Intercession of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We go to Jesus and return to him through Mary. The insistent prayer to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, is based on the confidence that her maternal intercession can do everything before the Sacred Heart of the Son. She is omnipotent by grace.

Some time ago Pope Saint John Paul IIin Redemptoris Mater wrote about Our Lady's intercession and pointed out that she "freely cooperated in the work of the salvation of humanity, in profound and constant harmony with her divine Son".

Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!
All, with Peter, to Jesus through Mary!St. Josemaría Escrivá.

From this cooperation "derives the gift of universal spiritual motherhood: associated with Christ in the work of Redemption, which includes the spiritual regeneration of humanity, she becomes the Mother of men reborn to a new life".

It is the Virgin Mary who "guides the Church's faith towards an ever deeper acceptance of the Word of God, sustaining its hope, encouraging charity and fraternal communion, and fostering apostolic dynamism.

God wanted to unite "to the priestly intercession of the Redeemer the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. It is a function that she exercises for the benefit of those who are in danger and in need of temporal favors and, above all, of eternal salvation".

Litanies that go directly to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary 

The titles with which we Christians address Our Lady when we recite the litanies that accompany the prayer of the Holy Rosary, "help us to better understand the nature of her intervention in the life of the Church and of each of the faithful". St. John Paul II.

As Advocate, she defends her children and protects them from harm caused by their own faults. Christians invoke our Mother as Helper, recognizing her maternal love that sees the needs of her children and is ready to intervene to help them, especially when eternal salvation is at stake.

She receives the title of Help because she is close to those who suffer or find themselves in situations of grave danger. And as a maternal Mediatrix, she presents to Christ our desires, our petitions and transmits to us the divine gifts, interceding continually on our behalf.

"Mother! -call her loudly, loudly. -She hears you, sees you in danger perhaps, and offers you, your Holy Mother Mary, with the Grace of her Son, the consolation of her lap, the tenderness of her caresses: and you will find yourself comforted for the new struggle." St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, No. 516.

consagración al inmaculado corazón de la virgen maría
Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Pope Francis (March 25, 2022).

The Intercession of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary: Mediation in Christ

Mary did not want to draw attention to herself. She lived on earth with her gaze fixed on Jesus and the Heavenly Father. Her most intense desire is to make everyone's gaze converge in the same direction from the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary to the Sacred Heart of her son Jesus. He wants to promote a look of faith and hope in the Savior sent to us by the Father. With this gaze of faith and hope, he urges the Church and believers to always fulfill the will of the Father, which Christ has manifested to us.

From the Homily on our Lady delivered by St. Josemaría Escrivá on October 11, 1964, and included in the book Friends of God. "Now, instead, in the scandal of the Sacrifice of the Cross, Holy Mary was present, listening with sadness to Those who passed by blasphemed, shaking their heads and crying out, "You who tear down the temple of God and in three days rebuild it, save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross.Our Lady listened to the words of her Son, joining in his pain: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?.

What could she do? Fuse herself with the redeeming love of her Son, offer to the Father the immense pain - like a sharp sword - that pierced his pure Heart.

Once again Jesus is comforted by the discreet and loving presence of his Mother. Mary does not cry out, she does not run from one side to the other. StabatShe is standing next to the Son. It is then that Jesus looks at her, and then looks at John. And he exclaims: Woman, behold your son. Then he says to the disciple: there you have your Mother.. In John, Christ entrusts to his Mother all men and especially his disciples: those who were to believe in him.

Felix guilt"Happy fault, sings the Church, happy fault, because she has achieved to have such a great Redeemer. Happy fault, we can also add, that we have merited to receive Holy Mary as our Mother. We are already sure, nothing should worry us anymore: because Our Lady, crowned Queen of heaven and earth, is the omnipotence supplicant before God. Jesus can deny nothing to Mary, nor can He deny anything to us, children of His own Mother (Friends of God, 288).

Mary was intimately united to her sacrifice, a sacrifice that involved continuing to keep things in her heart. The 7 Sorrows of the VirginThe moments in the life of the Virgin Mary where she was united to Jesus in a particular and unique way. This allowed her to share the depth of her Son's sorrow and the love of his sacrifice.

And accompanies Jesus step by step

"Do whatever He tells you." John 2:5. It is John who recounts the scene at Cana. He is the only evangelist who has recorded this trait of maternal solicitude. St. John wants to remind us that the Virgin was present at the beginning of the Lord's public life.

This shows us that he knew how to deepen the importance of the presence of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, which is always present. Jesus knew to whom he entrusted his Mother: to a disciple who had loved her, who had learned to love her as his own mother and was able to understand her.

Among creatures, no one knows Jesus better than Our Lady, no one like his Mother can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery.

Leo XIII, in an Encyclical on the Rosary, says: "By the express will of God, no good is granted to us except through Mary; and as no one can come to the Father except through the Son, so generally no one can come to Jesus except through Mary".

Mary is the mother of all Christians

"She cooperated with her charity so that the faithful might be born in the Church, members of that head, of which she is indeed mother according to the body," St. Augustine, De sancta virginitate, 6.

