Marian Studies

Volume 54 The Marian Dimension of Christian Article 13

Spirituality, III. The 19th and 20th Centuries

2003

The Marian Spirituality of "Opus Dei"

Thomas Buffer

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 THE MARIAN SPIRITUALITY OF OPUS DEI

Thomas Buffer, S.T.D. *

The date commonly given for the founding of Opus Dei is

October 2, 1928. On that day, while praying in a Vincentian
residence in the northern outskirts of Madrid, the twenty-six
year old Father ]osemaria Escriva had an inspiration that would
lead to the establishment of what is now called Opus Dei.
When Escriva died on June 26, 1975, there were over sixty
thousand members of Opus Dei on five continents. At his be-
atification on May 17, 1992, over one hundred and fifty thou-
sand persons filled St. Peter's square for the ceremony, and
approximately 300,000 attended ten years later, his canoniza-
tion on October 6, 2002. Today, Opus Dei numbers some
80,000 members worldwide, including both celibate and mar-
ried laity as well as priests.
In little more than half a century, the young priest's vision
has become a reality for thousands of dedicated laity and clergy
throughout the world. Along the way, he and the members of
Opus Dei have both endured much suspicion and enjoyed
much success. The rapid growth, prestige, and influence of
Opus Dei would alone render it worthy of consideration. If we
move beyond these externals, we will find that the Work, as it
is sometimes called, also has a distinctive spiritual teaching and
discipline, closely tied to the person and teaching of its
founder. This article considers both the external and internal
manifestations of Marian doctrine and devotion in Opus Dei.
We also wish to ask what is new about the Marian practices
of Opus Dei. In reading materials published by Opus Dei
sources about the Work, I have been struck by the emphasis

*Fr. Thomas Buffer is a member of the faculty of the Pontifical College}osephinurn

0625 N. High St. I Columbus, OH 43235 I [email protected]).

uv (2003) MARIAN STUDIES 129-145

130 Marian Spirituality oj"Opus Dei"

on novelty. We are told that at the core of the organization is a

new idea: all Christians, including the laity, can and should
strive for sanctity in everyday life. 1 The claim is sometimes
made that Escriva anticipated the Second Vatican Council's
teaching on the universal call to holiness. Prescinding from the
question of the weight and validity of this claim, nevertheless
I was inspired by it to look for possible novelty within Opus
Dei's Marian practices. And, in fact, when I began to name and
list these practices, I noticed that many of them, while not new
in themselves, had been arranged in new ways, with special
emphases. Upon closer investigation, it turned out that many
of these emphases and arrangements within Opus Dei today
can be directly related, not only to the piety of its founder, but
also to events in his life, especially moments of crisis-either
personal crisis, or critical points in the establishment and
structuring of Opus Dei itself. We begin, then, by briefly re-
counting the life of the founder and the history of the found-
ing of the Work.

1. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975)

and the Founding of Opus Dei
The earliest and most apparent example of a Marian element
in Opus Dei, directly related to the life of the founder, was his
recovery from a serious infection when he was two years old.
The doctor who visited the sick infant told his mother that the
boy would not live through the night. 2 She entrusted him in
prayer to Our Lady ofTorreciudad-the title under which Mary
was venerated at what was at the time a small and obscure

I As an example of this stress on novelty, see John E Coverdale, Uncommon Faith:

The Early Thars of Opus Dei (1928-1943) (Princeton/New York: Scepter Press,
2002), 61-63, and passim.
21n the days before antibiotics, this was a very real threat. Consider also that three

of Escriva's sisters died in childhood (their names reflect the Marian piety of their par-
ents: Maria del Rosario, Maria de los Dolores, Maria Asuncion). Coverdale, Uncommon
Faith, 21: " ... in Escriva's young mind the series of deaths left a deep impression.
One day he told his mother that the next year it would be his turn to die. She tried to
calm his fears, reminding him of how our Lady had saved him from death as an infant
and of how she had taken him to the shrine of Torreciudad. She urged him not to
worry but to put his trust in the Blessed VIrgin's care."
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 131

