Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer: The Faithful Founder and Visionary of Opus Dei

You might falsely believe that true holiness is strictly reserved for cloistered monks or exceptional martyrs, completely disconnected from your demanding professional and family life. However, Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer radically shattered this misconception by brilliantly illuminating the universal call to holiness. As the visionary founder of Opus Dei, this humble Spanish priest passionately revealed that your ordinary work, joyful family duties, and everyday struggles are actually the exact sacred altars where God eagerly waits to deeply encounter you. Discover how his deeply practical, transformative spiritual teachings can completely revolutionize your modern Catholic faith, turning your simplest daily actions into a glorious, continuous prayer of magnificent divine love today.

Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer y Albas) was a deeply devoted Catholic priest originally from Spain who brilliantly founded Opus Dei, a worldwide organization of dedicated laypeople and priests entirely committed to the profound teaching that absolutely everyone is universally called to holiness by Almighty God, and that perfectly ordinary daily life can directly result in magnificent sanctity. Saint Josemaria Escriva is universally and affectionately known as the saint of the ordinary. He tirelessly sought to deliver remarkably simple and accessible teaching to understand, especially specifically tailored for busy modern families and Christian marriages. He was gloriously canonized in 2002 by Pope Saint John Paul II, who forcefully declared that this extraordinary saint must be "counted among the greatest witnesses of Christianity."

Feast Day: June 26

According to the official Roman Martyrology: At Rome, Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, priest, founder of Opus Dei and of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross.

Biography of Saint Josemaria Escriva

Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer was born in Barbastro (Huesca, Spain) on January 9, 1902. His pious parents were named Jose and Dolores. He grew up with five siblings: Carmen (1899-1957), Santiago (1919-1994), and three other younger sisters who tragically passed away when they were very young girls.

The devout Escriva couple provided their beloved children with an incredibly profound, living Christian education.

This solid domestic foundation proved absolutely crucial for his future spiritual mission. The Catechism beautifully reminds us that "the Christian family is the first place of education in prayer" (CCC 2685). His parents instilled a remarkable supernatural resilience within him, bravely teaching him how to faithfully embrace the heavy cross of profound grief when three of his younger sisters tragically passed away during his childhood.

The Call to a Divine Vocation

In 1915, his hardworking father's textile business unexpectedly went bankrupt, and the struggling family was forced to relocate to Logroño, where his father humbly found another job.

In that cold city, Saint Josemaria Escriva, after seeing bare footprints left in the freezing snow by a devoted religious friar, deeply intuited that God desperately desired something significant from him, although he did not know exactly what it was. He fixated on those striking footprints; the humble friar walked barefoot to offer the Lord a physical sacrifice, and to intimately imitate Jesus, who willingly carried a heavy Cross for us. Profoundly surprised, Saint Josemaria Escriva thought to himself: "If others make so many intense sacrifices for the pure love of God, am I not going to be capable of offering Him absolutely anything?"

From that definitive moment on, Saint Josemaria Escriva began attending Holy Mass every single day, going to confession with much greater frequency. He felt strongly that God was asking him for something specific, but he still did not know what. Therefore, he firmly decided to become a Catholic priest: to be completely free, to serve the Lord and others without reserve. "I want to be a priest," Josemaria boldly told his father.

Tears instantly sprang to Don Jose's eyes: he had initially thought that his bright son was going to be a successful architect or a wealthy lawyer. It was the absolute only time he ever saw him cry. He wept tears of immense joy, because Josemaria's father was a stellar Christian, but it also caused him deep sorrow, because he knew perfectly well that a dedicated priest has to be a highly sacrificed person.

Following a piece of wise advice from his father, at the University of Zaragoza, Saint Josemaria Escriva also simultaneously studied a civil degree in Law as an independent student. Don Jose Escriva sadly died in 1924, and Josemaria was suddenly left as the undisputed head of the family.