St. Luke, the evangelist who narrated the infancy of Jesus at the greatest length. It seems as if he wanted us to understand that, just as Mary played a leading role in the Incarnation of the Word, in an analogous way she was also present at the origins of the Church, which is the Body of Christ.

From the first moment of the Church's life, all Christians who have sought God's love, that love which is revealed to us and made flesh in Jesus Christ, have encountered Our Lady, and have experienced her maternal solicitude in many different ways.

inmaculado corazón de la virgen maría intercesión

Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, Prelate of Opus Dei, in 1987, in Toshi.

Approaching the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary

"Jesus is a way that is passable, open to all. The Virgin Mary today shows us, shows us the way: Let us follow her! And you, Holy Mother of God, accompany us with your protection, Amen", Benedict XVI, Homily of 01/02/2012.

As prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo in 1987 spoke about the intercessory power of the Blessed Virgin Mary when he traveled to the island of Toshi, off the coast of Toba in Japan.

"You see the power of our Mother's intercession. When she asks, her Son God cannot say no, he says yes. She is the good little Mother of God and God says yes to his good little Mother. And this good little Mother of God is also a good little Mother, who always listens to us, who hears us and listens to us. And that is why, when we are in trouble, when we are in pain, when we are in sorrow, it is convenient to turn to the Blessed Virgin so that she, who can do everything, may intercede with her Son".

As good children we must love our Heavenly Mother every day; we know that She is a gift from Jesus, and God gives us the Immaculate Heart of Mary for our salvation, to bring us closer to Him.

And to ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, from the earliest times of the Church, it was already prayed: "Under your protection we take refuge, Holy Mother of God: do not despise the supplications that we address to you in our needs, but deliver us always from all dangers, glorious and blessed Virgin".

Pope Benedict's prayer to the Virgin Mary

On May 12, 2010, during his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fátima, the Pope Benedict XVI He said a prayer before the image of the Virgin Mary in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, with which he consecrated the priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"Immaculate Mother, in this place of grace, summoned by the love of your Son Jesus, High and Eternal Priest, we, sons in the Son and his priests, consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart, to faithfully fulfill the will of the Father.

We are aware that, without Jesus, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5) and that, only through Him, with Him and in Him, will we be instruments of salvation for the world.

Bride of the Holy Spirit, obtain for us the priceless gift of transformation into Christ. By the same power of the Spirit who, spreading his shadow over you, made you the Mother of the Savior, help us so that Christ, your Son, may also be born in us. And in this way may the Church be renewed by holy priests, transfigured by the grace of Him who makes all things new.

inmaculado corazón de maría virgen de fátima

Mother of Mercy, it was your Son Jesus who called us to be like Him: light of the world and salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14). Help us, through your powerful intercession, not to undervalue this sublime vocation, not to give in to our selfishness, nor to the flatteries of the world, nor to the temptations of the Evil One.

Preserve us with your purity, protect us with your humility and surround us with your maternal love, which is reflected in so many souls consecrated to you and who are for us authentic spiritual mothers.

Mother of the Church, we priests want to be shepherds who do not feed themselves, but who give themselves to God for their brothers and sisters, finding happiness in this. We want to repeat humbly every day, not only in word but also in life, our "here I am".

Guided by you, we want to be Apostles of Divine Mercy, filled with the joy of being able to celebrate daily the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and to offer to all who ask us the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Advocate and Mediatrix of grace, you who are united to the one universal mediation of Christ, ask God for us a completely renewed heart that loves God with all its strength and serves humanity as you did. Repeat to the Lord that efficacious word of yours: "they have no wine left" (Jn 2:3), so that the Father and the Son may pour out upon us, as a new effusion, the Holy Spirit.

Filled with admiration and gratitude for your constant presence among us, in the name of all priests, I too would like to exclaim: "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should visit me? (Lk 1:43) Our Mother for ever, do not tire of "visiting" us, consoling us, sustaining us. Come to our aid and deliver us from all the dangers that beset us.

With this act of offering and consecration, we want to welcome you in a deeper and more radical way, forever and totally, in our human and priestly existence. May your presence make the desert of our solitude green and the sun shine in our darkness, may it make the calm return after the storm, so that every man may see the salvation of the Lord, who has the name and the face of Jesus, reflected in our hearts, united forever to yours. So be it.

Bibliography:

The Eucharist, the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 A man had lost the "memory of the heart". That is, "he had lost the whole chain of feelings and thoughts he had treasured up in the encounter with the human pain". Why did this happen and what were the consequences? "Such a disappearance of the memory of love had been offered to him as a release from the burden of the past.

But it soon became clear that the man had thereby changed: the encounter with pain no longer awakened in him memories of goodness. With the loss of memory the source of goodness within him had also disappeared. He had become cold and emanated coldness around him".

This story comes in handy in connection with Pope Francis' preaching on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (June 14, 2020).

