Josemaría Escrivá
| Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albas, born José María Mariano Escriba Albas) | |
|---|---|
| File:Stjosemariaprayercard.jpg | |
| Narcissist and Buffoon | |
| Born | 9 January 1902, Barbastro, Spain |
| Died | 26 June 1975, Rome |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 17 May 1992, Rome, Vatican |
| Canonized | 6 October 2002, Rome, Vatican |
| Major shrine | Our Lady of Peace, Prelatic Church of Opus Dei |
| Feast | 26 June |
| Attributes | Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar |
| Patronage | Ordinary Life |
| O God, through the mediation of Mary our Mother, you granted your priest St. Josemaría countless graces, choosing him as a most faithful instrument to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian's ordinary duties. Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving You and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love. Deign to grant me, through the intercession of St. Josemaría, the favor of ... (make your request). Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father. | |
Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (Thursday, January 9, 1902 – Thursday, June 26, 1975), (also known as Jose María or Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albas, born José María Mariano Escriba Albas) was a Spanish Catholic priest and founder of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, popularly, Opus Dei. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II, who declared Saint Josemaria as "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity." [1] John Paul II's decree Christifideles omnes also states: "[B]y inviting Christians to seek union with God through their daily work - which confers dignity on human beings and is their lot as long as they exist on earth - his message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light regardless of changing epochs and situations." [2]
Biography
Early life
One of the six children of José Escrivá and Dolores Alba, Josemaría Escrivá was born in the small town of Barbastro, in upper Aragon, Spain. Escrivá first felt that "he has been chosen for something," it is reported, when he saw footprints left in the snow by a monk walking barefoot.
He then decided that the best way to follow God's call is by becoming a priest. After obtaining the blessing and help of his father, he studied in both Logroño and Zaragoza and was ordained a deacon in Zaragoza on Saturday, December 20 1924 and a priest, also in Zaragoza, on Saturday, March 28 1925. After a brief clerical appointment in a rural area he went to Madrid, the Spanish capital, in 1927 to study law.
Mission as founder of Opus Dei
A prayerful retreat helped him to further discern what he considered to be God's will for him, and on October 2 1928 he created Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God") as a new lay movement through which Catholics might learn to sanctify themselves without abandoning secular life. According to John Paul II's Christifideles omnes, a papal decree which contains a condensed biography of Escrivá, "[t]o this mission he gave himself totally. From the beginning his was a very wide-ranging apostolate in social environments of all kinds. He worked especially among the poor and the sick languishing in the slums and hospitals of Madrid."
During the Spanish Civil War, Escrivá went into hiding to escape persecution by anti-clerical elements, although he continued ministering to Catholics, potentially risking his life. When the war ended in 1939, he was able to resume his studies in Madrid and complete a doctorate in law.
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, attached to Opus Dei, was founded in on Sunday, 14 February 1943, and Escrivá himself moved to Rome in 1946.
Christifideles omnes, the papal decree, states that "in 1947 and on Monday, 16 June 1950, he obtained approval of Opus Dei as an institution of pontifical right. With tireless charity and operative hope he guided the development of Opus Dei throughout the world, activating a vast mobilization of lay people.... He gave life to numerous initiatives in the work of evangelization and human welfare; he fostered vocations to the priesthood and the religious life everywhere....Above all, he devoted himself tirelessly to the task of forming the members of Opus Dei."
Later years
After earning a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University, he was appointed Consultor to two Vatican Congregations and made an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Pope Pius XII acknowledged Escrivá's work by making him a prelate of honor and by granting Opus Dei his official approval on June 16 1950. Escrivá also was consulted by many Cardinals during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Many biographers commented on his contribution regarding the universal call to holiness, the role of the laity, the importance of the Holy Mass as the centre and root of the Christian life. Six months after Augusto Pinochet's September 11, 1973 coup, he went to Santiago to acclaim the new junta. Escrivá worked throughout his life to foster Opus Dei's work, so that when he died in 1975 Opus Dei covered five continents and had more than 60,000 members from eighty nationalities.
