June 16th, 1970: St. Josemaria's wish to die staring at our Lady of Guadalupe

St. Josemaria was in Jaltepec, Mexico, with a group of priests from the Guadalajara diocese. It had been a hot day. Later on, don Alvaro would recall: "After that get-together, which went for more than one hour, the father was exhausted. He finished only because we told him to, but because those priests were asking about Second Vatican Council matters, the father told me to stay with them, while he left to rest a bit".

Dr. Pacheco continues: "That was when our father grabbed my arm and said 'Come with me'. He went up the stairs leaning on my arm; behind us was don Javier. When we reached the room where he was staying, he indicated to me 'Come in, sit down over here' and pointed at an armchair. In the meantime, he had removed his cassock. He said jokingly that his thermostat was broken. He leaned back on the bed so that he could see the image of our Lady that was in that room, very well lit by the light coming from the opposing window. For a while he was silent, staring at it. The silence went on, he was clearly praying. Suddenly, as if concluding what he'd been thinking, he said "I'd like to die like this: looking at the most Holy Virgin and her giving me a flower... - And after another silence, making a wish he added: - Yes, I'd like to die before this picture, with our Lady giving me a rose. This picture I will take and I will hang it in the father's room". Soon after, the voices of don Alvaro and don Pedro were heard, as they were walking up the stairs, having finished the get-together with priests".

In 1972, the picture was sent to st. Josemaria, after a lot of red tape as it had been loaned to Jaltepec and the owners were not very keen on letting it go that easily. Before sending it to Rome, the vicar took it to the Basilica of Guadalupe to get it touched by the image of our Lady of Guadalupe as he knew this would make st. Josemaria very happy.

Not that long after the 26th of June 1975, don Alvaro commented: "The father had returned from Castelgandolfo, from a get-together with some daughters of his; he walked into his room, looked at the image of our Lady of Guadalupe (the one that had been sent from Mexico and hung in his room) and it seems that Our Lady of Heaven, Mother of God and Mother of ours, told him: 'you've worked enough'; then gave him a rose, which was a kiss in the forehead, and took him to heaven".