Eucharist: memorial and feelings

Memory is something important for all people. The Pope observes in his homily on this feast: "If we do not remember (...), we become strangers to ourselves, 'transients' of existence. Without memory we are uprooted from the ground that sustains us and we are carried away like leaves in the wind. On the other hand, to remember is to knot ourselves with stronger ties, to feel part of a history, to breathe with a people".

And that is why Sacred Scripture insists that educating young people in this memory or remembrance of the traditions and history of the people of Israel, especially of the commands and gifts of the Lord (cf. Ps 77 12; Dt 6:20-22).

Problems arise if - as is now happening with the transmission of the Christian faith - it is interrupted or if what it hears about has not been experienced, the memory of individuals and peoples is put at risk.

The Lord left us a "memorial". Not just something to remember, to bring to mind. Not just some words or some symbols. He gave us a food that is continually efficacious, the living Bread that is Himself: the Eucharist. And he gave it to us as a fact, because he commissioned us to make it, celebrate it as a people and as a family: "Do this in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24). The Eucharist, Francis points out, is the memorial of God.

Indeed, the Eucharist is memory, a living memory or memorial that renews (or actualizes without repeating it) the Lord's Passover, his death and resurrection, among us. It is the memory of our faith, of our hope, of our love.

The Eucharist is a memorial of all that we are, a memorial, one might also say, of the heart, giving this last term its biblical meaning: the totality of the person. A man is worth what his heart is worth and this includes - as in the story told by Cardinal Ratzinger - the capacity for goodness and compassion, which in the Christian are becoming identified with the sentiments of Christ himself.

The Eucharist, memorial of the heart, heals, preserves and strengthens the whole person of the Christian. For this reason, as the Church says, the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life and of the Church's mission (cf. Sacramentum caritatis, 2007).

On the solemnity of the Corpus ChristiFrancis has been unraveling the healing power of this "memorial" that is the Eucharist. And with it he shows us the importance of the Eucharist for the configuration of our feelings towards God and others.

On this also depends what we could call affective education - which never ends in each person - and the affective connection with God and with others: knowing how to situate ourselves before others - our relatives and friends, our colleagues and co-workers, the people we meet every day.

Eucaristía memorial de Jesús

The interior "taking charge" of what happens to them, in order to know how to communicate and express our feelings appropriately, integrating them into our decisions and activities, as an important part of the attractiveness that is inherent to the Christian life. The Eucharist thus occupies a central place with regard to the discernmentWe are committed to the spiritual and ecclesial aspects of all our actions.

Healing power of the Eucharist on memory

The Eucharist heals the orphaned memory and heals its wounds. That is, "the memory wounded by the lack of affection and the bitter disappointments received from the one who should have given love but instead left the heart desolate". The Eucharist infuses us with a greater love, the love of God Himself.. So says the Pope:

"The Eucharist brings us the faithful love of the Father, who heals our orphanhood. It gives us the love of Jesus, who transformed a tomb from a point of arrival into a point of departure, and who in the same way can change our lives. It communicates to us the love of the Holy Spirit, who consoles, because he never leaves anyone alone, and heals wounds".

Secondly, the Eucharist heals our negative memory. That "memory" that "always brings to the surface the things that are wrong and leaves us with the sad idea that we are good for nothing, that we only make mistakes, that we are wrong". And it always puts our problems, our falls, our broken dreams in front of us.

Jesus comes to tell us that this is not so. That we are valuable to himwho always sees the good and the beautiful in us, who desires our company and our love. "The Lord knows that evil and sins are not our identity; they are illnesses, infections. And - with good examples in this time of pandemic, the Pope explains how the Eucharist heals - he comes to cure them with the Eucharist, which contains the antibodies for our sick memory of negativity.

With Jesus we can immunize ourselves from sadness. For this reason, the power of the Eucharist - when we try to receive it with the best dispositions, so that it may bear all its fruits in us - transforms us into bearers of God, which is the same as saying: bearers of joy.

Third, the Eucharist heals our closed memory. Life often leaves us wounded. It makes us fearful and suspicious, cynical or indifferent, arrogant... and selfish. All this, observes Peter's successor, "is a deception, for only love heals fear at its roots and frees us from the obstinacy that imprisons us". Jesus comes to free us from these armors, interior blockages and paralysis of the heart.

"The Lord, who offers himself to us in the simplicity of bread, also invites us not to waste our lives seeking a thousand useless things that create dependence and leave our interior empty. The Eucharist removes in us the hunger for things and kindles in us the desire to serve". It helps us to stand up to help others who are hungry for food, dignity and work. It invites us to establish authentic chains of solidarity.

The Eucharist heals our orphaned and wounded memory, our negative memory and our closed memory. To this Francis adds, in his Angelus address on the same day, June 14, the explanation of the two effects of the Eucharist: the mystical effect and the communitarian effect.

Mystical effect and community effect

The mystical effect (mystical in relation to the profound mystery that takes place there) refers to that healing of our "wounded memory" of which he spoke in his homily. The Eucharist heals us and transforms us interiorly through our intimacy with Jesus; for what we take, under the appearance of bread or wine, is nothing less than the body and blood of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17).

