Sharing in the Life of Christ: On the Anniversary of St. Josemaria’s Ordination to the Priesthood

Let’s start with the coincidence of dates: St. Josemaria was ordained on March 28, 1925, and then celebrated his first Mass on March 30, which was Monday of Passion Week. And, then there’s the striking story I have heard repeatedly about his 50th anniversary of ordination; it fell on Good Friday that year, 1975. In the book entitled, 40 Years With a Saint, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo recalled that St. Josemaria was moved by this coincidence of dates.

Usually, the 50th anniversary of priestly ordination is a big deal and a good reason for festivity. In her book, The Man of Villa Tevere, Pilar Urbano recalls that the prior year, on March 28, 1974, for example, he held out his hands to several of his spiritual daughters, for them to kiss. “Today is indeed a day for kissing the palms of hands which have received priestly consecration,” he commented. But, since the golden anniversary in 1975 coincided with Good Friday, St. Josemaria decided to stay away from the center of attention. This helped him to focus on Our Lord’s Passion and to avoid distracting others from this penitential liturgical celebration. It was one way of his giving thanks for his priestly ordination, and another way to unite his priestly soul to Our Lord on the Cross. Here is the letter, translated into English from the original Spanish, that St. Josemaria wrote to all the members of Opus Dei for the occasion:

My dear children: May Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!

I am writing you to ask that on this coming March 28, the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, you pray for me in a special way—invoking as intercessors our Mother holy Mary and St. Joseph, our father and lord—that I may be a good and faithful priest.

I don’t want any ceremony planned, because I want to spend this jubilee in accord with what has always been my ordinary norm of conduct: to hide and disappear, so that only Jesus shines forth.

But I also ask that we all be very united on that day, with a deeper gratitude to the Lord (this March 28th is Good Friday), who has spurred us to share in his holy cross, that is, in that Love which sets no conditions.

Help me to thank God for the immense treasure of the call to the priesthood and for the other divine vocation, to the Work, and for all his mercies and all his benefactions, “universa beneficia sua, etiam ignota”—even the ones I haven’t noticed. Let us give thanks, my daughters and sons, because even though we are of such little worth—nothing—our Father in heaven, in his infinite goodness, has expanded our hearts and, with that fire that he came to bring into the world, has sparked in our souls a great Love. Let us also show him a filial acknowledgement of our having learned in his Work to love the Holy Church and the Roman Pontiff with deeds and in truth.

Accompany me in adoring our Redeemer, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, in all the “repositories” of all the churches in the world, on this Good Friday. Let us spend that day in intense and loving adoration.

Let us ask pardon for all our sins, and for the sins of all people, with an eagerness to do purification and reparation in the face of so much blindness. Ut videamus! Ut videant! That we may see; that they may see.

Let us spend that day closely united to the Blessed Virgin—contemplating her besides the cross of her Son—in recollected adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition.

Joy and sorrow come together there, iuxta Crucem Iesu (beside the cross of Jesus), and all the ceremonial words and gestures known to humanity are inadequate for praising the Love that gives itself there. So, my daughters and sons, let us commemorate this priestly anniversary by renewing the resolution that we will gratefully, each day, at the foot of the cross—of the altar—share in the Life that Jesus Christ gives us; that the holy Mass will be always the center and root of our existence. That is the best celebration of priesthood.

I am already deeply moved by the affection that you will put into commemorating in this way my fifty years as a priest. Strive to observe this feast closely united to my intentions, especially that of my Mass. You will be amazed to see how many lights and mercies we will receive from our Lord, if we strive to stay within easy reach of his glance, praying and working in his presence consummati in unum, forming a single heart with ever greater eagerness to serve the holy Church and souls.

An affectionate blessing from your Father,

Mariano (a nickname he used for himself)

In the third of his three-volume biography of St. Josemaria Escriva, Vasquez de Prada, includes this entire letter and in fact dedicates an entire section to “his golden jubilee”. It can be found immediately before the section that describes St. Josemaria’s final days, since his death occurred just a few months after this golden ordination anniversary. It seems to me that this letter speaks to his readiness to embrace Our Lord.