The sudden loss of his beloved father forced the young priest into the difficult role of head of the household. However, this heavy earthly burden miraculously deepened his absolute reliance on heavenly providence. Saint John Chrysostom wisely noted, "The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock." His faith remained unshakeable.

Saint Josemaria Escriva joyfully received his priestly ordination on March 28, 1925, and eagerly began to exercise his sacred ministry first in a remote rural parish and then later in Zaragoza. He celebrated his very first Mass for the eternal rest of his father's soul, in the majestic chapel of the Virgin of the Pillar.

Saint Josemaria Escriva: The Founder of Opus Dei

In 1927, Saint Josemaria Escriva permanently moved to Madrid, with the explicit permission of his local bishop, to successfully obtain his prestigious doctorate in Civil Law.

In Madrid, on the historic date of October 2, 1928, Almighty God powerfully made him see exactly what He expected of him, and he miraculously founded Opus Dei. From that magnificent day forward, he worked tirelessly with all his strength on the rapid development of the foundation that God was asking of him, while simultaneously continuing with the demanding pastoral ministry entrusted to him in those difficult years, which placed him in daily, heartbreaking contact with severe illness and extreme poverty in the overcrowded hospitals and working-class neighborhoods of Madrid.

When the brutal Spanish Civil War unexpectedly broke out in 1936, Saint Josemaria Escriva found himself trapped in Madrid. The horrific religious persecution violently forced him to seek refuge in several different hidden locations.

Amidst the horrific bloodshed and terrifying anti-Catholic persecution of the Spanish Civil War, his unwavering apostolic zeal burned brighter than ever. He courageously administered the holy sacraments clandestinely, risking his very life to bring Eucharistic comfort to terrified, hidden souls. Christ’s promise, "I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20), perfectly fueled his incredibly heroic, fearless pastoral charity during those dark years.

Saint Josemaria Escriva continued to exercise his priestly ministry completely clandestinely, until he finally managed to escape from Madrid. After a grueling, dangerous journey across the freezing Pyrenees mountains to the south of France, he relocated to Burgos. When the devastating war finally ended in 1939, he quickly returned to Madrid. In the following highly productive years, he expertly directed numerous spiritual exercises for devoted laypeople, for diocesan priests, and for religious members. In that very same year of 1939, he successfully finished his doctorate studies in Law.

Rome and the Second Vatican Council

In 1946, Saint Josemaria Escriva permanently fixed his official residence in Rome. He successfully obtained a brilliant doctorate in Sacred Theology from the prestigious Lateran University. He was officially appointed as an esteemed consultor to two Vatican Congregations, made an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and named an honorary prelate of His Holiness.

Saint Josemaria Escriva followed with profound, intense attention the complex preparations and the historic sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and he maintained a very close, fraternal relationship with many of the prominent Council Fathers.

His providential move to the Eternal City permanently anchored Opus Dei at the very heart of the universal Catholic Church. He tirelessly fostered a profound, filial love for the Roman Pontiff, constantly urging his spiritual children to fiercely defend the magisterium. As Saint Ambrose famously declared, "Where Peter is, there is the Church." His vibrant international catechesis beautifully unified thousands of diverse laypeople under one faith.

From Rome, he traveled on numerous extensive occasions to many different countries across Europe, to powerfully boost the rapid establishment and the solid consolidation of the vital apostolic work of Opus Dei.

With this exact same spiritual objective, between 1970 and 1975 he made incredibly long, exhausting trips through Mexico, the Iberian Peninsula, South America, and Guatemala, where he additionally held massive catechetical meetings with incredibly large groups of enthusiastic men and women.

His Holy Death and Enduring Legacy

Saint Josemaria Escriva peacefully passed away in Rome on June 26, 1975. Several thousand devoted people, including numerous prominent bishops from completely different countries—representing, in total, a full third of the global episcopate—urgently requested the Holy See to rapidly open his official cause for canonization.