Jesus - the Pope explains once again - is present in the sacrament of the Eucharist to be our nourishment, to be assimilated and to become in us that renewing force that gives us back our energy and gives us back the desire to get back on track after every pause or after every fall".

At the same time, it points out how our dispositions must be in order for all this to be possible; above all, "our willingness to let ourselves be transformed, our way of thinking and acting".

This is so, and this will is manifested in approaching the Eucharist with a conscience free of grave sin (having previously attended the sacrament of Penance if necessary), in allowing ourselves to be helped by those who can help us to form our conscience, to rectify our desires, to orient our activities in the right direction according to our circumstances, so that our life may have a true sense of love and service.

For all these reasons, Francis points out, the Mass is not simply a social or respectful act, but empty of content. It is "Jesus present who comes to feed us".

All of this is linked to the communitarian effect of the Eucharist, which is its ultimate purpose, as expressed in the following words: "The Eucharist is the Eucharist of God. St. PaulFor though we are many, we are one bread and one body" (Ibid., v. 17). That is, to make of his disciples a community, a family that overcomes rivalries and envy, prejudices and divisions. By giving us the gift of brotherly love we can achieve what he also asked of us: "Abide in my love" (Jn 15:9).

In this way," Francis concludes, "not only does the Church "make" the Eucharist, but also and finally the Eucharist makes the Church, as a "mystery of communion" for her mission. A mission that begins precisely by producing and increasing our unity. Thus it is, and thus the Church can be the seed of unity, peace and transformation of the whole world.

Mr. Ramiro Pellitero IglesiasProfessor of Pastoral Theology at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra. Published in Iglesia y nueva evangelización.

June 26, the feast of St. Josemaría

Every June 26, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei. Hundreds of thousands of people today remember "the saint of ordinary life," as St. John Paul II called him. On this special day, many gather at Holy Mass to honor his memory.

"Following in his footsteps," the Pope said in his homily on the occasion of his canonization of St. Josemaría, "spread in society, without distinction of race, class, culture or age, the awareness that we are all called to holiness.

The figure of St. Josemaría continues to inspire many on their path to holiness. If you would like to pray before his remains, you can go to the church at Santa Maria della Pace (in Rome).

St. Josemaría and priests

St. Josemaría's identity as founder has left an indelible mark on today's world. He had the art of knowing how to express great realities in brief and simple words. This happens, for example, when he speaks on the theme of priestly identity, which is questioned and problematized by some, and he resolved it with resounding clarity: "The priest, whoever he may be, is always another Christ..

Another Christ, Ipse ChristusThe priest can consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ, offer to God the Holy Sacrifice, forgive sins in sacramental confession and exercise the ministry of indoctrinating people. The priest can consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ, offer to God the Holy Sacrifice, forgive sins in sacramental confession and exercise the ministry of indoctrinating people". (The Way, 6).

He always looked upon the diocesan priests as his brothers.He used to say to them: "My brother priests," he used to say when addressing them. I felt a brotherly affection for them and to the priests of the Prelature of Opus Dei he invited them to feel like diocesan priests in all the dioceses of the world.

Lived and promoted an authentic love for priests and always gave proof of it. He was an example of zeal for priestly formation.He demonstrated this in the solicitude with which he guided the activity of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which enables priests from all the dioceses of the world to share their spirituality.

26 junio fiesta san Josemaría sacerdote
St. Peter's Square at the canonization ceremony of St. Josemaría, 2002.

The CARF Foundation follows this example of the founder of the Work, as he affectionately called it, by supporting the priestly formation. For this reason the Foundation acts to provide, with the help of benefactors, study aids for poor diocesan priests and seminarians from dioceses around the world.The students of the University of Navarra, Spain, will receive a solid theological, human and spiritual preparation at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and at the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.

In addition, promoted the importance of prayer in the life of the presbyter. "Do not cease to pray for them, that they may always be faithful priests, pious, learned, dedicated, joyful! Entrust them especially to Holy Mary, who will be especially solicitous as a Mother for those who are committed for life to serve her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Priest".

Saint Josemaría's teachings for priests

Bishop Javier Echevarría explains that throughout his long pastoral experience, the founder of Opus Dei continuously experienced the need for a strong priestly identityis not true that Christians want to see in the priest The Christian people want the priest to be a priest.

In the words of St. Josemaría, "let the priest's priestly character be clearly emphasized: they expect him to pray, not to refuse to administer the sacraments, to be ready to welcome everyone without becoming the leader or militant of human factions, of whatever kind.

Moreover, that he put love and devotion into the celebration of the Holy Mass, that he sit in the confessional, that he console the sick and the afflicted; that he indoctrinate children and adults with catechesis, that he preach the Word of God and not any kind of human science that - even if he knew perfectly well - would not be the science that saves and leads to eternal life; that he have counsel and charity for the needy. In a word: the priest is asked to learn not to hinder the presence of Christ in him". Homily Priest for eternity, April 13, 1973.

Javier Echevarría, can perhaps sum up the challenge that today's world throws down to sacred ministers. To men and women of all times, the priest must make God presentAnd for this, he must learn to lend Christ his voice, his hands, his soul and his body: all that is his.

