The Roman Catholic Church commemorates the Feast of Saint Josemaria Escriva, a modern-day saint and the revered founder of the Opus Dei, on Monday, June 26. St. Josemaria Escriva (Facebook)
Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula will preside over a concelebrated high mass in honor of St. Josemaria Escriva at 6 p.m. at the Manila Cathedral (Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception) in Intramuros, Manila. The confessional will be available starting at 5 p.m. At the St. Jose Maria Escriva Parish in San Miguel, Catanduanes, Virac Bishop Manolo A. De los Santos will preside over the concelebrated mass at 5:30 p.m. This year’s celebration coincides with the second parish founding anniversary. The ringing of church bells will be held at 4 p.m., followed by the praying of the holy rosary and a solemn procession. Holy masses in commemoration of the well-venerated saint’s feast day will also be celebrated in at least 75 churches in 32 cities across the country. Novena masses were offered from June 17 to 25. In a pastoral letter, the late Bishop Javier Echevarría, who served as St. Josemaria’s executive secretary, said: “St. Josemaria Escriva is proving to be a truly powerful intercessor for families more than forty years after his death. Forty-six years have gone by since that 26th of June in 1975 when God called our founder to the joy of heaven. How many gifts he has gained for us since then! And he has certainly fulfilled his promise.” Born on Jan. 9, 1902, in Barbastro, Spain, St. Josemaria was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain who founded Opus Dei in 1928, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. He died on June 26, 1975, and was beatified on May 17, 1992. Then pope now St. John Paul II, who canonized St. Josemaria on Oct. 6, 2002, said the Spanish priest should be “counted among the great witnesses of Christianity.”