Romana

At the Seminary of San Carlos in Saragossa, Spain

On December 1, a commemorative plaque was blessed at the site of what was formerly the seminary of San Francisco de Paula, to remind people that the founder of Opus Dei “lived, was formed, and was ordained” there. The site is now the San Carlos residence for priests.

The seminary of San Francisco de Paula was located there from its foundation in 1886 until its closing in 1951. On September 28, 1920, the young seminarian Josemaría Escrivá, coming from the seminary of Logroño, entered and remained there until his priestly ordination.

After the ceremony of blessing the plaque, Mass was celebrated in the church of San Carlos, presided over by Rev. Carlos Palomero, director of the priests' residence; the vicar of the Opus Dei delegation in Saragossa, Rev. Pablo Lacorte, concelebrated.

In the almost five years of his stay at the seminary of San Francisco de Paula, Josemaría Escrivá received all of the Sacred Orders. On March 28, 1925, he was ordained a priest in the same place by Bishop Miguel de los Santos Díaz Gómara, then president of the Royal Priestly Seminary.

Symposium on the Family and St. Josemaría in Ljubljana, Slovenia

On October 6, 2018, a Symposium on the Family and St. Josemaría was organized in Ljubljana. The three presentations were: José Luis Gonzalez Gullon, “Timeliness of the Thought of St. Josemaría on the Family;” Professor Nuria Chinchilla, “Masters of our Destiny;” and Dugtual Derville, “The Family, a Pillar of Human Ecology.” In the afternoon a round table discussion was held on “Solutions to the Challenges of the Family in Slovenia.” About a hundred people took part the Symposium, most of them young people.

Portraits in the parish of St. Josemaría in Valencia, Spain

On Sunday, September 30, in the parish of St. Josemaría, a solemn Eucharist was celebrated in thanksgiving for the 90th anniversary of the foundation of Opus Dei. Presiding was the Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares.

After the Mass, paintings of St. Josemaría and Blessed Alvaro were blessed, which will be placed for veneration in one of the side chapels. An exhibition was also inaugurated about various faithful of Opus Dei, both men and women, who are in the process of canonization.

Words of St. Josemaría on a mural painted by 2,000 students

“The time for giving a few coins and old clothes is over; we have to give our heart and life.” Half a century ago St. Josemaría addressed these words to those accompanying him on his first visit to the Tajamar School in Madrid.

His words were engraved on the memory of the teachers and the families from the surrounding Vallecas district who accompanied him, and some tape recordings of the event have been preserved. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the school, the management team decided to paint them on one of its walls, which is more than forty meters long. All of the school’s 2,000 students lent a hand in this project, under the expert eye of the Boa Mistura team of street artists.

These words of St. Josemaría, placed on the wall next to the soccer field, will be seen often by the successive generations of Tajamar students. “We have to give our heart and life” will be engraved also on their souls.