This happens mainly when he administers the sacraments or in preaching, but not only in those moments. The dynamics proper to the sacrament of Holy Orders, whose center and culmination is the Eucharist, lead to to give himself entirely, body and soul, to Christ.

Saint Josemaría's words about priests

Short texts about the life and vocation of priests that we remember on the occasion of his feast day.

Bibliography

Camino.
It is Christ who passes.
Homily Priest for eternity.
Forge.
Homily Pope St. John Paul II at the Mass of canonization, 2002.
Homily Pope St. John Paul II at the Mass of beatification, 1992.
Homily Javier Echevarría on the priesthood, 2009.

26J saint Josemaría: the saint of ordinary life

St. Josemaría was born on January 9, 1902 in Barbastro (Huesca), into a deeply Christian family. He was the second of six children. His father, José, was a merchant; his mother, Dolores, was a pious woman who passed on to her children a living and simple faith. When Josemaría was thirteen years old, the family moved to Logroño due to the bankruptcy of the family business. This change of city would mark a key moment in his spiritual life.

One winter day, during a snowfall, he saw in the street the footprints in the snow left by a barefoot Carmelite. This made a deep impression on him: he perceived that God wanted something from him. Years later, he would remember that moment as the beginning of an interior intuition, of a diffuse call, a spiritual restlessness that grew.

Although he did not know exactly what the Lord was asking of him, he decided to become a priest as a way of being more available to fulfill the divine will. He entered the seminary in Zaragoza, where he began his ecclesiastical studies, which he later combined with law studies. He was ordained a priest on March 28, 1925.

After a brief period as curate in a rural parish in Perdiguera, he moved to Madrid to continue his academic formation. There he worked as a chaplain and ministered to the sick, students and people in need.

Dibujo animado de San Josemaría Escrivá con símbolos asociados: una cruz, un rosario, una rosa roja y el libro "Camino".
Representation of St. Josemaría Escrivá and some key elements of his life and message.

It was in this urban environment, in contact with people from all walks of life, that his life took a definitive turn. On October 2, 1928, during a spiritual retreat, he received with inner clarity the mission that God entrusted to him: to found Opus Dei. He understood that he had to open a path within the Church to help discover that all men and women, regardless of their status, profession or social condition, are called to seek holiness in their ordinary lives through each other's work.

Who was St. Josemaría and why is it celebrated on June 26?

The initial inspiration showed him that any honest task - from an operating room to an office, a kitchen, a factory, the countryside or a classroom - could be a place of encounter with God. It was not a matter of doing extraordinary things, but of doing the ordinary with love, with perfection, with a Christian sense. Work, lived with this attitude, became a means of personal sanctification and service to others. This vision broke the mold at a time when holiness was associated almost exclusively with religious or priestly life. Josemaría insisted time and again to everyone that God does not call only some, but all.

In the early years, Opus Dei began in a very humble way: just a handful of young people in Madrid who listened to that priest speak to them about a Christian life that was coherent, joyful, demanding and committed to the world. In 1930, he also understood that this call was for women, and in 1943 he founded the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, as part of the structure of Opus Dei. diocesan priests.

Expansion was slow at first, marked by the social and political difficulties of the Spain of the time. During the Civil War, the founder had to go into hiding because he was a priest. At the end of the conflict, he resumed his work with renewed impetus.

But in 1946 he moved to Rome, from where he promoted the international development of the Work. In 1950, the Holy See granted definitive approval to Opus Dei, recognizing the validity of this new path within the Church. The expansion was progressive: they reached countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

From the beginning of his ordination, St. Josemaría developed an intense pastoral and formative activity. He preached retreats, wrote books on spirituality - among them the best known, Caminopublished for the first time in 1939 - and accompanied many people spiritually.

In all her writings and meetings she insisted on the value of the little things, on the importance of doing them well and with God's love. "God waits for us in the little things," he used to say. His spirituality was neither complicated nor inaccessible, but deeply incarnated in daily life with a marked confidence in being a child of God: divine filiation fills the whole life of the person.

He died in Rome on June 26, 1975, unexpectedly, having just arrived at his residence at the headquarters of Opus Dei, Villa Tevere, after seeing and spending time with his daughters at the Roman College of Santa Maria.

Javi, I don't feel well

This is how Blessed Alvaro del Portillo relates it in an interview about the Founder. "At eleven fifty-seven we entered the garage of Villa Tevere. A member of the Work was waiting for us at the door. Father quickly got out of the car, with a cheerful face; he moved with agility, so much so, that he turned to personally close the door. He thanked his son who had helped him and entered the house.

He greeted the Lord in the oratory of the Holy Trinity and, as he used to do, he made a slow, devout genuflection, accompanied by an act of love. Then we went upstairs to my office, the room where he usually worked, and a few seconds after passing the door, he called out: Javi!

