Josemaría said was “not without the special providence of God.” He never neglected to ask for the opinion of the other members of his Councils, even though they were still quite young or less knowledgeable. One of his biographers writes: “He studied matters deeply, after listening to those who could or should give their opinion. With his welcoming attitude, no one kept their opinion to themselves, or failed to express doubts or questions for fear of making a bad impression or a mistake. He was not attached to his own viewpoint, and he was ready to change it when necessary. His ability to grasp the big picture was impressive, as was his positive spirit and the trust and freedom that he fostered in those around him. Above all, Fr. Álvaro governed Opus Dei through his affection, through the closeness to each soul that marks an authentic pastor.”

As the organization of St. Josemaría’s cause of canonization made clear, he had a special capacity to distribute tasks, coordinate efforts and encourage teamwork. He knew how to combine urgency with patience, and helped everyone make good use of time by living order and punctuality and giving each job its due importance. Above and beyond the organizational skills involved in human efficiency, his work was marked by the deep rectitude of intention of a person who isn’t seeking his own interests, but the glory of God and the service of souls.

Visiting a corporate work of Opus Dei in Japan, during a pastoral journey to the Far East and Australia in 1987

He always strove, simply and naturally, to support the intentions of the Roman Pontiff. A mere suggestion from the Pope about the need to begin working in a specific country, for example, led immediately to practical results, as happened with the start of Opus Dei’s apostolic work in the Scandinavian countries.

In October 1985, John Paul II suggested to the bishops of Europe that a renewed missionary effort was needed, condensed in an oft-repeated phrase: “the new evangelization.” Two months later, Fr. Álvaro sent a long letter to the faithful of the Prelature, thinking especially of those who lived in “old Europe” (including here, because of their similar pastoral situation, the United States and Canada).He wanted to rekindle their apostolic zeal and spur them to undertake daring initiatives, including in what John Paul II would later call the “new Areopagus”, the modern communications media. Above all he urged everyone to intensify their prayer and mortification. This was something he insisted on greatly on all his trips. He convoked and guided various workshops in Rome to study and launch new projects.

St. John Paul II consecrated Don Álvaro a bishop in 1991

In accord with the indications of Peter’s successor, he put the needs of each particular Church in first place. In Rome, he often received prelates from all over the world. On his many trips, he would visit the local bishop before starting his other activities there, in order to learn what the pastoral priorities were. Many bishops have testified to the heroic way Fr. Álvaro practiced this essential aspect of the life of Opus Dei.

It is easy to understand the joy of so many ecclesiastics when John Paul II decided to ordain Fr. Álvaro a bishop. At the end of November 1990, the Prefect of the competent Congregation asked him to accept episcopal ordination. He agreed to do so, after consulting with the then Vicar General of the Prelature, Msgr. Javier Echevarría. Fr. Álvaro, with complete detachment from his own advancement, didn’t see this appointment as a distinction for himself, but rather as a great spiritual good for the Prelature. He chose for his coat of arms a drawing of the seal of the Work and the motto Regnare Christum volumus, “we want Christ to reign,” an aspiration that St. Josemaría had used at least since 1930. He repeated it often in his writings, usually using only the initials.

When the news became public, he gathered the faithful who worked in the central headquarters and told them: “The prelate will receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders in its fullness. There will be a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the head of the Work and, through the communion of saints, in some way on the whole of Opus Dei. It will benefit the Work throughout the whole world, and will be a great gift from God, because the prelate will now form part of the Episcopal College and be a successor of the Apostles.”

On January 6, 1991, he received ordination as a bishop at the hands of John Paul II. On the following day he concelebrated Mass in the Basilica of St. Eugene together with the Vicar General and the regional Vicars of Opus Dei, as a sign of unity.

A few days later, he opened his heart about his prayer during the ceremony of ordination, while the Litany of the Saints was being sung: “While lying prostrate as the saints were being invoked, I was thinking: we are poor worms, poor sinful men; and on us is going to descend this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who will give us the strength needed for the successors of the Apostles. I asked God our Lord for what I said in St. Eugene’s on the following day: fidelity for everyone. I prayed: Let us be faithful, let us be faithful!”

8 A holy death

As Flavio Capucci, the postulator for his cause, recounts, at the end of 1985 Fr. Álvaro experienced deep peace, since the two big tasks he wanted to accomplish before he died had now been finished: the juridical configuration for Opus Dei desired by the founder was now a reality, and his written testimony for St. Josemaría’s process of canonization was complete.

During his trip to the Holy Land

Fr. Álvaro continued at the head of the Work for almost another decade. On June 24, 1993, 49 years after his priestly ordination, he spoke of his golden jubilee in a year’s time: “There is still a year to go, during which much can happen. I ask our Lord to help me to be faithful minute by minute, day by day. Thus I will prepare for my priestly jubilee, if it arrives… And if not, I will have it in heaven. Wherever God wants. It is more comfortable to leave this life, much too comfortable. I want whatever our Lord wants.”

In February 1994, at the end of the letter he sent each month to the faithful of the Prelature, he mentioned, as an exception, a personal event: his upcoming eightieth birthday: “I see myself before God as a poor emptyhanded person. I beseech you not to forget the charity of your daily prayer for me and for my intentions!” He took advantage of the imminent anniversary to ask everyone for the gift of “a deep renewal of their desire to be faithful.”

On March 11 he celebrated Mass in the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace. In the homily he acknowledged with humility: “By God’s goodness today I am eighty years old. Over these years I have had the opportunity to contemplate so many marvelous events. I have received so many gifts from God that I cannot even count them, so many caresses from our Lady, my Mother (…) Thank you, Lord! Forgive me for responding so poorly and, from today on, help me even more. Pray that I will be able to fill up the empty spaces in my life, and to put a lot of love for God into everything. Today, besides fostering in my heart a sincere and joyful contrition, I want to say with more strength than ever nunc coepi! “Now I will begin!” This was the motto for our founder’s life (…) In my heart, thanks be to God and to the intercession of our Father [St. Josemaría], the fire of love burns ardently. Therefore I feel very young. One’s youthfulness in years is something simply physiological and is not very important. What truly matters is interior youthfulness, the youthfulness of those who are in love —in love with God— and who always strive to grow in their love.”

That day he announced he would soon be making a trip. The apostolic activities of the Prelature had just begun in Jerusalem, and he accepted the suggestion of going there to urge them forward. He went with a great eagerness to “visit the Holy Land, so closely linked to Jesus, our Lady and St. Joseph.”

He made a request to those accompanying him. He wanted someone to read aloud the passages from Scripture that spoke of the places they were about to visit so that, once at the site, prayer would arise spontaneously. The pilgrimage began on March 15. Among the sites related to Jesus’ life that they visited were Bethlehem, the Sea of Tiberius, Gethsemane and the Holy Sepulcher. On the 22nd he prayed in the Basilica of the Dormition and celebrated Mass in the church next to the Cenacle. As was his custom, he offered it for the Pope and his intentions. In the evening he left for Tel Aviv airport. During the trip home he prayed the rosary and spoke with the plane’s co-pilot, encouraging him in the practice of his Christian life. “I am very happy about having made this trip; I consider it a caress from our Lord,” he confided to Msgr. Echevarría during the flight.

At the Church of the Cenacle, celebrating his last Mass

He arrived home around 10 p.m., happy and smiling, and went to greet our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in one of the oratories. After the examination of conscience, he retired to his room. At 3:10 a.m. he felt a sudden, very acute pain. The doctor diagnosed a grave cardio-circulatory collapse and said that Bishop Álvaro could die at any moment. Msgr. Echevarría administered sacramental absolution and the Anointing of the Sick while Bishop Álvaro was fully conscious. Dr. Araquistáin tried everything, but Bishop Álvaro’s heart ceased beating at 4 a.m.

His body, robed in the sacred vestments more episcoporum (as a bishop), was placed in front of the altar of the Prelatic Church, with a precious relic in his hands: the small crucifix that St. Pius X had in his hands after his death. So many people came to the wake that the prelatic church remained open until late that night. Many people kissed the body devoutly and placed personal religious objects on it for a moment. Among those who came were cardinals, archbishops and bishops, consecrated persons and civic leaders.

On March 24, at 5 p.m., the Vicar General of the Prelature celebrated the funeral. Bishop Álvaro was buried in the tomb that had held the remains of the Founder up until his beatification. On the afternoon of the following day, Msgr. Echevarría offered a solemn memorial Mass in St. Eugene’s Basilica. In his homily he said: “When his biography is written, among other relevant aspects of his supernatural and human personality, a prominent place will need to be given to this reality: The first successor of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá in the government of Opus Dei was, before and above all else, a loyal Christian, a most faithful son of the Church and of the founder, a pastor who gave himself completely to all souls and in a special way to his pusillus grex, to the portion of the People of God that our Lord had entrusted to his pastoral care, in close communion with the Roman Pontiff and with all his brothers in the episcopate.”

The Decree on the Heroic Virtues of Álvaro del Portillo, approved by Benedict XVI on June 28, 2012, begins with these words: Vir fidelis multum laudabitur (Prov 28: 20) (The faithful man shall be highly praised). These words of Sacred Scripture manifest the most characteristic virtue of Bishop Álvaro del Portillo: fidelity. He lived in unquestioned fidelity to God, carrying out his will promptly and generously: fidelity to the Church and the Pope; fidelity to his priesthood, and fidelity to his vocation as a Christian in every moment and circumstance of his life.

Salvador Bernal

PROGRAMME FOR
THE BEATIFICATION

Updated information of the beatification programme and other relevant data can be found at: www.alvaro14.org

Saturday, September 27

Madrid

08:00 Access to the Valdebebas site opens.

10:00 Beginning of programme of welcome on screens.

12:00 Holy Mass of the Beatification; principal celebrant: Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Sunday, September 28

Madrid

08:00 Access to the Valdebebas site opens.

10:00 Beginning of programme of welcome on screens.

12:00 Holy Mass of thanksgiving; principal celebrant: Bishop Javier Echevarría, Bishop Prelate of Opus Dei.

Monday, September 29

Rome

18:00 Blessed Álvaro del Portillo’s body is transferred to St Eugene’s Basilica.

Tuesday, September 30

Rome

11:00 Holy Mass of thanksgiving in the Basilica of St John Lateran; principal celebrant: Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of his Holiness for the diocese of Rome.

16:30 Holy Mass of thanksgiving in the Basilica of St Mary Major; principal celebrant: Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló, Archpriest of the Basilica.

Wednesday, October 1

Rome

10:30 General audience with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square.

Thursday, October 2

Rome

18.00 Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction in St Eugene’s Basilica. Blessing with the relic of Blessed Álvaro and transfer of his body back to the prelatic church of Our Lady of Peace.

The ceremony of the beatification of Bishop Álvaro del Portillo and the Mass of thanksgiving will take place in Valdebebas, one of the fastest developing neighbourhoods of Madrid.

Valdebebas is situated to the north of the Campo de las Naciones and to the east of Sanchinarro, in the Madrid districts of Hortaleza and Barajas. The area chosen for the beatification is a broad tarmacked avenue. It is near Barajas (Adolfo Suárez) Airport, with good connections through the M11 motorway, and is near the M40 orbital motorway.

For the ceremonies at the Valdebebas site on 27 and 28 September, for the beatification of Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, it is advisable to plan to arrive early, because the traffic is likely to be very heavy. Delays of up to two hours can also be expected at the end of the ceremonies.

Access to Valdebebas will be open from 8 am until after 2 pm Access will be closed once the participants have left the area.

Those attending are recommended to use public transport. They should check beforehand which is the best combination.

Public transport is especially recommended for people lodging in Madrid. The nearest stations are the Metro stations Campo de las Naciones, Mar de Cristal, San Lorenzo, Antonio Saura and Álvarez de Villaamil; the Local Trains station Fuente de la Mora; and Bus Routes 87 and 122 of the EMT public bus service.

A valid ticket or pass is needed in order to use public transport. Ample information can be found on the web page of the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid: www.crtm.es. It can be useful to buy a 10 ticket pass, which can be used by several people.

A shuttle service will be in operation to ferry people from public transport stations and stops to the Valdebebas site. The site can also reached on foot, an option especially suitable for young people and those feeling physically fit (distances from the nearest Metro stations vary from 2.7 to 3.4 kilometers).

In the case of groups, the leaders, when they make their registration, will need to state the number of coaches in their group, where they are coming from and on what days they will be attending the ceremonies. With that information, coaches will receive accreditation, which will show where they are to be parked and at what time they are to arrive at each event.

Accredited coaches will park in the area designated by the department of transport. Passengers will get on and off coaches in the parking areas. The coaches will remain in those areas during the entire ceremony.

Coaches need to be accredited. At the time of registering, you will be asked for data for that accreditation. For more information consult www.alvaro14.org.

Those arriving by coach are advised to take everything they need with them when they leave their coach as it will be difficult to get back to their coach before the ceremony ends.

Those arriving from Barajas (Adolfo Suárez) Airport are recommended to use Line 8 of the Metro to Campo de las Naciones, or Mar de Cristal stations; or the C-1 line of the Cercanías— Renfe (local trains) to Fuente de la Mora station. There will be a shuttle service from those stations to the Valdebebas site.

People arriving by taxi should bear in mind that taxis will not have access to the area close to the ceremony and so the last part of their journey will have to be on foot. The recommendation is to use public transport or, in the case of groups, accredited coaches.

The www.alvaro14.org web page will provide up to date information on recommended routes, general information on public transport, facilities for hiring coaches, etc.

To help orderly access to the ceremonies everyone should obtain accreditation, which will indicate what zone to go to. www.alvaro14.org will inform which access is recommended for each zone.

There will be a number of Information points called “Puntos de información Beatificación Álvaro del Portillo” in tourist spots and public places.

Their purpose is to answer questions, and offer help. You can also go to www.alvaro14.org for any information required.

At the Information points there will be youth volunteers ready to help. Volunteers from all over the world will be keeping order, showing people where to go, answering queries and especially helping the sick and the elderly. Please follow their indications to help things go smoothly and ensure that all get to their assigned places without difficulty.

There will be long waiting times, so, to avoid discomfort and help people follow the ceremonies well, you are recommended to bring a folding chair; also a hat or cap (if it’s sunny); alternatively, an umbrella and waterproof wear (if it’s rainy); and have some sweets to take before the ceremony to reduce the risk of fainting.

The volunteers will also be there to help in any way.

If medical aid is needed go to the first volunteer you find, who will help you get to the nearest medical aid post.

For emergency attention dial 112, the emergency number for the European Union.

