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.

Saint Talk: St. Josemaria Escriva

Taken February 10, 1975 (via flickr)

Patron of Diabetics

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei and patron of diabetics. Those of you who have followed Joe Catholic for a while know that I am a cooperator of Opus Dei. Last year, I shared the unique way in which the Lord introduced me to St. Josemaría and the Work. Today, I a begin a three part series on the saint, his writings and his contributions to Catholic spirituality.

Saint of the Ordinary

Saint Josemaría Escrivá, who Pope John Paul II called the saint of the ordinary, published his most noted book, The Way in 1939. Some have called it a modern spiritual classic, comparing it to Imitation of Christ. The Way is a small book, often published in pocket size, yet it delivers a significant message – holiness is meant for everyone. This message may seem mundane in a post-Vatican II world, but it was revolutionary when presented in the climate of the late 1930’s. His teachings were so innovative that Josemaria Escrivá was even accused of heresy. This was humorously portrayed in the movie There Be Dragons in a scene in which a local bishop says that what St. Josemaría is proposing “sounds Protestant.” Nevertheless, St. Josemaría’s major contribution to spiritual theology is this message that the interior life is accessible to the everyday layperson; that one need not be a cloistered monk or nun to ascend the spiritual plane. His teachings provide a practical guide for obtaining an authentic relationship with Christ through filial love and the sanctification of one’s state in life.

Family Life
Saint Josemaría Escrivá was born in Barbastro, Spain on January 9, 1902. He had five siblings: one older sister named Carmen, three younger sisters who all died very young and a younger brother, Santiago. His parents, Jose and Dolores Escrivá raised their family in devoutly Catholic faith and home.

Footprints in the Snow

In 1915, Jose Escrivá’s textile business failed and he relocated the family to the town of Longroño. Here, Josemaría had his first inkling that God was calling him to do something special with his life. One evening when he was sixteen, he was walking home, and he saw the footprints of a discalced Carmelite friar in the snow. This experience moved him to feel God’s call to serve Him. Though he was not yet completely certain of God’s will, Josemaría discerned that the message would be more clear if he joined the priesthood.

Ordination and Opus Dei

He was ordained in Zaragoza on March 28, 1925. He was first assigned to a rural parish and in 1927 moved to Madrid to study law. On October 2, 1928, God showed him what he wanted him to do – establish Opus Dei (the Work of God) and help ordinary Christians seek sanctity through and in their daily ordinary lives. God called him to be an “apostle of apostles,” to help lead the mission of the laity to pursue universal holiness (Christ is Passing By, 147). This was nearly forty years before Vatican II promulgated this message. From that point forward, Josemaría dedicated his entire life to the foundation of the Work.

Death and Canonization

Opus Dei received the recognition of the Holy See in 1950. Josemaría travelled throughout Europe and Latin America to nurture the growth of Opus Dei until his sudden death in Rome on June 26, 1975. His cause for canonization was opened in 1981 and Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1992. Ten years later he was canonized on October 6, 2002 by Pope John Paul II who said, “Following in his footsteps, spread in society the awareness that we are called to holiness, without distinction of race, class, culture or age.”

Stations of the Cross

St. Francis Catholic Church in Waco, TX

Tradition
It has been a long tradition for Catholics to gather together, normally at 3:00PM, to pray and reflect on the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Many practice this devotion on Fridays throughout the year. The Stations of the Cross originated in the 14th Century, but the images of the Stations could be found in many churches before this time. The devotion has its roots in the Way of the Cross or Via Dolorosa. Shortly after the death of Christ, people began making pilgrimages to Jerusalem and tracing Christ's path to His crucifixion.  Pious tradition holds that the Blessed Mother would daily visit the site of Christ's passion.