Spanish shrine.3 After the child recovered, his mother took

him on horseback to the shrine to offer thanks. Years later, at
the prompting of Escriva, a very large shrine church and pil-
grim center was built at Torreciudad, which is now the prin-
cipal Marian shrine of Opus Dei.
Escriva's parents were devout Catholics. The rosary was re-
cited in their home, and on Saturdays they would go as a fam-
ily to a nearby Church for Marian devotions, during which the
Hail Holy Queen was prayed. This prayer was a favorite of Es-
criva throughout his life. 4 These Marian practices fostered by
the founder's family have been codified in the official spiritu-
ality of the "family" he founded. On Saturdays, Opus Dei mem-
bers are asked to perform some mortification and recite the
Salve Regina or Regina Coeli.s The priest who prepared young
]osemaria to make his First Holy Communion taught him an act
of spiritual communion that has also become part of the prayer
life of the Work: "I wish, Lord, to receive you with the purity,
humility, and devotion with which your Most Holy Mother re-
ceived you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints:•6 This
prayer, found in prayer books published by Opus Dei, is often
recited by members making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.7
In the course of his life, Escriva made numerous pilgrimages
to shrines of Our Lady. The first "Opus Dei pilgrimage" may be

3Torreciudad was the site of the final Christian counter-attack against the Moors in
the eleventh century. Around 1083, a little shrine was built there, housing a statue of
the Mother of God.
4Coverdale, Uncommon Faith, 18, 243, 255, 256.
S"Tenero amore et devotione Beatissimam Vrrginem Mariam, Domini Iesu Christi
Matrem et nostram, Praelaturae fideles colant. Quotidie quindecim mysteria marialis
Rosarii contemplentur, quinque saltern mysteria vocaliter recitantes, vel, iis in locis in
quibus pia haec praxis usualis non sit, aliam aequipoUentem marialem precationem
pro hac recitatione substituentes. Ipsam Deiparam, uti mos est, salutatione Angelus
Domini vel antiphona Regina coeli filiali devotione honorare ne omittant; et die sab-
bato mortificationem ali quam faciant, recitentque antiphonam Salve Regina vel Regina
coeli." Codex Juris Parttcularis Operis Det (hereafter CIP), par. 85. The complete
Latin text of the CIP is published in Pedro Rodriguez, et al., Opus Det tn the Church:
An Ecclestologtcal Study of the Life and Apostolate of Opus Det (Dublin: Four Courts
Press; Princeton: Scepter, 1994).
6
Fran~;ois Gondrand, At God's Pace (New RocheUe: Scepter Press, 1989), 27.
7Interview with Dr. Robert Tatz.
132 Marian Spirituality oj"Opus Dei"

said to be the trip he and two early members of the group took
in 1933 to the shrine of Our Lady of Sonsoles, near Avila. In
later years he often reflected on this trip, and decided that it
"would be a good way for members of Opus Dei to honor the
Blessed Virgin in the month of May and to help their friends be
more devoted to her." a On their way to the shrine, they passed
some wheat fields which reminded Escriva of the Lord's words:
"the fields are already white for the harvest."9 Consequently,
Opus Dei members are not only encouraged to make a Marian
pilgrimage every May, but also to invite others to accompany
them, with a view toward recruitment.
The Spanish Civil War began in July, 1936, following a long
period of political instability and cultural conflict. In 1937 Es-
criva was in Madrid, where persecution of the Church made it
impossible to conduct public religious ceremonies. Escriva and
seven others decided to cross over to Burgos, then in the Na-
tionalist zone, where they would be able to carry on Opus Dei's
apostolate. This required hiring a smuggler to guide them
through the Pyrenees into the principality of Andorra, from
where they could cross over into France and then down into
the Nationalist territory. During this harrowing journey oc-
curred the closest thing to a Marian miracle story to be found
in Opus Dei histories. Escriva and his companions were in an
abandoned rectory, adjacent to a village church that had been
sacked by the militia. Escriva spent the night in prayer, weep-
ing, torn between the desire to go where he could carry out
his ministry freely and his sense that he should return to
Madrid to share the fate of Opus Dei members and the relatives
he had left behind. In his history of Opus Dei's early years,
John E Coverdale recounts:
Amid extreme inner turmoil, he did something he had never done
before-request an extraordinary sign ... Moved by his devotion to the
Blessed Virgin, who is invoked as the Mystical Rose, he asked her to give
him a gilded rose if God wanted him to continue the attempt to cross over
to the other zone of Spain.JO

scoverdale, Uncommon Faith, 178.

