Seminary and ordination

One hundred years ago, St. Josemaría became a priest. He was twenty-three years old. Despite his youth, many events had left an indelible mark on him. Born in 1902 in Barbastro, in northern Aragón, Josemaría spent his first ten years in a serene, joyful, and Christian environment. However, shortly after receiving his First Communion, death entered his home. Within a few months, three of his sisters died from various childhood illnesses, which were common at the time. In addition, his father’s business failed, forcing the family to move to another city: Logroño.

Arriving in Logroño was difficult for young Josemaría. In addition to the usual rebelliousness of adolescence, there was the questioning of the reason for his parents' suffering. It was in the midst of this crisis that Josemaría received the call to the priesthood. As he himself recalled, it happened suddenly, at the sight of some barefoot Carmelites walking in the snow. The young man began spiritual direction with a Carmelite and adopted Christian practices such as daily Mass and communion, frequent confession, penance and prayer staff. Very soon, the religious asked him about a religious vocation. Escriva pondered this proposal and even thought that his religious name would be Amador de Jesus Sacramentado. Finally, he decided that God was calling him to be a secular, diocesan priest. He told his father, who asked him if he had considered it carefully: "It is very hard not to have a house, not to have a home, not to have a love on earth; have you thought about the sacrifice involved in the vocation to the priesthood? Josemaría replied, "I have only thought, just as you did when you got married, about love." His father accepted his answer and advised him, in addition to theology, to take a civil degree program . Josemaría decided to study law.

Now, Josemaría knew that being a priest was only part of his calling. There was something else that, for the moment, was hidden. He would later say that he lived for a decade - from 1918 to 1928 - a time of forebodings, that is, of presentiments that God was asking him for something more than being a priest, and that this something else was unknown to him.

He spent two years at the seminary in Logroño. During that time, his younger brother Santiago was born. Josemaría saw this as a caress from God; he had prayed that his parents would have another child so that his absence would be less painful when he left home.

From 1920 to 1925, he lived at the seminary in Zaragoza, receiving the classical formation of the time, which emphasized adherence to rules, the practice of virtues, and spiritual growth through Christian living and theological study. In 1921, he went through a vocational crisis: the seminary rector suggested that he not continue toward the priesthood, as he had received negative reports from a seminarian tasked with evaluating his peers’ conduct. After a period of prayer and spiritual guidance, Josemaría reaffirmed his vocation, and the rector encouraged him to continue.

In 1923, Josemaría completed his theology studies and began studying law. He imagined himself as a professor of Canon Law or Roman Law (academic positions sometimes held by priests).

During those years, his interior life deepened. In prayer, he felt his heart expand. He described it as “an experience as beautiful as falling in love.” Those presentiments did not so much lead him to think about a future foundation as strengthen his intimate relationship with Jesus Christ: “I began to have inklings of Love, to realize that my heart was longing for something great — and that it was love.”

To nurture his prayer life, he went daily to seek the intercession of Our Lady at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.

On 14 June 1924, he was ordained a subdeacon along with his classmates. He spent the summer at his parents’ home in Logroño and returned to the seminary in October. Shortly after, on 27 November, his father died from a hemorrhage. The loss was a heavy blow, and Josemaría considered leaving the seminary, not becoming a priest, to support his family financially. However, he chose to trust in God and move forward. On 20 December, he was ordained a deacon.

After Christmas, his mother and siblings moved into a small apartment in Zaragoza. Then, on 28 March, Bishop Miguel de los Santos Díaz Gómara ordained him a priest. Two days later, Josemaría Escrivá celebrated his first Mass in the Holy Chapel of the Virgin of the Pillar, accompanied by his mother, siblings, and a few relatives. He offered it for his father.

After a brief stay in the town of Perdiguera to replace a sick parish priest, Josemaría spent the next two years in Zaragoza. There he was chaplain of a Jesuit church and collaborated with volunteer activities in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. Along the way, Escrivá maintained a deep spirituality, reflected in his writings and prayers. His insights-intuitions of a greater mission statement intertwined with his submission Jesus Christ and to Mary.

In Spain’s capital, he would find the answer to those ten years of preparation. On 2 October 1928, while on retreat, he understood that God was calling him to remind the world that laypeople and secular priests are called to holiness.

That day, Opus Dei was born.

José Luis González Gullón is a member of the St. Josemaría Escrivá Historical Institute.