Reflections
One thing that is fairly well established is that there are a total of fourteen stations. While this may be generally the case, the way one prays or reflects on the Stations can vary greatly. There are a number of different reflections available to pray along with the stations. If you are not able to attend the Stations at Church, you can use one of these:

• Biblical Stations of the Cross, Bl. John Paul II
• Mary's Way of the Cross, Fr. Richard G. Furey, CsCR (Online Version)
• The Way of the Cross, St. Josemaria Escriva

Virtual Stations and Apps
In the modern age we live in, there are other technological options to aid in praying the Stations. There a few very good iOS and Android apps (see list below). EWTN has its reflections available as an mP3 and Busted Halo has created a YouTube video of Stations. Here are some of those options:

• Video: Mary's Way of the Cross narrated by Angelina, (Part 1 of 3)
• Busted Halo's Virtual Stations of the Cross
• EWTN's Audio Stations of the Cross
• Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) app by EBSolutions

Prayer
We adore you, O Christ and we praise you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Lent Has Begun

Three Pillars of Lent
Lent is a penitential period of prayer, fasting (mortification) and almsgiving. Prayer orients us to God. Fasting or mortification orients our bodies to our souls and almsgiving orients us to others.

Saintly Reflection
For the last few years, I like to begin Lent with a reflection from St. Josemaria that I'd like to share:

We are at the beginning of Lent: a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program, but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant. 

But the later conversions are even more important, and they are increasingly demanding. To facilitate the work of grace in these conversions, we need to keep our soul young; we have to call upon our Lord, know how to listen to him and, having found out what has gone wrong, know how to ask his pardon.

If you call upon me, I will listen to you," we read in this Sunday's liturgy. Isn't it wonderful how God cares for us and is always ready to listen to us — waiting for man to speak? He hears us at all times, but particularly now. Our heart is ready and we have made up our minds to purify ourselves. He hears us and will not disregard the petition of a "humble and contrite heart.

The Lord listens to us. He wants to intervene and enter our lives to free us from evil and fill us with good. "I will rescue him and honor him," he says of man. So we must hope for glory. Here again we have the beginning of the interior movement that makes up our spiritual life. Hope of glory increases our faith and fosters our charity; the three theological virtues, godly virtues which make us like our Father God, have been set in motion.

What better way to begin Lent? Let's renew our faith, hope and love. The spirit of penance and the desire for purification come from these virtues. Lent is not only an opportunity for increasing our external practices of self-denial. If we thought it were only that, we would miss the deep meaning it has in Christian living, for these external practices are — as I have said — the result of faith, hope and charity.
St. Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 57

Mary, The Mother of God:The Doctrine Explained

Theotokos
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This teaching is one of the four Marian Doctrines of the Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms the teaching by instructing, "that Mary is truly 'Mother of God' (Theotokos)." (CCC 495)

Doctrine Declared in 431
In 431, the Council of Ephesus confirmed Mary as Mother of God, Theotokos. This was proclaimed to answer a heresy denying Jesus’ dual nature as both human and divine. The Council declared:

"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her" (Formula of Union [A.D. 431]). 

Source of All Mary's Perfection
St. Josemaria Escriva examined the Mary's motherhood as the source of all her perfection, privileges and standing:

The Blessed Trinity, in choosing Mary as the Mother of Christ, a Man like us, has brought each one of us under the shelter of her maternal cloak. She is the Mother of God and our Mother.

The divine Motherhood of Mary is the source of all the perfections and privileges with which she is endowed. Because of it, she was conceived immaculate and is full of grace; because of it, she is ever virgin, she was taken up body and soul to heaven and has been crowned Queen of all creation, above the angels and saints. Greater than she, none but God. ‘The Blessed Virgin from the fact that she is the Mother of God has a certain infinite dignity which comes from the infinite good, which is God.’ There is no danger of exaggerating. We can never hope to fathom this inexpressible mystery; nor will we ever be able to give sufficient thanks to our Mother for bringing us into such intimacy with the Blessed Trinity.

