OCT. 6: ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANONIZATION OF ST. JOSEMARIA.
Comments of some Popes on St. Josemaria and Opus Dei
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Dear friends, today marks the anniversary of the canonization of St. Josemaria (Oct. 6, 2002). Laus Deo! Below you can find comments written by St. John Paul II, St. Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I on St. Josemaria taken from http://www.vatican.va/latest/documents/escriva_pontefici_en.html
If you wish to have further information (biography, process, miracle etc.), please see the Vatican website in this link: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20021006_index_escriva_en.html
COMMENTS OF THE POPES ON ST. JOSEMARIA AND OPUS DEI
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POPE FRANCIS
“On the occasion of the International Symposium on “Saint Josemaria Escriva and Theological Thought,” organized at the end of the Year of Faith by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, an academic institution inspired by him, the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis addresses his affectionate greetings to everyone involved. He does so with the hope that the wonderful example of the priestly life of the holy Founder, a precursor of Vatican II in stressing the universal call to holiness, may inspire in all the faithful of the great family of Opus Dei a renewed conviction that believers, by virtue of baptism which incorporates them into Christ, are called to be holy and to help further with their daily work the salvation of all mankind.
His Holiness, while recalling the perennial truth preached by Saint Josemaria Escriva with his words and his life (that the fruitfulness of all apostolate lies in prayer and in an intense and constant sacramental life), asks for prayers for himself and for his ministry. And invoking the light of the Holy Spirit for a fruitful work of reflection, he imparts his Apostolic Blessing to the Rector and the faculty, including all those taking part in the conference and everyone at the Pontifical University.”
Archbishop Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of his Holiness
-Telegram sent in Italian to the Prelate of Opus Dei (23 November 2013)
ST. JOHN PAUL II
“A clear manifestation of divine Providence is the constant presence of men and women faithful to Christ down the centuries, who with their life and their message, shed light on various periods of history. Among these distinguished figures, Blessed Josemaria has an eminent place. As I had occasion to stress on the day of his beatification, he reminded the contemporary world of the universal call to holiness and of the Christian value which professional work can have in the ordinary life of each person”. (Address to the participants of the Congress on the teachings of Blessed Josemaria, October 14, 1993)
“WITH SUPERNATURAL INTUITION, BLESSED JOSEMARIA PREACHED UNTIRINGLY THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS AND TO APOSTOLATE. CHRIST CALLS EVERYONE TO BE HOLY THROUGH ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EVENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. WORK BECOMES A MEANS OF PERSONAL HOLINESS AND APOSTOLATE WHEN IT IS LIVED IN UNION WITH JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God who, through his Incarnation, has in a certain way united himself with the whole reality of man and with the whole of creation (cf. Dominum et Vivificantem, 50). In a society where the unbridled craving for material things becomes man’s sole object, causing him to draw away from God, the new Blessed reminds us that these same realities, God’s creation and fruits of human industry, if used rightly for the glory of the Creator and in service of one’s brothers and sisters, can be a way for men and women to meet Christ”. (Ceremony of the Beatification of Josemaria Escriva, May 17, 1992)
FOR THE HOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II DURING THE CANONIZATION OF ST. JOSEMARIA, CLICK HERE.
