It might come as a shock to find out that Advent is more about preparing for the second coming of Christ than for the first. Or better: Advent teaches us that the same attitude we have toward the first coming is the same we will have toward the second.
God’s nearness is one of the most startling realizations for those who have begun living the spiritual life in earnest. That God sees and hears me, that He is both working through and loving me in all circumstances is a revelation that immediately inspires wonder.
In the three-year cycle of readings for the Solemnity of Christ the King, it might seem strange to have alternative Gospels that emphasize Christ’s weakness. What kind of kingship are we acknowledging and celebrating in Christ, the King?
St Josemaria expresses the wish in The Way that we should learn to speak of the holy souls in purgatory as “My good friends the souls in purgatory” (571).
The liturgical year is beginning, and the introit of the Mass invites us to consider something closely related to the beginning of our christian life: the vocation we have all received.
In her poem “Why I Love You, O Mary!”, Saint Therese of Lisieux says that the Blessed Virgin teaches her how to weep and rejoice—what to have sorrow for and what to rejoice over.
On April 15, 1967, in an interview with Peter Forbarth of Time Magazine, St. Josemaria Escriva explained the why and much more about the founding and mission of Opus Dei in the Church and in the world.
“God clearly has his own ways, and each person has their own personal path to the faith.” The Way, one of the twentieth century’s best known spiritual works, had a great impact on me personally and has been part of my life since the day it first came into my hands. Later, I studied it […]
When The Way was published in 1939, St. Josemaria thought it might sell as many as 3,000 copies. Since then, this little book for meditation and prayer has sold nearly 5 million copies and has been translated into more than 40 languages, while gaining recognition as a modern spiritual classic. Read and cherished by popes […]
“It’s hard! — Yes, I know. But, forward! No one will be rewarded — and what a reward! — except those who fight bravely.” ST. JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA The Way, no. 720 “The message of the cross if foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of […]
St Augustine of Hippo, with an insight born from personal experience, attests that it is by one’s personal struggle to be pure in heart and chaste in body that this integration of love takes place both within a man and in his relationships with God and neighbor.
Although St Monica is also known for her many deeds of mercy, it is her continual intercession for her son for which she is chiefly remembered and invoked by Christians throughout the ages.
Celebrations were underway around the world in honor of St. Josemaria’s Feast Day (June 26th)! If you would like to share photos and stories of your local celebration please forward them to: info@stjosemaria.org. Following are a note and photos from this year’s celebration in Muntinlupa City, Philippines: Thought I might share with you some photos […]
“He has been raised; he is not here. But go into Galilee; there you will see him” (cf. Mk 16:6-7).
“Our transgressions and our sins are upon us; they weigh us down; and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” (Ezekiel 33:10).
In the principal feasts of the liturgical year the Gospels mention the presence of women. Christmas, the Annunciation, the Visitation—all go without saying, because the New Eve, the Woman, is central.
All of the apostles reclining around the table at the Last Supper ask this question; one of them, Judas, asks it just to keep up appearances. He is about to set up Jesus for arrest and condemnation.
Throughout Lent the Roman liturgy often sings of the “rewards” or fruits of fasting and penance: sobriety and clarity of mind, a humbled heart, works of mercy, and forgiveness of sins—rewards that are gifts from God and which dispose us to an even greater attentiveness to Him.
“But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me’” (Mk 14:6).
1. Introduction Devotion to Saint Joseph was deeply rooted in Saint Josemaría’s soul from a very early age. Recalling how in 1934 he had entrusted to the Holy Patriarch his efforts to obtain permission for the tabernacle in the first center of Opus Dei in Madrid, he remarked in 1971: “I already had deep in […]