Despite the Maxim 677 he enjoined upon his followers, “Honors, distinctions, titles, things of air, puffs of pride, lies, nothingness,.” in 1968 Escriva petitioned for and was granted the title of Marqués de Peralta [3],and had collected such decorations as the Grand Cross of St. Raymond of Peñafort, the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, the Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholic and others, as well as sundry gold medals.[citation needed]
Personality and attitudes
Attitudes in general
One of the persons who knew Escrivá most was the Bishop of Madrid where Opus Dei was founded, Bishop Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, for Escrivá would visit and report to him quite frequently and the two established very strong bonds of friendship. In a 1943 report to Rome, he stated: "The distinctive notes of his character are his energy and his capacity for organization and government; with an ability to pass unnoticed. He has shown himself most obedient to the Church hierarchy--one very special hallmark of his priestly work is the way he fosters, in speech and in writing, in public and in private, love for Holy Mother Church and for the Roman Pontiff."
During the time when, according to some dubious sources, some Jesuits were spreading, not without some degree of truthfulness, the notion that Opus Dei is a "new heresy" and had the "secretive character" of Masonry, Eijo y Garay wrote to the Jesuit Provincial of Toledo, Carlos Gomez Martinho, S.J. in 1941: "Fr. Escrivá is an exemplary priest, chosen by God for apostolic enterprises; humble, prudent, self-sacrificing in work,docile to his bishop, of outstanding intelligence and with a very solid spiritual and doctrinal formation." Eijo y Garay also told a leader of the Falange who went to consult the bishop on the "secret and Masonic" society founded by Escrivá: "To think that Fr. Josemaria Escrivá is capable of creating anything secret is absurd. He is as frank and open as a child!"
Dr. Viktor Frankl, Jewish psychologist and Nazi death camp survivor, author of Man's Search for Meaning, met Escrivá in Rome in 1970. Later he wrote of "the refreshing serenity which emanated from him and warmed the whole conversation", and "the unbelievable rhythm" with which his thought flowed, and finally "his amazing capacity" for getting into "immediate contact" with those he was speaking to. Frankl went on: "Escrivá evidently lived totally in the present moment, he opened out to it completely, and gave himself entirely to it." [4] At the end of the meeting, Frankl whispered to the translator, "This man is a spiritual atomic bomb." [5]
"The first impression one gets from watching Escrivá ‘live,’" John L. Allen, Jr. writes after watching some films on the founder of Opus Dei in 2005, "is his effervescence, his keen sense of humor. He cracks jokes, makes faces, roams the stage, and generally leaves his audience in stitches in off-the-cuff responses to questions from people in the crowd." [6]
Towards God
On the centennial of Escrivá's birthday, the then Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) commented: "I have always been impressed by Josemaría Escrivá's explanation of the name "Opus Dei": an explanation which we might call biographical and which gives us an idea of the founder's spiritual profile. Escrivá knew he had to found something, but he was also conscious that what he was founding was not his own work, that he himself did not invent anything and that the Lord was merely making use of him. So it was not his work, but Opus Dei (God's Work). ...All this helps us understand why Josemaría Escrivá did not claim to be the 'founder' of anything, but only someone who wanted to do God's will and second his action, his work, precisely, God's... This is how the name and the whole reality that we call Opus Dei is profoundly linked with the interior life of the founder who, while remaining very discreet on this point, gives us to understand that he was in a permanent dialogue, a real contact with the One who created us and works for us and with us...The Book of Exodus says of Moses (33,11) 'thus the Lord used to speak to Moses as to a friend'. It seems to me that even if the veil of discretion may hide many of the details from us, nonetheless from those small references one realizes that the words "speaking as to a friend" can very aptly be applied to Josemaría Escrivá, who opens the doors of the world to let God come in, work and transform all things...If therefore St Josemaría speaks of the common vocation to holiness, it seems to me that he is basically drawing on his own personal experience, not of having done incredible things himself, but of having let God work. Therefore a renewal, a force for good was born in the world even if human weaknesses will always remain." [7]
John Paul II, during the thanksgiving Mass for the canonization of St. Josemaria said the following: "In the Founder of Opus Dei, there is an extraordinary love for the will of God. There exists a sure criterion of holiness: fidelity in accomplishing the divine will down to the last consequences. For each one of us the Lord has a plan, to each he entrusts a mission on earth. The saint could not even conceive of himself outside of God's plan. He lived only to achieve it. St Josemaría was chosen by the Lord to announce the universal call to holiness and to point out that daily life and ordinary activities are a path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of ordinary life."
