by St Josemaria
The first published collection of homilies by St Josemaria Escriva ranges through the Church’s liturgical year. The teaching which it contains constantly reflects the connection which should exist between a Christian’s most ordinary – and therefore most human – interests and the transcendence of God.
This book is a collection of interviews given during the lifetime of St Josemaria Escriva, which explain what Opus Dei is and describe some basic aspects of its spirit and organisation. The replies of Opus Dei’s founder, despite the awkwardness of the inadequate juridical terminology at the time, explain its aim to spread in all spheres of society a deep awareness of the universal call to holiness and apostolate, in the fulfilment of one’s own ordinary professional work.
The Forge is the third collection of St Josemaria’s refreshingly brief but profoundly weighty reflections and meditations on how to live the Christian life to its absolute fullest. Like The Way and Furrow, it gives practical and pointed material for meditation that will help take the spiritual responsibilities more seriously and move ever closer to the all-consuming forge of God’s love. St Josemaria wrote these 1,055 aphorisms, observations, and exhortations in order to enkindle within you a desire for holiness and apostolate.
FRIENDS OF GOD is a collection of 18 homilies, given by St Josemaria Escriva during his life of tireless preaching. The homilies present a broad picture of the basic human and Christian virtues for all who wish to follow closely in the footsteps of Our Lord. They are neither a theoretical treatise nor potted hints for acquiring spiritual good manners. They contain living doctrine and combine a theologian’s depth with the evangelical clarity of a good shepherd of souls.
What appears in these pages is Christian life itself, in which – at Christ’s pace – the divine and the human are interwoven, not confused, and yet kept in perfect union.
Like The Way, Furrow is the fruit of St Josemaria’s interior life and experience with souls. It presents an attractive Christian vision of human virtues. “Furrow is directed to the whole Christian person – body and soul, nature and grace,” wrote Bishop Alvaro del Portillo in the foreword of the book.
“To say the Holy Rosary,” says St Josemaria in this pocket book of meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary, “is a continuous act of faith, hope and love, of adoration and reparation.” He reveals the secret of overcoming monotony and routine when praying the Rosary, and portrays each Mystery with illuminating eyes of faith — helping you become absorbed in contemplation when you pray to Our Lady.
Let St Josemaria lead you through the Stations of the Cross! Handsomely illustrated with exquisite classic drawings, this pocket book gives you St Josemaria’s vivid and inspiring insights into each Station, along with the points for meditation for each one. It also contains an informative foreword by Bishop Alvaro del Portillo and a biographical note about the author. This book will enhance your prayer of the Stations and help you joyfully walk The Stations of the Cross in your daily life.
The strength, the attraction of The Way is largely due to the fact that it is based on real, living experience, being the fruit of the author’s work as a priest which began in 1925. Over the years, more than four and half million copies have been sold, in 45 different languages.
On of the main attractions of the book is its direct, conversational style, its personal and deeply human character. As a reviewer in L’Osservatore Romano put it: “Msgr. Escriva de Balaguer has written something more than a masterpiece; he has written straight from the heart, and straight to the heart go the short paragraphs which make up The Way.”