9Escriva, Christ Is Passing By (Chicago: Scepter Press, 1974), 146.
JOCoverdale, Uncommon Faith, 245.
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 133

Early the next morning, Escriva went outside the house, and
when he came back he was holding a gilded wooden rose-a
fragment of the altarpiece of the ruined church. He took this
as a sign that they should continue their journey. According to
Coverdale (who knew and worked with Escriva), the founder
rarely referred to this event, in accord with his general ten-
dency to emphasize spiritual miracles over physical ones. 11
Nevertheless, even during his lifetime, the story was widely
known within Opus Dei. (fhe church where the gilded rose
was found was located in the Rialp forest; later Opus Dei mem-
bers established a publishing house which they named "Rialp,"
with the rose as its symbol. 12) The group resumed their trek,
praying to Our Lady and their guardian angels for protection.
Mter nearly two weeks, they arrived in Andorra and at once
prayed the Hail Holy Queen. About a week later they were able
to travel to Lourdes where Escriva celebrated Mass. 13
Escriva often counseled his followers to count on Mary's inter-
cession, especially in carrying out their apostolate. For example,
in November 1939, Manuel Albareda, one of the first members of
the Work, visited Zaragoza to recruit members there. His first act
on arriving there was to visit "the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
to place in Mary's hands Opus Dei's future apostolate in the city:' 14
Opus Dei's growth in membership necessitated some form
of canonical recognition. The 1917 Code of Canon Law contained
no category into which Escriva's vision would exactly fit, and
Opus Dei often met with opposition from some Church offi-
cials. Escriva relied on Our Lady's intercession as he labored to
obtain official approval for the expanding organization. Many
important dates in the history of the organization's "canonical
path" coincide with Marian feast days. 15 Initial papal approval

11Josemaria Escriva, The Way (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Scepter Publishers, 1985), 583:

"I'm not miracle-minded ... I can find more than enough miracles in the Holy Gospel
to confirm my faith."
12Luis Carandell, The Life and Miracles of Monsignor Escrlva de Balaguer,

Founder of Opus Del (Barcelona: editorial Iaia, 1975), 187-188.

t3Carandell, The Life and Miracles, 246-257.
t4Coverdale, Uncommon Faith, 328.
t5Gondrand, At God's Pace, 27. See also A. De Fuenmayor eta!., The Canonical
Path of Opus Del (Princeton: Scepter, 1995).
134 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

of the Work was dated October 11, 1943-at the time the feast
of the Divine Maternity of the Virgin Mary (now January 1).
The archbishop of Madrid applied the papal approbation on
the archdiocesan level on December 8 (Immaculate Concep-
tion) of the same year. 16 This action however was not the end
of questions revolving around the structure and canonical sta-
tus of Opus Dei. At various points in time, when these prob-
lems were proving especially difficult, Escriva made a pilgrimage
to a Marian shrine to ask for Mary's intercession. In 1950,
shortly after Opus Dei received definitive papal approval, a
plan was developed without the founder's knowledge to split
the Work into two parts. Escriva, deeply troubled, decided to
make what he called a "penitential pilgrimage" to Loreto for
the feast of the Assumption. On August 15 1951, he conse-
crated Opus Dei and all its members to Mary's Immaculate
Heart. When he left the shrine, he was filled with peace and
confidence. In the weeks to follow he would visit the shrines
of Our Lady of Pompeii (Naples), Lourdes, and Our Lady of the
Pillar (Zaragoza). At each shrine he renewed the consecration
to Mary and prayed Cor Mariae dulcissimum, iter para
tutum. 17 This aspiration has since found its way into Opus Dei
devotional manuals. Not long afterward, Pius XII intervened to
stop the plan to split the Work. IS
Two decades later, in April of 1970, Escriva again undertook
what he also called a "penitential pilgrimage." He went first to
Torreciudad and Fatima. At the first shrine, he walked barefoot
up the still unpaved road, praying the fifteen decades of the
Rosary. On reaching the chapel, he sang the Salve Regina. Simi-
larly, he walked barefoot at Fatima. In May of the same year he

16Gondrand,At God's Pace, 199.

"Gondrand, At God's Pace, 242.
'!~Background and further details of this crisis may be found at an Opus Dei web
site, www.josemariaescriva.info. There it is also noted, "From that time [i.e., the time
of the pilgrimage to Loreto] he often repeated, and encouraged others to repeat, the
aspiration Cor Marlae dulcisstmum, Iter para tutumr Escriva recalled the event in
a sermon for the first Sunday of Advent: "We stop in front of Mary, Joseph, and the
Child, looking at the Son of God who has taken on our flesh. I remember now I made
a visit-for a very special reason-to the Holy House of Loreto, Italy, on August 15,
1951. I said Mass there" (Christ Is Passing By, 12).
 Marian Spirituality of''Opus Dei" 135

journeyed to Guadalupe, where he made a novena. On the

fifth day, he prayed the following words, containing a refer-
ence to the custom of laying roses before the image of Our
Lady of Guadalupe:

Our Lady, I bring you-for I have nothing else-thorns, the ones I have in
my heart, but I am sure that with you they will turn to roses ... Grant
that we may have in ... our hearts, little roses blooming all the year
round; the roses of daily life, ordinary roses, but filled with the perfume
of sacrifice and love. I have said little roses ... for in my whole life I have
only been able to do ordinary, everyday things ... but I am sure that it is
in this, my everyday, ordinary behavior, that you and your Son are wait-
ing for me.t9

From that day on, Escriva exhibited greater confidence. In

thanksgiving, he promised to place an image of Our Lady of
Guadalupe in the crypt of the shrine church ofTorreciudad. Be-
fore leaving Mexico, he saw a picture showing Our Lady giving
a rose to Juan Diego, and said, "That's how I'd like to die, look-
ing at the Blessed Virgin, while she hands me a flower:' 20 Just
five years later, on June 26, 1975, he opened the door to his of-
fice in Rome, glanced at the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe
on the wall, and fell to the floor unconscious, stricken by a heart
attack. He died the same day, and was buried the next day in the
crypt of the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace in Rome. 21
These events in the life of the founder have deeply influ-
enced the spirituality of Opus Dei to the present (as will be
discussed later).

2. Mary in the Writings and Piety of St. Josemaria

Escriva
References to Our Lady in Escriva's writings are numerous. 22
Looking over this body of work, we can identify the following
Marian themes as especially frequent and important:

t9Gondrand, At God's Pace, 303.

20Gondrand, At God's Pace, 306.
21Cesare Cavalieri, Immersed tn God (Princeton: Scepter Press, 1996), 240.
22In fact, every chapter in }osemaria Escriva's Furrow and The Forge ends with a
reference to Mary. All of Escriva's published writings are available on the internet,
136 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

-"To jesus through Mary." The traditional saying (Ad jesum

per Mariam) is sometimes expanded: Omnes cum Petro ad
Iesum per Mariam. 23 In other words, devotion to Mary not
only brings one closer to Jesus, but also to his Mystical Body,
the Church: "Mary continually builds the Church and keeps it
together. It is difficult to have devotion to our Lady and not feel
closer to the other members of the Mystical Body and more
united to its visible head, the pope. That's why I like to repeat:
All with Peter to Jesus through Mary! "24
-Intercession. Escriva frequently recommends recourse to
Mary's intercession when asking God for anything. She is a
helping presence. "Before, by yourself, you couldn't. Now, you
have turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy it is! "25
-Mary's Example. She is an exemplar of purity, humility,
generosity, and fidelity. 26 She is also a teacher of prayer. 27 In
particular, she is an exemplar of the domestic role of women.
"Just think, for example, of the marriage at Cana. Our Lady .. .
was the only one who noticed the wine was running out .. .
It is natural for a woman, a housewife, to notice something was
lacking, to look after the little things which make life pleasant.
And that is how Mary acted."28 "We can't forget that Mary spent
nearly every day of her life just like millions of other women
who look after their family, bring up their children and take
care of the house."29

complete with a search engine, greatly facilitating research and analysis:

http://www.escrivaworks.org.
23Escriv:i, The Way, 497, 833; also his Christ Is Passing By, 139, 144. Tilis saying
also forms part of the Codex Juris Parttcularis of Opus Dei: "Haec semper Praelatu-
rae christifideles in apostolatu meminerint: (1) zelus quo adurimur hoc unum quaerit,
nempe ut omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam quasi manu ducamus[.]" (par. 111).
A closely related idea is, "If you look for Mary, you will necessarily find}esus" (Escriv:i,
Forge, 661). See also Christ Is Passing By, 11; The Way, 495.
24Escriv:i, Christ Is Passing By, 139.
25Escriv:i, The Way, 513; also 504, 514, 711. See also his Christ Is Passing By, 37,
140, 142; Friends of God, 155, 189; Furrow, 180, 555; Holy Rosary, Author's Note.
26Escriv:i, Christ Is Passing By, 172.
27Escriv:i, The Way, 502.
2BEscriv:i, Christ Is Passing By, 141.
29Escriv:i, Christ Is Passing By, 148.
 Marian Spirituality oj''Opus Dei" 137