In his canonization homily, John Paul II described Escrivá as "a master in the practice of prayer, which he considered to be an extraordinary 'weapon' to redeem the world...It is not a paradox but a perennial truth; the fruitfulness of the apostolate lies above all in prayer and in intense and constant sacramental life." According to Cardinal Giovanni Baptista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, "St. Josemaria strove with all his strength to make the Eucharistic the center of his life...For him, Jesus was not an example to imitate from afar, an abstract moral ideal, but his Jesus, a person we should live alongside continuously."
In the Decretal Letter of John Paul II or his Decree of Canonization, he refers to the short prayers of Escriva which summarizes his life: "Domine, ut videam! [Lord, that I might see!], Domina, ut sit! [Lady, that it might be!], Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam! [All together with Peter to Jesus through Mary], Regnare Christum volumus! [We want Christ to reign!], Deo omnis gloria! [All the glory to God!]."
"In these aspirations one can trace the entire life story of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá. He was barely sixteen when he began to recite the first two aspirations, as soon as he had the first inklings of God's call. They expressed the burning desire of his heart: to see what God was asking of him, so that he might do it without delay, lovingly fulfilling the Lord's will. (cf Lk 18:41) The third aspiration appears frequently in his writings as a young priest and shows how his zeal to win souls for God went hand in hand with both a firm determination to be faithful to the Church and an ardent devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. Regnare Christum volumus! [We want Christ to reign!](cf 1 Cor 15:25): these words aptly express his constant pastoral concern to spread among all men and women the call to share, through Christ, in the dignity of God's children. God's sons and daughters should live for the purpose, to serve Him alone: Deo omnis gloria! [All the glory to God!]" (cf Roman Canon, Doxology) [8]
Many of his biographers commented on his personal application of his teaching that "joy has its roots in the form of a cross" and that "suffering is the touchstone of love." John Paul II stated in Christifideles omnes: "During the Spanish Civil War he personally experienced the fury of anti-religious persecution and gave daily proof of heroism in a constant priestly activity seasoned with abundant prayer and penance. It did not take long before many came to consider him a saint. When the war was over many bishops invited him to preach retreats to their clergy, thereby greatly contributing to the renewal of Christian life in Spain. Many religious orders and congregations also requested his pastoral services. At the same time, God allowed him to suffer public attacks. He responded invariably with pardon, to the point of considering his detractors as benefactors. But this Cross was such a source of blessings from heaven that the Servant of God's apostolate spread with astonishing speed." [9]
He was generous in the practice of corporal mortification, a traditional means of Christian self-purification and penance. He is recorded as having whipped himself until the walls of a bathroom were splattered with blood. He once wrote: "Blessed be pain. Loved be pain. Sanctified be pain...Glorified be pain!" (The Way, #208). His supporters and a number of theologians think this is a healthy and holy virtue preached by Jesus Christ and St. Paul, and practised by many saints. John Paul II's Apostolic Letter on the Salvific Meaning of Suffering says: "Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption" .
Paul VI summarized his view of what he called the "extraordinariness" of Escrivá's sanctity in this way: "He is one of those men who has received the most charisms (supernatural gifts) and have corresponded most generously to them."
Towards Holy Mary
John Paul II also stated on Sunday, 6 October 2002, after the Angelus greetings: "Love for our Lady is a constant characteristic of the life of Josemaria Escriva and is an eminent part of the legacy that he left to his spiritual sons and daughters." The Pope also said that "St. Josemaria wrote a beautiful small book called The Holy Rosary which presents spiritual childhood, a real disposition of spirit of those who wish to attain total abandonment to the divine will."
