November 28th, 1937: Mass at the Ribalera Gorge

The Ribalera gorge is located in the Rialp forrest, where Saint Josemaria and companions found themselves during their crossing of the Pyrenees due to the violent religious persecution. They were on their way to Andorra to re-enter Spain via the free zone.

The expedition had just arrived at the gorge, after walking all night. Without waiting any longer, St. Josemaria chose within that place, protected from the wind, the stones that would suit best for a makeshift altar. He was worried there could be irreverent comments or behaviours because throughout the night he heard some blasphemies (the group was constituted by the guides and other men who were not his companions but also wanting to escape). He announced that he was a priest and that he would celebrate the Mass, and that anyone who wanted was welcome to attend.

There were more than twenty men in the group, and they hadn't been to Mass since July 1936. There was a great expectation. One of the attendees, Antonio Dalmases, a university student who was crossing with another group and that had joined the expedition where St. Josemaria was wrote in his diary: "Today I've been to Mass and it has been with an indescribable exitement. I don't know if this is because of the circumstances (of escaping the Spanish communist zone) or because the priest is a saint".

This picture is from a recent camp with boys from England and Scotland. Mass is being celebrated at the site.

One of his companions was Pedro Casciaro, who tells here what he remembers of the Mass celebrated by Saint Josemaría on 28 November 1937, after an interminable march:

We came to a deep ravine in the Ribalera gorge, at the bottom of a mountain of reddish-coloured rocks. There, before we rested, the Father said he wanted to celebrate Mass. The place chosen was not in the hollows itself, but nearby, in the open, a little below a small waterfall formed by water seeping through the rocks.

During the previous night’s march we had heard some blasphemies as there were all kinds of people in the group. In addition to twenty or so Catalan men there were also some professional smugglers. Even so the Father wanted everyone to know he was a priest, and he got ready to say Mass. The group was still not all that large, but at least twenty people attended who would surely not have heard Mass since the beginning of the war. Everyone behaved very respectfully.

I will never forget that Mass. There was no rock high enough to serve as an altar. But there was a lower one which was flat enough. So the Father had to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice kneeling the whole time. In spite of fatigue and the untoward circumstances, he celebrated Mass with such fervour that we were suffused with his piety and devotion. Two of us had to kneel down as well, on either side of him, to hold down the corporal so that no hosts would blow away. Our guide, half-hidden among the trees, observed it all from a respectful distance.

I especially noticed one particular Catalan lad who heard the Mass with real devotion. He looked like a university student. His name was Antonio Dalmasses, and later we became friends. He wrote in his diary: “A priest who is with us celebrated Mass on a rock kneeling, almost lying, on the ground. He did not say it as priests do in churches. His clear, devout way of saying it went right to the heart. I have never heard Mass said as it was today. I am not sure if it was because of the circumstances or because the priest is a saint.

“Holy Communion was particularly moving. It was difficult to distribute because we could hardly move, even though we were all grouped round the altar. We were all dressed in tatters, exhausted, dishevelled, and with several days’ growth of beard. One person had ripped his trousers and the whole length of his leg was exposed. Our hands were bloodstained from scratches. Our eyes were tearful. But more than anything else, God was there with us.”

Pedro Casciaro, Dream and Your Dreams Will Fall Short, Scepter, 1997, pp. 165-7.

cf: http://josemariaescriva.info/article/i-shall-never-forget-that-mass

November 27th, 1982: Apostolic Constitution "Ut Sit"

27/11/82: Saturday. On this date, it was made public the announcement to raise Opus Dei as a Personal Prelature, through the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit. 

All Opus Dei centres around the world opened an envelope simultaneously, at 12:00am Rome time. In it there was a note from blessed Alvaro (then Prelate) communicating the news. Just like St. Josemaria did when he received the first approval from the bishop of Madrid, don Alvaro also gathered everyone in the house and prayed the Preces together, repeating three times "Oremus pro beatissimo Papa nostro Ioanne Paulo...". There was a triduum with solemn Mass, Benediction and Te Deum in every centre. Don Alvaro also asked that for the remaining of 1982 and all 1983, everyone should offer the Mass, Communion, Rosary, work and mortification as thanksgiving. Also that every member of the Work should do 3 pilgrimages to a Marian shrine: the first one when receiving the news, another one during bl. Alvaro's stay in Mexico, the third one at another time chosen by each. He also asked for everyone to write a letter or telegram to Bl. John Paul II thanking him.

November 27th, 1924: Death of José Escrivá y Corzán

St. Josemaria's father, don José Escrivá y Corzán, passed away on this date. After breakfast, he was playing with his youngest son Santiago, then 6. Don Jose knelt for a while before an image of our Lady. When he reached the door to go out, he fainted. Two hours later, having received the last rites, he passed away. Manuel Ceniceros, an employee working at the Escriva's house, sent a telegram to St. Josemaria, and went to the train station to pick him up (St. Josemaria was in the Zaragoza seminary, he would be ordained the following March). Manuel told him straight away, and said of the founder: "He took it with such a serenity, that it made an impression on me which is very difficult to explain". St. Josemaria had to borrow money for the funeral to don Daniel Alfaro. Years later, he would recount: "I remember him, never with a hard face; always serene, with a happy face. And he died tired: with only 57 years, but always smiling. I owe my vocation to him".