-The Scapular of Carmel. "Wear on your breast the holy

scapular of Carmel. There are many excellent Marian devo-
tions, but few are so deep-rooted among the faithful, and have
received so many blessings from the popes. Besides, how ma-
ternal this sabbatine privilege is! "30
-Spiritual Family. Escriva's favorite image to describe
Opus Dei was "family." His own mother and sister looked after
the cooking and housekeeping in one of the flrst of Opus Dei's
residences, and "the young members of the Work, who re-
ferred to Escriva as 'Father,' soon began to call them 'Grand-
mother' and 'Aunt Carmen: "3 1 Escriva used the image of family
with reference to Mary as a way to promote unity within the
Church: "Seeing how so many Christians express their affec-
tion for the Virgin Mary, surely you also feel more a part of the
Church, closer to those brothers and sisters of yours. It is like
a family reunion. Grown-up children, whom life has separated,
come back to their mother for some family anniversary. And
even if they have not always got on well together, today things
are different; they feel united, sharing the same affection."3 2
-Spiritual Childhood. Escriva encouraged his readers to
consider Mary their mother in a very personal way, even to call
her "my Mother: "33 " [C] all on your holy Mother Mary, with the
faith and abandonment of a child."3 4 "Don't forget, my friend,
that we are children."35
-Mary's beauty. Mary is God's masterpiece: "How would
we have acted, if we could have chosen our own mother? I'm
sure we would have chosen the one we have, adorning her
with every possible grace. That is what Christ did."36 In addi-
tion to this appeal to the argument from fittingness, Escriva
appealed to Christian experience: "When you were asked

30Escriva, The Way, 500. See also his Christ Is Passing By, 142.
3ICoverdale, Uncommon Faith, 125.
32Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 139.
33Escriva, The Way, 497.
34Escriva, The Way, 498.
35Escriva, Holy Rosary, 1.
36Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 171. In the same passage Escriva quotes St. John
Damascene to support this line of thought.
138 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

which picture of our Lady aroused your devotion most, and

you answered ... 'all of them,' I realized that you were a good
son: that is why you are equally moved-'they make me fall in
love,' you said-by all the pictures of your Mother."37 Mary's
beauty is a reason for giving thanks to God.38 Escriva recom-
mended glancing at an image of Mary or her Son as a reminder
of God's presence.39
Escriva had specific ideas, related both to Christology and
to the role of women, of the way Mary should be depicted.

His love for the Blessed Vrrgin Mary impelled him to keep a close eye on
everything connected with devotion to her. For example, whenever he
commissioned a painting or a statue of our Lady with the baby Jesus ...
he recommended that the artist try, as much as possible, to make Jesus
look like his mother. Christ must, after all, have looked a lot like Mary,
since his conception in her womb did not involve a man .... Our founder
suggested placing in certain areas of our centers-laundry rooms and
kitchens, for example-pictures that show our Lady doing washing, cook-
ing, or feeding the child Jesus. In this way, those of his daughters whose
chosen field of service is domestic administration can have a constant
reminder of this ideal: that in all that they do to tend to the needs of the
household, they should strive to imitate the Blessed Vrrgin Mary.4o

Truly Exceptional. -Mary has been exalted beyond any

other creature; Escriva typically expresses this by the formula:
"Greater than she (or: you) no one but God."41
Model of Chastity.-Escriva exhorted his followers to ap-
peal to Mary when tempted to sin against chastity, and this ad-

37Escriva, The Way, 501. See also his Christ Is Passing By, 178, and Forge, 491.
38Escriva, The Way, 268. Escriva's "visual sense" or Marian devotion may also be at
work in his remembering the story of the name of the shrine of Our Lady of Sonsoles:
"The statue [of Mary at the shrine] had been hidden during the wars between Chris-
tians and Moslems in Spain, and after a number of years it was found by shepherds.
According to the story, when they saw it they exclaimed, 'What beautiful eyes; they
are suns!' [Spanish: son soles]." Christ Is Passing By, 139.
39Escriva, The Way, 272; also his Christ Is Passing By, 142, and Forge, 73.
4oCavalleri, Immersed in God, 139.
41Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 17, 171-172. See also his Friends of God, 276; The
Way, 495-496; In Love with the Church, 39.
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 139