Javier Echevarría had stayed behind to close the elevator door, and our Founder repeated more forcefully: "Javi! and then, in a weaker voice: "I am not feeling well. Immediately Father collapsed on the floor. We used all possible means, spiritual and medical. As soon as I realized the gravity of the situation, I gave him absolution and the Anointing of the Sick, as he ardently desired: he was still breathing. He had begged us many times to not deprive him of this treasure.

Possibly, after greeting the picture of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe with an ejaculatory prayer, as he always used to do when entering any room of the house, with that last small act of love he collapsed. That same day the fame of his sanctity began to spread among the faithful.

In 1992 he was beatified by St. John Paul II, and in 2002 he was canonized, The Pope himself said during his homily: "With supernatural intuition, St. Josemaría untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Christ calls everyone to Christian perfection: workers and peasants, intellectuals and artists, people of all professions, social conditions and cultures".

A path of holiness in the midst of the world

Today, St. Josemaría's message continues to inspire thousands of people around the world. Opus Dei is present in 68 countries and offers spiritual and human formation to Christians from all walks of life. His legacy is not limited to the creation of an institution, but lies, above all, in having opened a new way to live the Gospel in the heart of the world.

Celebrating St. Josemaría's feast day on June 26 is to remember God's call to live fully in the midst of the ordinary. It is an invitation to all - lay people, priests, He urged us to seek holiness in daily life, at work, in the family, at rest, in our professional duties and in our human relationships. He himself said: «There where your aspirations, your work, your loves are, there is the place of your daily encounter with Christ».

In short, St. Josemaría was an instrument in God's hands to remind us of something profoundly evangelical: that there are no second- or first-division Christians, that all of us-you and I-are called to the fullness of love, without the need to change our life, but only by changing the heart with which we live it.

Praying through the intercession of St. Josemaría

Christians have always had recourse to the intercession of the santos to bring your prayer into the presence of God. You can download the prayer in more than 30 languages.

Estampa de san Josemaría Escrivá con una oración por su intercesión.

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Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Once a year, the Catholic Church stops its ordinary liturgical calendar to put the spotlight on something extraordinary: the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. That is Corpus Christi -the Body of Christ-, a solemnity that is not only contemplated, but transforms the life of those who unite themselves to Him and adore Him.

We are invited to manifest our faith and devotion to this sacrament, which is a sacrament of piety, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the soul is filled with grace and we are given a pledge of the glory to come.

Multitud de fieles participa en una procesión de Corpus Christi por las calles de una ciudad europea, acompañando al Santísimo Sacramento bajo palio.
The people walk united around the Eucharist during the feast of Corpus Christi.

What do we celebrate on this solemnity?

The Corpus Christi commemorates the deepest and most central mystery of the Catholic faith: that Jesus is truly present -with his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity- in the Holy Eucharist. It is not a symbol, it is not a metaphor, it is not a pious memory. It is Himselfalive and delivered out of love.

This feast was instituted in the XIII century, thanks to the impulse of St. Julienne of Cornillon and the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsenawhich moved Pope Urban IV. And since then, every second Thursday after PentecostCatholics around the world give public witness to their faith with solemn Masses, processions and adorations.

Because in the Eucharist God gives himself completely to us. There is nothing more intimate, more transforming and more real than communion with Christ. Corpus Christi reminds us that:

A party that engages

Corpus Christi is not just a beautiful date on the calendar. It is a call to live eucharistically. To let Jesus, who breaks for us, teach us to break for others. To be bread broken for the world, especially for those who do not know Christ or who suffer in silence.

Celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi is worship Jesus with all your heartWe thank him for staying with us in every tabernacle of the world, and for allowing ourselves to be transformed by his presence. Because whoever receives communion with faith, no longer lives for himself, but for the One who gives himself daily at the altar. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (Jn 6:51-58).. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

The Jews began to argue among themselves: -How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the Father who sent me lives and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died: whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Bread of Life Speech

On the feast of Corpus Christi we celebrate Christ's revelation of the mystery of the Eucharist. His words are of such strong realism that they exclude any interpretation in a figurative sense. The listeners understand the proper and direct meaning of Jesus' words (v. 52), but they do not believe that such a statement can be true.

If it had been understood in a figurative or symbolic sense, it would not have caused them such great surprise, nor would the discussion have taken place. From this is also born the faith of the Church that through the conversion of the bread and wine into his Body and Blood, Christ is made present in this sacrament..

Pintura histórica de una solemne procesión de Corpus Christi con presencia de autoridades civiles, eclesiásticas y militares en una ciudad española.
Corpus Christi procession with all its traditional solemnity, according to the vision of the painter Sáinz de la Maza (1944).

"The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith when it states: "Because Christ, our Redeemer, said that what he offered in the form of bread was truly his Body, this conviction has always been maintained in the Church, which the Holy Council declares anew: 'by the consecration of the bread and wine there is effected the change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood; the Catholic Church has justly and appropriately called this change transubstantiation' (DS 1642)."

In this discourse Jesus compares three times (cf. vv. 31-32.49.58) the true Bread of Life, his own Body, with the manna, with which God had fed the Hebrews daily for forty years in the desert. Thus, invites us to nourish our souls frequently with the food of his Body.