If you wish to give a donation go to the www.alvaro14.org web page.

USEFUL INFORMATION

You are recommended to carry a photocopy of your identity card or passport at all times, while leaving the original in a secure place at your accommodation. If you lose your documents, as well as reporting the loss to the police, inform your Embassy or Consulate in Madrid and ask for instructions. Telephone numbers can be found in the following pages.

Like most countries in the European Union, Spain uses the Euro.

The Euro is divided into 100 cents. There are eight different coins, of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cents and 1 and 2 Euros. And seven different banknotes, of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Euros.

Many shops do not accept dollars or pounds, so as not to pay for changing money (usually between 1% and 3 %, and a minimum of US $3 per transaction). Money can be changed at bank branches (usually open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 2 pm, though opening and closing hours vary).

Outside those times, you can change money at the Chamartín Railway Station and at Barajas (Adolfo Suárez) Airport.

Many cash machines in Madrid require a four digit PIN (make sure you have a four digit PIN if you come from a country that requires five or six digit PINs).

American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Diners Club are widely accepted; Discover Card is not so widely used in Spain.

Additionally, many machines have screens in different languages, both local and foreign.

If you lose a credit card, you can phone the following numbers: Visa: 90 110 10 11. MasterCard: 91 572 03 03. Diner’s Club Card: 90 240 11 12.

Travellers’ cheques are accepted by banks, travel agencies, hotels and shops. The most popular are American Express, Visa and MasterCard.

Items found on the esplanade in Valdebebas will be taken to the information points.

Lost property offices:

• Ayuntamiento de Madrid: Paseo Molino, 7. 280045 Madrid. Tel: (+34) 91 527 95 90.

• Taxi: Telephone (+34) 91 480 46 13 within 48 hours.

• Lost property office of the EMT (Empresa Municipal de Transportes): Calle Cerro de la Plata 4, 28007 Madrid (Puente de Vallecas). Open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 2 pm, and telephone from 7 am to 9 pm every day. Tel: (+34) 902 50 78 50 / 91 406 88 10.

The regional travel consortium (Consorcio Regional de Transportes) offers information on public transport in the community of Madrid: Metro, EMT (Empresa Municipal de Transportes), intercity coaches and local trains: www.ctm-madrid.es

Madrid Metro-Bus tickets

Tickets can be bought at kiosks, tobacconists, Metro ticket offices, and also at ticket machines in the Metro.

• Single ticket (1 journey): 1,50 €.

• Metro-bus ticket (10 journeys): 12,20 €.

• Express bus ticket airport bus: 5 €.

• Combined metro ticket (10 journeys to all zones): 18,30 €.

• Single ticket (1 journey Zona A): 1,50 €.

• Total zone line (combined): 3 € (1 journey).

• Metro Airport Line 9: from Nuevos Ministerios station can go to all airport terminals: 1,50 €.

• Metro to Valdebebas: The nearest station is Campo de las Naciones (Line 8) about 2 km from the Valdebebas site.

Urban buses in Madrid

www.emtmadrid.es

Taxis

• To and from the airport: 30 €.

• Radio taxi: (+34) 91 540 45 00.

• Independent Radio taxi: (+34) 91 405 12 13.

• RENFE (Railways): (+34) 90 224 02 02.

• Taxis for people with reduced mobility: (+34) 91 547 86 00 / (+34) 91 445 90 08.

Beatification organising committee:

(+34) 913 956 395.

comitemadrid@alvarodelportillo.org

Barajas (Adolfo Suárez) Airport:

(+34) 902 40 47 04 / 91 321 10 00.

Emergencies:

112.

On call pharmacies:

For weekends and at night: 098. See also www.cofm.es.

Madrid municipal police:

092.

Medical attention (serious cases):

061.

Service for foreign tourists:

(+34) 915 488 537.

If you wish to make a call abroad from Spain you need to dial 00 followed by the country code and the telephone number. Calls can be made from public call boxes. These boxes require coins or cards which can be bought in “estancos” (tobacconists).

If you want someone to phone you in Spain from abroad, they need to dial +34 (the Spanish code) and then the telephone number, made up of 9 digits.

If you wish to make calls within Spain you should dial the number without any prefix. This will always be a 9 digit number whether it is a land line or a mobile phone.

If you wish to use your mobile phone in Spain you need to know that coverage is based on GSM technology, which is not compatible with that of some countries such as the United States or Japan. In such cases you need to have a Tri-band mobile. If your technology is compatible, it may be useful to contact the operator in your country to check that you can use your mobile in Spain (your operator will need to activate the roaming international service). Once these steps have been taken in your country of origin, you can use your mobile in Spain as if your terminal was Spanish: without any prefix for calls within Spain or dialling 00 + the respective country code for international calls.

In Madrid there are more than six hundred places open to the public where Mass is celebrated. Timetables of all Masses can be found at web www.misas.org. The following list only includes Mass times in churches with special links to Blessed Álvaro or St Josemaría.

Cathedral of la Almudena

C/ Bailén, 10

Tel.: 91 542 22 00

Weekdays: 12.00, 18:00, 19:00

Sundays: 10:30, 12:00, 13:00, 18:00, 19:00

Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel

C/ San Justo, 4

Tel.: 91 548 40 11

Weekdays: 10:30, 12:30, 19:00, 20:30

Sundays: in the morning, hourly from 10:30; evening 19:00, 20:00

Virgen Milagrosa

C/ García de Paredes, 45

Tel.: 91 447 32 48

Weekdays: 7:20, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 19:00, 20:00

Sundays: 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 19:00, 20:00

Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles

C/ Bravo Murillo, 95

Tel.: 91 533 43 43

Weekdays and Sundays at 08:30, 12:00, 18:00, 21:00

San Jerónimo el Real

C/ Moreto, 4

(near the Prado Museum)

Tel.: 91 420 30 78

Weekdays: 10:00, 12:00, 19:00

Sundays: 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 19:00

Monasterio de Santa Isabel

(Agustinas Recoletas)

C/ Santa Isabel, 48

Tel.: 91 539 37 20

Weekdays: 8:00

Sundays: 10:00

San Josemaría Escrivá

C/ Ganímedes, 19

(Aravaca)

Tel.: 91 357 55 65

Weekdays: 7:30, 10:30, 20:30

Saturdays: 10:30, 20:30

Sundays: 10:30, 11:30, 13:00, 19:30

San Alberto Magno

C/ Benjamín Palencia, 9

Tel.: 91 778 20 18

Weekdays: 8:00, 9:00, 18:00, 20:00

Sundays: 9:00, 12:00, 13:00, 18:30, 20:30

Saturday evenings: 18:30, 20:00

Iglesia del Espíritu Santo

C/ Serrano, 125

Tel.: 91 563 20 40

Weekdays: 8:00, 11:00, 19:00, 21:00

Sundays: 11.15, 12:15, 13:15, 20:30

Saturday evenings: 20:30

ARGENTINA. C/ Pedro de Valdivia, 21. 28006 Madrid +34 91 7710519

AUSTRALIA. Plaza Descubridor Diego de Ordás, 3-2º. 28003 Madrid +34 91 3536600

AUSTRIA. Paseo de la Castellana, 91-9º. 28046 Madrid +34 91 5565315

BELGIUM. Paseo de la Castellana, 18-6º. 28046 Madrid +34 91 5576300

BOLIVIA. C/ Velázquez, 26, 3º. 28001 Madrid +34 91 5780835

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. C/ Lagasca, 24-2º Izda. 28001 Madrid +34 91 5750870

BRAZIL. C/ Fernando el Santo, 6. 28010 Madrid +34 91 7004650

BULGARIA. Travesía Santa María Magdalena, 15. 28016 Madrid +34 91 3455761

CAMEROON. C/ Rosario Pino, 3. 28020 Madrid +34 91 5711160

CANADA. C/ Núñez de Balboa, 35. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4233250

CHILE. C/ Lagasca, 88, 6º. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4319160

CHINA. C/ Josefa Valcárcel, 40, 1º. 28027 Madrid +34 91 7414728

COLOMBIA. C/ General Martínez Campos, 48. 28010 Madrid +34 91 7004770

COSTA RICA. Paseo de la Castellana, 164, 17A. 28046 Madrid +34 91 3459622

CROATIA. C/ Claudio Coello, 78/2. 28001 Madrid +34 91 5776881

CZECH REPUBLIC. Avenida Pío XII, 22-24. 28016 Madrid +34 91 3531880

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Avda. Doctor Fleming, 45. 28036 Madrid +34 917 33 26 47

DENMARK. C/ Claudio Coello, 91, 4º. 28006 Madrid +34 91 4318445

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Paseo de la Castellana, 30, 1º derecha. 28046 Madrid +34 91 4315395

ECUADOR. C/ Velázquez, 114, 2º D. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5627215

EL SALVADOR. C/ General Oráa, 9, 5º dcha. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5628002

ESTONIA. C/ Claudio Coello, 91, 1º D. 28006 Madrid +34 91 4261671

FINLAND. Paseo de la Castellana, 15. 28046 Madrid +34 91 3196172

FRANCE. C/ Salustiano Olozaga, 9. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4238900

GERMANY. C/ Fortuny, 8. 28010 Madrid +34 91 5579000

GUATEMALA. C/ Rafael Salgado, 3, 10° dcha. 28036 Madrid +34 91 3441417

HONDURAS. C/ Rafael Calvo, 15, 6º B. 28010 Madrid +34 915790251

HUNGARY. C/ Ángel de Diego Roldan, 21. 28016 Madrid +34 91 4137011

INDIA. Av. Pío XII, 30-32. 28016 Madrid +34 91 1315100

INDONESIA. C/ Agastia, 65. 28043 Madrid +34 91 4130294

IRELAND. Paseo de la Castellana, 46-4º. 28046 Madrid +34 91 4364093

ISRAEL. C/ Velázquez, 50, 7º. 28002 Madrid +34 91 7829500

ITALY. C/ Lagasca, 98. 28006 Madrid +34 91 4233300

IVORY COAST. C/ Serrano, 154. 28071 Madrid +34 91 5626916

JAPAN. C/ Serrano, 109. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5907600

LATVIA. C/ Alfonso XII, 52, 1º. 28014 Madrid +34 91 3691362

LEBANON. Paseo de la Castellana, 178, 3º izda. 28046 Madrid +34 91 3451368

LITHUANIA. C/ Pisuerga, 5. 28002 Madrid +34 91 7022116

LUXEMBOURG. C/ Claudio Coello, 78, 1º. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4359164

MALAYSIA. Paseo de la Castellana, 91 - 5º. 28046 Madrid +34 91 5550684

MALTA. Paseo de la Castellana, 45- 6º dcha. 28046 Madrid +34 91 3913061

MEXICO. Carrera de S. Jerónimo, 46. 28014 Madrid +34 91 3692814

NETHERLANDS. Paseo de la Castellana 259, D. 28046 Madrid +34 91 353 75 00

NEW ZEALAND. C/ Pinar 7, 3. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5230226

NICARAGUA. Paseo de la Castellana, 127, 1º B. 28046 Madrid +34 91 5555510

NIGERIA. C/ Segre, 23. 28002 Madrid +34 91 5630911

NORWAY. Paseo de la Castellana, 31 (Edificio La Pirámide, planta 9). 28046 Madrid +34 91 3103116

PALESTINE. Avenida Pío XII, 20. 28016 Madrid +34 913453258

PANAMA. C/ Claudio Coello 86, 1º. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5765001

PARAGUAY. C/ Eduardo Dato, 21, 4º. 28010 Madrid +34 91 3082746

PERU. C/ Príncipe de Vergara, 36, 5º dcha. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4314242

PHILIPPINES. C/ Eresma, 2. 28002 Madrid +34 91 7823830

POLAND. C/ Guisando, 23 bis. 28035 Madrid +34 91 3736605

PORTUGAL. C/ Pinar, 1. 28006 Madrid +34 91. 7824960

PUERTO RICO. C/ Velázquez, 54, 2º. 28001 Madrid +34 91 7815020

ROMANIA. Avenida de Alfonso XIII, 157. 28016 Madrid +34 913597623

RUSSIA. C/ Velázquez, 155. 28002 Madrid +34 91 5622264

SLOVAKIA. C/ del Pinar, 20. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5903861

SLOVENIA. C/ Hermanos Bécquer, 7, 2º Planta. 28006 Madrid +34 91 4116893

SOUTH AFRICA. C/ Claudio Coello, 91. 28006 Madrid +34 91 4363780

SOUTH KOREA. C/ González Amigó, 15. 28033 Madrid +34 91 3532000

SWEDEN. C/ Caracas, 25. 28010 Madrid +34 91 081535

SWITZERLAND. C/ Núñez de Balboa, 35, 7°. 28001 Madrid +34 91 4363960

UKRAINE. C/ Ronda de Abubilla, 52. 28043 Madrid +34 91 7489360

UNITED KINGDOM. C/ Fernando El Santo, 16. 28010 Madrid +34 91 3190200

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. C/ Serrano, 75. 28006 Madrid +34 91 5872200

URUGUAY. Paseo del Pintor Rosales, 32, 1° derecha. 28008 Madrid +34 91 7580475

VENEZUELA. C/ Capitán Haya, 1, edificio Eurocentro, 13º. 28020 Madrid +34 91 5981200

SITES LINKED TO SAINT JOSEMARÍA AND OPUS DEI

With the exception of private homes, the places included here (parks, churches, museums) are open to the public during scheduled hours, except churches while services are in progress.

Basílica de Jesús de Medinaceli

Plaza de Jesús, 2

Capuchin Fathers

This is one of Madrid’s seven basilicas, along with Atocha, San Francisco el Grande, the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel, the Hispanoamericana de Nuestra Señora de la Merced, the Basilica de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora and the Basilica de la Milagrosa. Every Friday, and especially the first Friday of March, so many faithful come to venerate the Jesús de Medinaceli image that sometimes they have to wait in line for many hours, even all night.

On November 26, 1931, in his Apuntes (his personal journal), St. Josemaría wrote these words about abandonment to God’s will and the virtue of poverty: “After Holy Mass today in the thanksgiving, and later in the church of the Capuchins of Medinaceli, our Lord inundated me with graces (…) Filled with joy at God’s will, I feel as if I had told him with St. Peter: Ecce reliqui omnia et secutus sum te (I have left everything and have followed you). And my heart understood the centuplum recipies (you will receive a hundredfold). Truly, I experienced the Gospel of the day.

