Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer

Patron of: Opus Dei, People with diabetes

Celebrated: 26. June

Birth:

Death:

Full biography:

Young Josemaría first felt that "he had been chosen for something", when he saw footprints left in the snow by a monk walking barefoot. Escrivá then decided that the best way to follow God's call was by becoming a priest of the Catholic Church. A prayerful retreat helped him to further discern what he considered to be God's will for him, and on October 2, 1928 he "saw" Opus Dei (Work of God), a way by which Catholics might learn to sanctify themselves through their secular work. According to John Paul II's decree on Escrivá's "cause of canonization," which contains a condensed biography of Escrivá, "to 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. "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." While looking at a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe giving a rose to Saint Juan Diego, he commented: "I would like to die that way." On June 26, 1975, after entering his work room, which had a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, he slumped on the floor and died.

Prayer:

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 ... [Mention your request here.] Amen