"From the comparison of the Bread of Angels with bread and with manna the disciples could easily deduce that, just as the body is nourished with bread daily, and the Hebrews were daily refreshed with manna in the desert, in the same way the Christian soul could daily eat and feast with the Bread of Heaven. Moreover, almost all the Holy Fathers of the Church teach that the daily bread, which is commanded to be asked for in Sunday prayer, is not so much to be understood of the material bread, food for the body, as of the daily reception of the Eucharistic Bread" St. Pius X, Sacra Tridentina Synodus, December 20, 1905.

On the Sunday after Holy Trinity Sunday, thehe Church celebrates Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.. That is its full title, although we usually refer to it using its former Latin name, Corpus Christi. It is interesting to know that its earliest title was Festum Eucharistiae.

Eucharistic Resources for the Feast of the Eucharist Corpus Christi 

Author: don Francisco Varo PinedaDirector of Research at the University of Navarra and Professor of Sacred Scripture in the School of Theology.

Jesus Christ, High and Eternal Priest: self-giving love

Each year, the Thursday after Pentecostthe Church celebrates a singular liturgical feast: the feast of Jesus Christ, High and Eternal Priest. It is not just another liturgical remembrance, but a profound invitation to contemplate the very heart of the Christian mystery: Christ who offers himself to the Father for the salvation of the worldand which associates the priests of the Church with this sacrifice.

What is celebrated on this holiday?

This feast is centered on Christ in his priestly dimensioni.e., as mediator between God and mankind (cf. 1 Tim 2:5). He does not celebrate a particular moment of his life (such as Christmas or Easter), but rather his eternal priestly beingaccording to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Heb 5:6).

Jesus was not a priest like those of the Jewish temple. He is the perfect priest because it offered not animal sacrifices, but their own body and blood in obedience and love to the Father. As the Letter to the Hebrews says: "Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come... not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered once for all into the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption" (Heb 9:11-12).

This feast was established in the liturgical calendar by some bishops -especially in Spain and Latin America- in the 20th century, and was approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1987. Since then, it has been adopted by many dioceses around the world.

Escena de la película "La Pasión de Cristo" mostrando a Jesús en la Última Cena, sosteniendo el pan mientras instituye la Eucaristía, con sus discípulos observando en silencio.

The only sacrifice and the only priest

The Church teaches that Christ is at the same time priest, victim and altar. He is not only the one who offers, but also the one who the one who deliversChrist, the eternal priest, by the oblation of his body, accomplished once for all, brought to completion the work of human redemption" (Preface proper to the Mass of this feast).

At the Last Supper, he sacramentally anticipated the sacrifice he would consummate on the cross. Since then, each Mass is a real and sacramental actualization of this unique sacrifice.. It is not repeated, but is made present, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, when priests celebrate the Eucharist, act "in persona Christi Capitis". (in the person of Christ the Head), not as mere delegates or representatives. It is Christ himself who acts through them.

Feast of Christ and his priests

This festival is also a privileged occasion to praying for priests. They have been configured with Christ the Priest to continue his mission. In the words of St. John Paul II: "The ministerial priesthood shares in the unique priesthood of Christ and has the task of making present in every age the sacrifice of redemption" (Letter to Priests, Holy Thursday 1986).

Today more than ever, priests need our closeness, our affection and our prayers. Their mission is beautiful, but also demanding. They are instruments of Christ's love, but they are not exempt from difficulties, fatigue and temptations.

This festival, therefore, is also a call to renew our love and support for our pastors. It is also a day for calling for new priestly vocations. The Church needs men who, in love with Christ, are ready to spend their lives in the service of the Gospel.

Contemplating Christ the Priest in order to follow him closely

To contemplate Christ as High and Eternal Priest is to contemplate his Heart, his surrender, his obedience to the Father and his compassion for mankind. He became a priest in order to intercede for us without ceasingAs Hebrews says: "He is able to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25).

In a world marked by self-sufficiency, haste, and superficiality, looking to Christ the Priest is a call to live a spirituality of dedication, intercession and silent service. Christ does not impose himself: he offers himself. He does not demand: he gives himself. He does not exhibit Himself: He gives Himself to the extreme.

For the lay faithful, this feast is also a reminder that all the baptized share in Christ's priesthood. St. Peter says it clearly: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession" (1 Pet 2:9).

This common priesthood of the faithful is lived in daily offering, in prayer, in charity, in the witness of life. Every Christian is called to offer his life as a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God (cf. Rom 12:1).

Pintura renacentista de Cristo sosteniendo una gran hostia consagrada en su mano izquierda y un cáliz dorado en su mano derecha, con fondo dorado y halo radiante, representando su papel como Sumo y Eterno Sacerdote.

A party to look at the altar... and at the sky

The Feast of Jesus Christ, High and Eternal Priest, invites us to look at the altar with renewed faithand to recognize that Christ himself is at work there. It reminds us that salvation does not come from our works, but from Christ's sacrifice.. And that this sacrifice is eternal, always living, always effective.