“I received the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament, in the church of Jesús, and as soon as the antiphon and the first Psalm of Lauds began, I repeated three times, as a cry from my soul: Jubilate in conspectu regis Domini. Cantate Domino canticum novum (Ps 97: Rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new canticle).

“And then I understood many things. I am no less happy because of being in need than I would be if I had more than enough. From now on I shouldn’t ask Jesus for anything. I will simply try to please him in everything and tell him things, as if he didn’t know them, as a little boy does with his father.”

Calle Santa Isabel

Real Patronato de Santa Isabel (Royal Foundation of Saint Elizabeth)

Calle de Santa Isabel, 46, 48, 48 bis

The Royal Foundation of Saint Elizabeth has four contiguous buildings:

Real Colegio de Santa Isabel-La Asunción (no. 46)

During the 1930s, St. Josemaría gave catechism classes, talks and days of recollection to the girls at this school, founded in 1595 by Isabel Clara Eugenia, the daughter of King Philip II.

It has its own chapel. In it the servant of God José María Hernández Garnica celebrated his first Mass on June 27, 1944. Fr. José María was one of the first priests of Opus Dei.

House of the Rector and of the chaplains (no. 48)

From the summer of 1934 until February 1936, the founder of Opus Dei resided on the third floor of the Rector’s house, with his mother and his sister and brother, Carmen and Santiago. After the Spanish Civil War (July 1936 to April 1939), he lived for a few months on the ground floor of the house (March 29 to August 15, 1939).

Iglesia de Santa Isabel

Constructed in 1565, this is the only one of the four Foundation buildings that is open to the public, during the scheduled hours. It has many ties to St. Josemaría’s life.

• John the milkman. A young milkman, with his milk cans, used greet our Lord each morning at the door of the church. St. Josemaría, seated in the confessional would hear the clanking of the cans. Curious about this, one day he left the confessional and asked the milkman what he said to our Lord. He replied, “Jesus, here is John the milkman.” In his preaching St. Josemaría often used this story an example of being simple in our conversation with God.

• The Child Jesus Asleep. The monastery cloister has a beautiful baroque figure of the Child Jesus, an anonymous 17th-century artist. The founder of Opus Dei had great devotion to this figure after the nuns showed it to him in the fall of 1931.

• The donkey. St. Josemaría wrote in his personal journal on February 4, 1932: “This morning, as usual, as I was leaving the convent of Santa Isabel, I approached the Tabernacle for a moment to say good-bye to Jesus, telling him: ‘Jesus, here is your little donkey.’ And I understood immediately, without words: ‘A donkey was my throne in Jerusalem.’ This was the concept that I understood, with great clarity.”

• Communion rail on the left side of the sanctuary. On February 16, 1932, St. Josemaría recorded an interior divine locution that had a special impact on his spiritual life: “After giving Holy Communion to the nuns, before Mass, I said to Jesus… «I love you more than these do.» Immediately I understood without the sound of words: «Love is deeds and not sweet words.»”

• Holy Rosary. The founder of Opus Dei wrote Holy Rosary during the novena to the Immaculate Conception in 1931, after finishing his thanksgiving after Mass. He wrote it without interruption, “in a single sitting”, in a room to the right of the sanctuary.

Real Monasterio de Santa Isabel (no. 48 bis)

The cloistered convent of the Augustinian Recollect nuns was founded in 1589 by St. Alonso de Orozco, an Augustinian preacher to Philip II.

St. Josemaría was interim chaplain of this community (from September 1931 to December 1934) and rector of the Foundation of Santa Isabel (from December 1934 until December 1945).

Ceramic tile image of the Immaculate Conception

Calle de Santa Isabel, corner of calle de Santa Inés (to the left).

St. Josemaría used to pray to the Immaculate Conception pictured in large ceramic tiles on the top floor of a building on Atocha Street, no. 109, which can be seen from this corner. The house belonged to the Congregation of St. Philip, made up of priests and laymen, who cared for the sick at the General Hospital. He wrote in his personal journal on December 3, 1931: “This morning I retraced my steps, like a little child, to greet our Lady in her picture on Atocha Street, at the top of a house that the Congregation of St. Philip has there. I had forgotten to greet her.”

Former General Hospital, now Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Calle de Santa Isabel, 52

Philip II instituted the General Hospital in Madrid at the urging of a captain in the Flanders Infantry Regiment, Bernardino de Obregon, known as “The Apostle of Madrid.”

During the 1930s St. Josemaría frequently went there, when it was still a hospital, to visit the sick. Frequently he was accompanied by some of the young men who followed him at the beginning of the Work, including Luis Gordon, one of the first members of Opus Dei. The founder often remarked that Opus Dei had been born among the poor and sick of Madrid, whom he would ask to offer up their sufferings for the Work of God.

José Ramón Herrero, one of the young fellows who accompanied him, recalled: “I have this image forever engraved on my soul: the Father kneeling next to a sick person lying on a poor pallet on the floor, whispering words of hope and encouragement. That picture reflects and sums up what those years of his life were like.”

Glorieta de Carlos V

Plaza del Emperador Carlos V

Old Glorieta de la Estación de Atocha (Atocha Station Square).

On October 16, 1931, St. Josemaría experienced the reality his divine filiation in an especially vivid way. Being and knowing oneself to be a child of God lies at the foundation of the spirit Opus Dei, and from that moment on it would have a deep resonance in the founder’s life and message.

He wrote in his personal journal: “Feast of St. Hedwig, 1931: I wanted to pray, after Mass, in the quiet of my church. didn’t succeed. On Atocha Street I bought a newspaper (the A.B.and got on the streetcar. Up this moment, when I am writing this, I haven’t been able to read more than a single paragraph the paper. I felt affective prayer welling up within me me, copious and ardent. That’s how I was on the streetcar and all the way home… It was a sunny day, in the middle of the street, on a streetcar: Abba Pater! Abba Pater!”1.

Inside Atocha station, in what is now a tropical garden, may be seen the platforms of the old station where St. Josemaría arrived from Saragossa on his first trip to Madrid.

1 The Aramaic word “abba” can be translated with the affectionate term “dad” or “daddy”, addressed to God.

Basílica Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Atocha

Avenida Ciudad de Barcelona, 11

Dominican friars

The Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha has been a center of Marian devotion for many centuries in Madrid. The first known reference is from the 7th century. The patron of the city, St. Isidore, is said to have visited our Lady here frequently. The church has been demolished and rebuilt at various times. The present church was opened for worship in 1951.

The statue of our Lady is the same one that St. Josemaría saw in December of 1931, when he prayed here.

Calle Serrano, 39. Refuge during the Spanish Civil War

Iglesia del Espíritu Santo

Calle Serrano, 125

A side chapel of this church, close to the sanctuary, has a statue of St. Josemaría, by the sculptor Diana Garcia Roy. The pastoral care of this church is entrusted to priests of Opus Dei.

Clínica de San Francisco de Asís

Calle Joaquín Costa, 28

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary

The servant of God Isidoro Zorzano was hospitalized here during the final period of his illness, from June 2, 1943 until his death on July 15 that year. He received the Anointing of the Sick from the hands of St. Josemaría. His funeral was celebrated in the nearby church of St. Augustine (calle Joaquin Costa, 10).

Paseo de la Castellana. Former Honduran Legation

Former Honduran Legation

Paseo de la Castellana, 45, first floor

St. Josemaría was a refugee in this Legation from March 14, 1937 until the end of August that year. Also living there were Blessed Álvaro del Portillo and other members of Opus Dei.

Basílica de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora

Calle Goya, 26

St. Josemaría often prayed in this church. Here in February 1932 he met the servant of God, Jose María García Lahiguera, who was his confessor from October 1940 until June 25, 1944. The funeral of Dolores Albás, the mother of the founder of Opus Dei who died on April 22, 1941 was also held here. On August 7, 1955, thirty-five members of Opus Dei were ordained priests here, among them the present Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría.

And it was here that Blessed Álvaro del Portillo was confirmed and received his First Holy Communion.

Parque del Buen Retiro

Plaza del Maestro de la Villa, Quiosco de Música y Paseo de México

When Opus Dei was just beginning, the young founder needed somewhere to speak with those he was giving spiritual direction to. Often he would walk with them through this section of the popular Retiro Park, speaking to them about the Gospel message of the sanctification of work.

Once as he passed by the Zoo, which then was located within this park, he saw one of the attendants being taken to a hospital after bear had attacked him. The founder hurried over to the wounded man, who signaled to him that wanted to go to confession, and gave him absolution right there.

St. Josemaría wrote in February 1932: “Last Saturday I was in the Retiro Park, from 12:30 to 1:30 and I tried to read a newspaper. Prayer overtook me so strongly that, against my will, I had to stop reading.”

The servant of God Isidoro Zorzano recalled: “In the beginning we didn’t have any place to go with the Father. We would sit on a bench along the Paseo. Later we would go to the Retiro, where it was quieter. And there we made our plans.”

Chocolatería El Sotanillo (no longer there)

Calle de Alcalá, 31

El Sotanillo cafe was located on Alcala Street, close to Plaza de la Independencia. In the Work’s early years, St. Josemaría used to go there with the young men he was in contact with, to speak to them about drawing closer to God and about Opus Dei.

Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Church of our Lady of the Angels)

Calle Bravo Murillo, 93

This neo-Gothic church has a chapel with a painting by the artist Ignacio Valdés de Elizalde, from Cadiz, depicting the moment when Opus Dei was founded. It shows St. Josemaría kneeling and giving thanks for the illumination from God that he has just received. A plaque next to the painting says:

On the morning of October 2, 1928, feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, while the bells of this church of Our Lady of the Angels were ringing, St. Josemaría Escrivá received God’s light to begin Opus Dei, thus initiating a path of holiness for many men and women, as ordinary Christians, through the professional, family and social occupations of ordinary life.

Years later, St. Josemaría recorded the moment of the foundation of Opus Dei, which happened during a retreat: “I received an illumination about the entire Work, while I was reading over those notes. Deeply moved, I knelt down (I was alone in my room, between talks) and I gave thanks to God. I remember with a heart full of emotion the ringing of the bells of the parish church of Our Lady of the Angels.”

To fulfill the mission that God had entrusted to him, St. Josemaría continued his priestly work in the poorest neighborhoods of Madrid and among the sick, and went trustingly and unceasingly to the protection of our Lady, Mother of God and our Mother. St. Josemaría also often prayed before the statue that presides over the reredos of this parish.

Cardinal Rouco Varela blessed this chapel and the three new bells for the church, which bear the names of Our Lady of the Angels, St. Josemaría and Álvaro del Portillo. One of the three original bells that the founder heard on October 2, 1928, was donated by the clergy of Madrid, and since 1975 it has hung next to the open air altar of the esplanade of the Marian Shrine of Torreciudad in Huesca. It is rung each time the Eucharist is celebrated there.

Asilo de Porta Coeli

Calle García de Paredes, 21

Trinitarian Sisters

This children’s home was founded by the Venerable Francisco Mendez Casariego (1850-1924), founder of the Institute of the Trinitarian Sisters of Madrid (1885). The cofounder was the Servant of God Mariana Allsopp. The site that was occupied by the home is now a residence.

During the 1930s St. Josemaría frequently went there to hear confessions and to teach catechism to the “street urchins” being educated in this home. January 21, 1933, he gave the first class or circle of Christian formation to university students there: “Last Saturday,” he wrote January 25, “thanks be to God, with three boys in Porta Coeli, I began the work that I have entrusted to the patronage of St. Raphael and St. John.” Years later he said: “When the class was over, I went to the chapel with those young fellows, took our sacramental Lord in the monstrance, raised it up and blessed those three…. And I saw three hundred, three hundred thousand, thirty million, three hundred million… white, black, yellow, of all the colors and combinations human love can produce. Yet I fell short, because nearly half a century later it has all come true. I fell short, because our Lord has been much more generous.”

Calle García de Paredes, Basilica of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

Basílica Parroquia de la Virgen Milagrosa (Basilica of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal)

Calle García de Paredes, 45

Vincentian Fathers, Congregation of the Mission

This church, consecrated in 1904, has a neo-gothic interior and some neo-Moorish exterior decoration. Pope Pius XI conferred it the rank of basilica. It is closely tied to the history of the Church in Madrid and to the lives of various saints and blesseds.

Founding of Opus Dei. Between 10 and 11 in the morning on October 2, 1928, while St. Josemaría was making a retreat that lasted several days in the house of the Vincentians attached to this basilica, and as he was rereading in his room the notes he had written down over the previous few years, by divine inspiration he “saw” (that was the word he used), Opus Dei.

A plaque inside the basilica next to the entrance door reads: “Three years ago today,” wrote the founder on October 2, 1931, “in the monastery of the Vincentians, I was putting into some sort of order the loose notes I had been taking up to then. From that day on, the mangy little donkey was made aware of the beautiful and heavy burden that our Lord, in his inexplicable goodness, had placed on his shoulders. That day God founded his Work. From then on, I began to guide souls, lay people (students or otherwise), but young people. And to form groups. And to pray and to get others to pray. And to suffer.”

The founder preached some retreats here in 1940 (for lay people, from February 4 to 10 and April 9 to 13; and for priests, from June 2 to 8).

Calle Viriato, 24

House on Viriato Street

Calle Viriato, 24

St. Josemaría lived with his mother and brother and sister on the third floor of this building, from May 13, 1931 till December 1932. Many of his personal notes were written in the small apartment that looked out on an interior patio. It was a period, he wrote, of “prayer of the affections, plentiful and ardent” and of many spiritual graces.

On November 24, 1932, when the growth of Opus Dei was still a distant dream, the founder described himself as a “very poor and sinful instrument, planning, with your inspiration, to conquer the whole world for his God, from the marvelous observatory of an interior room of a modest house, where every discomfort reigns.”

Paseo General Martínez Campos, 4

Capilla de Adoradores del Santísimo Sacramento (Chapel of Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament)

Pº General Martínez Campos, 10

Association of Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament

This chapel, inaugurated on February 20, 1887, is linked to the of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The foundress, St. Rafaela María Porras, lived for years in the nearby residence.

St. Josemaría often prayed in this chapel and officiated at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He preached several retreats in the residence (example in April 1943 and February 1945, for university women from Catholic Action).

Calle Luchana. DYA Academy

First Site of the DYA Academy

Calle Luchana, 29, 1st floor

From December 1933 to June 1934, the building at the intersection with calle Juan de Austria was the site of the first corporate apostolic initiative of Opus Dei: the DYA Academy. The initials stood for Derecho y Architectura (Law and Architecture). It was the first center for university students started by St. Josemaría, which over time would be followed many others all over the world.

