SAINT JOSEMARÍAFounder of Opus Dei

SAINT JOSEMARÍA

• A brief biography

• Saint Josemaría in brazil

What is Opus Dei?

• Message

• Main features of the spirit of Opus Dei

• History

• People in Opus Dei

Summary

SAINT JOSEMARÍAFounder of Opus Dei

SAINT JOSEMARÍA

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

SAINT JOSEMARÍAA brief biography• Josemaría Escrivá was born in

Barbastro, Spain on January 9, 1902.

• He was ordained on March 28, 1925.

• He studied civil law along with his ecclesiastical studies, and in 1927, he moved to Madrid to obtain a doctorate in law.

• While there, he worked hard with the poor and sick, and also with students, workers, and professionals.

SAINT JOSEMARÍAA brief biography

• On October 2, 1928, he saw by divine inspiration that God was asking him to spread the universal call to holiness, and that a new path would be opened up within the Church – Opus Dei – to spread this call throughout the world.

• History has borne out this vision: there are now around 87,000 people in Opus Dei and his spiritual message has reached millions.

SAINT JOSEMARÍAA brief biography• Escrivá was always a proponent

of understanding and dialogue, and in 1950 he won the Holy See's approval to allow Opus Dei to appoint Cooperators, who could be Catholics, non-CatholicChristians or even non-believers.

• Inspired by Escrivá's teaching and his promotion of the apostolic and social responsibility of Christians, the members and Cooperators of Opus Dei have started hundreds of evangelical works and social initiatives all over the world, especially among the poor and disadvantaged.

SAINT JOSEMARÍAA brief biography • Willing to innovate, but always faithful to

the Magisterium of the Church, Escrivá was described by Pope John Paul II as a precursor of the Second Vatican Council.

• He anticipated by thirty years many of the teachings that, after the great ecclesial assembly, became the patrimony of the whole People of God.

• He is the author of books of spiritualitywhich are read around the world. His best-known book is The Way, which has sold nearly four million copies in 43 languages.

• Escrivá died in Rome on June 26, 1975.• He was beatified on May 17, 1992.• He was canonized by John Paul II on

October 6, 2002, before a crowd of 350,000.

SAINT JOSEMARÍAIn Brazil

• A decisive factor for the development of the apostolic work of Opus Dei in brazil was the stay of St. JosemariaEscriva in Sao Paulo, between May 22 and June 7, 1974.

• Many people had the opportunity to meet him and hear him in meetings of catechesis, which reached over 3,000 participants gather at AnhembiPark, and close to 2000 in the Auditorium Maua.

• On May 28, St. Josemaria, accompanied by numerous members of Opus Dei, cooperators and friends, made a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?

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

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?Message

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

• As the Second Vatican Council noted, every baptized person is called to follow Jesus Christ, by living according to the Gospel and making it known to others.

• The aim of Opus Dei is to contribute to that evangelizing mission of the Church, by promoting among Christians of all social classes a life fully consistent with their faith, in the middle of the ordinary circumstances of their lives and especially through the sanctification of their work.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?Main features of the spirit of Opus Dei

• Divine filiation– “Divine filiation is the foundation of the spirit

of Opus Dei,”

• Ordinary life– “It is in the midst of the most material things

of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind,”

• Sanctifying work– Sanctifying work means to work with the

spirit of Jesus Christ, to work competently and ethically, with the aim of loving God and serving others, and thus to sanctify the world from within, making the Gospel present in all activities whether they be outstanding or humble and hidden

• Prayer and sacrifice– The formation given by Opus Dei encourages

prayer and sacrifice in order to sustain the effort to sanctify one’s ordinary occupations

• Unity of life– St Josemaría explained that Christians

working in the world should not live “a kind of double life. On the one hand, an interior life, a life of union with God; and on the other, a separate and distinct professional, social and family life.”

• Freedom– The members of Opus Dei are ordinary

citizens who enjoy the same rights and are subject to the same obligations as any other citizen

• Charity– To meet Christ is to find a treasure that one

cannot stop sharing. Christians are witnesses to Jesus Christ and spread his message of hope among their companions, with their example and their words.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?History• 1928

– 2 October: While on a spiritual retreat in Madrid, Saint Josemaría Escrivá, under divine inspiration, founded Opus Dei.

• 1930

– 14 February: In Madrid, while Saint Josemaría was celebrating Mass, God made him understand that Opus Dei was for women too.

• 1936

– The Spanish Civil War temporarily delayed Saint Josemaría’s plans to expand the apostolic work of Opus Dei to other countries.

• 1943

– 14 February: Again during Mass, God let Fr. Josemaría see the juridical solution that would enable priests to be ordained for Opus Dei: the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross.

• 1946

– St Josemaría moved to Rome. In the years that followed, he would travel from Rome throughout Europe to prepare the beginnings of the apostolic work of Opus Dei in several different countries.

• 1957

– Opus Dei began its work in Brazil

• 1970 – 1975

– Saint Josemaría made various trips around Europe and the Americas to speak to people about the Christian faith.

• 1975

– 26 June: Josemaría Escrivá died in Rome. Around 60,000 people belonged to Opus Dei at that time.

• 1992

– 17 May: Beatification of Josemaría Escriváin Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

• 2002

– 6 October: Canonization of JosemaríaEscrivá in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?People in Opus Dei

• Opus Dei has around 90,000 members, both men and women. 98% are laypeople, most of whom are married. The remaining 2% are priests.

• Most members of Opus Dei seek God also in marriage.

• Family atmosphere– A characteristic feature of Opus Dei

is its Christian family atmosphere.– This is present in all the activities

the Prelature organizes.

WHAT IS OPUS DEI?People in Opus Dei

• Membership distribution

• The geographical distribution is approximately as follows

– Africa 2,000

– Asia and the Pacific 5,000

– The Americas 30,000

– Europe 50,000

REFERENCEhttp://www.opusdei.us/