Isidoro was one of the first members of Opus Dei. He met St. Josemaria when they were schoolmates in Logroño, the town where St. Josemaria’s family had to move to due to their financial problems in Barbastro. Years after, when he was already an Engineer, St. Josemaria (who had been praying for him for a long while now) ran into him in a street in Madrid - the encounter was even more strange as both of them had taken a different way than their usual to their destination. St. Josemaria spoke to him about the Work, and Isidoro did not delay his answer to that vocation to Opus Dei.
At the time of his death, Isidoro was 41 years old. During the last months of his illness he had continuous help from those living with him, taking turns. He had spoken with st. Josemaria many times about his hospitalization. The last time he spoke with him, on June 14th, he asked him if he was in peace [with God]. “Yes father, I’m very happy, I really am. This will be over soon and I’m going to our heavenly Home. There I will be remembering the Work a lot”. St. Josemaria told him: “Son, I’ve asked Our Lord to give me a death like yours”. The day he died, the whole morning he had someone -from the other members of the Work- with him. For some unforeseen reason - there was a misunderstanding in the roster - towards 5pm he was momentarily alone in the room. As soon as they notified that he was about to die, st. Josemaria left immediately to the hospital with other members of the Work but when they arrived, Isidoro had already passed away. St. Josemaria remained for a long while next to the bed, unable to hide his sadness. St. Josemaria celebrated Mass on the 16th. Isidoro was buried in the Almudena cemetery, next to St. Josemaria’s parents. St. Josemaria got the tombstone to be engraved “Vita mutatur, non tollitur”. His process of beatification was opened on October 11th, 1948, in presence of bishop don Leopoldo Eijo y Garay and st. Josemaria. The information process was closed on the 19th of April 1961 and in 1994 the collection of new documentation was completed.
To read a brief biography, go to: http://www.opusdei.org/en-us/article/biography-of-isidoro-zorzano/
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