Calle Ferraz

The DYA Academy provided special academic classes for young men, along with classes Christian formation. In October 1934 it was moved to number 50 Ferraz Street, and in July 1936 to number 16 on the same street.

In the 50 Ferraz Street site of the DYA Academy, St. Josemaría and Blessed Álvaro del Portillo spoke for the first time.

Calle Manuel Silvela. Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Parroquia Santuario del Perpetuo Socorro (Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help)

Calle Manuel Silvela, 14

Redemptorist Missionaries

St Josemaría made retreats in the house of the Redemptorists adjoining this neo-gothic shrine during the years 1933 (June 18- 24), 1934 (July 16-22), and 1935 (September 15-21). On April 27, 1930, he had written in his personal journal: “Never once has it occurred to me that I’ve been deceived, that God does not want his Work. Just the opposite.”

Three years later, on June 22, 1933, while praying in a pew in the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, he suffered what he called a “cruel test:”

“That day, vigil of the Sacred Heart, for the first and only time since I learned the Will of God, I experienced the cruel test… Alone, in a pew of this church of Perpetual Help, I was trying to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the Monstrance. Suddenly, for an instant and for no specific reason that I could see (really, there isn’t any), this terrible thought came to my mind: ‘What if it’s all a lie, an illusion of yours, and you’ve been wasting your time? And worse yet, what if you’ve led all these others astray?’ It was a matter of just a few seconds, but what suffering it brought!

“Then I spoke to Jesus, telling him: ‘Lord, if the Work isn’t yours, destroy it right now, at this moment, making it clear to me.’ Immediately, I not only felt confirmed in the truth of his Will regarding the Work, but I saw clearly a solution to a problem regarding its organization that until then I hadn’t seen any way to solve.”

Calle Santa Engracia. Foundation for the Sick

Patronato de Enfermos. (Foundation for the Sick)

Calle Santa Engracia, 11

Apostolic Ladies of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This foundation is one of the many social and educational initiatives begun by the servant of God Luz Rodriguez Casanova, foundress of the Apostolic Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Here St. Josemaría met the servant of God Mercedes Reyna, who died on January 23, 1929, and to whose intercession before God he entrusted many of his intentions.

From here the founder of Opus Dei carried out an intense priestly work with the poor and sick throughout all of Madrid, especially those living in the poorest outlying districts. “In the Foundation for the Sick,” he wrote, “our Lord wanted me to find my priestly heart.”

Home of Leónides García San Miguel (no longer there)

Calle Alcalá Galiano, 3

No. 3 Alcalá Galiano Street was the site of the oratory of Leónides García San Miguel, mother of Luz Rodríguez Casanova, foundress of the Apostolic Ladies of the Sacred Heart. This house had a façade similar to the adjoining homes of her children Florentín and María. Of the three buildings only one remains, no. 1 on the street, which gives a good idea of what the other two were like. The private oratory of Doña Leónides was in no. 3, in a building that was torn down and replaced.

On February 14, 1930, while celebrating Mass in this private oratory, St. Josemaría understood that he should begin the work of Opus Dei with women. He wrote: “Within the Mass, just after Communion, the whole women’s Work!”

On December 12, 1931, while talking with the children of Doña Leónides in the building at no. 3, the founder experienced the locution “Inter medium montium pertransibunt aquae” (Through the mountains the waters will pass). As he later recorded: “I understood these words as a promise that the Work of God will overcome the obstacles, with the waters of its apostolate passing through all the problems that will arise.”

Plaza de Colón

Monument to Christopher Colombus

Plaza de Colón

In the center of the Plaza, the monument to Christopher Columbus has at its base a carving of Our Lady of the Pillar, before which St. Josemaría sometimes prayed during the years of religious persecution.

Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena

Calle Bailén, 10

St. John Paul II dedicated this cathedral on June 15, 1993, when its construction was finally completed. The Archbishop of Madrid at the time was Cardinal Angel Suquia.

• Chapel of Our Lady of Almudena. The side chapel of this cathedral has a statue of our Lady of Almudena, patroness of Madrid since 1646. Her feast is celebrated on November 9. The reredos is made up of 18 panels by Juan de Borgoña, a 16th century artist.

• Chapel of St. Josemaría. The chapel dedicated to St. Josemaría is next to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The statue is the work of the sculptor Venancio Blanco of Salamanca, who is also the sculptor of the high reliefs. One of the sculptures represents the founder caring for a dying gypsy in the General Hospital, whom he comforted, as he related in his personal notes; the other shows him praying before our Lady of the Cuesta de la Vega.

• Saints connected to Madrid. In the chapels of this cathedral various saints born in Madrid or connected to this city are venerated, including Blessed Mariana de Jesus, St. Micaela of the Most Blessed Sacrament, St. María Soledad Torres Acosta, St. María Maravillas de Jesus, St. María Josefa del Corazon de Jesús, St. Angela de la Cruz and others, as well as the Venerable Francisco Méndez Casariego. Some of these saints were friends of each other, as were St. Josemaría and St. Pedro Poveda.

Statue of Our Lady on the Cuesta de la Vega

Virgen de la Cuesta de la Vega

Cuesta de la Vega

On the Cuesta de la Vega there is a niche in the wall with a statueof Our Lady of Almudena, before which St. Josemaría prayed on his knees during the 1930s. It has recently been restored, as well as its immediate surroundings.

Chapel of the Bishop (of Santa María and San Juan de Letrán)

Plaza de la Paja

Little Sisters of the Lamb

On June 13 and 14, 1930, St. Josemaría preached to hundreds of workers in this chapel. The fervor of those men gave him great joy. He spoke to them about God, as he recalled, while holding tightly to the iron railing surrounding the sanctuary, to try to contain his deep emotion.

Monasterio del Corpus Christi

Plaza del Conde de Miranda, 3

Corpus Christi Hieronomites

In the early years of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría would frequently visit the Blessed Sacrament in this church, before and after going to the diocesan offices located nearby.

Calle San Justo

Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel (Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael)

Calle San Justo, 4

The present basilica was constructed in 1739 by the Italian architect Giacomo Bonavía. It has a curved façade with baroque features, and is the canonical seat of the Confraternity of Nazarenes known popularly as Los Estudiantes. An image of St. Josemaría, the work of Agustín de la Herrán, is venerated in a side chapel.

St. Josemaría celebrated Mass in this basilica from the time he arrived in Madrid, in April 1927, until the beginning of June that year.

On October 17, 1960, he returned to celebrate Mass in this church. Hundreds of faithful and cooperators of Opus Dei took part, along with their relatives and friends. “Be seated, those of you who can,” said St. Josemaría with emotion, at the beginning of the homily. “I want to say a few words to you in this church, where I had the joy of saying my first Mass in Madrid. Our Lord brought me here with premonitions of our Work. I couldn’t have dreamed then that one day I would see this church filled with souls who have so much love for Jesus Christ. And I am moved.” The pastoral care of the basilica is entrusted to priests of Opus Dei.

Bishop’s Residence

Calle San Justo, 2

St. Josemaría frequently went to this residence to speak with Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, the bishop of Madrid for forty years (1923-1963), who gave him decisive encouragement in beginning Opus Dei.

In its chapel, the first lay faithful of Opus Dei were ordained to the priesthood: Blessed Álvaro del Portillo and the servants of God José María Hernández Garnica and José Luis (Fr. Joseph) Múzquiz, at the hands of Bishop Eijo y Garay.

Royal Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia

Calle Caballero de Gracia, 5; Gran Vía, 17

Eucharistic Association of the Caballero de Gracia, founded at the end of the 16th Century

This neo-classic church, constructed by Juan de Villanueva, was founded by the Italian priest Jacobo de Grattis (known as El Caballero de Gracia), who died with a reputation for holiness in 1619 in Madrid. Its Eucharistic Association included well known figures such as St. Simon de Rojas and Lope de Vega. Since 1993, by an agreement between the Eucharistic Association, the diocese and the Prelature of Opus Dei, the pastoral care of the church is entrusted to priests of Opus Dei.

The servant of God Tomás Alvira recalled that the founder of Opus Dei preached a retreat in this church during Lent in 1945 that was attended by many instructors and professors from the University of Madrid.

Puente de Vallecas and surroundings

St. Josemaría carried out many works of mercy in this area during the 1930s. “I have on my conscience,” the founder said years later, “that I have devoted many thousands of hours to hearing the confessions of children in those poor neighborhoods of Madrid. I wish I could have done so in all the saddest and most destitute parts of the world.”

His love and concern for the poor and needy was born of his union with Christ, whom he saw and met in the destitute families, in the lonely elderly he comforted, and in the abandoned children he helped humanly and spiritually.

Tajamar School

Calle Pío Felipe, 12

At the end of his life St. Josemaría recalled that, when Opus Dei was just beginning, here and in other similar places in Madrid he had spent “hours and hours, every day, walking from one place to another, visiting shamefully, miserably poor people who had absolutely nothing. And dirty-faced children with runny noses. But they were children, and therefore souls pleasing to God.”

Therefore it gave him great joy when, in 1958, some members of the Work began an educational and apostolic projects here later would be called Tajamar.

When Tajamar started in this neighborhood, which now has undergone an economic development similar to that of so many other neighborhoods of Madrid, thousands of people were living in substandard housing and even shacks. Since then this educational project, together with other institutions, has helped foster the spiritual, human, cultural and social development of the families living here.

St. Josemaría had several catechetical get-togethers in this educational center. The first took place on October 1, 1967. “When I was twenty-five years old,” he recalled, “I often came to all these outlying areas, to dry people’s tears, to help those in need, to show affection to the children, the aged, the sick… And I received in return a lot of affection, and a few stones thrown at me as well.”

He went to Tajamar again on October 12, 1968. He consecrated the altar in the crypt and spoke about God to more than fifteen hundred people. He returned in October 1972 and, starting on October 15, he had several catechetical get-togethers there.

Parroquia de San Alberto Magno

Calle Benjamín Palencia, 20

The Archbishop of Madrid, Casimiro Morcillo, established this church on November 30, 1965, and entrusted its direction to priests of Opus Dei. Its provisional building was, for some years, a white-washed wooden structure with a corrugated roof, like that of many houses in the area. Years later the present church was built, dedicated to St. Albert the Great.

On October 6, 2009, the remains of the servant of God Isidoro Zorzano, which till then had rested in the Almudena cemetery, were transferred to this church.

Valdebebas

In a letter dated January 9, 1960, the servant of God Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri told St. Josemaría about the intense apostolic and charitable work that the women and cooperators of Opus Dei were doing with the families in Valdebebas at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s. This area of Madrid was home to many poor families living without any resources. Opus Dei women set up a dispensary, helped provide hundreds of families with food, taught catechism to the children and gave classes of human and Christian formation to working women.

The beatification of Álvaro del Portillo is being celebrated in the same section of Madrid.

Parroquia de San Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (Parish church of St. Josemaría Escrivá)

Calle Ganímedes, 1

Aravaca

This parish in the district of Aravaca was created in June 2007 by Cardinal Antonio María Rouco of Madrid. In May 2009 a provisional church with a capacity for three hundred people was built, thanks to the generosity of many local families and institutions. It is entrusted to priests of Opus Dei.

Monasterio de San Juan de la Cruz (Monastery of St. John of the Cross). Segovia

Alameda de la Fuencisla

Discalced Carmelites

On October 3, 1932, while St. Josemaría was praying in the chapel where St. John of the Cross is buried in the church of the convent of Discalced Carmelites in Segovia, he resolved on the apostolic organization of the Work. From then on, the apostolic work of Opus Dei would be based on three pillars: the work of St. Raphael (dedicated to the Christian formation of youth); the work of St. Michael (giving spiritual and human formation to those who were united to the Work with the commitment of celibacy); and the work of St. Gabriel, dedicated to the formation of single and married people from all walks of life, whether members of Opus Dei or not, and who would form the bulk of its apostolic work.

SITES LINKED TO BLESSED ÁLVARO DEL PORTILLO

Iglesia parroquial de San José

Calle Alcalá, 43

This baroque style church, with a Latin cross floor plan, was commissioned by the Discalced Carmelites in 1730 from the architect Jose Ribera (1681-1742), a disciple of Churriguera. The statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on the façade is the work of Roberto Michel. A fragment of the Lignum Crucis is preserved in the chapel of the Holy Cross.

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo was baptized in this church on March 17, 1914, with the baptismal name Álvaro José María Eulogio.

In the early 19th century, St. María Micaela was baptized in this church. Álvaro’s father, Ramón del Portillo, received baptism here in 1879.

Parroquia de San Roberto Belarmino (National Church of the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul)

Calle Verónica, 11

Society of St. Vincent de Paul

This church holds the body of the servant of God Santiago Fernández de Masarnau (1805-1882), a pianist and composer, founder and first president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Spain.

From 1933 to 1935, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo went to this Central House of the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul every Saturday at 4 p.m., invited by his friend Manuel Pérez. “We did a period of spiritual reading,” Pérez recalled, “and then we spoke of the results of our efforts and the needs we had encountered that week.”

Calle Jenner

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, who was studying during those years for his Adjunct in Public Works degree and also preparing for his entrance into the demanding School of Engineering, dedicated several hours at weekends to carrying out works of mercy with the poor and needy. “I always learned from them,” he wrote, “people who didn’t even have enough to eat, and I never saw anything but joy. They were a tremendous lesson for me.”

Guillermo Gesta de Piquer, who took part in the Conferences together with his brother, Blessed Jesús Gesta1, recalled Blessed Álvaro del Portillo as “a pious boy, with great apostolic zeal and a desire to help the most needy, with a very simple and open temperament… Álvaro was very young, as were all of us who formed part of that group, in contrast with the majority of those who took part in the Conferences. Most of us hadn’t turned twenty yet. I was one of the youngest. Perhaps that’s why they asked us to go to one of the most difficult places in Madrid, where more daring and youthful enthusiasm was needed: the parish of San Ramón, which at that time was completely outside the city, and was largely made up of shacks.”

Another young man who accompanied them, Angel Vegas, brother of José María Vegas2, wrote: “He was one of the most brilliant students at the School, and yet was also very approachable and simple. He was very intelligent, cheerful, refined, friendly, and above all (which is what caught my attention) deeply humble, with an extraordinary humility that made an impact. An impact of affection, of goodness, of love for God.”

