St. Josemaría Escrivá

Childhood Trials and Footprints in the Snow

St. Josemaría Escrivá was born on January 9, 1902, in Barbastro, in the Aragon region of Spain. His childhood was marked by suffering: three younger sisters died in succession, and his father's business failed, forcing the family to start over in Logroño. There, as a teenager, the sight of bare footprints left in the snow by a discalced friar stirred in him a conviction that God was asking something of him, and he resolved to become a priest. He was ordained in 1925.

The Founding of Opus Dei

On October 2, 1928, while making a retreat in Madrid, he saw with clarity the mission he believed God had been preparing him for: Opus Dei, meaning Work of God, a path within the Church by which ordinary Christians—laypeople and priests alike—seek holiness through their everyday work, family life, and ordinary duties. He carried this message forward while ministering intensively among the poor and the sick of Madrid's outskirts, and he endured grave dangers during the religious persecution of the Spanish Civil War.

The Way and Worldwide Growth

His best-known book, The Way (1939), a collection of short spiritual points, has been translated into dozens of languages and printed in the millions of copies; later works include Christ Is Passing By and Friends of God. In 1946 he moved to Rome, from where Opus Dei spread through Europe and the Americas and eventually worldwide. His central insight—that the universal call to holiness reaches people precisely in the middle of the world—anticipated themes solemnly taught by the Second Vatican Council.

Death, Canonization, and Resting Place

He died suddenly in Rome on June 26, 1975. In 1982 St. John Paul II established Opus Dei as a personal prelature, and the same pope beatified Escrivá in 1992 and canonized him on October 6, 2002, before a vast crowd in St. Peter's Square, presenting him as a witness that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. His feast is June 26, and his remains rest in the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace in Rome, a place of pilgrimage for members and friends of Opus Dei.

Significance

Josemaría Escrivá spent his priesthood helping people see that everyday work and family life can become places of encounter with God. His message, carried from the poor outskirts of Madrid to the wider world, anticipated the Second Vatican Council's teaching on the universal call to holiness. For laypeople and priests alike, he offers encouragement to seek sanctity right where daily life has placed them.