JOHN PAUL I
“Msgr. Escriva, with Gospel in hand, constantly taught: “CHRIST DOES NOT WANT US SIMPLY TO BE GOOD, HE WANTS US TO BE SAINTS THROUGH AND THROUGH. HOWEVER, HE WANTS US TO ATTAIN THAT SANCTITY NOT BY DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, BUT RATHER, THROUGH ORDINARY COMMON ACTIVITIES. It is the way that they are done which must be uncommon”. There, nel bel mezzo della strada (in the middle of the street), in the office, in the factory, we can be holy provided we do our job competently, for love of God, and cheerfully, so that everyday work does not become ‘a daily tragedy’, but rather ‘a daily smile’”.(Article in Il Gazzettino, Venice, 25-VII-1978)
ST. POPE PAUL VI
“During the last audience that Paul VI granted to St. Josemaría, on June 25, 1973, they spoke about Opus Dei’s canonical framework and the situation of the Church. The Pope told him several times: “You are a saint!” After the founder’s death, Álvaro del Portillo asked the Pope for permission to tell the faithful of Opus Dei about this encounter. On hearing those words of the Pope, Don Álvaro said, the founder in his humility was deeply embarrassed. On his part, St. Josemaría also perceived the holiness of the Pope from Brescia. In 1967, for example, when speaking in Madrid about Pope Paul VI to some members of Opus Dei, he stressed his “longing for peace, his love and concern for the humblest, his desire that no one be lacking anything.” Later Álvaro del Portillo alluded (always with Pope Paul VI’s permission) to his words in an audience with Don Álvaro in 1976. Paul VI said that the founder of Opus Dei was “one of the people who had received the most charisms in the Church’s history and had responded with the greatest generosity to God’s gifts.”
Blessed Álvaro, a witness to those meetings, said in an interview in 1982: “I was able to note in a very special way Paul VI’s affection for the Father (St. Josemaría) during an audience.” The Pope later told him that he had been reading The Way for many years, with great benefit to his soul, and asked him at what age the founder had written it. When Don Álvaro replied that it had been published when he was thirty-seven, but that the core of the book had already appeared in 1934 under the title Spiritual Considerations, when the founder was in his early thirties, the Pope turned thoughtful and said: “Then he wrote it in the maturity of youth.” (Romana, n. 59, July-December 2014, p. 346-348)
“We have seen in your words the vibration of the generous and enlightened spirit of the whole Institution, born in our times as an expression of the perennial youth of the Church (…). WE CONSIDER WITH PATERNAL SATISFACTION ALL THAT OPUS DEI HAS DONE AND CONTINUES TO DO FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD: THE DESIRE TO DO GOOD THAT GUIDES IT, THE ARDENT LOVE FOR THE CHURCH AND ITS VISIBLE HEAD WHICH CHARACTERIZES IT, THE ARDENT ZEAL FOR SOULS WHICH LEADS IT ALONG THE DIFFICULT AND ARDUOUS PATHS OF THE APOSTOLATE OF PRESENCE AND OF WITNESS IN ALL SECTORS OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE”.(Handwritten letter to Msgr. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, October 1, 1964)
ST. POPE JOHN XXIII
“The first time I heard about Opus Dei they told me that it was an imposing institution e che faceva molto bene [was doing good]. The second time, it was an imposing institution and che faceva moltissimo bene [was doing a great lot of good]. These words entered my ears, but … the love for Opus Dei stayed in my heart.” (March 5, 1960 translation mine. Source: https://opusdei.org/es-es/article/juan-xxiii-y-el-fundador-del-opus-dei/)
POPE BENEDICT XVI
“Holiness is this profound contact with God, becoming a friend of God: it is letting the Other work, the Only One who can really make the world both good and happy. And if, then, Josemaría Escrivá speaks of the calling of all to be saints, I think that he is actually referring to this personal experience of his of not having done incredible things by himself, but of having let God work. And thus was born a renewal, a force for good in the world, even if all the weaknesses of mankind will remain ever present. Truly we are all capable, we are all called to open ourselves up to this friendship with God, to not leave the hands of God, to not neglect to turn and return to the Lord, speaking with him as if speaking with a friend, knowing well that the Lord really is a true friend of everyone, including those who cannot do great things by themselves.
From all this I have better understood the inner character of Opus Dei, this surprising union of absolute fidelity to the Church’s great tradition, to its faith, and unconditional openness to all the challenges of this world, whether in the academic world, in the field of work, or in matters of the economy, etc. The person who is bound to God, who has this uninterrupted conversation, can dare to respond to these challenges, and no longer has fear. For the person who stands in God’s hands always falls into God’s hands. And so fear vanishes, and in its place is born the courage to respond to today’s world.” L’Osservatore Romano
October 06, 2002 – On the Occassion of the Canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva.
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