This Week: Saint Josemaria Escriva

A Call to Love

How do you listen to God’s call in your life? For some, it leads them to a spouse, or to a particular career. For one Saint, it led him to give his entire life to God, founding an organization that would work to spread holiness to ordinary men and women of all walks of life. He did his best throughout his life to pass without being noticed - but today, he is famous as Saint Josemaria Escriva.

Trials and Tribulations

In Spain in the 1930s, Priests were far from popular. A dangerous political ideology was growing among the people - Communism. Poor workers from Spain’s urban centers were conditioned to view priests as an intellectual class that didn’t perform any manual labor. The Communist Movement's anti-religious messages led to widespread persecution. Saint Josemaria would even be insulted in the street by construction workers. This cultural atmosphere led to the spread of a revolution that spread into Civil War, splitting the country into two zones: the Nationalist and Republican zones. Saint Josemaria and the members of the recently formed Opus Dei were trapped in the Republican zone, where Catholicism was banned and priests and religious were put to death by the government.

Going into hiding in his family’s home, Saint Josemaria would wear civilian clothes and his Father’s wedding ring. When news came that the soldiers were closing in, Saint Josemaria and several companions found sanctuary in an unlikely place - a mental hospital. Josemaria pretended to be a patient, acting insane whenever anyone who might turn him in was around. When the authorities began closing in, they moved to an embassy. When it became clear that this too wasn’t safe, Josemaria and his companions knew that they had to take a more drastic step.

Through the Mountains

One of them had made contact with a group of smugglers. The plan: to escape Republican Spain into France and return to the Nationalist Zone, where Catholicism was still tolerated. Their rag-tag band met the smugglers in an abandoned Church and set off on their journey.

It was not an easy trip. On top of rough terrain, they had to move carefully to avoid government patrols and anyone who might be willing to turn them in for a reward. Their provisions were scarce, and their guides were fierce and little better than their persecutors. Yet Josemaria and his companions did not flag in their dedication, praying rosaries and saying mass along the way. The journey might have been tough, but Saint Josemaria was singularly dedication to his mission of bringing sanctity to everyday, ordinary men and women.

A Saint for Today

This week on The Saints: Adventures of Faith and Courage, hear the inspiring story of Opus Dei founder Saint Josemaria Escriva and his singular dedication to God’s will. Follow him from the hostile streets of Madrid, to hiding in attics and an asylum, through the Pyrenees Mountains to safety in France. Listen first thing Monday morning at thesaintspodcast.com and learn the story of the Saint who championed the universal call to holiness!

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