21/06/1946: Stormy night in the J.J. Sister

21/06/1946: Stormy night on the boat J.J. Sister (st  Josemaría was travelling with don Jose Orlandis) during the trip from Barcelona to Genoa. The doctor in Madrid had advised against the trip, and told st Josemaría he was not accountable for his life if he went ahead. St Josemaría  had written to don Alvaro: There is nothing funny about this trip you talk of as 'convenient': I’ve never been in worse physical condition... However, decided not to go against God’s will (...) I’ll go like a truss”.

The storm, strange itself at that time of the year, lasted for almost 20 hours. All the dinerware and glassware in the dining room was broken. One could hear the furniture moving from side to side of the rooms. Practically all passengers and crew ended up seasick. In the midst of it, st Josemaría commented to don Jose: “You know what? If we sink and get eaten by the fish... Perico (Pedro) Casciaro shall not eat seafood ever again! Soon after he commented: “Got to see how deep has the devil sunk it’s tail in the gulf of Lyon! It’s clear he’s not happy about us arriving in Rome!”. St Josemaría arrived in Genoa the night of the 22nd of June. Don Alvaro and don Salvador Canals were there waiting for him. St Josemaría when greeting don Alvaro, said to him: “Here you got me you crook!... You ended up getting your way!”. That night they slept in a hotel in Genoa, but it was so late that the diner was closed. St Josemaría hadn’t eaten anything for more than 30 hours. Don Alvaro could only offer him a piece of cheese that he had kept in his pocket thinking of St Josemaría, anticipating he might have not been able to eat during the trip. The next day they left to Rome.

June 20th, 1957: Death of "Aunt" Carmen

St. Josemaria's sister, Carmen, never joined the Work - however, she always played vital roles in making the home environment so characteristic of centres of the Work, and transmitting that to those in the administration. She was (and still is) affectionately addressed as "aunt Carmen" by those in the Work. She died on this date, in Rome. Two months before her death (23rd of April), as per St. Josemaria’s request, blessed Alvaro communicated to her the doctors’ opinion about her incurable illness. As always, with good humour she would joke then about it: “Alvaro has brought to me the judge's sentence...”

St. Josemaria commented: “Two months ago, she received the news that she was going to die, like a holy person of Opus Dei; so said it to me Alvaro, who communicated it to my sister”. He would continue: “Just hours before her death, I was there on my knees, asking for her healing. We have prayed together a lot. Tuesday morning I started to give her the last rites, and broke in tears. So don Alvaro continued the administration of the Sacrament. I felt humiliated; thought: What a bad example I’ve given to this group of my sons. In turn I told her: “Carmen, your remains will be next to mine... and she was happy, very happy”. When her remains were moved to the Crypt of Saint Mary of the Peace  our father commented: “While they place the remains of my sister, I want to tell you a few words. She has taught us how one lives and how one dies in Opus Dei: without making any noise, disappearing, without anybody noticing except us, who were very near (...). She didn’t fear life, nor did she fear death at all: that’s the spirit of Opus Dei (...) She has died offering all her sufferings for the Work, for her nieces and nephews”.

