Romana

Marian visits in the Eternal City

Cosimo Di Fazio is the author of Itinerari di contemplazione: Le visite mariane di San Josemaría nella Città Eterna, published in Rome by the publisher “Iride per il Terzo Millennio.” Following the path of the many Marian visits that St. Josemaría made from the time he arrived in Rome until his death (1946—1975), the reader witnesses the faith and filial affection with which the Founder of Opus Dei put himself into the hands of our Lady.

The itinerary covers some forty places of veneration (shrines, churches, chapels, statues and paintings in Rome and its surroundings) that St. Josemaría visited with trusting love for the Mother of God, beseeching her for the Church, for the Roman Pontiff, for his daughters and sons in Opus Dei….

Some of these shrines or advocations are well known such as the Salus Populi Romani, situated in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, or the Grande Madre di Dio at the Milvian Bridge. The book contains numerous photographs and illustrations.

Josemaría Escrivá Begegnen

Msgr. Rolf Thomas is the author of Josemaría Escrivá Begegnen, Sankt Ulrich Verlag, Augsburg 2010. This German priest, who for many years worked alongside the Founder of Opus Dei, now offers his personal memoirs of his years in Rome. The author stresses St. Josemaría’s prudence and way of governing, seen as a service to all mankind, and his pedagogical charism in conveying truths of great human and divine depth.

Begegnen is a German word that in English can be translated as “to meet” or “to encounter.” It is a play on words by the author in regard to St. Josemaría’s book Christ Is Passing By, which is translated into German as Christus Begegnen.

Writing the Way: The Story of a Spiritual Classic

The American writer Russell Shaw, in his new book Writing the Way: The Story of a Spiritual Classic, provides key information about the composition, during the tumultuous years of the Spanish civil war, of the most widely read book by St. Josemaria, along with interesting theological and ascetical explanations. The book has been published by Scepter, New York, in 2010.

In the Arms of the Father

I Took You in My Arms: Reflections on Divine Filiation by Josemaría Escrivá. This is the English translation of the Italian book Tra le braccia del Padre, an annotated anthology by the priest Andrea Mardegan, published in 2010. The new edition, also 2010, is published by the “Midwest Theological Forum” (MTF), in Chicago.

The anthology collects texts of St. Josemaría that show how divine filiation, the basis of the spiritual life of the faithful of Opus Dei and the font of Christian joy, helps us to discover that God is always alongside us, caring for his children with infinite love and mercy.

Una libertad para ser vivida (A Freedom to be Lived)

An anthology of St. Josemaría’s writings on freedom, also edited by Fr. Mardegan. Originally the book was published in Italian: Una libertà da vivere (Pauline Books 2004). This translation of the book into Spanish was published in May 2010 by Cobel Ediciones.

San Josemaría y la Universidad (St. Josemaría and the University)

For the events commemorating its 30th anniversary, the University of the Savannah presented the first Colombian edition of the book San Josemaría y la Universidad, in an academic ceremony in the David Mejia Velilla Auditorium. The book was originally published in 1993 by the University of Navarra.

The book includes, in chronological order, various academic addresses by the Founder of Opus Dei between 1960 and 1964. Following these is the homily given by St. Josemaría on the Campus of the University of Navarra on October 8, 1967, entitled “Passionately Loving the World”; and the interview he granted in 1967 to the review Gaceta Universitaria, entitled “The University at the Service of Today’s Society.”

The Colombian edition also includes two contributions by Bishop Javier Echevarría, the Chancellor of the University of La Sabana: the prologue and an interview granted to the magazine Nuestro Tiempo in February 2000.

Three additional articles conclude this volume: one by Dr. Octavio Arizmendi Posada, the first Rector of the University; the second by the teacher David Mejia Velilla (in whose memory the Auditorium is named); and the last by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Msgr. Hernán Salcedo Plazas.