“A Safe Path” | St. Josemaria Escriva and the Consecration of Opus Dei to Our Lady

On August 15, 1951, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Josemaria Escriva entrusted a very serious intention to Our Lady of Loreto.

In 1948, St. Josemaria went on pilgrimage for the first time to the Holy House of Mary in Loreto, Italy. Loreto has been a special place of pilgrimage for centuries since tradition holds that the Holy House of Nazareth was transferred from Nazareth to the Ancona region of Italy in the late 13th century.

In the 40’s and 50’s, St. Josemaria had found himself facing many harsh contradictions against Opus Dei and himself as its founder. He later explained: “I suffered a lot during those years. I cannot hide it from you, but I must also tell you that, without any kind of miracle, Our Lord comforted me and gave me new strength every day, to defend the path, to follow his plans. (…) Not knowing who to address here on earth, I went, as always, to Heaven. On August 15, 1951, after a visit to Loreto, I made the consecration of the Work [Opus Dei] to the Most Sweet Heart of Mary.”

St. Josemaria had left Rome with a great suffering in his heart when they arrived in Loreto in the afternoon of August 14, 1951. The Basilica was full of people when he went to pray for a few moments before the image of Our Lady. The next day, August 15, he returned very early to the Basilica to celebrate Mass and to make the consecration of Opus Dei to Our Lady. At Mass, he made the consecration in his heart, and after Mass, speaking quietly to those who were at his side, he renewed the consecration he had just made, in the name of the whole Work [Opus Dei].

He returned from Loreto to Rome transformed. He had left the great weight of suffering that overwhelmed him in the hands of Our Lady, confident that she would listen to him. A month later he wrote to the members of Opus Dei: “Our Lady made sure that I didn’t lack, in those hard hours, the strength necessary to defend our vocation. ‘Most Sweet Heart of Mary, prepare for us a safe path.'”

Every year, on August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, the Prelate of Opus Dei renews this consecration to the Most Sweet Heart of Mary begun by St. Josemaria in order to keep alive the determination to care for the Work in the service of the Church and all mankind, and the desires for fidelity, holiness, and apostolate in daily life.

Cover Image: St. Josemaria Escriva venerating a statue of Our Lady of Loreto (April 1971)