Since he was 10-11 years old, he already had the habit of carrying the Rosary in his pocket. As a priest, he would ordinarily end his homilies and his personal prayer with a conversation with the Blessed Virgin. He instructed that all rooms in the centres of Opus Dei should have an image of the Virgin. He encouraged his spiritual children to greet these images when they enter a room. He pushed for a Marian apostolate, preaching that "To Jesus we go and to him we return through Mary." While looking at a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe giving a rose to Juan Diego, he commented: "I would like to die that way." On June 26 1975, after entering his work room which has a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, he slumped on the floor and died. (Francois Gondrand, At God's Pace and Vasquez de Prada, The Founder of Opus Dei)
Towards people
"Escrivá de Balaguer was a very human saint," preached John Paul II. "All those who met him, whatever their culture or social status, felt he was a father, totally devoted to serving others, for he was convinced that every soul is a marvellous treasure; indeed, every person is worth all of Christ's Blood. This attitude of service is obvious in his dedication to his priestly ministry and in the magnanimity with which he launched so many works of evangelization and human advancement for the poorest persons." [10]
He has been criticized for his attitudes towards women. On the other hand, his supporters says that through him Opus Dei have been able to raise the quality of life of many women. His biographers also refer to his utmost respect for women and his interest in improving their lot. The founding director of the Institute for Women's Studies, Prof. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Ph. D of Harvard University, says: "Opus Dei has an enviable record of educating the poor and supporting women, whether single or married, in any occupation they choose." Bishops have also been happy that Opus Dei has raised the dignity of women due to its teachings that marriage and the family are a vocation.
Towards his family
One of his great strengths, according to his biographers, is a strong love for his family. Escrivá was legally registered as "Escriba Alba" when born. Critics say that he later changed "Escriba" (in Spanish "clerk") and added "de Balaguer y Alba" to nobilise his ancestors. For this he is portrayed as ambitious by one historian: a "mixture of mysticism and ambition" (Blaye 1976:262). According to Vasquez de Prada, a writer who produced a three-volume biography of Escriva, the move has nothing to do with ambition but with fairness and loyalty to his family's real name, a loyalty which his father, Jose Escriva insisted on. The main problem is that in Spanish the letters b and v are pronounced in the same way, thus, many bureaucrats and clerics have made a mistake in transcribing the Escriva family name in some official documents throughout the generations. The addition of "de Balaguer" was also a necessity felt by many Spanish families to distinguish their family names from others with the same name but who proceed from other regions, especially if the other families have histories which are peculiar and entirely different from one's own.
His brother Santiago states that his older brother Escrivá took good care of his family. When their father died, he says, Escrivá told their mother that "she should stay calm, because he will always take care of us. And he fulfilled this promise." Escrivá would find time in his busy schedule to chat and take a walk with his younger brother, acting like a father towards him. When the family transferred to Madrid, Escrivá followed the instructions of their father that he take up his doctorate in Law. "Thanks to his docility to this advice," says Santiago, "he was able to support the family by giving classes in Law, and with this he acquired a juriridical mentality...which would later be so necessary to do Opus Dei."
Towards his country
Many of his contemporaries recount the tendency of Escrivá to preach about patriotism (love for country) as against nationalism (disordered love for country which leads to hating other people).
However, there are quite a number of criticisms leveled upon him as regards his relationship with Franco. Accusations of right-wing tendencies, based largely on what his opponents say as Escrivá's criticisms of the crimes of Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, are common. Critics point to an alleged Fascist link, saying that he was a supporter of Francisco Franco. Messori says that this is part of the black legend against Escriva and Opus Dei. Allen (2005) states that based on his research Escriva could not be said to be pro-Franco (for which he was criticized for not joining other Catholics in praising Franco) nor anti-Franco (for which he was criticized for not being pro-democracy). According to Allen, there is no statement from Escriva for or against Franco.