monition is found in Opus Dei's Codex Juris Particularis, 42

which he drafted. 43
St.joseph. -While Escriva's given name was Jose Maria, and
his name was printed this way in early editions of The Way and
Holy Rosary, he later took to signing his name as Josemaria, so
as not to separate Joseph from Mary. 44 We cannot adequately
present here his interesting teaching on St. Joseph; suffice it to
note that Joseph is closely associated with Mary. "I don't agree
with the traditional picture of St. Joseph as an old man, even
though it may have been prompted by a desire to emphasize
the perpetual virginity of Mary. I see him as a strong young
man, perhaps a few years older than our Lady, but in the prime
of his life ... Joseph had a young heart and a young body
when he married Mary, when he learned of the mystery of her
divine motherhood, when he lived in her company, respecting
[her virginal] integrity ... Anyone who cannot understand a
love like that knows very little of true love and is a complete
stranger to the Christian meaning of chastity ... Joseph could
make his own the words of Mary, his wife: 'he who is mighty,
he whose name is holy, has wrought for me his wonders."' 45
His writings provide insight into the special characteristics
of his own devotion to the Mother of God. According to Bishop
Alvaro del Portillo, his immediate successor as the Prelate of
Opus Dei, Escriv:i's Marian devotion was subordinate to his
devotion to the Trinity and to Christ. 46 He also remembered
that the founder was in the habit of making many aspirations
throughout the day, and advising others to do so. Many of these
aspirations have Marian content. In these aspirations we can
easily recognize some of the same leading themes found in

42"Ament Praelaturae fideles et diligentissime custodiant castitatem, quae homines

Christo eiusque castissimae Matri reddit gratissimos, pro certo habentes operam apos-
tolatus castitate suffultam esse debere. Ad praesidium huius thesauri, qui vasis fertur
fictilibus, summopere conferunt fuga occasionum, modestia, temperantia, corporis
castigatio, SS. Eucharistiae frequens receptio, ad Vrrginem Mattern adsiduus ac filialis
recursus" (CIP, par. 84, nos. 1-2). See also Escriva's The Way, 511.
43Cavalleri, Immersed in God, 239.
44Carandell, The Life and Miracles, 68-69; Cavalieri, Immersed in God, 140.
45Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 139.
46Cavalleri, Immersed in God, 123.
140 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

Escriva's writings, such as the emphasis on Mary's intercession

and spiritual motherhood. 47
3. Mary in the Life and Spirituality of Opus Dei Today
The Marian shrine of Torreciudad can be seen as an archi-
tectural expression of the place of Mary in the spiritual teach-
ing and discipline of Opus Dei. As we have seen, the Marian
practices of Opus Dei members have for the most part been
harvested from the Church's rich store of traditional prayers
and devotions. The event of the Second Vatican Council and
consequent upheavals in Catholic life did not fundamentally
change the content or direction of Opus Dei's Marian prac-
tices. Like many Church leaders, however, the founder of Opus
Dei was concerned about the general decline in Marian devo-
tion after the Council. He hoped that the new shrine at Tor-
reciudad would show that devotion to the Mother of God was
not a thing of the past. 48
There are many other Marian devotions ... [but] (a) Christian doesn't
need to live them all. (Growing in supernatural life is not a matter of pil-

47Examples of these aspirations, as given in Cavalleri, Immersed in God, 133-137:

Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation! Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne et misericors
Deus: Beata Maria intercedente, gratias tibi ago pro universis beneficiis tuis, etiam ig-
notis. Domina, ut videam! (a paraphrase of the plea addressed to Jesus in the Gospel,
"Domine, ut videam!" [Mt 10:51]). Domina, ut sit! Glory to holy Mary, and also to St.
Joseph! Monstra te esse matrem! Mother, my Mother! Sancta Maria, refugium nostrum
et virtus! Holy Mary, hold back the day! (Alvaro del Portillo explains both the histori-
cal background of this prayer and the meaning Escriva gave it: "According to tradition,
during the siege of Seville led by King St. Ferdinand m, some Christian knights invoked
the Blessed Mother with this prayer, asking her to help them achieve victory over the
Muslims. The sun then slowed down its progress, and they were able to defeat the
enemy. Our founder advised us to use this aspiration to ask for help in finishing our
daily work with order and tenacity" Cavalieri, 134.) Sancta Maria, filios tuos adiuva; fil-
ias tuas adiuva. Sancta Maria, spes nostra, sedes sapientiae, ora pro nobis. Sancta Maria,
spes nostra, ancilla Domini, filias tuas adiuva. Sancta Maria, regina Operis Dei, filios
tuos adiuva. Sancta Maria, stella orientis, filios tuos adiuva. Dominus tecum. Hail, Mary
most pure, conceived without sin. The entire antiphon, "Sub tuum praesidium ..." or
simply the words "Nostras deprecationes ne despicias." Blessed be the Mother who
brought you into the world. Cor Mariae perdolentis, miserere nobis; miserere mei.
Beata Mater et intacta Vrrgo, intercede pro nobis.
4SW. J. West, Opus Dei: Exploding a Myth (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Little
Hills Press, 1987), 89.
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 141

ing one devotion on top of another.) I would say, however, that anyone
who doesn't live some of them, who doesn't express his love for Mary in
some way, does not possess the fullness of the faith.
Those who think that devotions to our Lady are a thing of the past
seem to have lost sight of the deep Christian meaning they contain. They
seem to have forgotten the source from which they spring: faith in God
the Father's saving will; love for God the Son who really became man and
was born of a woman; trust in God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us with
his grace. It is God who has given us Mary, and we have no right to re-
jecther.49

