Life of the founder of Opus Dei

Life of the founder of OPUS DEI Blessed Josemaría Fscrivá died on June 26, 1975. For years, he had been offering his life for the Church and the Pope. He vas buried in the crypt of the Church of Our Lady of Peace in Rome. On September 15, 1975, the present bishop-Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo, who for many years was his closest collaborator, was unanimously elected to succeed him. From the very beginning Opus Dei enjoyed the approval of the diocesan Authority and since 1943 it received the Appositio Manuum and subsequent approval of the Holy See. It was erected as a Personal Prelature by Pope John Paul I I on November 28, 1982. This was. the juridical status foreseen and desired

by Blessed Escrivá.

The fame of sanctity which the founder of Opus Dei already had in his lifetime, has been spreading ever more widely throughout the world since his death, as evidenced by the abundant testimonies of spiritual and material favors attributed to his intercession.

Among these are some medically inexplicable cures. The letters from the five continents among which were the of 69 cardinals and close the 1,300 bishops—more than a third of the whole Episcopate—requesting from the Pope the opening of the cause of beatification and canonization of Blessed Escrivá, were notably abundant. On January 30, 1981, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints granted the nihil obstat to the opening of the Cause and the was ratified by Pope John Paul II on February 5, 1981.

From 1981 lo 1986, two fact-finding processes on the life and virtues of Blessed Escrivá took place in Rome and in Madrid, respectively. From the results of this processes and taking the favorable opinion of the Congress of Thelogical Consultors and the Commission of cardinals and bishops, members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on April 9, 1990, the holy Father, declared the heroic virtues of blessed Escrivá, who thus received the title of Venerable”. On July 6, 1991, the Pope ordered the promulgation of the decree declaring the miraculous character of a medical cure attributed to the intercession of Venerable Josemaria Escrivá. This act concluded the juridical procedures prior the the beatification of the founder of Opus Dei, which took place in Rome on May 17, 1992 in a solemn ceremony presided by the holy Father in St. Peter’s Square. Since May 21, 1992, the mortal remains of the Blessed lie in the altar of the Prelatic Church of holy Mary of Peace in the central offices of the Prelature of Opus Dei in Rome, continuously accompanied by the prayers and thanksgiving of countless persons from all over the world who have come close to God, attracted by de example and teachings of the founder of OPUS DEI and by the devotion of so many who seek his intercession.

Among his published works are the juridical theological study entitled La abadesa de las huelgas, and books of spirituality which had been translated into many languages: The Way, Holy rosary, Christ is passing by, Friends of God, Way of the Cross, In love with the Church, Furrow and The Forge. The latter five were published posthumousl.

The book “Conversations with Msgr Escrivá” is a collection of interviews he granted to the press.