We were sinners and enemies of God. Redemption has not only freed us from sin and reconciled us with Our Lord. It has also made us into children of God and has given us a Mother, the very Mother who gave birth to the Word when he took human nature. Could there ever be a greater, more generous, outpouring of love? (Friends of God, 276)

Understanding of the Doctrine Expanded
Pope John Paul II explained the doctrine within the context of Vatican II and then expanded the Church's understanding of the doctrine in his 1987 encyclical, Redemptoris Mater:

4. The Second Vatican Council prepares us for this by presenting in its teaching the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and of the Church. If it is true, as the Council itself proclaims,8 that "only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light," then this principle must be applied in a very particular way to that exceptional "daughter of the human race," that extraordinary "woman" who became the Mother of Christ. Only in the mystery of Christ is her mystery fully made clear. Thus has the Church sought to interpret it from the very beginning: the mystery of the Incarnation has enabled her to penetrate and to make ever clearer the mystery of the Mother of the Incarnate Word. The Council of Ephesus (431) was of decisive importance in clarifying this, for during that Council, to the great joy of Christians, the truth of the divine motherhood of Mary was solemnly confirmed as a truth of the Church's faith. Mary is the Mother of God (= Theotókos), since by the power of the Holy Spirit she conceived in her virginal womb and brought into the world Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is of one being with the Father.9 "The Son of God...born of the Virgin Mary...has truly been made one of us,"10has been made man. Thus, through the mystery of Christ, on the horizon of the Church's faith there shines in its fullness the mystery of his Mother. In turn, the dogma of the divine motherhood of Mary was for the Council of Ephesus and is for the Church like a seal upon the dogma of the Incarnation, in which the Word truly assumes human nature into the unity of his person, without canceling out that nature.

5. The Second Vatican Council, by presenting Mary in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Church. Mary, as the Mother of Christ, is in a particular way united with the Church, "which the Lord established as his own body."11 It is significant that the conciliar text places this truth about the Church as the Body of Christ (according to the teaching of the Pauline Letters) in close proximity to the truth that the Son of God "through the power of the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary." The reality of the Incarnation finds a sort of extension in the mystery of the Church-the Body of Christ. And one cannot think of the reality of the Incarnation without referring to Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

Behold Your Mother
Mary is our Holy Mother too. Although He was on the verge of death, Christ called out to John from the cross, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:27). Furthermore, since Mary is the mother of Christ, who is head of the Church, she is also Mother of the Church.

Simple Explanation
I will conclude with this simple, logical syllogism: Jesus is God. Mary is the mother of Jesus. Therefore, Mary is the mother of God.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin MaryPatronal Feastday of the United States of America

Immaculate Conception by Tiepolo

The Great and Simple Proof
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary which is normally commemorated on the 8th of December. In simple terms, the Church teaches that Mary, the Mother of Christ, was created without sin. This is how St. Josemaria Escriva described the Lord's decision:

Almighty God, Omnipotent and Infinitely Wise, had to choose his Mother. What would you have done, if you had had to choose yours? I think that you and I would have chosen the mother we have, filling her with all graces. That is what God did: and that is why, after the Blessed Trinity, comes Mary. Theologians have given a rational explanation for her fullness of grace and why she cannot be subject to the devil: it was fitting that it should be so, God could do it, therefore he did it. That is the great proof: the clearest proof that God endowed his Mother with every privilege, from the very first moment. That is how she is: beautiful, and pure, and spotless in soul and body! (The Forge, 482)

Pope Pius IX Declares Dogma
In 1854, Pope Pius IX issued the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus in which definitively pronounced that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

Bl. John Duns Scotus Solved Theological Quandary
Theologians had wrestled with this teaching for years. Even St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest theologian to ever live, couldn't reconcile the teaching with that of Original Sin. Then in the 13th Century, Blessed John Duns Scotus found the answer in the reality of God's omnipotence. He asserted that God sanctified Mary from the beginning of her creation because He could see that she would consent to His will and therefore she was bestowed the merits of the Cross before her creation. In other words God could sanctify her before her birth so He did.

Catholic Encyclopedia's Detailed Analysis

The following analysis of the doctrine is taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia (I recommend you read their entire article on this subject):

"The Blessed Virgin Mary..."

The subject of this immunity from original sin is the person of Mary at the moment of the creation of her soul and its infusion into her body.

"...in the first instance of her conception..."

The term conception does not mean the active or generative conception by her parents. Her body was formed in the womb of the mother, and the father had the usual share in its formation. The question does not concern the immaculateness of the generative activity of her parents. Neither does it concern the passive conception absolutely and simply (conceptio seminis carnis, inchoata), which, according to the order of nature, precedes the infusion of the rational soul. The person is truly conceived when the soul is created and infused into the body. Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul.

