Ordinary Sainthood: The Spirituality of Saint Josemaria Escriva

Saint Josemaria: Ordinary Saints

The Merry Beggars is excited to be partnering with the St. Josemaria Institute to bring you a new series on St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei. Saint Josemaria was dedicated to helping all people find sanctity in their ordinary lives and work. He called this spirituality Opus Dei, which is Latin for “the Work of God.”

The mission of the St. Josemaria Institute is to help people discover the beauty, power and simplicity of this spirituality, deepening each person’s relationship with Christ, and helping the ordinary Christian to live the Gospel in the circumstances of his or her everyday life - at home, at work, in local and parish communities, and in civic organizations. The Merry Beggars is thrilled to help further this mission by bringing to life a particularly dramatic chapter in the early years of Opus Dei, when St. Josemaria and his friends faced not only the loss of their mission, but also of their lives. 

Discovering the Work

As a young man, Josemaria Escriva knew that he wanted to give his entire life to God. He was ordained a priest in 1925, but felt called to serve God and His People in an even deeper way. While on retreat in 1928, St. Josemaria saw the vision for what Opus Dei might become. He understood God’s mission for him: to foster a way for ordinary men and women to become saints.

In the past, Christian spirituality had often focused its understanding of holiness on the clergy and those called to consecrated religious life. While some ordinary lay people had been recognized as saints, there was a disconnect between the ordinary Christian life and a deep, rich interior life of prayer and sanctification through work.

The way outlined by St. Josemaria was a simple but profound and faithful development of Catholic teaching. It invited everyone - parents, students, those in professional and political life, tradesmen, athletes and artists - to dedicate their lives and their work to God. While respecting that some are called to a monastic life, away from the everyday world, it recognised that most Christians are called to life in the world - with families, jobs, and worldly responsibilities.

By inviting the contemplative life into the active work most Christians are called to, Josemaria laid out a path for every Christian to live intimately with God even while carrying out life’s most mundane activities. Any and every moment can be sanctified.

A Universal Call

Today, the entire Church proclaims “the universal call to holiness”, a key teaching of the Second Vatican Council. As St. Josemaria recognized, this call is a development of the Catholic teaching - based in Scripture - that God reaches out to us all individually, in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. Just as God reached out to and spoke to Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Samuel, David, and Mary, Our Blessed Mother, He speaks to us today in our own lives. God calls us into relationship with Him. He calls us to share His Divine life. He calls us to holiness. 

We're honored to be releasing this series during the week of June 26th, St. Josemaria's feast day. We hope that the incredible story of Saint Josemaria inspires and encourages you, helping you discover opportunities for holiness in the midst of ordinary life. By understanding that God is asking us to draw closer to Him in each moment, even while checking email, doing the dishes, changing diapers, doing accounting, we can offer our work to God and perhaps, even become saints! 

Find out more about St. Josemaria Escriva at the Josemaria Institute. You can listen to Josemaria Escriva first thing Monday morning at thesaintspodcast.com!