St. Josemaría Escrivá (1902–1975) was a Spanish priest who founded Opus Dei in 1928 to spread the message that every Christian is called to holiness, and that ordinary work, family life and daily duties, done well and offered to God, can become a path to sanctity. He is often called “the saint of ordinary life.” Pope St. John Paul II canonized him in 2002, and his feast day is June 26, the day of his death. Below are prayers to St. Josemaría, his life and his message.
Prayer to St. Josemaría Escrivá
Written for this page.
St. Josemaría, you taught that God waits for us in our work, our families and our daily duties.
Pray for me in my need: (name your intention).
Help me to do my ordinary work well, out of love for God, and to find Christ in the middle of the world. Amen.
For work
St. Josemaría, pray for me in my work.
Help me to work with competence, honesty and joy,
to serve the people around me, and to offer every task to God. Amen.
For a family
St. Josemaría, pray for our family.
Make our home bright and cheerful, a place of prayer, patience and love. Amen.
Opus Dei also publishes an approved prayer card for private devotion to St. Josemaría, which asks God, through his intercession, for the grace to turn work and daily life into occasions of loving God and serving others, and for a particular favor.
Who was St. Josemaría Escrivá?
Josemaría Escrivá was born on January 9, 1902, in Barbastro, in Aragon, Spain, the second of six children. As a teenager, seeing the footprints of a barefoot Carmelite friar in the snow, he felt that God was asking something of him, and he decided to become a priest. He was ordained in 1925.
On October 2, 1928, during a retreat in Madrid, he understood that God wanted him to found an institution that would help people of every walk of life seek holiness in their work and ordinary circumstances: Opus Dei, “the Work of God.” During the Spanish Civil War he had to hide and finally escaped across the Pyrenees. In 1946 he moved to Rome, where he worked for the rest of his life to spread Opus Dei throughout the world. His book The Way, a collection of short points for meditation, has been read by millions. He died in Rome on June 26, 1975. He was beatified in 1992 and canonized by John Paul II on October 6, 2002.
His message: holiness in ordinary life
St. Josemaría liked to say that ordinary life can be holy: that a student, a nurse, a farmer or a parent can become a saint by doing their work well, out of love, and by praying in the middle of the world. The Second Vatican Council later taught the universal call to holiness in the same spirit. St. Paul wrote (Colossians 3:23–24, Douay-Rheims):
Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men:
Knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ.
From the beginning, God gave man work to do (Genesis 2:15, Douay-Rheims):
And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
Frequently asked questions
When is St. Josemaría’s feast day?
June 26, the anniversary of his death in 1975.
What is St. Josemaría the patron saint of?
He has not been named an official patron, but he is often invoked for work, for families and for ordinary Christians seeking holiness in daily life. He suffered from diabetes for about ten years, and people with diabetes often ask his intercession.
What is Opus Dei?
A personal prelature of the Catholic Church, founded by St. Josemaría in 1928, which helps lay people and priests seek holiness in their work and daily life.
More saints
- Patron saint of business
- St. Joseph prayer
- Patron saint of diabetes
- St. John Paul II prayer
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Colossians 3:23–24 and Genesis 2:15 (Douay-Rheims).