While in other places Escriva appeals to a personal experi-

ence of filial devotion to Mary, here he justifies Marian devo-
tion in theological terms, appealing to Mary's role in salvation
history.
The founder took pains to distinguish Torreciudad from
other Marian sanctuaries. He said, half-jokingly, that the move-
ment's new shrine would have only ordinary drinking foun-
tains dispensing ordinary water. so Instead of miraculous physical
cures, he wanted an emphasis on spiritual renewal and con-
version: "The founder had prayed explicitly for spiritual mira-
cles ... to take place at Torreciudad. In 1968 he had said, 'We
shall not ask Our Lady of Torreciudad for external miracles. In-
stead, we shall ask her for many interior miracles: changes of
heart; conversions."'5 1 In line with this emphasis, the crypt at
Torreciudad houses forty chapels, each with a confessional,
and every one of these chapels is dedicated to Our Lady under
a different title, 52 including Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady
of Loreto, and Our Lady of the Pillar (we have already noted
the Founder's pilgrimages to these shrines).
Escriva's insistence on quality in sacred art meant that there
were to be no stalls selling tawdry tourist souvenirs there.s3

49Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 142.

50Jnterview with Dr. John Haas.
51Cavalleri, Immersed in God, 140.
52Cavalleri, Immersed in God, 139.
53Those brave enough to view the items offered for sale at www.lourdesdirect.com
will see what I mean.
142 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

The Marian imagery at Torreciudad is related both to central

themes of Escriva's spiritual doctrine and to his own history of
travels to Marian shrines. The prominent feature of the huge
church is a reredos carved from alabaster, over fourteen meters
high, enshrining the original image of Our Lady of Torreciu-
dad. The panels of the reredos depict scenes from the life of
the Mother of God-the betrothal, the annunciation, the visi-
tation, the nativity, the flight into Egypt. But perhaps the most
significant of all for members of Opus Dei is the image show-
ing the workshop in Nazareth with Jesus helping St. Joseph
carve wood ... as Mary, also working, looks on contemplating
her son. 54 The images of the reredos echo the founder's teach-
ing that holiness can be found in doing one's everyday work
faithfully, and that Mary is a model of contemplation.
A second source for the Opus Dei's Marian spirituality can
be found in the Codex Juris Particularis which indicates how
Marian devotion takes shape in the daily lives of Opus Dei
members. There we find that the Prelature's official patrons
are "the Blessed Mary Ever VIrgin, whom it venerates as Mother;•
and St. Joseph. 55 Devotion to Mary is subordinate to the "root
and center" of the spiritual life of prelature members, namely,
the Sacrifice of the Mass (par 81,1); daily Mass is highly
recommended.
"The members of the Prelature (Praelaturae fideles) should
honor the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus
Christ and our Mother, with tender love and devotion." This
honor is expressed primarily through prayer. The founder of
Opus Dei prayed the fifteen- decade rosary daily, and members
pray at least five decades each day. In regions where the recita-
tion of the rosary is not customary, they may substitute "an
equivalent Marian prayer." To the usual prayers of the rosary,
members customarily add the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, an
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the pope's intentions,
the same three prayers for the local ordinary, and an Our Fa-
ther and Hail Mary for the souls in Purgatory. Families are en-

54West, Opus Del, 89.

55"Praelatura tamquam Patronos habet Beatam Mariam semper Vrrginem, quam uti
Mattern veneratur, et S. Ioseph, eiusdem Beatae Mariae Vrrginis Sponsum" (CIP, par. 5).
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 143