Portrait of St. Josemaria with his sister Carmen and brother Santiago

In another get-together  (21-11-1959) he said: “Before dying, I told her that we would bury her here in the sottocripta. And she thought of saying: “Hey, if Santiago attends, he shall be careful [he should wear a jacket], because it’s very cold”. Next to her, with me, were don Alvaro, don Javier and Dr. Pastor, who was checking her pulse. There were also women numeraries and assistant numeraries. She well deserved that company. I cried like a child, hiding, before the Tabernacle, until she died, because I saw that we were ending another historical period of time, because I loved my sister very much...”. St. Josemaria continued: “Immediately after her death, I went down to the chapel, to celebrate the first Mass in offering for her soul... Pray for her, offer prayers, but I’m sure she’s with God already; ma propio certo: Completely certain.” Soon after the 26-6-1975, don Alvaro found an envelope handwritten (by St. Josemaria) which read “to be opened after my death”. Don Alvaro told that in that envelope there was a letter in which our father recounted what happened in that Mass. Don Alvaro explained it so: “Before starting Holy Mass, he had the idea of asking for a sign that Carmen was in heaven, but immediately rejected it. He thought: that is to tempt God, I can’t ask that. And he started the Mass. When the memento vivi came he had been praying at length, but didn’t remember Carmen at all. He realized it when he was finished: I haven’t prayed for Carmen, I’ll do it in the memento for the dead. And when that time came, he prayed for a long while also, but again forgot aunt Carmen. He continued celebrating the holy Mass and during thanksgiving, he thought: that is God’s response. I had the temptation to ask for a sign that my sister was in heaven, then I retracted my self and asked for pardon, and our good Lord has given it to me. Because it’s not logical that I celebrate the Mass for the soul of my sister and to forget completely about her. This means that she doesn’t need suffrages. And he felt inside of him that ineffable sensation of God’s hand, touching the innermost of his soul: yes, Carmen is in heaven”. The next day, in a get-together with the students of the Roman College, without making any mention related to the previous day’s Mass, he commented: “I have come for you to see that the father is “ha-ppy”, “joy-ful”, like that, marking each syllable, with the joy of the Holy Spirit... yes my sons, you have to congratulate me. Carmen is already in heaven...”. On the 23rd her remains were buried in the Sotto Cripta of Saint Mary of the Peace in Villa Tevere.

June 16th, 1950: Decree of approval "Primus Inter"

16/6/1950: Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Holy See granted the definitive approval to Opus Dei as a Secular Institute of Pontifical Right. St. Josemaria requested all centres of the Work - by then more than a hundred already - to have Solemn Benediction and the Te Deum sung. St. Josemaria gave the benediction at Villa delle Rose, a centre for women. One of those present wrote: "Today, just like on that 2nd day of February 1947 when at Citta Leonina we heard the news of Provida Mater Ecclesia, the father was very happy, but tired: as if every step of the Work into the Church was leaving in him a footprint, a scar... When he took the Monstrance to give the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament, his hands were shaking. He was not nervous - everything in his face denoted serenity. He was excited. In fact, while singing the Te Deum, his voice was less clear, not as strong as other times. It seemed as if his throat was going to break..."

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 she 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. I want to take this picture and hang it in the father's room'. Soon after, we heard the voices of don Alvaro and don Pedro, 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".

June 15th, 1946: The move to Città Leonina

Blessed Alvaro, Don Jose Orlandis and don Salvador Canals were the first three members of the Work who went to Rome. On May 27th, 1946, the landlord at the house at Corso del Rinascimento asked them to leave immediately. They moved to Città Leonina on this date. The change was certainly for the good.

Many months later, when St. Josemaria arrived in Rome, as he would say - "videre Petrum" (to see [St.] Peter), he stayed with his sons at Città Leonina. from the window, (second from the top in the photo below) he could see the window of the Pope's room (see above the location in relation to St. Peter's) and that night, he stayed up in prayer for the Holy father looking at the lit room through his small window.

June 14th: don Javier's birthday (the current prelate of Opus Dei)

Msgr. Echevarria was born on June 14th, 1932.

As a child, he lived with his family in a building where there was an Opus Dei centre. Without knowing it, he quite likely would have crossed paths with St. Josemaria.

In 1948, he was on his way to the cinema. A friend of his called him on the phone, and proposed to go "to a residence in Diego de Leon, to find out about what Opus Dei is". 

He joined Opus dei on September 8th, 1948 - he was 16 years old.

He was ordained in 1954, and in 1955 St. Josemaria asked him to be one of his "custodians" (custodes) together with blessed Alvaro - that is, they would be with him at all times. He was only 24 years old. 

After St. Josemaria's death, he and don Joaquin Alonso became don Alvaro's custodes. From 1994, he was don Alvaro's successor as prelate of Opus Dei.

June 14th, 1924: st Josemaría receives the subdiaconate