1 Blessed Jesús Gesta de Piquer later joined the Brothers of St. John of God, and was martyred.

2 José María Vegas was a young priest who knew St. Josemaría at the start of Opus Dei, and was martyred for his faith.

Former residence dependent on the Mexican Embassy

Calle Velázquez, 98

The top floor of this building during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was the site of a large residence dependent on the Mexican Embassy. There Álvaro’s mother Clementina obtained asylum, because of her Mexican birth, together with three of her eight children (Pilar, Teresa and Carlos) after their father Ramón del Portillo was imprisoned at the beginning of the conflict, on August 13, 1936. His family didn’t know where he was being held. Later they learned that he had been taken to the San Antonio school, which had been converted into a prison.

On December 3, 1936, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, who had taken refuge in a house belonging to an embassy, was sent to that same prison (without knowing that his father was also there). He was released for no apparent reason on January 29, 1937. That day he came to live with his mother and his brother and sisters in this building. One of his sisters says that he used those weeks “to give some classes to the youngest ones. Even in those circumstances, he made good use of his time.”

He remained there until March 13, 1937, when he took refuge in the nearby Honduran Legation. Shortly thereafter his father was released from prison because he had fallen gravely ill with tuberculosis, and he joined his wife. St. Josemaría went to this house twice to provide spiritual care for him. He administered the Anointing of the Sick before leaving the city on October 8, 1937.

Ramón del Portillo died a few days later, on October 14, accompanied by his family and the servant of God Isidoro Zorzano. His son Álvaro could not be present, to his deep sorrow, because it would have put his life greatly at risk to leave the refuge in the Legation and appear in public.

Chapel of the School of Our Lady of the Pillar

Calle Príncipe de Vergara, 41

Company of Mary (Marianists), founded by Blessed Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade

This school, established on October 3, 1907, moved in 1921 to this neo-gothic building designed by the architect Aníbal Alvarez.

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo began his elementary studies here in October 1920 and graduated from high school in June 1930.

A school companion of his, the pediatrician Javier Garcia Leániz (a cousin of the servant of God Manuel Aparici, a good friend of St. Josemaría) wrote on June 28, 1994: “It may seem surprising, but Álvaro, whom I only knew during my childhood and early adolescence, has never been erased from my memory, even though there were forty of us in that class. And it also might seem surprising that after having, as a doctor, knowna and treated so many good children, I can now say that Álvaro is one of the best and most virtuous boys that I ever knew. I want to leave testimony to this reality, so that it can be used by the Church when it opens in the future —as I hope— his Cause of Canonization.”

Parroquia de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora

Calle Goya, 26

This church was inaugurated on May 11, 1914. Here, on December 28, 1916, at two years of age —as was the custom then— Blessed Álvaro del Portillo received the sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of Bishop Eustaquio Nieto y Martín of Sigüenza. On May 12, 1921, he received First Holy Communion here, along with more than one hundred other students from Our Lady of the Pillar School.

Calle Villanueva

Center on Villanueva Street

Calle Villanueva, 11

On the day following the ordination of the first priests of Opus Dei, on June 26, 1944, St. Josemaría went to this building where Blessed Álvaro del Portillo was living, and asked him if he had heard anyone’s confession.

“No, Father,” he answered.

“Well you are going to hear mine,” the founder said, “because I want to make a general confession to you.” From then on, and until the end of his life, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo was St. Josemaría’s confessor.

Family home

Calle Conde de Aranda, 16

After 1920 Blessed Álvaro del Portillo lived with his family on the top floor of no. 16 Conde de Aranda Street.

Calle Atocha

His parents, Ramón and Clementina, had eight children: Ramón, Francisco, Álvaro, Pilar, Jose María, Angel, Teresa, and Carlos. Living a few floors below their apartment were two of his aunts on his father’s side, Pilar and Carmen del Portillo, who assisted the charitable work of the Apostolic Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Carmen del Portillo told St. Josemaría about the virtues of her nephew and godson Álvaro long before the founder met him.

Their home was located close to the building where he was born, in what is now no. 79 of the calle de Alcalá (previously no. 75), and where he lived till the age of six. This building has been substantially renovated.

Parroquia de San Manuel y San Benito

Calle de Alcalá, 83

Augustinian Fathers

This neo-Byzantine style church, with a Greek cross floor plan, was built between 1903 and 1910 on the initiative of the Catalonian businessman Manuel Caviggioli and his wife Benita Maurici.

During his childhood and early youth Blessed Álvaro del Portillo attended Mass frequently at this church with his family. His mother Clementina had just finished a retreat in this church when she died at home on March 10, 1955.

Garden with monument to the heroes of El Caney and the Schools of Engineering

Convergence of the Avenida Ciudad de Barcelona and the Paseo Infanta Isabel

On October 2, 1938 in this small park, which has undergone several renovations, the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Work was celebrated by Blessed Álvaro del Portillo and the servant of God Isidoro Zorzano, one of the first members of Opus Dei.

Moncloa University Residence

At that time Blessed Álvaro del Portillo was mobilized in Fontanar, a village in Guadalajara, and had traveled to Madrid with the permission of his military superiors. Isidoro Zorzano carried with him the Blessed Sacrament, by a privilege granted because of the exceptional circumstances during the Spanish Civil War (1936- 1939), and he gave him several Consecrated Hosts so that he could receive Holy Communion on the following days. Isidoro also informed him of a certainty that our Lord had made known to him: that in ten days, on October 12, the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, Álvaro would cross over to the Spanish zone where he would be able to practice his Catholic faith freely, as in fact happened. They celebrated the anniversary with the meager rations Álvaro had received at a nearby barracks, sitting outside in the space that is now occupied by this small garden.

On the other side of the Paseo de la Infanta Isabel are the steps leading to the current site of the Advanced Technical School of Civil Engineering, located on a hill. Blessed Álvaro took courses in two nearby buildings next to the National Astronomical Observatory: first in the School of Adjuncts for Public Works and later in the School of Highway Engineering. The building of the old School of Highway Engineering is still in existence, on calle Alfonso XII, next to the Retiro Park.

Conciliar Seminary of Madrid

Calle San Buenaventura, 9

On June 3, 1944, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo and the servants of God José María Hernández Garnica and José Luis Múzquiz received the diaconate in the chapel of this seminary, at the hands of Casimiro Morcillo, auxiliary bishop of Madrid.

Old course of the Arroyo del Abroñigal stream

Present-day Calle M30

During the 30s, in the hollow now occupied by calle M30, the Abroñigal stream could be seen, which now runs almost entirely underground.

During that time, a young university student, Manuel Perez Sanchez, would often go with Blessed Álvaro del Portillo to bring food and assistance to families who lived on the outskirts of the city, many of them in shanty towns.

Calle Caracas

Perez Sanchez recounts: “As we were walking to the Abroñigal stream to visit a family, we passed by what is now the Estrella district, which then was a field filled with wheat and barley. It was there that I spoke to him about the Work and invited him to go and see the Father.

“I remember those afternoons with deep emotion. Álvaro and I would head down the Atocha hill at the weekend, usually on Sunday, and make our way to the sparsely occupied areas where the families were living in shacks. Right from the start I could see how dedicated Álvaro was to that work, the love and compassion he had for the children.

“One Sunday we went to the banks of the Abroñigal stream, at the Vallecas Bridge, which then belonged to the village of Vallecas, to visit some families who were living in shacks. One of the families there had just had a serious fight, and the police had arrested the parents and put them in jail. Their four small children had been left alone, abandoned in the shack. The poor children —one of them only a year old— had no food and were shivering from the cold.

“Seeing the situation, we took them to the police station, to the section for ‘Protection of young children.’ But they told us that it was Sunday and they were closed, and that we should wait till Monday. We returned to the shacks with the children, and gave some money to a neighbor to get them something to eat till the following day, and on Monday we brought them back to the police station again.

“The commissioner told us that he did not want to take charge of the children, because they were not his problem. We were not about to abandon them and leave them hungry and cold in a shack, so we said to him: ‘Look, Mr. Commissioner: if you don’t come up with a solution, we will leave the children here and go home.’

“Hearing this he relented and gave us some documents to place them in St. Cristina’s Children’s Home, which was near the university campus. We headed there. Some of the children were so small that they couldn’t yet walk. I still have engraved on my memory the picture of Álvaro, with one of those poor children in his arms, walking along the streets of Madrid to the home.”

Parroquia de San Ramón Nonato

Calle Melquíades Biencinto, 10

Blessed Álvaro helped out at this church in the 1930s, giving catechism classes and providing food for the poor families there, through the St. Vincent de Paul Conferences.

Glorieta Cuatro Caminos

On Sunday, February 4, 1934, on finishing a catechism class in the church, he and some of his friends were violently attacked by a group of militant anti-Catholics, who were waiting for them in the street. A number of them were injured and news of the attack was published in the newspapers. Álvaro ran towards the subway entrance, but the attackers reached him and gave him a sharp blow on the head with a heavy wrench. He was saved from almost certain death only because he continued running and jumped into one of the cars seconds before the doors closed.

Retamar School

Calle Pajares, 22

Pozuelo de Alarcón

This school, a corporate work of Opus Dei, is located in Pozuelo de Alarcon, about eight miles from the center of Madrid. It opened on October 10, 1966. Blessed Álvaro del Portillo had two catechetical reunions there with thousands of people: on September 9, 1983 and on November 24, 1993.

Monasterio del Escorial

El Escorial

Augustinians of El Escorial

This artistic monument is connected with Blessed Álvaro del Portillo’s immediate preparation for the priesthood. From May 13 to 20, 1944, St. Josemaría preached a retreat to the three ordinands (Blessed Álvaro del Portillo and the servants of God José María Hernández Garnica and José Luis Múzquiz) in this monastery, in an area that had been used in the 19th century by St. Anthony María Claret. During those days the founder encouraged them to be always “cheerful, learned, selfsacrificing and holy, and to forget about themselves.”

La Granja de San Idelfonso. Molinoviejo. Segovia

La Granja

The Del Portillo family spent several summers here, in a house on the Calle de la Reina.

Molinoviejo

A conference center close to Ortigosa del Monte, where Blessed Álvaro del Portillo stayed several times.

Segovia

Blessed Álvaro frequently visited this city. On one occasion he went to visit his aunt Carmen, who had been sick for many years and could hardly speak. On seeing her nephew Álvaro, she recovered consciousness for a few moments. After a brief conversation, he had time to give her a priestly blessing before she relapsed again. She never recovered lucidity and died a short time later.

José Miguel Cejas

HARAMBEE PROJECTS

Throughout his years at the head of Opus Dei, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo urged the setting up of all sorts of social and educational initiatives all over the world, many of them aimed at helping the most needy.

During a trip to Kenya in 1989, he was told of an expression used there when everyone needs to pitch in to help accomplish a specific goal: “Harambee,” which means “All together.” In a gathering in Nairobi, he remarked: “I know that you use the word ‘harambee’ for all kinds of material needs, to build a school, to construct a church…. Some contribute with their money, others with bricks, each with whatever they have.” In 2002, for the canonization of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, the Harambee association came into being.

Harambee is a solidarity project that promotes initiatives for development in Africa and awareness-raising activities about that continent in the rest of the world. One of its goals is to bring about a deeper knowledge of the noble qualities of African culture and the future possibilities of that great continent.

Harambee aims to provide accurate information about the reality of the situation in Africa, going beyond the stereotypes. It highlights the difficulties but also the successes of so many Africans who are striving every day to build a better society. Each year in various countries, forums, competitions and gatherings are held to help provide accurate knowledge about Africa, as well as activities to help finance the initiatives that Harambee promotes in Africa.

In connection with the beatification of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, Harambee in 2014 is seeking funds for projects in four institutions that came into being through the impetus of the new blessed.

1 Nigeria

A mother and child care wing at the “Niger Hospital and Diagnostic Centre”

Project

The Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre NFH opened in 1990, and offers quality health care to the people in Enugu, Nigeria. At present the hospital provides the following services: medical consultation, diagnostic and therapeutic services, radiology, and laboratory analysis.

www.nfh.org.ng

Description

In Nigeria, which has a high birthrate, medical care is very unreliable. Among the greatest problems are the lack of infrastructure and welltrained medical teams. Surgical operations are especially risky. Every year more than seven million patients suffer major complications after being operated on.

Beneficiaries

The project will directly benefit the 200,000 inhabitants of Ezeagu, a rural area where the hospital is located. It is also accessible to the people living in Enugu, a large city with more than a million people. 3,922 prenatal visits took place in the Niger Hospital in 2013. With the creation of the new mother and child care facility, it will be possible to triple the number of people helped.

Harambee’s Contribution

This project will require €500,000 (about $675,000).

2 Ivory Coast

To help eradicate malnutrition in the Bingerville area

Project

In 1984, the Association for Social and Cultural Development (Association pour le Développement Social et Culturel— ADESC) was set up in Abidjan, to help improve living conditions for the inhabitants of the Bingerville region. Since then, thanks to the opening in 1998 of the Ilomba Rural Center, campaigns against infant malnutrition have been organized, along with hygiene and nutrition courses for mothers. Literacy courses and other educational activities have also been organized to discourage children from dropping out of school.

www.ilombacotedivoire.blogspot.it

Description

In recent years, Ivory Coast has experienced varying degrees of instability with an accompanying deterioration in living conditions, particularly in rural areas such as Bingerville. But the 2002 civil war created a still more serious crisis since it caused the loss of coffee and cocoa export capability, the pillar of Ivory Coast’s economy. With a tropical, humid climate and a lack of infrastructure, the Bingerville region’s living conditions have gotten progressively worse. The project seeks to begin a widespread campaign against malnutrition by giving hygiene and nutrition training courses for women; and, upon purchasing a vehicle for this purpose, by performing home health visits for medical care to approximately 5,000 people. It also seeks to help end the poverty cycle and improve the living conditions of women in extreme poverty through vocational training that prepares them to be self-supporting and contribute to the local economy. Finally it will provide secondary school courses to 25 young people.

Beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries will be 5,500 Bingerville residents, especially young women. It will also benefit the families of 14,000 people in the area.

Harambee’s Contribution

The projects will require an expenditure of €100,000 (about $135,000).

3 Democratic Republic of Congo

Equipping three health clinics on the outskirts of Kinshasa: Eliba, Kimbondo and Moluka

Project

In 1991, the Centre Congolais de Culture de Formation et Développement set up the Monkole Hospital in Kinshasa, in the region of Mont-Ngafula. Currently the hospital, in conjunction with ISSI (Institut Supérieur en Sciences Infirmières), provides care to over 80,000 patients each year, of whom 48,000 are women, 70% living in conditions of extreme poverty.

www.monkole.cd

www.issisfax.rns.tn

Description

The city of Kinshasa has 10 million inhabitants, most of whom are poorly nourished and depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, in a country where 74% of the population is malnourished and 80% live in extreme poverty. This precarious state of general health has given rise to the need for medical services that the public health system is not able to meet due to a lack of resources, infrastructures and adequately trained personnel. The Monkole Hospital and the ISSI nursing school have tried to respond to this emergency by offering at the central hospital four general medical services: maternity, pediatrics, internal medicine and general surgery. Three clinics have also been opened in outlying areas not easy to reach (in Eliba, Kimbondo and Moluka), along with training programs for medical and paramedical personnel.

