The collected letters of St. Josemaria Escriva, Vol I-III

by Josemaría Escrivá

After the death of St Josemaria in 1975, his successor, Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, had an audience with Pope St Paul VI. Referring to the teachings of the founder of Opus Dei, St Paul VI asked that all these be carefully collected "because they are now already a treasure which belongs to the whole Church".
This volume contains the first four Letters of some 38 of a foundational nature which St Josemaria wrote. Although they were addressed to all the members of Opus Dei, they are valuable resources for everyone in the Church.
Letter 1, dated 24th March 1930, is on the call to holiness and apostolate in ordinary life.
Letter 2, dated 24th March 1931, highlights the importance of humility in one's spiritual life.
Letter 3, dated 9th January 1932, deals with the supernatural and apostolic mission of the members of Opus Dei in the middle of the world.
Letter 4, dated 16th July 1933, explains the way of proclaiming Christian doctrine through personal apostolate.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain who founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. He was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who declared Saint Josemaría should be "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity."

Josemaría’s father’s textile business failed in 1915, so the family relocated to Logroño, where José found other work. It was in Logroño that Josemaría sensed his vocation for the first time. After seeing some bare footprints left in the snow by a friar who had walked that way a short time earlier, he felt that God wanted something from him, though he did not know exactly what. He thought that he could more easily discover what it was if he became a priest, so he began to prepare for the priesthood, first in Logroño and later in Saragossa. Following his father’s advice, he also studied for a law degree at the University of Saragossa. His father died in 1924 and Josemaría was left as head of the family. Ordained on March 28, 1925, he began his ministry in a rural parish, and afterwards in Saragossa.

In 1927, with the permission of his bishop, Fr. Josemaría moved to Madrid to work on his doctorate in law. There, on October 2, 1928, God showed him clearly the mission he had been hinting to him for several years; and he founded Opus Dei. From that day on he worked with all his energies to develop the foundation that God asked of him, while he continued to fulfill the various priestly responsibilities he had at that time. These brought him into daily contact with sickness and poverty in the hospitals and the poor districts of Madrid.

When the civil war broke out in 1936, Josemaría was in Madrid. The religious persecution forced him to take refuge in a variety of places. He exercised his priestly ministry in a clandestine fashion until he was finally able to leave Madrid. After escaping across the Pyrenees to southern France, he took up residence in Burgos.

At the end of the war in 1939 he returned to Madrid. In the years that followed he gave many retreats to lay people, priests, and members of religious orders. In the same year, 1939, he completed his doctorate in law.

In 1946 he took up residence in Rome. There he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University and was named consultor to two Vatican Congregations, as well as honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and prelate of honor to His Holiness. He followed closely the preparations for the Second Vatican Council and its various sessions (1962-1965), keeping in touch with many of the council fathers. From Rome he frequently went to different countries in Europe, including Britain and Ireland, to spur on the apostolic work of Opus Dei. It was with the same objective that, between 1970 and 1975, he made long trips to Mexico, Spain, Portugal, South America, and Guatemala, holding catechetical gatherings which large numbers of men and women attended.

He died in Rome on June 26, 1975. Thousands of people, including many bishops (a third of all the bishops in the world), requested that the Holy See open his cause of beatification and canonization.

On May 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II beatified Josemaría Escrivá. He proclaimed him a saint ten years later, on October 6, 2002, in St. Peter’s Square, in Rome, before a great multitude. In his homily on that occasion, the Pope said: “Following in his footsteps, spread in society the awareness that we are called to holiness, without distinction of race, class, culture or age."

Reviews

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four foundational letters from St Josemaria to his members on the call to holiness and apostolate in ordinary life, humility in the spiritual life, the supernatural and apostolic mission in the middle of the world and guidance on personal apostolate. Incredible to have these documents available to read. How consistent he was in his message, from the very beginning when he was writing to only two members. You realise how clearly laid out the Work was to the founder from the very beginning and how he spent his life from the age of twenty six until his death, patiently outlining the nature of Opus Dei to all who wanted to hear so that they could understand God's Work and what God is calling us to do through this spirituality. Amazing.

[Jason Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

More in depth than Christ is Passing by.

[Ralph Wechuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Treasure