While much of Spanish society had grown disaffected with the Church and ambivalent toward the faith and even to God, Escrivá taught that God is still seeking souls and that holiness is achievable even amid the world with all the distractions of daily life.
“He calls each and every one to holiness; he asks each and every one to love him: young and old, single and married, healthy and sick, learned and unlearned, no matter where they work or where they are,” Escrivá said in a homily.
For Escrivá, holiness was not the luxury of the few but rather the calling of the masses.
Not even war can stop God’s work
In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out and open persecution of clergy and religious erupted across the country. In many regions, including Madrid, Catholics could not openly practice their faith for fear of execution.
As priests and lay Catholics were being shot in the streets and nuns massacred in their convents, Escrivá continued his work, risking his own life to bring the sacraments to the suffering faithful.
Despite all odds and numerous close encounters, Escrivá survived the war and his ministry flourished. Though he suffered from poor health, Escrivá traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Americas, everywhere spreading the call to sanctify the ordinary duties of each day.
The Vatican granted official approval of Opus Dei in 1947 and The Work spread to countries across the globe. It came to the United States in 1949, with the first American center opening near the University of Chicago.
In 1975, Escrivá died in his office in front of an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he had a great devotion. At the time of his death, Opus Dei had spread to every continent and numbered more than 60,000 members.
Though The Work had humble beginnings, with next to no resources and only a few members, Escrivá was confident in God’s guidance from the outset.
Later reflecting on one of his first meetings with members of his ministry, Escrivá said: “When class was over, I went to the chapel with those boys, and I took Our Lord sacramentally present in the monstrance, raised him, and blessed those three … and I saw three hundred, three hundred thousand, thirty million, three billion … white, black, yellow, of all the colors, all the combinations, that human love can produce.”
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Today, The Work continues and millions across the world have been inspired by Escrivá’s call to holiness, finding God in their daily lives and sanctifying their work through prayer and love of Christ.
A spiritual call to arms
Today, the Church faces new challenges and attacks, not just in one country but in nations across the world.
Just as in his time, Escrivá’s message rings true as Catholics today face new challenges and obstacles to living out their faith.
Rather than giving in to despair and abandoning the world to be lost in its sins, Escrivá’s message can be seen today as a call to spiritual arms.
“By presenting to mankind the testimony of an ordinary life which is made holy,” Escrivá said, ordinary Catholics would “show the world that [the faith] is not just ceremonies and words but a divine reality.”
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