Escrivá's followers and some historians have emphasized his personal effort to avoid partiality in politics. Professor Peter Berglar, a German historian, asserts that Franco's falangists suspected Escrivá of "internationalism, anti-Spainism and freemasonry" and that during "the first decade of Franco's regime, Opus Dei and Escrivá were attacked with perseverance bordering on fanaticism, not by enemies but by supporters of the new Spanish state. Escrivá was even reported to the 'Tribunal for the Fight against Freemasonry.'" (Berglar, Opus Dei: Life and Works of Josemaria Escrivá 1994, p.180-181)
There is a letter from Escrivá to Francisco Franco which his critics say show this supposed link. His detractors say that he implicitly supported Francoism endorsement of National-Catholicism and the rise of Catholicism as the official religion of Spain. In the letter he also expresses some kind of Spanish patriotism. He actually said "Although a stranger to any political activity, I cannot help but rejoice as a priest and Spaniard" that Spain, through its Head of State, has officially accepted the law of God in accordance with the Catholic faith". However, his Catholic supporters understand that this stands for human rights, human dignity and freedom. Escrivá together with the Popes have preached that all citizens should practice patriotism and love for their country together with loving other nations. John Allen, Jr. concluded in his study that it cannot be said that Escrivá was pro-Franco, but neither can it be said that he was anti-Franco.
Many theologians see Escrivá as a modern-day sign of contradiction, a "sign that is spoken against," like many saints and the Catholic Church itself throughout its history.
Canonisation and veneration
- Main article: Josemaría Escrivá: Canonisation
His cause for Canonization was introduced in Rome on February 19 1981 on the strength of the apparently miraculous cure in 1976 of a rare disease, lipomatosis, suffered by Sister Concepción Boullón Rubio, whose family had prayed to Escrivá to help her. On April 9, 1990, Pope John Paul II declared that Escrivá possessed Christian virtues to a "heroic degree", and on July 6, 1991 the Board of Physicians for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints unanimously accepted the cure of Sister Rubio. A second reported miracle apparently brought about by Escrivá's intervention was ruled valid by the Congregation and approved by Pope John Paul II in December 2001.
John Paul II, who frequently expressed public support for Opus Dei and its work, canonized Escrivá on 6 October 2002. During the canonization, there were 42 cardinals and 470 bishops from around the world, general superiors of many orders and religious congregations, and representatives of various Catholic groups. One-third of the world's bishops (an unprecedented number) petitioned for the canonization of Escrivá. (Messori 1997)
During the days of the canonization event, Church officials commented on the universal reach and validity of the message of the founder, echoing John Paul II's decree Christifideles Omnes on Escrivá's virtues which said that "by inviting Christians to be united to God through their daily work, which is something men will have to do and find their dignity in as long as the world lasts, the timeliness of this message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light, regardless of changing epochs and situations."
However, Opus Dei critics criticize what they see Escrivá's lightning canonization. They argue that the whole process was plagued by irregularities. On the other hand, supporters refer to Fr. Rafael Perez, an Augustinian, "one of the best experts" on canonization and who was the judge of Escrivá's Madrid Tribunal. He says that the process was fast because first, Escrivá's figure is "of the universal importance;" second, the Postulators "knew what they were doing;" third, in 1983 the procedures were simplified in order to present "models who lived in a world like ours." Fr. Flavio Cappucci, the Postulator also reported that the 6000 postulatory letters to the Vatican showed "earnestness." (Documentation Service Vol V, 3, March 1992) Escrivá's canonization was one of the first to be processed after the 1983 Code of Canon Law streamlined the procedures for canonization, and so it moved more quickly than was typical before. Mother Teresa is on pace to be canonized even more quickly, having been beatified just 6 years after her death (Escrivá was beatified in 17 years).
John Allen reports that as some people revile Escrivá there are also millions all over the world who venerate him.
Teachings and legacy
While some "liberal" theologians downplayed the importance of the message and teachings of Escriva, Roman Catholic Cardinals of all theological persuasions spoke highly of his influence in the Catholic Church of the present and the future.