November 23, 1935: Don Pedro Casciaro joins Opus Dei

Don Pedro Casciaro was introduced to St. Josemaria in January 1935 by a friend, at the Residence at Ferraz street 50. They had a length conversation. Don Pedro was very impressed with the founder, and asked him if he could be his 'spiritual director', although, in his words: "back then, I didn't really have a clear idea of what those two words meant together". 

A few months later, in September, a friend of his (Miguel Fisac) told him that he was considering the possibility of joining the Work. Don Pedro started thinking of it, but the father told him to wait and to focus on his studies. A couple of months later, during an evening of recollection, he writes: "during the first meditation I saw clearly I couldn't do as the rich young man of the Gospel" and by the end of the recollection he told St. Josemaria he wanted to join the Work. The founder told him to wait, and to strengthen his interior life. 

He wrote: "How much did I have to wait? First, the father said a month. I thought it was too much. I asked him to shorten the time: 4, 3, 2 weeks... it was a real tug of war. I insisted so much that I got him to grant me a shorter time: nine days. But nine days seemed like an eternity. Could it be shortened?" St. Josemaria finally agreed and told him: "make a triduum (three days of prayer and meditation for that special intention), pray to the Holy Spirit and do everything freely, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there must be freedom". He started the triduum on the 18th. When he finished, he was completely decided. 

Father Casciaro -"Don Pedro", as he was called- was born in Murcia on 16/4/1915. When he joined the work, he was studying architecture. He was in the group that crossed the Pyrenees with St. Josemaria during the Spanish Civil war.

St. Josemaria, standing, centre. 4th from the left, don Pedro Casciaro.
The group that crossed the Pyrenees on their arrival in Andorra

Don Pedro had doctorates in Mathematics and in Canon Law. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. He started the apostolic work in Mexico In January 1949. Afterwards, he worked as delegate of Opus Dei for the Holy See from Oct. 1958 to May 1966, and as member of the governing council of Opus Dei in Italy.

In the early 70's he returned to Mexico, and died in Mexico city on March 23rd, 1995. The next day his remains were taken to the Church of Santa Veracruz (Mexico). There were uninterrupted Masses offered as suffrage for his soul, and the Church was overflowing with people from all of Mexico and all social classes, reflecting the broad spectrum of the apostolic work of Opus Dei in Mexico. Always and until then, he kept with him the rosary beads and the crucifix that St. Josemaria gave him when he joined Opus Dei.

Among his writings, perhaps the most widely known is the book "Dream and your dreams will fall short"

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November 22nd, 1937: Rose of rialp

St. JoséMaria  gets up in the morning, with the intention of celebrating the Mass. Actually he hadn't slept. He spent the night crying and asking our lady for a sign regarding the decision he had to make. He left the room and goes to the nearby Church, which has been sacked. While praying, he sees a gilded wooden rose, probably detached from an old altar. He finds it intact. All his doubts go away and a great peace invades him. He returns radiant to join the group and celebrates the Mass. That same day Manolo and Tomas joined them.

November 19th, 1937: Beginning of the crossing of the Pyrenees

On this day, St. Josemaria started the crossing of the Pyrenees, needing to escape the persecution in Spain during the civil war. With him go Juan Jiménez Vargas, Pedro Casciaro, Francisco Botella, Miguel Fisac y José María Albareda. Later Manolo y Tomás Alvira join them. St. Josemaria was hiding in the woods of Rialp from the 22 to the 27 of November. There is where he organised what he called "our house of San Rafael" which was really a straw hut where the founder and those crossing with him were living. This "house" was presided by an image of our Lady of the Pillar -- a sheet of a leaflet from Zaragoza --which is still in Rome.

This picture is from a recent camp with boys from England and Scotland. Mass is being celebrated at the site of the "San Rafael house".

A diagram of the elevation during the journey:

And a map of the whole path:

Read more about the boys' camp mentioned above:

http://www.pallerols-andorra.org/noticia.asp?idioma=en&ART_ID=460

November 5th, 1932: Death of Luis Gordon

St. Josemaria used to tell, regarding the visits to the hospital: "among those who came with me, was one of your brothers who was the first one to die, before the Spanish war. He was an engineer, and belonged to a well-known family in Madrid. Once he had to clean a urinal that had been used as spittoon. I saw he was struggling terribly, but he went to a small room in the hospital where there was a sink. I followed him thinking he could faint, and found him with his face radiant with joy. Instead of using the brushes, he would use his hand to clean it. I let him do it. Later I used this event as a point in <The Way>. He recounted to me what he said: "Jesus, keep me smiling" (The Way, 626).

For a very interesting biography of Luis Gordon, visit: 

http://www.precursorsoffrancis.com/2015/02/beer-and-holiness.html