On May 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II joyfully beatified Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. He triumphantly proclaimed him a saint ten years later, on October 6, 2002, in a packed Saint Peter's Square in Rome, before an incredibly massive crowd. In his profound homily, Saint John Paul II would boldly declare: "Following his footsteps, spread in society, without distinction of race, class, culture, or age, the awareness that we are all completely called to holiness."

"What is needed to achieve true happiness is not a comfortable life, but a deeply enamored heart." (Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer)

Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer is now universally known worldwide for his magnificent, groundbreaking teachings on the absolute importance of ordinary people living their daily lives in a profound state of holiness, especially right from within the family home. He firmly believed that absolutely everyone is urgently called to be a glorious saint, and that true sanctity can absolutely be found directly within the most ordinary activities of everyday human life.

Escriva's brilliant spiritual writings have been widely translated into more than 40 different languages, and millions of copies have been massively sold throughout the entire world. He remains an incredibly popular and highly revered figure in our Catholic Church, and his profound teachings have deeply inspired countless people to intentionally live a much more faithful and magnificently holy life.

His magnificent spiritual legacy continues to actively transform modern society from within. By radically elevating ordinary, honest labor to the dignity of a divine vocation, he successfully bridged the massive gap between Sunday worship and weekly professional duties. The Second Vatican Council perfectly echoed his lifelong vision, solemnly declaring that the laity must actively seek the Kingdom of God by fiercely engaging in temporal affairs.

4 facts about Saint Josemaria Escriva

1. The Divine Inspiration of 1928

During a profound spiritual retreat in Madrid, the loud ringing of the local church bells miraculously coincided with his sudden, crystal-clear mystical vision of Opus Dei, powerfully confirming God's direct, undeniable intervention in his priestly life and mission.

2. Escaping Across the Freezing Pyrenees

Fleeing violent, certain execution during the horrific Spanish Civil War, he and a small, terrified group of loyal followers survived a grueling, freezing trek across the treacherous Pyrenees mountains to finally find physical safety and spiritual freedom.

3. The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross

Moving far beyond just aiding the laity, he brilliantly founded this magnificent spiritual society in 1943 specifically to foster immense pastoral support and profound fraternal unity among secular diocesan priests scattered worldwide.

4. The First Personal Prelature

After decades of his tireless, exhausting earthly work, Opus Dei was officially established as the very first personal prelature in the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II, gloriously fulfilling Escriva's ultimate, long-awaited canonical vision.

Finding Extraordinary Grace in Your Ordinary Daily Life

Embracing the powerful spiritual vision of Saint Josemaria Escriva completely radically alters how we view our mundane responsibilities. Whether you are washing dishes, reviewing legal contracts, or comforting a crying child, every single honest action can become a glorious altar of divine sacrifice.

By intentionally inviting the Holy Spirit into the hidden, quiet details of your daily work, you effortlessly transform your ordinary earthly existence into a magnificent, eternal masterpiece of heavenly love. As Saint Teresa of Avila beautifully affirmed:

"God walks among the pots and pans."

Prayer to Saint Josemaria for Family Holiness

O glorious Saint Josemaria Escriva, you were a man of immense, unshakeable faith and a radiant, contagious joy that beautifully transformed countless souls. You dedicated your entire earthly life to helping ordinary people powerfully grow in their love for God, especially within the sacred heart of the family.

I humbly beg your heavenly intercession today so that my own faith and absolute trust in the Lord may profoundly increase.

May my physical home become a warm, secure cradle for the living Child Jesus, and may pure, authentic faith triumphantly prevail in all my beloved family members. Help me to courageously see this broken world through the hopeful eyes of faith, even during the most terrifying and difficult crises.

Help me to blindly trust in God's infinite goodness, knowing He will never abandon me. Through the Holy Name of Jesus, fiercely intercede for me and my cherished home today. Amen.

Sanctify Your Daily Work and Family Life Today

True heavenly holiness is never found by escaping the world, but by courageously bringing the radiant light of Christ directly into it. Every single drop of your daily sweat can brilliantly glorify the Lord. Are you truly ready to sanctify your ordinary work and transform your life today?