Saint Josemaría Escrivá

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

聖施禮華

紀念日 / Memorial date

六月二十六日

/

June 26

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

聖施禮華

紀念日:

六月二十六日

Memorial Date:

June 26

聖施禮華

聖施禮華1902年1月9日生於西班牙。年輕時看到一位赤足加爾默羅會修士在雪地上留下的腳印,頗受感動,心中燃起服務天主的渴望;進修院攻讀,1925 年 3 月 28 日晉鐸,在一個堂區服務。

西班牙內戰時教會遭到迫害,他被迫要躲藏起來,暗中向教友傳教,馬不停蹄地宣講普世成聖的召喚。其後他在馬德里服務。

在一次靈修退省中,他看到天主要他做的事,於是在1928年10月2日於馬德里創辦了主業團;主業團的宗旨在於強調個人在俗世生活中,要聖化自己:要英勇地將基督徒的聖德融入個人的本份,家庭生活和社會職責之內。

1946年,他移居羅馬;1950年教宗庇護十二世批准主業團成立。聖人於1975年6月26日安逝於羅馬。2002年10月6日由教宗聖若望保祿二世宣聖。

在聖施禮華離世之際,主業團已廣傳五大洲,人數超過六萬,來自八十個國籍的成員;今日已超越九萬成員:絕大部分是平信徒,小部分是司鐸。

集禱經

天主,你揀選了聖施禮華,在教會內宣講眾人都要成聖的召叫,並召喚眾人履行使徒工作的使命。求你幫助我們因他的表樣和祈禱,能以基督的精神去履行日常事務,日益肖似你的聖子,並能充滿愛火,熱誠地參與救世的工作。因你的聖子、我們的主耶穌基督,他和你及聖神,是唯一天主,永生永王。亞孟。

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (January 9, 1902 – June 26, 1975), founder of Opus Dei in 1928.


The son of an Aragonese businessman, Escrivá studied law at the University of Saragossa and attended the archdiocesan seminary there, becoming ordained on March 28, 1925. Except for a period during the Spanish Civil War when he was in hiding and then was a refugee from the anticlerical Republicans, he did pastoral work in Madrid until 1946, when he moved permanently to Rome. It was during this period (on October 2, 1928) that Escrivá is said to have received a vision from God, which provided the inspiration for the foundation of his Opus Dei. From that moment, Escrivá claimed, he dedicated himself to the creation of an organization that would spread holiness and sanctify daily work. The year after he moved to Rome he was promoted to the rank of monsignor, and from 1947 to 1950 he secured Vatican approval of Opus Dei, which was made a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II in 1982.


While in Rome, Escrivá met with experts and fathers associated with the Second Vatican Council. He also oversaw the gradual establishment of vocational, trade, and agricultural centres, numerous high schools and schools of business administration, and the founding of the University of Navarra, which many consider Spain’s finest university. In Spain members of Opus Dei were recruited by Franco when he needed highly trained technicians to implement a program of economic development. Although accused of elitism, secrecy, and cultlike practices, the organization remained popular, and Escrivá moved rapidly toward sainthood. After one of the shortest waiting periods in papal history (27 years), Escrivá was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Collect

O God, who raised up your priest Saint Josemaría
in the Church to proclaim the universal call
to holiness and the apostolate,
grant that by his intercession and example we may,
through our daily work, be formed in the
likeness of Jesus your Son and serve
the work of redemption with burning love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.