Italian
The life of Saint Josemaría Escrivá is marked by a spiritual insight that would change the way we understand the call to holiness in the contemporary world. The sign of his vocation comes from a simple, almost hidden episode, but one that can leave a deep mark on the heart of a young person.
SPAIN. In 1918, at the age of sixteen, while living in Logroño with his family after moving from Barbastro, his hometown in Aragon, Josemaría sees the footprints of bare feet left by some Carmelites walking in the cold for the love of God on the snow. That image deeply impacts him. Those bare steps on the snow become an inner call for him. He wonders what he can offer to the Lord if others are capable of giving themselves with such radicality. He does not yet know what God’s plan for him is, but he understands that the Lord is calling him to something great.
From that moment begins a long journey of discernment, made of prayer, study, and the search for divine will. Josemaría understands that to be ready for the mission that God would entrust to him, he must first completely dedicate himself to Him. He then decides to become a priest. He enters the seminary in Zaragoza, where he receives a deep theological and spiritual formation. Following his father’s advice, he also studies law, preparing to have a broad culture that could be useful in serving the Church.
On March 28, 1925, he was ordained a priest. His first ministry took place in a poor area of the city of Zaragoza, among simple people, often uneducated. Here he experienced concrete closeness to the marginalized, learning that the priestly mission consists not only in preaching but above all in bringing the presence of Christ into the daily lives of people.
Those footprints in the snow continue to live inside him. Josemaría feels that the Lord is preparing something that he still cannot fully understand. In 1927, he moved to Madrid, where he lived in humble conditions, alternating his priestly ministry with study and work to support his family. These are years of intense prayer and waiting.
The decisive moment comes on October 2, 1928. After celebrating Mass, while gathering his spiritual notes, Josemaría receives what he considers a special light from God: he understands the birth of Opus Dei. His insight is revolutionary for the time: every Christian, regardless of their work, social status, or environment, is called to holiness. Holiness is not reserved only for priests, religious, or those living in monasteries. Even daily work, family, social relationships, and ordinary commitments can become a place of encounter with God. Common life, lived with love and responsibility, can transform into a path toward sanctification.
Opus Dei was founded with the mission of reminding that the world is not separate from God, but can become the very place where man seeks and finds the Lord. Holiness, according to this vision, does not consist in doing extraordinary things, but in living ordinary things with extraordinary love.
The following years are difficult. During the Spanish Civil War, religious persecution forces Josemaría to live in hiding and to leave Madrid. These are years of suffering, but also of significant spiritual growth. Once the conflict is over, he returns to his apostolate and the Work begins to spread slowly.
In 1946 he moved to Rome to obtain recognition from the Church. He met Pope Pius XII, who was interested in his experience, although initially there were legal difficulties because a reality composed of laypeople called to holiness in the world represented a novelty for the canonical law of the time. Over time, Opus Dei received ecclesiastical approval.
Saint Josemaría spent the last decades of his life traveling to many countries, meeting people from all walks of life and spreading the message of the sanctification of ordinary life. He died in Rome on June 26, 1975. John Paul II canonized him on October 6, 2002.
His spiritual legacy is encapsulated in a simple yet profound belief: every man can encounter God in the concrete reality of his own existence. The footprints in the snow of that young Carmelite were not just a memory, but the first step of a calling that would lead many to discover that even the daily path can become a way to holiness.