It is a profoundly Eucharistic, profoundly priestly and profoundly ecclesial feast. It is an opportunity to thank Christ for his self-giving, to pray for those who have been called to represent him sacramentally, and to offer ourselves with him to the Father for the good of the world.

Saint Josemaría's words about priests

1. What is the identity of the priest? That of Christ. All Christians can and should be not only priests, but also priests. alter Christus but ipse Christus, other Christs, Christ himself! But in the priest this is given immediately, in a sacramental way. (Loving the Church, 38).

2. We priests are asked to have the humility to learn to be unfashionable, to be truly servants of the servants of God (...), so that ordinary Christians, the laity, may make Christ present in all areas of society. (Conversations, 59).

A priest who lives the Holy Mass in this way - adoring, atoning, impetrating, giving thanks, identifying himself with Christ - and who teaches others to make the Sacrifice of the Altar the center and root of the Christian's life, will truly demonstrate the incomparable greatness of his vocation, that character with which he is sealed, which he will not lose for all eternity (Loving the Church, 49). (Loving the Church, 49).

4. I have always conceived my work as a priest and pastor of souls as a task aimed at placing each one before the full demands of his life, helping him to discover what God, in concrete terms, is asking of him, without placing any limitation on that holy independence and that blessed individual responsibility which are characteristic of a Christian conscience. (It is Christ that passes, 99).

5. The value of piety in the Holy Liturgy!

I was not at all surprised by what someone told me a few days ago about an exemplary priest who died recently: what a saint he was!

-Did you treat him a lot," I asked.

-No," he replied, "but I saw him celebrate Mass once. (Forge, 645).

6. I do not want -as I am aware- to fail to remind you again that the Priest is "another Christ". -And that the Holy Spirit has said: "nolite tangere Christos meos". -do not want to touch "my Christs". (Road, 67).

7. The professional work, so to speak, of priests is a divine and public ministry, which demands the whole activity to such an extent that, in general, if a priest has time left over for other work that is not properly priestly, he can be sure that he is not fulfilling the duties of his ministry. (Friends of God, 265).

8. Christ, who ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the gesture of an Eternal Priest, wants to count on us, who are nothing, to bring to "all" men the fruits of his Redemption. (Forge, 4).

9. Neither to the right nor to the left, nor to the center. I, as a priest, try to be with Christ, who on the Cross opened both arms and not only one of them: I freely take from each group that which convinces me and makes me have a welcoming heart and arms for all humanity. (Conversations, 44).

10. That priest friend worked thinking of God, holding on to his paternal hand, and helping others to assimilate these mother ideas. That is why he used to say to himself: when you die, everything will be all right, because He will continue to take care of everything.(Furrow, 884).

11. That priest friend of ours convinced me. He spoke to me about his apostolic work, and assured me that there are no unimportant occupations. Beneath this field of roses," he said, "is hidden the silent effort of so many souls who, with their work and prayer, with their prayer and work, have obtained from Heaven a torrent of rains of grace that makes everything fruitful. (Furrow, 530).

12. Live the Holy Mass!

-It will help you to consider the thought of a priest in love: "Is it possible, my God, to participate in Holy Mass and not be a saint?

-And he continued: "I will stay every day, fulfilling an ancient purpose, in the Sore of my Lord's Side!

-Cheer up! (Forge, 934).

To be a Christian - and in a particular way to be a priest, remembering also that all the baptized participate in the royal priesthood - is to be continually at the Cross (Forge, 882). (Forge, 882).

14. Let us not become accustomed to the miracles that take place before us: to this marvelous wonder that the Lord descends every day into the hands of the priest. Jesus wants us to be awake, so that we may be convinced of the greatness of his power, and so that we may hear his promise anew: venite post me, et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominumIf you follow me, I will make you fishers of men; you will be effective, and you will draw souls to God. We must trust, therefore, in these words of the Lord: get into the boat, take up the oars, hoist the sails, and launch out into the sea of the world that Christ gives us as our inheritance. (It is Christ who passes by, 159).

If it is true that we drag personal miseries, it is also true that the Lord counts on our mistakes. It does not escape his merciful gaze that we men are creatures with limitations, with weaknesses, with imperfections, inclined to sin. But he commands us to struggle, to recognize our defects; not to be cowed, but to repent and to foster the desire to be better. (It is Christ who passes by, 159).

15. Priest, my brother, always speak of God, for if you are his, there will be no monotony in your conversations. (Forge, 965).

16. The guardianship of the heart. -Thus prayed that priest: "Jesus, may my poor heart be a sealed garden; may my poor heart be a paradise, where You live; may the Angel of my Guardian guard it, with a sword of fire, with which He purifies all the affections before they enter me; Jesus, with the divine seal of your Cross, seal my poor heart". (Forge, 412).

17. When he gave Holy Communion, that priest felt like shouting: "Here I give you Happiness! (Forge, 267)

18. In order not to scandalize, in order not to produce even the shadow of suspicion that the children of God are lazy or useless, in order not to be a cause of disedification..., you must strive to offer with your conduct the just measure, the good disposition of a responsible man.... (Friends of God, 70).

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