Ugo Cardinal Polleti, in the Decree Introducing the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Msgr. Escriva, 1981: "For having proclaimed the universal call to holiness since he founded Opus Dei in 1928, Msgr. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, has been unanimously recognized as the precursor of precisely what constitutes the fundamental nucleus of the Church's magisterium, a message of such fruitfulness in the life of the Church." Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, wrote a month after the death of Escriva: "it is evident even today that the life, works, and message of the founder of Opus Dei constitutes a turning point, or more exactly a new original chapter in the history of Christian spirituality." A Vatican peritus or consultor for the process of beatification said that "he is like a figure from the deepest spiritual sources." Franz Cardinal König, Archbishop of Vienna, who, according to Messori "is considered one of the leaders of the so-called "progressive current," wrote in 1975:
- "The magnetic force of Opus Dei probably comes from its profoundly lay spirituality. At the very beginning, in 1928, Msgr. Escriva anticipated the return to the Patrimony of the Church brought by the Second Vatican Council...He was able to anticipate the great themes of the Church's pastoral aciton in the dawn of the third millennnium of her history."
The "absolutely central" point in Escrivá's teaching, says American theologian William May, is that "Sanctification is possible only because of the grace of God, freely given to his children through his only-begotten Son, and it consists essentially in an intimate, loving union with Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior." ("Holiness and ordinary life in the teaching of St. Josemaría Escrivá" ). [11]
Escrivá's books, including Furrow, The Way, Christ is Passing By, and The Forge, continue to be read widely both by members of Opus Dei and by other Catholics attracted to his spirituality, which emphasises the laity's calling to daily sanctification (a message also to be found in the documents of Vatican II). Pope John Paul II made the following observation in his homily at the beatification of Escrivá:
- "With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaría untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence work too is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ."
As regards Escriva's place in history, Pierre Chanu, Protestant historian, professor de L'Sorbonne of Paris, President of the Academie de Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1993, said that "The work of Escrivá de Balaguer, will undoubtedly mark the 21st century. This is a prudent and reasonable wager. Do not pass close to this contemporary without paying him close attention." (Vue Culturell, 5-6 February 1983)
Timeline
Thursday, 9 January 1902 - Born in Basbastro, Spain
Saturday, 20 December 1924 - Ordained deacon in Zaragoza
Saturday, 28 March 1925 - Ordained priest in Zaragoza
Tuesday, 2 October 1928 - Founds Opus Dei for lay men
Friday, 14 February 1930 - Founds branch for women in Opus Dei
Sunday, 14 February 1943 - Founds branch for priests in Opus Dei
Monday, 16 June 1950 - Opus Dei approved by Pope Pius XII
Thursday, 26 June 1975 - Dies in his study in Rome
Monday, 15 September 1975 - Alvaro del Portillo elected unanimously his successor
Friday, 30 January 1981 - Nihil Obstat by Congregation of Saints for introduction of canonization cause
Thursday, 5 February 1981 - Nihil Obstat ratified by Pope John Paul II
Thursday, 19 February 1981 - Canonization cause intoduced
Sunday, 28 November 1982 - Personal Prelature established
Saturday, 9 April 1990 - Declaration of Jose Maria's heroic values
Saturday, 6 July 1991 - Promulgation of miraculous healing
Sunday, 17 May 1992 - Beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II
Thursday, 21 May 1992 - Jose Maria's body translated to altar of crypt in the Oratory of Prelature Church of Our Lady of Peace, viale Bruno Buozzi 75, in Rome
Sunday, 6 October 2002 - Canonized in Rome by Pope John Paul II
Tuesday, 30 August 2005 - His Carrara marble statue completed
Wednesday, 14 September 2005 - Statue placed in niche of outside wall of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
Official Catholic Church documents
- Pope John Paul II. Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. (9 April 1990). Papal Decree Christifideles Omnes Cause of canonization of the Servant of God Josemaria Escriva, Priest, Founder of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1902-1975)
- Pope John Paul II. (7 October 2002). Address in Praise of Saint Josemaría -- summarizes Escriva and Opus Dei's mission, work, message, and the main features of his teachings
- Pope John Paul II. Homilies and discourses about the founder of Opus Dei.