"...was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin..."

The formal active essence of original sin was not removed from her soul, as it is removed from others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in her soul. Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin. The state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice, as opposed to original sin, was conferred upon her, by which gift every stain and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin, were excluded. But she was not made exempt from the temporal penalties of Adam — from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.

"...by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race."

The immunity from original sin was given to Mary by a singular exemption from a universal law through the same merits of Christ, by which other men are cleansed from sin by baptism. Mary needed the redeeming Saviour to obtain this exemption, and to be delivered from the universal necessity and debt (debitum) of being subject to original sin. The person of Mary, in consequence of her origin from Adam, should have been subject to sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the mother of the new Adam, she was, by the eternal counsel of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. Her redemption was the very masterpiece of Christ's redeeming wisdom. He is a greater redeemer who pays the debt that it may not be incurred than he who pays after it has fallen on the debtor.

Reflections on the Transfiguration

Transfiguration by Rafael (Source: Wikipedia)

Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord which is described in all three synoptic Gospels. This year the Gospel reading is taken from Luke 9:28-36. I have collected a few commentaries and reflections on the Transfiguration to help in understanding its meaning.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism explains that the transfiguration is a foretaste of the Kingdom.

554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised."²⁹⁰ Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he.²⁹¹ In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain,²⁹² before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem".²⁹³ A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"²⁹⁴

555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into his glory".²⁹⁵ Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings.²⁹⁶ Christ's Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant;²⁹⁷ the cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud."²⁹⁸

You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.²⁹⁹

556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection.³⁰⁰ From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body."³⁰¹ But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":³⁰²

Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: "Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?"³⁰³

Navarre Bible Commentary
The commentators of  the Navarre Bible quote St. Thomas Aquinas who reflects that:

By His transfiguration Jesus strengthens His disciples' faith, revealing a trace of the glory His body will have after the Resurrection. He wants them to realize that His passion will not be the end but rather the route He will take to reach His glorification. "For a person to go straight along the road, he must have some knowledge of the end--just as an archer will not shoot an arrow straight unless he first sees the target [...]. This is particularly necessary if the road is hard and rough, the going heavy, and the end delightful" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", III, q. 45, a. 1).

 They conclude their commentary by drawing from St. John of the Cross.

"Listen to Him!": everything God wishes to say to mankind He has said through Christ, now that the fullness of time has come (cf. Hebrews 1:1). "Therefore," St. John of the Cross explains, "if any now should question God or desire a vision or revelation, not only would he be acting foolishly but he would be committing an offense against God, by not fixing his gaze on Christ with no desire for any new thing. For God could reply to him in this way: 'If I have spoken all things to you in My Word, which is My Son, and I have no greater word, what answer can I give you now, or what can I reveal to you that is greater than this? Fix your eyes on Him alone, for in Him I have spoken and revealed to you all things, and in Him you will find even more than what you ask for and desire [...]. Hear Him, for I have no more faith to reveal, nor have I any more things to declare'" ("Ascent of Mount Carmel", Book 2, Chapter 22, 5).

Mystery of Light
In 2002, Pope John Paul introduced the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary in his apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. These five new mysteries of the rosary reflect on the public life of Jesus and include "the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion" (RVM, 19B). Although he had already died by the time these mysteries were proposed, St. Josemaria had previously written reflections on Christ's public ministry. The following is excerpted from his revised collection of Holy Rosary reflections.

Jesus, we want to see you, to speak to you! We want to contemplate you, immersed in the immensity of your beauty, in a contemplation that will never cease! It must be wonderful to see you, Jesus! It must be wonderful to see you and be wounded by your love! 

Lord, we are ready to heed whatever you want to tell us. Speak to us: we are attentive to your voice. May your words enkindle our will so that we launch out fervently to obey you. 

Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram (Ps 26:8). Lord, I long to see your face. I like to close my eyes and think that, when God wills, the moment will come when I will be able to see him, not as in a mirror dimly, but…face to face (1-Cor 13:12). Yes, my heart yearns for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? (Ps 41:3). (Holy Rosary, Fourth Mystery of Light)

Video Reflection

For you visual learners, I have included a brief video from the Apostleship of Prayer.