Beneficiaries

• 10,000 children a year are seen in the three clinics.

• 2,000 pre and post-natal consultations each year.

• 35,000 patients receive medical assistance each year.

• 200 new nurses.

• Specialized courses for 75 nurses.

• 150 scholarships for student nurses.

Harambee’s Contribution

These projects will require an expenditure of €500,000 ($675,000).

4 Scholarships for African priests

Scholarships for African priests to study in Rome

Project

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross was born in Rome following St. Josemaría’s desire to begin a center of higher education for ecclesiastical studies at the service of the whole Church.

In 1984, his successor Alvaro del Portillo, with the blessing of John Paul II, made St. Josemaría’s dream a reality by inaugurating the Roman Academic Center, which in 1998 became a Pontifical University.

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is currently made up of the Schools of Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy and Institutional Social Communications, along with the Apollinaris Institute of Religious Sciences. Many bishops from all over the world send priests and seminarians from their dioceses to study in Rome, so that they might receive there a deep theological and spiritual formation.

www.pusc.it

Description

With a scholarship of €13,500 per year, a student can cover the following costs:

• Tuition and books.

• Room and board, and health insurance.

Beneficiaries

Those who will benefit are priests and seminarians from African dioceses who would not be able to pursue ecclesiastical studies due to lack of funds. The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross enables students coming from these and other geographical areas to live close to the Holy Father and grow in their understanding of the history of Christianity, in the service of the universal Church.

Harambee’s Contribution

The amount needed for these scholarships is €100,000 ($135,000).

PREACHING OF BLESSED ÁLVARO DEL PORTILLO

The Decree on the Heroic Virtues of Álvaro del Portillo applies to him the words of Scripture, “A faithful man will abound with blessings” (Prov 28:20). Don Álvaro’s life was indeed one of faithfulness to God, the Church and Opus Dei, in a continuous act of service to all souls. This was shown very clearly after the death of St Josemaría on 26 June 1975, and the election of Don Álvaro as his first successor at the head of Opus Dei. For the next 19 years he dedicated himself to echoing the Founder’s teachings. The following selection from Don Álvaro’s preaching offers his thoughts on the universal call to holiness, how to get to know Christ and become one with him, the joy of faith and the strength of charity practised in the middle of the world.

1 CALLED TO BE SAINTS

Jesus wants us to be saints!

Jesus wants us to be saints! Monsignor Escrivá made himself Christ’s loudspeaker in order to preach this message untiringly for more than fifty years. It is a message that goes straight to the hearts of everyone, young and old alike. Vatican II presented it anew to the men and women of today, who, although they may seem to be toiling for merely passing ambitions, have within themselves an insatiable hunger for God, and are seeking God even without realising it. Since we Christians, then, carry the Redeemer within us, we really have to make Christ present along our way: to make him known and loved.

Homily on an anniversary of the death of St Josemaría Escrivá, St Eugene’s Basilica, Rome, 26 June 1982. Published in Una vida para Dios, Rialp, Madrid, 1992, pp. 214-215

The lay faithful and the Church’s mission

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time (Mt 28: 19-20). These words bring to mind Christ’s prayer to the Father during the Last Supper: As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world (John 17:18). The Second Vatican Council commented: “The Church has received this solemn mandate of Christ to proclaim the saving truth from the Apostles and must carry it out to the very ends of the earth” (Lumen gentium, 17).

Whenever there is talk of the Church’s mission, people often mistakenly assume that it is the responsibility of the clergy. But the mission that Christ entrusts to his disciples must be carried out by all the members of the Church. Everyone, each according to his or her own state in life, has to join in this common endeavour (cfr. Lumen gentium, 30).

“Light, Salt and Leaven” (an article on the role of lay people in the Church’s mission), Rome, 1989; published in Catholic Familyland, XXVII, 1998, pp. 11-14

Saints as children of God in Christ

St Paul writes that when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman… so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Gal 4:4-6). What profound words! In order to reveal to us the mystery of our divine filiation, the Apostle speaks to us of the Father who sends us his Only-begotten Son, of the Son who becomes man like ourselves, of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He assures us that through the Incarnation of the Son —through him— we have been raised to become children of God, with him and in him. So if we want to know how we should act, what a child of God should do, we ought to direct our gaze to Christ and follow in his steps (1 Pet 2:21): imitate him.

We ought to reflect on the fact that our state as adopted sons and daughters isn’t just an empty title, and that to imitate Christ doesn’t only consist of acquiring a certain external likeness to him. This privilege, which Christ has won for us, means far more than that; and so the Apostle adds earnestly that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Gal 4:6). We are indeed face to face with a great mystery, one in which we ourselves are vitally involved. Meditate on it frequently: if the Holy Spirit himself, the bond of union between the Father and the Son, dwells in us, then we are really children of God, we are united to Christ: we live in Christ.

We are indeed ipse Christus, Christ himself, and are identified with him. And so we have been called to treat God with childlike trust, and he himself wants us to address him as Abba!, ‘Father!’, to abandon ourselves in him, and to convert our whole day into a dialogue of love, petition and praise.

Pastoral Letter, 24 January 1990

Why do the saints appear so full of peace, even in the midst of pain, dishonour, poverty or persecution? Why is it that my daughters and sons all over the world —we already have so much experience, thank God— are sowers of peace and joy along all the paths of men? The answer is very clear to see: because they try to identify themselves with the Will of our heavenly Father, imitating Christ; because whether something is pleasant or unpleasant, and whether it requires a little effort or a lot of sacrifice, they decide to put themselves in the presence of God and show their gratitude clearly with the words: “Is that what You want Lord?… Then it’s what I want also!” (The Way, 762). This is the root of our effectiveness and the source of our joy.

Pastoral Letter, 1 May 1987

The action of the Holy Spirit

In the supernatural life, as St Paul teaches us, no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit (1 Co 12:3). We are incapable of carrying out even the smallest action with an eternal significance, without the help of the Paraclete. He impels us to cry out ‘Abba, Father,’ so that we savour the reality of our divine filiation. As our Advocate, he defends us in the battles of the interior life. He is the One sent to bring us the divine gifts, and the Consoler who pours into our souls the gaudium cum pace, the joy and peace which we have to sow throughout the world.

Pastoral Letter, 1 May 1986

Saints in the Church: the family of the children of God

Omnes, cum Petro, ad Iesum per Mariam! All with Peter to Jesus through Mary! These few words, my daughters and sons, sum up the route we have to follow in order to become saints and coredeemers with Christ. Remember the words of Jesus which we have so often meditated on: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself (John 12:32): —I will draw all things, all mankind; and he draws us to himself all together with Peter, in the Church. Consider what happened at Pentecost. Through the ministry of Peter and the other Apostles, a multitude of people of all nations and languages were baptised and received the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that day about three thousand souls were added to the Church (cf Acts 2:38-41). Do you see? The Paraclete is the One who draws us to Christ so that we can be identified with him, and become part of the family of God’s children, whose common father is the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s Successor. We can never delve deeply enough into this immense wonder, nor be sufficiently grateful to our God for having deigned to make us sharers in the divine life of the Most Holy Trinity by raising us to the position of sons in the Son (Gaudium et spes, 22).

Pastoral Letter, 1 August 1991

Serving the Church

The boat of Peter, although so often lashed by winds and storms, cannot sink, because Jesus Christ is in it. The boat of Peter is the boat of Jesus, Son of the Living God. And we have to serve the Holy Church with our whole souls, because Christ has called us to help build up his Church. God uses the faithful response and cooperation of all Christians in this work, but it is Jesus Christ who constantly gives the growth to his Mystical Body, his Chosen People.

Homily, 2 May 1988. Published in Romana, No.4 (1988), p. 101

Union with the Pope

Let us say Yes to our Lord. Let us tell him that we want to be faithful. This loyalty will help us not to separate ourselves from the foundation, from Peter, because if we did, the temple of God, which is each one of us, would be ruined. Our union with the Roman Pontiff and his Magisterium is very important, because he is the successor of St Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth. That is why, in Opus Dei, we love the Pope, no matter who he is. We like to show him our human and supernatural affection. To be united to the Pope is the only way of being faithful to the words of our Lord: super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meammeam, on this rock I will build my Church. It is Christ —and we with him— who builds the Church through the Holy Spirit, but on the foundation that he himself laid. The only path we can follow is to act always cum Petro et sub Petro, in union with the Pope and subject to his authority.

Homily, 2 May 1988. Published in Romana, No. 4 (1988), p. 101

2 TO FOLLOW CHRIST

Life of prayer

A dialogue with God: this is what our times of mental prayer have to become. A conversation between people in love, with no room for reluctance or distractions. A friendly chat which is eagerly awaited, and to which we go with a hunger to know Jesus better and deepen our friendship with him. A time for talking together, with the sensitivity of souls in love, and ending with renewed desires to live and work only for our Lord.

In those moments, with the help of grace, we fully rediscover God’s will for each one of us —our sanctification— and his loving demands, which expect a total response: the firm and full gift of our lives.

Pastoral Letter, 1 November 1987

Knowing and living the Gospel

My child, never tire of contemplating that small, wretched stable, full of poverty. Open to the wind and rain, that stable was built for animals! But it is there, in that barren place and in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, that we find our Lord Jesus, whom we proclaim Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine God from God, Light from Light (Creed of the Mass). We adore him as Deum, because that’s what he is. Here and now we adore him as Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God (ibid.). If he had wanted to, he could have been born in a palace, surrounded by wealth, with everything he needed at hand. In Bethlehem he lacks everything —with the exception of two treasures. His Mother is the only jewel left to him when he dies on the Cross, and he will give her to us. And St Joseph: how much our Lord Jesus loved Joseph, his foster-father!

Those are his possessions: those two loves, and some swaddling clothes… Later on, some poor shepherds will come to adore him when the Angel announces to them that the Saviour has been born. And immediately the whole angelic host will sing, Gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will (Luke 2:14) —the peace our Lord wants to extend to everyone, but which comes only to people of good will. I remind you of these words so that you and I will make resolutions to foster that good will by approaching our Lord, learning from him, imitating him, serving him, adoring him, loving him.

Meditation on the Solemnity of the Birth of the Lord, 25 December 1976.

The Lord’s Passion

Let us contemplate Jesus in the Garden of Olives and see how he seeks in prayer the strength to face those terrible sufferings which he knows are so near. At those moments, his most holy Humanity needed the physical and spiritual nearness of his friends. And the Apostles left him alone: Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? (Mark 14:37). He says the same to you and me, who, like Peter, have so often assured him that we were ready to follow him even to death and who, nevertheless, so often go to sleep, and leave him alone. We should feel sorrow for these personal desertions of ours, and those of other people, and realise that we are abandoning our Lord —perhaps daily— whenever we are careless in the way we carry out our professional or apostolic duties; whenever our piety is superficial or coarse; whenever we make excuses because humanly speaking we feel overburdened and tired; or whenever we lack that divine zeal which one needs in order to follow up the Will of God despite the resistance of soul or body.

After the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane, we accompany him to the house of Caiphas and we witness the trial —a blasphemous parody— before the Sanhedrin. There is an abundance of insults from the Pharisees and Levites, calumnies from false witnesses, blows like that cowardly one from the High Priest’s servant. And the frightened sounds of Peter’s denials can be heard too. What pain and sorrow for our Jesus, and what a lesson for each one of us! Then comes the trial before Pilate: the man is a coward. He finds no fault in Christ, but does not dare face up to the consequences of behaving honourably. First, he resorts to a stratagem: Whom shall we set free, Barabbas or Jesus? (cf Matt 17:17) And when this device fails, he orders his soldiers to torture our Lord, by scourging him and crowning him with thorns.

Pastoral Letter, 1 April 1987

Confession

The Holy Father John Paul II has told me on more than one occasion that we in Opus Dei have ‘the charism of Confession’, a special grace from God that makes us encourage souls to go to Confession, and leads the priests to devote themselves generously to the administration of this sacrament. There are very good reasons for this. The spirit of the Work causes us to savour God’s fatherhood: a fatherhood that is infinitely merciful, since to forgive is something that is proper to fathers (cf St Thomas, Summa Theologiæ, I, q.21, a.3, c.). To have recourse to God’s forgiveness, in a spirit of filial piety, is part of the essence of our relationship with the Lord. As you know, acts of contrition were a very important devotion for our Father, and that is why he also had such great love, and taught us to have the same love, for the Sacrament of Penance, in which we are offered all God’s pardon and mercy, since “there is no better act of repentance and atonement than a good Confession” (February 1972).

Pastoral Letter, 9 January 1993

Divine mercy meets us especially in the sacrament of peace and reconciliation, the sacrament of Penance, when we fall and sin. Go to Confession every time you need to wash away your sins and recover the grace of God. Then you can receive the Holy Eucharist, in which “is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch and the living Bread which gives life to men” (Presbyterorum ordinis, 5). Go to the sacrament of Penance, and do so frequently, even though you may not have any grave sins on your conscience, because in Confession your soul will be strengthened to fight joyfully in the battles of peace, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Homily at the Prayer Vigil, World Youth Day, 30 March 1985; published in Romana, No.1 (1985), pp. 62-63

The examination of conscience

This is the new struggle I propose to you for the remainder of our lives: to do the examination of conscience conscientiously. Understand this as a requirement of Love, because self-examination is the starting point for becoming more enkindled with God’s love through practical deeds of daily self-giving. When we really try to carry out this norm [of Christian piety] conscientiously, we prevent the seeds of lukewarmness from taking root in our souls, and find it easier to avoid occasions of sin.

If we truly propose to obtain the purity of heart that enables us to see God in everything, we need to take our daily examination of conscience very seriously. The soul that is content with a routine, superficial glance ends up sliding down the slippery slope of negligence and laziness into lukewarmness, a sort of spiritual short-sightedness in which the soul prefers not to distinguish between good and evil, between what proceeds from God and what comes from one’s own passions or from the devil.

