To his beatification, more than 200,000 people from all over the world attended the event.. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato. He was accompanied by Cardinal Antonio María Rouco, Archbishop Emeritus of Madrid and the former prelate of Opus Dei, Don Javier Echevarría. Seventeen cardinals and 170 bishops from around the world concelebrated at the same ceremony.
Cardinal Angelo Amato emphasized in his homily, Alvaro del Portillo's fidelity to the Gospel, to the Church and to the Pope. He explained: "he fled from all personalism, because he transmitted the truth of the Gospel, not his own opinions". And he emphasized that Don Alvaro, "stood out for his prudence and rectitude in evaluating events and people; justice in respecting the honor and freedom of others".
Pope Francis was present at the ceremony in a letter in which he painted this portrait of the new Blessed: "Especially outstanding was his love for the Church, the spouse of Christ, which he served with a heart stripped of worldly interests, far from discord, welcoming to all and always looking for the positive in others, what unites, what builds. She never complained or criticized, not even in particularly difficult moments, but, as she had learned from St. Josemaría, she always responded with prayer, forgiveness, understanding and sincere charity.
"The elevation to the altars of Alvaro del Portillo reminds us once again of the universal call to holiness proclaimed with great force by the Second Vatican Council. He also referred to "the joy of St. Josemaría Escrivá, seeing that this most faithful son of his has been proposed as an intercessor and example for all the faithful.
Bishop Javier Echevarría, on the occasion of the beatification of Don Álvaro del Portillo.
His life is a great lesson for men today. St. Josemaría called him very early on "rock", saxuman appellation that defined him from a young age. Alvaro del Portillo was a faithful man, a tireless worker in the service of the Church and Opus Dei. He was a close collaborator of St. Josemaría and became his first successor at the head of Opus Dei in 1975, after the founder's death. He is an example that is close to everyone, despite living in circumstances different from his own.
He was born in Madrid into a large and devout family on March 11, 1914. He was a Doctor of Civil Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Canon Law.
While studying engineering, he joined Opus Dei, an institution that had been founded seven years earlier. He received directly from St. Josemaría Escrivá the formation and spirit proper to that new path of the Church.. He developed an extensive work of evangelization among his fellow students and co-workers.
During the Spanish Civil War, he suffered greatly and nearly lost his life, but Don Alvaro rarely spoke of that period. One of those few occasions was in Cebu, at the end of 1987. And he did so to stress the need for love and promote peaceincidentally alluded to the persecution against the Church unleashed in Spain during the civil war: "I had not been involved in any political activity, and I was not a priest, nor a religious, nor a seminarian, but an engineering student; and they put me in jail, just for being from a Catholic family. At that time I wore glasses, and once one of the guards came up to me -they called him Petrof, a Russian name-, put a gun to my temple and said: you are a priest, because you wear glasses. He could have killed me at any moment. He didn't do it because God thought he could still give a lot of war to the devil, or that he was not worthy of Heaven. It was a tremendous thing. Since 1939, he carried out an intense apostolate in different cities of Spain that he promoted throughout his life.
On June 25, 1944 he was ordained together with José María Hernández Garnica and José Luis Múzquiz: were the first three priests of Opus Dei, after the founder. Since then, devoted himself entirely to pastoral ministryin service to the members of Opus Dei and to all souls.
He manifested his tireless service to the Church by dedicating himself to the numerous assignments of the Holy See as consultor to various Dicasteries of the Roman Curia. He actively participated in the Second Vatican Council. Between 1947 and 1950 promoted Christian formation activities and provided priestly care to numerous people. He contributed to the apostolic expansion of Opus Dei in different Italian cities.
In 1948, he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum). In the same year, the Roman College of the Holy Cross was established in Rome as an international center of priestly formation.
In addition, Álvaro del Portillo was always at St. Josemaría's side, helping him in the tasks of evangelization and pastoral government of Opus Dei, and accompanied him on his many apostolic journeys. to countries in Europe and the Americas.
On September 15, 1975, he was elected the first successor of St. Josemaría.. And on November 28, 1982, upon erecting the Work as a Personal Prelature, the Holy Father St. John Paul II named him Prelate of Opus Dei.
St. John Paul II conferred episcopal ordination on him. on January 6 of that year. All his work was characterized by fidelity to the Founder and his message and to the Church, and by tireless pastoral work to extend the apostolates of the Prelature in service to the Church.
Don Álvaro del Portillo He sought identification with Christ in a trusting abandonment to the will of God the Father, constantly nourished by prayer, the Eucharist and a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. His love for the Church was manifested by his deep communion with the Pope and the Bishops. His charity towards all, his untiring solicitude for his daughters and sons in Opus Dei, his humility, prudence and fortitude, his joy and simplicity, his forgetfulness of self and his ardent desire to win souls for Christ, also reflected in his episcopal motto - "I will never forget you," he said.Regnare Christum volumus!-Together with the kindness, serenity and good humor that radiated from his person, these are traits that make up the portrait of his soul.
He died suddenly in the early hours of March 23, 1994, at the Prelature's headquarters in Rome, hours after returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he had followed the earthly footsteps of Our Lord Jesus with intense piety. The previous morning he had celebrated his last Mass in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
Prayer to Blessed Álvaro del Portillo. If you wish you can send here the account of the favors received by Blessed Alvaro del Portillo.
On the same day, March 23, St. John Paul II went to pray before His mortal remains, which now rest in the crypt of the Prelatic Church of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome. Continually accompanied by the prayers and affection of the faithful of Opus Dei and thousands of other people.
From the day of her death, many people began to ask for her intercession to obtain her favors from heaven. In addition, thousands of people testified about her love for the Church.
In 2004, ten years after his death, the process for his beatification and canonization was opened in Rome. After the intense analysis of all the documentation presented by the postulator for the Cause of the Saints, the process for his beatification and canonization was opened in Rome in 2004, On June 28, 2012, Bishop Álvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano was declared Venerable and was finally beatified on September 27, 2014. Her feast day is celebrated on May 12, the anniversary of her first communion.
St. Josemaría Escrivá had a phrase from the Book of Proverbs carved on the door of Don Álvaro's office: Vir fidelis multum laudabitur. (The faithful man shall be highly praised).
His life is so powerful that it moves us to live faithfully our own vocation with the same joy that he showed to everyone.
Bibliography
Opusdei.org.