couraged to say the rosary together. They recite the Angelus or

Regina Coeli daily. As noted earlier, members try to practice
some Marian devotion every Saturday. The Salve Regina is
sung on Saturday evening during weekend retreats. Recourse
to Mary is recommended as an aid to guarding chastity. 56
Special liturgical emphases found within the Work combine
Marian devotion with a remembrance of the founder. Members
observe certain Marian feast days because of events related to
the life of the founder and to members of his family, as well as
critical moments in the development of Opus Dei itself (cf.
Part Two). Thus we find the observance of Our Lady of the Pil-
lar (October 12) and Our Lady of Torreciudad (Saturday of the
second fortnight in September). For family reasons, members
pay special attention to Our Lady of Monserrat (April 27), the
anniversary of the founder's cure from diabetes,57 Our Lady of
Mt. Carmel Quly 16), the name-day of the founder's sister, and
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (November 27), the anni-
versary of the death of the founder's father. Members keep the
feast of Our Lady of Ransom (September 24), Our Lady of Loreto
(December 10) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12), be-
cause of the pilgrimages the founder made to those shrines.
Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15) is the anniversary of the
election of Alvaro del Portillo as the first successor to the founder
as prelate. Finally, members also mark Our Lady of Peace Qanu-
ary 24), the title of the Prelatic church in Rome, and Our Lady
of the Angels (August 2), the title of the church at the major

56"Ament Praelaturae fideles et diligentissime custodiant castitatem, quae homines

Christo eiusque castissimae Matri reddit gratissimos, pro certo habentes operam apos-
tolatus castitate suffultam esse debere. Ad praesidium huius thesauri, qui vasis fertur
fictilibus, summopere conferunt fuga occasionum, modestia, temperantia, corporis
castigatio, SS. Eucharistiae frequens receptio, ad Vrrginem Mattern adsiduus ac filialis
recursus" (CIP, par. 84).
57peter Berglar, Opus Dei: Life and Work ofIts Founder;]osemarfa Escrlva (Prince·
ton: Scepter Press, 1994), 280: "For ten years (1944 to 1954), Escriva suffered a bad
case of diabetes-an interminable round of exhaustion, impaired vision, special diets,
and injections. After a severe hypoglycemic shock, he inexplicably found himself
cured of the diabetes, but good health was never restored." Berglar does not give the
date of the cure, which was April 17, 1954. While this date coincides with a Marian
feast day, I have not found any place where this cure is attributed to a special inter·
cession of Our Lady.
144 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei"

Opus Dei formation center in Rome. The meaning of these

liturgical emphases is certainly open to interpretation. While
some would view them as evidence of the value placed on
Mary's intercession in the history of Opus Dei and the life of
its founder, others might evaluate them more critically, as signs
of an exaggerated personality cult.
In addition to liturgical celebrations, Opus Dei members re-
call and honor Mary through sacramentals. All wear the scapu-
lar of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. They try to have a picture of
Mary in every room of their centers, following the founder's
recommended practice of glancing at a picture of the Virgin as
a means to remain aware of the presence of God. 58
A central means of formation and support for Opus Dei
members is the "circle;' a weekly small group meeting. It in-
cludes a scripture reading and commentary given by the
leader, as well as personal talks about spiritual and doctrinal
matters, and an examen. The members of the circle pray for
each other and take part in shared apostolic activities. Once a
year, on the feast of the Holy Family, each circle recites a prayer
of consecration to the Holy Family. This prayer, composed by
Escriva, runs in part:

... 0 Jesus, our most lovable Redeemer, who in coming to enlighten

the world with your example and doctrine, chose to spend the greater
part of your life subject to Mary and Joseph in the humble house in
Nazareth, sanctifying the Family that all Christian homes were to imitate;
graciously accept the consecration of the families of your children in
Opus Dei, which we now make to you. Take them under your protection
and care, and fashion them after the divine model of your holy family. 59

At the conclusion of any group meeting, such as a circle, the

men say "Holy Mary, our hope, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us,"
and the women say, "Holy Mary, our hope, handmaid of the
Lord, pray for us."60

5BCavalleri, Immersed in God, 138. The origins of this practice date back to at least
1940; see Coverdale, Uncommon Faith, 327.
59Gondrand, At God's Pace, 240.
60Interview with Dr. Robert Tatz.
 Marian Spirituality of"Opus Dei" 145

Members of Opus Dei make a day of recollection every month,

and a retreat of several days once a year. Normally priests of
Opus Dei preach at these exercises, and nearly every medita-
tion or homily they offer will end with a reference to the Vir-
gin Mary, following the example of the founder. 61
Clearly the Blessed Virgin was a constant presence in the
life and activity of the founder of Opus Dei, and the Marian
presence continues in the lives of Opus Dei members today.
While Marian devotion within Opus Dei consists largely of
pre-existing and traditional elements, the arrangement and
emphases of these elements are new, and intimately bound up
with the life of the founder and the history of the Work. Thus,
the Marian elements in Opus Dei serve, not only to nurture a
sound Catholic piety, but also to strengthen the unity among
the members.

6ICavalleri, Immersed in God, 138.