Pastoral Letter, 8 December 1976

Sincerity

We must have recourse to examination of conscience to identify the causes of our actions and omissions, to uncover courageously the motives and occasions that separate us, a little or a lot, from intimacy with Jesus Christ. In the presence of our Lord we shall pause briefly to discover how to go about acquiring a particular virtue or getting rid of a particular bad habit.

Pastoral Letter, 8 December 1976

The Mass, centre and root of a Christian’s life

A soul which has faith recognises in the Sacrifice of the Altar the most extraordinary wonder ever to be worked in this world of ours. To attend Mass —for priests, to celebrate it— means in effect to detach ourselves from the perishable bonds of time and place, which are proper to our human nature, in order to situate ourselves at the summit of Golgotha, beside the Cross where Jesus is dying for our sins, and share actively in his redemptive Sacrifice.

How would we have behaved, if we had received the grace of accompanying Christ in those bitter hours, beside our Blessed Lady, St John and the holy women, knowing that the liberation of the human race, the redemption of our souls and bodies, was being accomplished? Doubtless we would have sought intense, immediate union with our Redeemer, in the adoration, thanksgiving, reparation and petition which Jesus Christ was presenting for us to God the Father during those moments.

Pastoral Letter, 1 April 1986

Our life and the Mass

The Mass is the centre; it should therefore be the point of reference for each one of our thoughts and actions. Nothing that happens in your life should be left out of the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Mass we find the perfect Model for our self-giving. The living Christ is there, burning with love. Apparently inactive, he is offering himself constantly to the Father, with the whole of his Mystical Body —with those souls who are his own— adoring and giving thanks, making reparation for our sins and beseeching God for his gifts, in a perfect and unceasing holocaust. In the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus gives us the permanent and joyful energy to dedicate our entire existence, in the most natural way, to the salvation of souls.

Pastoral Letter, 1 April 1986

Co-redeemers in the Mass

If our whole existence should be one of co-redeeming, do not forget that the Holy Mass is where your life acquires that co-redemptive dimension: it’s from there it draws its strength and where it is most clearly seen. That is why the Mass is the root of the interior life. We have to be very united to that root and this also depends on our response. Hence, let me point out to you, paraphrasing our Father’s [St Josemaría’s] words, our self-giving is worth what our Mass is worth; our life is effective, supernaturally speaking, in proportion to the piety, faith and devotion with which we celebrate or attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ and his eagerness to redeem. In the Holy Sacrifice, in fact, we recover the strength we have spent in the daily struggle, and we become filled with desires for sanctity and apostolate.

Pastoral Letter, 1 April 1986

Beginning again and again

Let us ask the Lord for strength. In the spiritual struggle which we have to sustain, sometimes we will be victorious, and sometimes we will be defeated. But we all have to struggle, full of hope. No one can just abandon this interior and personal war. In the spiritual life, anyone who does not struggle is already defeated. On the other hand, the person who begins again and again, always wins. In Rome, very close to the Milvian Bridge, where Constantine’s victory signalled the end of the persecution of Christians and the start of a new era for the Church, there is an inscription on a monument which says: Victores victuri, those who act like victors will be victors. My son, my daughter, in spite of your defeats, if you renew the struggle with the help of God, you deserve to be a victor. For our Lord, our good will is enough for him to graciously give us the crown.

Homily, Shrine of Our Lady of Torreciudad (Spain), 24 July 1988

The hope of a Christian

Possumus! (Mk 10:39), we can! We can be saints, in spite of our wretchedness and sins, because God is good and all-powerful, and because we have a Mother who is also the Mother of God, to whom Jesus cannot say “No.”

Let us be filled with hope, with confidence: in spite of our silly little mistakes, we can be saints if we struggle one day after another, if we purify our souls through the sacrament of Penance, if we frequently receive the living Bread who has come down from heaven (cf John 6:41), the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, really present in the Holy Eucharist.

And when the moment comes for us to render our souls to God, we will not be afraid of death. For us, death will be only moving house. It will come when God wants, but it will be a liberation, the beginning of Life with a capital L.

Homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, Shrine of Our Lady of Torreciudad (Spain), 15 August 1989; published in Romana, No. 5 (1989), p. 243

Holding our Lady’s motherly hand

Let us approach the Mother of God with filial confidence, and she will lead us to her divine Son. All with Peter to Jesus through Mary: that is how we should walk the path that necessarily leads to love for the Church and the Pope. In her hands we leave all our prayers —which seek to be universal like the Heart of Jesus— for the Roman Pontiff, for bishops and priests, and for all Christian faithful, for all men and women, especially those who are undergoing pain and suffering. Guided by the motherly hand of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, may we advance along the sure path that leads to eternal life, the path that God has prepared for those who love him (cf 1 Co 2:9).

Homily on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, St Eugene’s Basilica, Rome, 8 December 1988; published in Romana, No. 4 (1988), p. 287

We shall simply bring our Lady into everything and for everything, as befits good children. We shall set our sights —our minds and our hearts— on the Blessed Virgin Mary, to learn to live, as our Father [St Josemaría] put it, “according to heavenly Wisdom.” We will thereby become souls capable of being grateful and capable of making reparation.

Pastoral Letter, 9 January 1978

3 CHRIST URGES US ON

Regnare Christum volumus!

Regnare Christum volumus!, We want Christ to reign! He, Jesus, also wants to reign, but he does not impose himself. He respects people’s freedom. Although he knew that men and women would often reject his love, he chose to run the risk of freedom because it is a very great gift, that makes it possible for us, in some way, to merit Paradise.

Let us beg our Lord to give us the grace to carry his light to many people: by our example, by our words, and above all, by prayer. In the Gospel Jesus gives us the formula for spreading the Kingdom of God: Ask and you shall receive (Matt 7:7). May we constantly petition our Lord with all the strength of our being: with our words, with our work, with our hearts. Then Jesus will listen to us. He always does, but he wants us to persist day after day.

Homily in Los Angeles, 3 February 1988

Confidence in God

By ourselves, we can do nothing, we know nothing, we are nothing… but the Lord is everything. He knows everything. He can do everything. If we abandon ourselves in Jesus Christ’s hands as docile instruments, if, trusting his word, we launch out into the deep, the difficulties will disappear, will vanish like smoke —even if we still bear cuts and bruises sometimes— , and the world that is so dry, thirsting for God, will be transformed into a verdant oasis, full of flowers and fruits.

Pastoral Letter, 24 September 1978

Everything in our life is apostolate

“First prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much ‘in the third place’, action” (The Way, 82). Don’t forget that everything in our lives is apostolate, because we all can and should turn everything into prayer. Work, when united to the Mass, is apostolate. Our efforts to sanctify our family duties is apostolate. Prayer and mortification travel further, to a host of souls, and penetrate more deeply than we can possibly imagine. It is by these means, even before action, that we accomplish the most significant part of the mission entrusted to us by our Lord: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

Pastoral Letter, 19 March 1992

Bringing souls closer to God

Caritas Christi urget nos (2 Cor 5:14). The Love of Christ urges us on. By means of your professional work you must infuse social relations with a sense of integrity and a Christian spirit. Make use of any opportunity to strike up a divine and human dialogue with the souls around you, like Jesus, the carpenter’s son (Matt 13:55), who attracted his brethren by his behaviour and his words. The human interweaving of professional relations must necessarily include God’s imprint among its strands, so that people can discover the divine something hidden in earthly realities.

Pastoral Letter, 1 December 1991

Apostolate of friendship and confidence

What is friendship? Friendship is not about seeing a person and greeting him or her, and then saying, “Good-bye!” No, it is about understanding, sacrificing ourselves for the other person. Friendship is about helping, being available to do the favours they ask of us. This is how genuine friendships are born. And then, it is only natural that we want to do our friends the favour of sharing with them the greatest treasure that we have: the treasure of the faith, of friendship with God. It is something spontaneous, that comes naturally. It is like a spring flowing effortlessly from a rock.

Try to be a friend to your friends: forgiving, understanding, loving, and being willing to do them favours; and you will then see that these friends of yours, sooner or later, come to you to open their hearts. We all need to do so once in a while. We suffer a setback and we seek advice. We are overjoyed and we need to share it with someone else. All souls and all hearts need an outlet, like those dams that store up water for irrigation or hydroelectric power… When there is too much water, there is outlet where it can overflow. The same goes for souls and hearts. We need an overflow, an outlet.

Who will this outlet be? The friend, people who are close to us. There will be a time when they will come to talk to you, and tell you: This has happened to me, I am so happy, I am grieving. Then, with God’s help, you will find the appropriate words to heal the wound, the right advice to help them overcome a difficult time, or give a boost to their interior life.

Notes from a family gathering, Montreal, 22 February 1988

Daring

Filled with sure optimism, for we count on our God who is almighty and merciful, all of us in the Work, from the oldest to the most recent vocation, should feel the joy and blessed responsibility that comes from the fact that God has given us the world as our inheritance (cf Ps 2:8). And he is asking us to help with charity and fortitude, despite our obvious personal littleness, to bring people back to the right path. He is repeating to us the call he made to the twelve Apostles, Laxate retia vestra in capturam! (Luke 5:4) —Let down your nets for a catch! Let down your nets in my name!

Pastoral letter, 25 December 1985

Sowing joy

The time has arrived for us to do some urgent work with souls. The world is sad and troubled because of its separation from Christ, and we have to inject a strong dose of joy into souls, hope-filled optimism into hearts which are going about amidst fear and anxiety. This is a great task: announcing gaudium cum pacepace, joy and peace, to all. But, and I say this with certainty, as if our Father [St Josemaría] were dictating the phrase, only when we keep close to the Virgin Mary will our souls overflow with happiness, with extraordinary joy and serenity, which will spread to the people around us.

Pastoral Letter, 9 January 1978

Through visits to the poor and the sick, we are sincerely concerned to show Christian solidarity with those who suffer, offering to those in need the balm of charity which is made up of understanding and genuine affection.

Pastoral Letter, 31 May 1987

4 CONTEMPLATIVES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD

The Word incarnate sanctifies the world

God has shown his mercy in an unheard-of way: the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Here is the great mystery of divine Love. The Word, through whom everything was created (cf John 1:3), became flesh without ceasing to be true God. He loved with a human heart, he worked with hands like ours, he suffered the same limitations and fatigue that we do, with the exception of sin. From that moment on, everything has acquired a new meaning and a new value.

Pastoral Letter, 1 December 1991

Sanctifying work

Working well and working out of love are closely united, like a reflection of the union of Wisdom and Love in the Blessed Trinity. Working well, with human and supernatural perfection, demands that we strive to work out of love. I am not now speaking of the particular brilliant result of an activity, but rather of what we have to put into it. A job done well is not the same as a job that is a success. Honeybees build a perfect comb, and produce delicious honey, but they don’t work because they are incapable of loving. What matters is the interior attitude, not the results. Dominus autem intuetur cor (1 Sam 16:7), God looks into the human heart: it is here we find the key to knowing if a task has been finished well or badly.

Pastoral Letter, 1 December 1991

Looking towards God

Always work looking towards God, not looking to men, knowing that our Lord contemplates each of your efforts, even the most hidden. Work with the single aim of giving him all the glory —Deo omnis gloria!— and of putting Christ in the heart of all human activities. Work in close union with Jesus our Lord, very attached to his redemptive mission, which is perpetuated in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Pastoral Letter, 1 October 1984

Sanctifying the things of this world

The priestly soul which, together with our lay mentality, animates our vocation, is what ensures that we never remain passive, or view the world as if we were outsiders. It overflows with longing to present the whole of creation to the Blessed Trinity, harnessing all the dynamism of human freedom, in work and in apostolate, to place the Cross of Christ at the very heart of the world.

Therefore, my daughters and sons, we need drive, initiative. God needs us with our lay mentality, with our freedom and sense of responsibility. He wants us to be salt, dispersed through the food it seasons, and not to remain as a lump. He wants us everywhere, each in our own place, so as to impart a Christian flavour to the environment in which we move.

Pastoral Letter, 9 January 1993

Justice and Charity

The Christian spirit demands that we should not limit ourselves to giving to each what is their own. Rather, it leads us to do so with respect and affection, and to give more than is strictly owed: giving ourselves to others. In short, charity is the powerful motor which moves us to exercise justice, especially when it requires heroism. Only in this way can we act in conformity with human dignity. In other words, only in this way is it possible “to behave as God’s children toward all God’s sons and daughters” (Christ is Passing By, 36).

Interview with Scripta Theologica, 13 (1981), pp. 383-401. Published in Rendere amabile la verità, Rome, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, pp. 264-265

Sanctification in family life

Marriage is a school of virtues, of self-giving, generosity, and humility. How often you will have guessed that your husband had a particular plan in mind for the weekend, for example, when you had thought of something different. Yet since love is very quick and enables us to guess everything, you realised that your husband wanted to do something else and so you kept quiet about your idea. And you said: “Hey, why don’t we do such and such?” —the thing you knew he wanted to do. And he was really happy. You have done this so often. Husbands for their wives, and wives for their husbands.

And this is a blessing from God. And so, living your married love just as our Lord wants, you become united in soul. You vibrate in unison. And this leads you to love God. It moves the husband to help his wife to be better, and the wife her husband. Ever since you received the Sacrament of Matrimony, you have had a special grace, sacramental grace. Since then, ineffably —in a mysterious way— God has been with both the spouses when they love each other, which they always do. He has been with them when they understand each other, and sometimes that is hard, but they have to, because love lies in understanding even more than in giving.

Notes from a family gathering, Dublin, 22 November 1987

Bringing up children

The Founder of Opus Dei used to tell business-people: “The most important business you have is raising your children well.” This will come about if parents make friends with their children; if children learn from an early age that they can always open their hearts trustingly to their parents when troubles of any kind crop up.

The frantic pace of modern life does not seem to foster this calm dedication to children. We have more and more of everything, except time for others. And parents run the risk of being devoured by their work, even though they are doing it for the sake of their children’s future. But the children’s future well-being depends a lot more on the time their parents have generously given them, than on the material comfort they have provided. Children do not complain so much of parents who have not given them this or that, as of parents who have not given themselves to the family.

“Light, Salt and Leaven,” Rome, 1989; in Catholic Familyland, XXVII, 1998, pp. 11-14

Being contemplatives in the middle of the world

What does being contemplatives in the middle of the world mean for us? Let me answer in a few words: it means seeing God in everything with the light of faith, being spurred on by love, and firmly hoping that we shall contemplate him face to face in Heaven. As St Paul writes, Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then, in Heaven, face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood (1 Cor 13:12).

Pastoral Letter, 1 November 1991

TREASURY OF PRAYERS

The Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary

I confess

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament

V/. O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine:

R/. All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (three times).

