February 14th,1943
Establishment of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross in the women’s centre on Jorge Manrique street in Madrid. St. Josemaría had seen since a long time before, the need for the priests that looked after the apostolic endeavours of the Work to come from the same members of the Work: “In the first years of the work I accepted the collaboration of a few priests, who showed their interest in linking to Opus Dei in some way. Soon our Lord made me see with all clarity that it wasn’t them who were called to fulfil the mission that I’ve told you previously (that of formation of the vocations)”.
Bl. Alvaro said: “Even though not all of them -our father said it- some were like his crown of thorns, as they wanted to make a commitment of obedience and, as soon as making it, even though they had good intentions, in reality they started to disobey and want to leave the father aside and rule themselves”. St. Josemaría: “We needed priests that knew well our peculiar asceticism and the apostolic way of working, which are very particular of us (...). Those priests could come only from the ranks of the lay members of the Work”.
From then on, st. Josemaría would look for a juridical formula that would allow him to incardinate priests in Opus Dei, a title of ordination that would allow those priests in the Work to dedicate the exercise of their ministry completely to Opus Dei, in service of the apostolates. St. Josemaría, no matter how much he went over the issue and would consult with different people, couldn’t find the solution: “I remember my conversations with Alvaro, my going round and round canon law, my conversations with the good bishop of Madrid don Leopoldo… and nothing”.
"On February 14th, 1943 -st. Josemaría would recount- I started Mass looking for a juridical solution to be able to incardinate the priests in the Work. for a long time I had been trying to find it, with no result. And that day, intra Missam, after Communion, the Lord wanted to give it to me: the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. He even gave me the seal: the sphere of the world with the cross embedded”. When Mass ended, the father went into a small room and asked for pen and paper. After a few minutes, -tells one of the women who was in that Mass of our father- he came back into the foyer, clearly excited: “Look -he told us pointing at a card in which he had drawn a circumference and a cross of special proportions inside- This will be the seal of the Work. Seal, not coat of arms: Opus Dei doesn’t have coats of arms. It means the world, and encrusted inside the world, the Cross”.
Bl. Alvaro said: “Even though not all of them -our father said it- some were like his crown of thorns, as they wanted to make a commitment of obedience and, as soon as making it, even though they had good intentions, in reality they started to disobey and want to leave the father aside and rule themselves”. St. Josemaría: “We needed priests that knew well our peculiar asceticism and the apostolic way of working, which are very particular of us (...). Those priests could come only from the ranks of the lay members of the Work”.
From then on, st. Josemaría would look for a juridical formula that would allow him to incardinate priests in Opus Dei, a title of ordination that would allow those priests in the Work to dedicate the exercise of their ministry completely to Opus Dei, in service of the apostolates. St. Josemaría, no matter how much he went over the issue and would consult with different people, couldn’t find the solution: “I remember my conversations with Alvaro, my going round and round canon law, my conversations with the good bishop of Madrid don Leopoldo… and nothing”.
"On February 14th, 1943 -st. Josemaría would recount- I started Mass looking for a juridical solution to be able to incardinate the priests in the Work. for a long time I had been trying to find it, with no result. And that day, intra Missam, after Communion, the Lord wanted to give it to me: the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. He even gave me the seal: the sphere of the world with the cross embedded”. When Mass ended, the father went into a small room and asked for pen and paper. After a few minutes, -tells one of the women who was in that Mass of our father- he came back into the foyer, clearly excited: “Look -he told us pointing at a card in which he had drawn a circumference and a cross of special proportions inside- This will be the seal of the Work. Seal, not coat of arms: Opus Dei doesn’t have coats of arms. It means the world, and encrusted inside the world, the Cross”.
Then, St. Josemaría once said: “When Mass finished, I took a piece of paper and made a drawing that I gave the next day to don Alvaro. I entrusted Pedro Casciaro to make a final drawing, but I didn’t like what he did: it wasn’t that. Then don Ricardo Fernández Vallespín, and we agreed that the long arm of the cross had a fifth on the superior part and four fifths in the lower part. That was the external manifestation that the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross had come, of which I had no idea”.
The next day, February 15th, st. Josemaría went to see bl. Alvaro to El Escorial, where he was with don Jose María and don José Luis studying for the theology exams, he told him all that had happened and said: “After this light from God I will prepare all papers. The bishop of Madrid will make the recommendation, and straight after you will go to Rome to present it to the Roman Curia, doesn’t matter who you talk to”. At the end of May 1943 bl. Alvaro was in Rome to request the nihil obstat from the Holy See for the establishment of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which was granted on October 11th, 1943. The canonical establishment of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross took place on December 8th, 1943 by don Leopoldo Eijo y Garay, Bishop of Madrid. On June 25th, 1944, don Leopoldo himself would ordain the first three priests of Opus Dei.
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