Life of Piety in St Josemaría Escrivá: St Josemaría Escrivá Lexicon (St Josemaria Escriva Lexicon) by St Josemaria Historical Institute

The first volume in the English Lexicon series which has entries related to “Virtues” was published in 2020. This second volume relates to ACTS OF PIETY – a plan of life – which the founder of Opus Dei, St Josemaría Escrivá, practised himself, and wanted, from very early days, his spiritual daughters and sons to develop: I want to set up a plan of life to which all of us in the Work will submit ourselves. I’d like for us to be able to officially oblige ourselves to carry it out starting on this year’s feast of our Father and Lord, Saint Joseph (Intimate Notes, 935, 19 February 1933). The first chapter describes the objective in developing these practices and in having such a plan: Please don’t forget that the important thing does not lie in doing many things; limit yourself, generously, to those you can fulfil each day, whether or not you happen to feel like doing them. These pious practices will lead you, almost without your realising it, to contemplative prayer. Your soul will pour forth more acts of love, aspirations, acts of thanksgiving, acts of atonement, spiritual communions. And this will happen while you go about your ordinary duties, when you answer the telephone, get on to a bus, open or close a door, pass in front of a church, when you begin a new task, during it and when you have finished it: you will find yourself referring everything you do to your Father God (Friends of God, 141) As he had done throughout his life, in a paragraph of one of the last Letters he wrote, he emphasised the second aspect of the mission of a Christian: that of being an apostle of Christ: Are you truly striving to be faithful to your great commitment of love? How goes your daily fidelity to the plan of life, amid the concerns and responsibilities of your work? How is your prayer? Do you take advantage of all your dealings with those around you to make them an occasion for apostolate? How do you carry out your apostolic tasks? You can’t be content with a listless apostolate, slow to reach the depths of a person’s soul and open up for him divine horizons. God needs us shamelessly apostolic, so that we speak of him to those around us. To mature … is to grow in our unity of life, which leads us to embed our apostolate in the incidents of our professional work, in the ordinary task of each day. We do so with neither subterfuge nor a false discretion, as we strive to make known Christ’s teaching and life… Thus we will be light, a shining lantern, enkindled on the crossroads of this earth Read more