Writings by Josemaría Escrivá
- Josemaría Escrivá: Furrow, Scepter Publications, 1992. ISBN 0933932553
- Josemaría Escrivá: The Way, Scepter Publications, 1992. ISBN 0933932545
- Josemaría Escrivá De Balaguer: Conversations with Monsignor Josemaría Escrivá, Scepter Publications, 2003. ISBN 1889334588
Writings about Escrivá and his works
by Opus Dei members
- Antonio Aranda (2000). El bullir de la sangre de Cristo": estudio sobre el cristocentrismo del beato Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Rialp. 84-321-3283-7.
- ed. M.Belda; et al. (1997). Holiness and the World: Studies in the Teachings of Blessed Josemariá Escrivá. Scepter Publications.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help); Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help)-- collection of contributions to a theological symposium; contributors include Ratzinger, del Portillo, Cottier, dalla Torre, Ocariz, Illanes, Aranda, Burggharf and an address by John Paul II - Peter Berglar (1994). Opus Dei. Life and Work of its Founder. Scepter. ISBN 0933932650. -- A study of Opus Dei based on the life story and work of its founder written by a professor of history at the University of Cologne
- Federico Delclaux (1992). Santa María en los escritos del Beato Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Rialp. ISBN 84-321-2946-1.
- Javier Echevarria, Memoría del Beato Josemaría Escriva, Rialp, 2000. ISBN 84-321-3305-1
- Dennis Helming, Footprints in the snow. A pictorial biography of the founder of Opus Dei. Scepter 1986. - the first biography written by an American.
- José Luis Illanes (1982). On the Theology of Work: Aspects of the Teaching of the Founder of Opus Dei. Four Courts Press, Dublin.
- Fernando Ocariz (1995). God as Father in the Message of Blessed Josemaria. Scepter.
- Francisco Ponz, Mi encuentro con el Fundador del Opus Dei. Madrid, 1939-1944 Eunsa, 2000
- Alvaro del Portillo, Cesare Cavalleri, Immersed in God: Blessed Josemaria Escriva, Founder of Opus Dei As Seen by His Successor, Bishop Alvaro Del Portillo, Scepter Publishers 1996 ISBN 0933932855
- Andres Vasquez de Prada: The Founder of Opus Dei. The Life of Josemaria Escrivá, Scepter Publishers 1997.
- Pilar Urbano, El hombre de Villa Tevere: los años romanos de Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, Plaza & Janés, 1995.ISBN 84-9793-378-
- Salvador Bernal, Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer: a profile of the Founder of Opus Dei, Veritas 1978.
By others
- Luis Carandell (1992) Vida y milagros de Monseñor Escrivá de Balaguer
- B. Badrinas, ed., Testimonies on Josemaria Escriva, Founder of Opus Dei, Sinagtala 1992. – collection of some testimonies given by ecclesiastical officials which were used for the beatification process.
- Jesús Ynfante El santo fundador del Opus Dei. Biografía completa de Josemaría Escrivá
- William May, Holiness and Ordinary Life in the Teaching of Saint Josemaria Escriva - theological analysis of Escrivá's teachings
- Ernest Caparros (2001). The Juridical Mind of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá. Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago.
- Blaye, Edouard de. 1977 (1974). Franco and the Politics of Spain. Harmmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
- Ramón Garriga. 1977. El Cardenal Segura y el Nacional-Catolicismo. Barcelona: Planeta. ISBN 84-320-5367-5.
- Fabro Cornelio, Garofalo Salvatore, Raschini Maria Adelaida, Santi nel mondo 1992
- William Keenan, St Josemaria Escriva And The Origins Of Opus Dei: The Day The Bells Rang Out, Gracewing (October 31 2004) ISBN 0852445814
- Eugueny Pazukhin, Blessed Josemaria Escriva's Life and Achievement-- first Russian biography by an Orthodox thinker, philosopher and journalist
External links
- John Paul II on St. Josemaria
- Patron Saints Index: St Josemaría Escrivá (primary source)
- St Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei
- Documents About Opus Dei and its founder
- Letter Escrivá to Franco
- Writings of Josemaría Escrivá
- Josemaria Escrivá and Nazism
- EWTN webpage, containing biography, spiritual writings, video-audio presentation
- Opposition to Canonization
- Comments by Popes on Josemaria Escriva
- Interview with Cardinal Julian Herranz about Josemaria Escriva