Saint Josemaría was born on January 9, 1902, in Barbastro, Spain. He had four sisters: Carmen (1899-1957), plus three other younger sisters who died very young; and one brother: Santiago (1919-1994). His parents, José and Dolores, gave their children a deeply Christian education.

In 1915, Josemaría’s father’s textile business failed, so the family relocated to Logroño,where José found other work. It was in Logroño that Josemaría sensed his vocation for the first time. After seeing some bare footprints left in the snow by a monk who had walked that way a short time earlier, he felt that God also wanted something from him, though he did not know what. He thought that he could more easily discover what it was if he became a priest, so he began to prepare for the priesthood, first in Logroño and later in Zaragoza. He also studied for a law degree. His father died in 1924 and he was left as head of the family. Ordained on March 28, 1925, he began his ministry in a rural parish, and afterwards in Zaragoza.

In 1927, Fr. Josemaría moved to Madrid to work on his doctorate in law. There, on October 2, 1928, God showed him clearly the mission He had been hinting to him for several years; and he founded Opus Dei. From that day on, he worked with all his energies to develop the foundation that God asked of him, while he continued to fulfill the various priestly responsibilities he had at that time. These brought him into daily contact with sickness and poverty in the hospitals and the poor districts of Madrid.

When the Spanish civil war broke out in 1936, Fr. Josemaría was in Madrid. The religious persecution forced him to take refuge in a variety of places. He exercised his priestly ministry in a clandestine fashion until he was finally able to leave the Spanish capital. After a harrowing escape across the Pyrenees, he took up residence in Burgos.

At the end of the war in 1939 he returned to Madrid. In the years that followed, he gave many retreats to lay people, priests, and members of religious orders. In the same year, 1939, he completed his doctorate in law.

He took up residence in Rome. There he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University, and was named consultor to two Vatican Congregations, honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and prelate of honor to the Pope. He followed closely the preparations for the Second Vatican Council and its various sessions (1962-1965), keeping in touch with many of the council fathers. From Rome he frequently went to different countries in Europe, including Britain and Ireland, to spur on the growth of Opus Dei in those places. It was with the same objective that, between 1970 and 1975, he made long trips throughout Mexico, Spain, Portugal, South America, and Guatemala, holding catechetical gatherings which large numbers of men and women attended.

Monsignor Josemaría had repeatedly offered his life for the Church and for the Pope. Our Lord accepted his offering, and surrendered his soul to God in a saintly manner on June 26, 1975 in the room where he worked in Rome. His mortal remains rest in the Prelatic Church of our Lady of Peace in Rome.

Thousands of people, including one third of all the bishops in the world, requested that the Holy See open his cause for beatification and canonization. The cause for his canonization was introduced on February 19, 1981. The Founder of Opus Dei was beatified by His Holiness John Paul II on May 17, 1992 before a crowd of some 300,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, Rome.

On December 20, 2001, the Vatican authenticated a second miracle attributed to Blessed Josemaría thus clearing the way for his canonization. Josemaría Escrivá was canonized by His Holiness John Paul II on October 6, 2002 at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The canonization was attended by around 3,000 Filipinos.