V/. O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine:

R/. All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

Spiritual Communion

I wish, Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervour of the saints.

Godhead here in hiding

1. Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more, See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

2. Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived: How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed; What God’s Son has told me, take for truth I do; Truth himself speaks truly or there’s nothing true.

3. On the Cross thy Godhead made no sign to men, Here thy very manhood steals from human ken: Both are my confession, both are my belief, And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.

4. I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see, But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he; Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move, Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

5. O thou our reminder of Christ crucified, Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died, Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind, There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

6. Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican; Bathe me, Jesus Lord, in what thy bosom ran. Blood whereof a single drop has power to win All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

7. Jesus, whom I look at shrouded here below, I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so, Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light And be blest for ever with thy glory’s sight. Amen.

Angelus

V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R/. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary…

V/. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R/. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary…

V/. And the Word was made flesh.

R/. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary…

V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY

Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ, our Lord.

R/. Amen.

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Signum Crucis

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Pater noster

Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificétur nomen tuum; advéniat regnum tuum; fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.

Panem nostrum cotidiánum da nobis hódie; et dimítte nobis débita nostra, sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris; et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem; sed líbera nos a malo. Amen.

Ave, María

Ave, María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatóribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

Glória Patri

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc et semper et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Salve, Regína

Salve, Regína, Mater misericórdiæ, vita, dulcédo et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamámus, éxsules fílii Hevæ. Ad te suspirámus geméntes et flentes in hac lacrimárum valle.

Éia ergo, advocáta nostra, illos tuos misericórdes óculos ad nos convérte.

Et Iesum benedíctum fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exsílium, osténde.

O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo María!

Confíteor

Confíteor Deo omnipoténti, et vobis, fratres: quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.

Ídeo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem, omnes Ángelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.

Visitátio Sanctíssimi Sacraménti

V/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

R/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

Pater noster, Ave María, Glória Patri (tres veces).

V/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

R/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

Adoro te devote

1. Adóro te devóte, latens Déitas, quæ sub his figúris vere látitas. Tibi se cor meum totum súbiicit, quia, te contémplans, totum déficit.

2. Visus, tactus, gustus in te fállitur, sed audítu solo tuto créditur. Credo quidquid dixit Dei Fílius: nil hoc verbo veritátis vérius.

3. In Cruce latébat sola Déitas; at hic latet simul et humánitas. Ambo tamen credens atque cónfitens, peto quod petívit latro poénitens.

4. Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intúeor; Deum tamen meum te confíteor. Fac me tibi semper magis crédere, in te spem habére, te dilígere.

5. O memoriále mortis Dómini! Panis vivus vitam præstans hómini, præsta meæ menti de te vívere, et te illi semper dulce sápere.

6. Pie pellicáne, Iesu Dómine, me immúndum munda tuo sánguine: cuius una stilla salvum fácere totum mundum quit ab omni scélere.

7. Iesu, quem velátum nunc aspício, oro, fiat illud quod tam sítio; ut te reveláta cernens fácie, visu sim beátus tuæ glóriæ. Amen.

Ángelus Dómini

V/. Ángelus Dómini nuntiávit Maríæ.

R/. Et concépit de Spíritu Sancto.

Ave, María…

V/. Ecce ancílla Dómini.

R/. Fiat mihi secúndum verbum tuum.

Ave, María…

V/. Et Verbum caro factum est.

R/. Et habitávit in nobis.

Ave, María…

V/. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei génetrix.

R/. Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.

Orémus

Grátiam tuam, quǽsumus, Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde: ut qui, Ángelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui Incarnatiónem cognóvimus; per Passiónem eius et Crucem, ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.

R/. Amen.

Memoráre

Memoráre, o piíssima Virgo María, non esse audítum a sǽculo, quemquam ad tua curréntem præsídia, tua implorántem auxília, tua peténtem suffrágia, esse derelíctum.

Ego tali animátus confidéntia, ad te, Virgo Vírginum, Mater, curro, ad te vénio, coram te gemens peccátor assísto.

Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despícere; sed áudi propítia et exáudi. Amen.

Holy Rosary

Visit to the Blessed Sacrament

V/. O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine:

R/. All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (three times).

V/. O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine:

R/. All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

Spiritual Communion

wish, Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervour of the saints.

Holy Rosary

V/. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

V/. Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips!

R/. And my tongue shall announce thy praise!

V/. Incline to my aid, O God!

R/. O Lord, make haste to help me!

Glory be…

JOYFUL MYSTERIES

Mondays and Saturdays

1st The Annunciation

2nd The Visitation

3rd The Birth of Our Lord

4th The Presentation

5th The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

Tuesdays and Fridays

1st The Agony in the Garden

2nd The Scourging at the Pillar

3rd The Crowning with Thorns

4th The Carrying of the Cross

5th The Crucifixion

GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

Wednesdays and Sundays

1st The Resurrection

2nd The Ascension

3rd The Descent of the Holy Spirit

4th The Assumption of our Lady

5th The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary

MYSTERIES OF LIGHT

Thursdays

1st The Baptism of our Lord

2nd The Marriage Feast at Cana

3rd The Proclamation of the Kingdom, and the call to Conversion

4th The Transfiguration

5th The Institution of the Eucharist

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

The Litany of Our Lady

V/. Lord, have mercy.

R/. Lord, have mercy.

V/. Christ, have mercy.

R/. Christ, have mercy.

V/. Lord, have mercy.

R/. Lord, have mercy.

V/. Christ, hear us.

R/. Christ, graciously hear us.

V/. God, the Father of heaven,

R/. Have mercy on us.

V/. God the Son, Redeemer of the world,

R/. Have mercy on us.

V/. God the Holy Spirit,

R/. Have mercy on us.

V/. Holy Trinity, one God,

R/. Have mercy on us.

V/. Holy Mary,

R/. Pray for us.

Holy Mother of God,

Holy Virgin of Virgins,

Mother of Christ,

Mother of the Church,

Mother of divine grace,

Mother most pure,

Mother most chaste,

Mother inviolate,

Mother undefiled,

Mother most lovable,

Mother most admirable,

Mother of good counsel,

Mother of our Creator,

Mother of our Saviour,

Virgin most prudent,

Virgin most venerable,

Virgin most renowned,

Virgin most powerful,

Virgin most merciful,

Virgin most faithful,

Mirror of justice,

Seat of wisdom,

Cause of our joy,

Spiritual vessel,

Vessel of honour,

Singular vessel of devotion,

Mystical rose,

Tower of David,

Tower of ivory,

House of gold,

Ark of the covenant,

Gate of heaven,

Morning star,

Health of the sick,

Refuge of sinners,

Comfort of the afflicted,

Help of Christians,

Queen of Angels,

Queen of Patriarchs,

Queen of Prophets,

Queen of Apostles,

Queen of Martyrs,

Queen of Confessors,

Queen of Virgins,

Queen of all Saints,

Queen conceived without original sin,

Queen assumed into heaven,

Queen of the most holy Rosary,

Queen of the Family,

Queen of Peace,

V/. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

R/. Spare us, O Lord!

V/. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

R/. Graciously hear us, O Lord!

V/. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

R/. Have mercy on us.

V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God!

R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

LET US PRAY

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant we beseech you, that meditating on these mysteries in the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

— For the needs of the Church and the Nation:

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

— For the (Arch)bishop of this diocese and his intentions:

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

— For the Holy Souls in Purgatory:

Our Father. Hail Mary.

May they rest in peace.

Sanctum Rosárium

Visitatio Sanctissimi Sacramenti

V/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

R/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

Pater noster, Ave María, Glória Patri (three times).

V/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

R/. Adorémus in ætérnum Sanctíssimum Sacraméntum.

V/. Per signum Crucis de inimícis nostris líbera nos, Deus Noster. In nómine Patris, et Fílii et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

V/. Dómine, lábia mea apéries,

R/. et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.

V/. Deus, in adiutórium meum inténde,

R/. Dómine, ad adiuvándum me festína.

Glória Patri…

Litaniae lauretanae

V/. Kýrie, eléison.

R/. Kýrie, eléison.

V/. Christe, eléison.

R/. Christe, eléison.

V/. Kýrie, eléison.

R/. Kýrie, eléison.

V/. Christe, audi nos.

R/. Christe, audi nos.

V/. Christe, exáudi nos.

R/. Christe, exáudi nos.

V/. Pater de cælis, Deus,

R/. miserére nobis.

V/. Fili, Redémptor mundi, Deus,

R/. miserére nobis.

V/. Spíritus Sancte, Deus,

R/. miserére nobis.

V/. Sancta Trínitas, unus Deus,

R/. miserére nobis.

V/. Sancta María,

R/. ora pro nobis.

Sancta Dei Génetrix,

Sancta Virgo vírginum,

Mater Christi,

Mater Ecclésiæ,

Mater divínæ grátiæ,

Mater puríssima,

Mater castíssima,

Mater invioláta,

Mater intemeráta,

Mater immaculáta,

Mater amábilis,

Mater admirábilis,

Mater boni Consílii,

Mater Creatóris,

Mater Salvatóris,

Virgo prudentíssima,

Virgo veneránda,

Virgo prædicánda,

Virgo potens,

Virgo clemens,

Virgo fidélis,

Spéculum iustítiæ,

Sedes Sapiéntiæ,

Causa nostræ lætítiæ,

Vas spirituále,

Vas honorábile,

Vas insígne devotiónis,

Rosa mýstica,

Turris Davídica,

Turris ebúrnea,

Domus áurea,

Foéderis arca,

Iánua cæli,

Stella matutína,

Salus infirmórum,

Refúgium peccatórum,

Consolátrix afflictórum,

Auxílium christianórum,

Regína Angelórum,

Regína Patriarchárum,

Regína Prophetárum,

Regína Apostolórum,

Regína Mártyrum,

Regína Confessórum,

Regína Vírginum,

Regína Sanctórum ómnium,

Regína sine labe origináli concépta,

Regína in cælum assúmpta,

Regína sacratíssimi Rosárii,

Regína famíliæ,

Regína pacis,

V/. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi,

R/. parce nobis, Dómine.

V/. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi,

R/. exáudi nos, Dómine.

V/. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi,

R/. miserére nobis.

Sub tuum præsídium confúgimus, Sancta Dei Génetrix, nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus; sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper, Virgo gloriósa et benedícta.

V/. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Génetrix.

R/. Ut digni efficiámur promissiónibus Christi.

Orémus

Grátiam tuam, quǽsumus, Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde: ut qui, Ángelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui Incarnatiónem cognóvimus; per Passiónem eius et Crucem, ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur.

Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

Blessing for a journey

Through the intercession of our Lady, may (I, you, we) have a safe journey: and may the Lord accompany (me, you, us) on the way and his Angels accompany (me, you, us).

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Benedíctio pro itínere

Beata María intercedénte, bene ambulémus (ámbulem, ámbules, ambulétis): et Dóminus sit in itínere nostro (meo, tuo, vestro), et Ángeli eius comiténtur nobíscum (mecum, tecum, vobíscum).

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

OTHER PRAYERS

Prayer to Saint Josemaría

O God, through the mediation of Mary our Mother, you granted your priest St. Josemaría countless graces, choosing him as a most faithful instrument to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfilment of the Christian’s ordinary duties. Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving you and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love. Deign to grant me, through the intercession of St. Josemaría, the favour of… (make your request). Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

Prayer to Blessed Álvaro del Portillo

O God, merciful Father, you granted your bishop Blessed Álvaro, the grace of being, with our Lady’s help, an exemplary pastor in the service of the Church and a most faithful son and successor of Saint Josemaría, the Founder of Opus Dei. Grant that I also may respond faithfully to the demands of the Christian vocation, turning all the circumstances and events of my life into opportunities to love you and to serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Deign to grant the canonization of Blessed Álvaro, and through his intercession grant me the favour I request… (here make your petition). Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

Mental prayer

At the beginning: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask you for pardon of my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Mother Immaculate, Saint Joseph, my Father and Lord, my Guardian Angel, intercede for me.

At the end: I give you thanks, my God, for the good resolutions, affections and inspirations that you have communicated to me in this meditation. I ask you for help to put them into effect. My Mother Immaculate, Saint Joseph, my Father and Lord, my Guardian Angel, intercede for me.

Self-offering to our Lady

O my Lady, O my Mother, I offer myself entirely to you. And in proof of my filial affection I consecrate to you this day (night) my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my heart: in a word, my whole self. Now that I am entirely yours, keep me and defend me as your own property and possession. Amen.

We fly to your protection

We fly to your protection, O holy Mother of God. Turn not away from the prayers we make in our need, but deliver us always from every danger, O blessed and glorious Virgin Mary.

Sweet Mother

Sweet Mother, do not go away; do not turn your gaze from me; come with me everywhere, and never leave me alone. Since you protect me so much, as a true Mother, obtain for me the blessing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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RETURN TO CONTENTS

CONTENTS

- CONTENTS

- Foreword

- Álvaro del Portillo. Biographical Sketch

- 1 A Christian family

- 2 At university

- 3 The divine call

- 4 Days of war

- 5 In Rome and from Rome

- 6 St. Josemaría’s first successor

- 7 Pastoral government of the Prelature of Opus Dei

- 8 A holy death

- Programme for the Beatification

- Ceremonies

- Access to the ceremonies

- How to get to the Valdebebas site

- Accreditation

- Information points

- Volunteers

- Other suggestions

- Medical attention

- Alms and donations

- Map of Valdebebas site

- Useful Information

- Documentation

- Changing money

- Cash machines

- Credit cards

- Travellers’ cheques

- Lost property

- Public transport

- Useful telephone numbers

- Calls from Spain

- Masses

- Embassies and consulates

- Transportation map (Metro)

- Transportation map (Cercanías)

- Sites in Madrid

- Sites linked to Saint Josemaría and Opus Dei

- Sites linked to Blessed Álvaro del Portillo

- Harambee Projects

- 1 Nigeria

- 2 Ivory Coast

- 3 Democratic Republic of Congo

- 4 Scholarships for African priests to study in Rome

- Selection of texts from the preaching of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo

- 1 Called to be saints

- 2 To follow Christ

- 3 Christ urges us on

- 4 Contemplatives in the middle of the world

- Treasury of prayers

- The Sign of the Cross

- Our Father

- Hail Mary

- Glory be

- Hail, holy Queen

- I confess

- Visit to the Blessed Sacrament

- Adoro te devote

- Angelus

- Memorare

- Holy Rosary

- Other prayers

- Share this book