The Writings of St. Josemaría Escrivá

The Writings

True to his surname, which sounds like the Spanish word escribe that means to write, Josemaría was a prolific writer.  He published a number of books including the spiritual classic, The Way that has been translated into 43 different languages and has sold over 4.5 million copies.  In addition to El Camino, as it was called in Spanish, he wrote two other books of reflection: The Forge and Furrow. Like The Way, they too were organized into brief points of reflection.  Copies of some his select homilies have been published in three collections: Friends of God, Christ is Passing By and In Love with the Church.  Additionally, his reflections on The Rosary and The Way of the Cross have been published as books.   Finally, a collection of seven interviews conducted with the saint have been collected in a work entitled Conversations. 

Filial Love and Sanctity

Consistent throughout all of the works are two themes: we are all children of God and sanctity is achievable even in the ordinary circumstances of life. All of these are available for purchase at Scepter Publishers and can be read online at Escriva Works.

The Way

The Way was not intended to be a mystical or intellectual treatise on the interior life. Instead, it was meant to be practical guide to the interior life akin to taking a walk with a spiritual director. Escrivá illumines a path for the reader to climb the spiritual incline. He sets this tone as he explains in the preface:

Read these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate their meaning. They are things that I whisper in your ear — as a friend, as a brother, as a father. We shall speak intimately; and God will be listening to us. I am going to tell you nothing new. I shall only stir your memory so that some thought may arise and strike you: and so your life will improve and you will set out along the way of prayer and of Love. And in the end you will become a soul of worth. (The Way, Preface)

999 Points
The book is organized into topical chapters made up of 999 meditative points. These points are the catalyst for interior reflection. They read as if the saint is holding one’s hand in the dark and leading them up the path to our Lord. St. Josemaría demystifies the mystical life by demonstrating the interior life is accessible to everyone and therefore everyone, even the ordinary Joe Catholic is called to holiness. Tomorrow we will discuss The Way in greater detail.