(-ONLY VIDEO-) The first successor of Josemar\u00ed\u00ada Escriv\u00e1 as prelate of Opus Dei has been beatified. Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the beatification ceremony in Madrid in front of thousands of pilgrims.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis signed the decree that recognized the miracle attributed to the intercession of \u00ed\u0081lvaro del Portillo on July 5th, 2013. A newborn with numerous medical conditions was miraculosly healed after suffering major cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis sent a message on the occasion of the beatification of Alvaro del Portillo.<\/p>\n
\tDear brother,<\/p>\n
\tThe beatification of the Servant of God \u00ed\u0081lvaro del
\nPortillo, faithful collaborator of St Josemar\u00ed\u00ada Escriv\u00e1 and his first successor
\nat the head of Opus Dei, is a moment of special joy for all the faithful of the
\nPrelature, and also for you, who were for so long a witness of his love for God
\nand others, and his fidelity to the Church and to his vocation. I too wish to
\nunite myself to your joy and to thank God, who embellishes the face of the
\nChurch with the holiness of her children.<\/p>\n
\tHis beatification will take place in Madrid, the city
\nwhere he was born and spent his childhood and youth. Here his life began to
\ntake shape in the simplicity of family life, through friendship and service to
\nothers, as when he went to outlying districts to help provide human and
\nChristian formation to so many people in need. And in this city, above all,
\nthere took place the event that definitively marked the course of his life: his
\nmeeting with St Josemar\u00ed\u00ada Escriv\u00e1, from whom he learned to fall more in love
\nwith Christ every day. Yes, to fall in love with Christ. This is the path to
\nholiness that every Christian has to follow: to let ourselves be loved by the Lord,
\nto open up our hearts to his love, and to allow him to be the one who guides
\nour lives.<\/p>\n
\tI like to recall the aspiration that the Servant of
\nGod would often repeat, especially for personal celebrations and anniversaries:
\n'Thank you; forgive me; help me more!\u00e2?\u009d These words bring us closer to the
\nreality of his interior life and his relationship with the Lord, and can also help
\nto give a new impulse to our own Christian life.<\/p>\n
\tIn the first place, Thank you. This is the soul\u00e2??s immediate, spontaneous reaction on experiencing
\nGod\u00e2??s goodness. It cannot be otherwise. He always goes ahead of us. However
\nhard we try, his love always gets there first, touches and caresses us first, Hebeats us to it. \u00ed\u0081lvaro del Portillo
\nwas aware of the many gifts God had given him, and thanked God for that
\nmanifestation of his fatherly love. But he did not stop at that: his
\nrecognition of Our Lord\u00e2??s love awakened in his heart desires to follow him with
\ngreater commitment and generosity, and to lead a life of humble service to
\nothers. Especially outstanding was his love for the Church, the Spouse of
\nChrist, whom he served with a heart devoid of worldly self-interest, far from discord,
\nwelcoming towards everyone and always seeking in others what was positive, what
\nunited, what was constructive. He never spoke a word of complaint or criticism,
\neven at especially difficult times, but instead, as he had learned from St
\nJosemar\u00ed\u00ada, he always responded with prayer, forgiveness, understanding and
\nsincere charity.<\/p>\n
\tForgive me.He often confessed that he saw himself empty-handed before God, incapable of
\nresponding to so much generosity. But to admit our poverty as human beings is
\nnot the result of despair but confident abandonment in God who is our Father.
\nIt means opening ourselves to his mercy, his love, which is able to regenerate
\nour life. His love does not humiliate us, nor cast us into the depths of guilt,
\nbut embraces us, lifts us up from our prostration and enables us to go forward
\nwith more determination and joy. The Servant of God \u00ed\u0081lvaro knew the need we
\nhave of God\u00e2??s mercy, and devoted a lot of his own energy to encouraging the
\npeople he met to go to the sacrament of Confession, the sacrament of joy. How
\nimportant it is to feel the tenderness of God\u00e2??s love, and discover that there
\nis still time to love!<\/p>\n
\tHelp me more.
\nYes, the Lord never abandons us, he is always at our side, he journeys with us,
\nand every day he expects new love from us. His grace will not fail us, and with
\nhis help we can take his name to the whole world. The heart of the new Blessed beat
\nwith the desire to bring the Good News to all hearts. And so he travelled to
\nmany countries to foster new projects for evangelization, undeterred by difficulties,
\nmoved by his love for God and his brethren. One who is very immersed in God is
\nable to be very close to other people. The first condition for announcing
\nChrist to them is to love them, because Christ loves them before we do. We have
\nto leave behind our selfish concerns and love of comfort, and go out to meet
\nour brothers and sisters. That is where Our Lord is awaiting us. We cannot keep
\nour faith to ourselves: it is a gift we have received to give away and share
\nwith others.<\/p>\n
\tThank you, forgive me, help me! These words express
\nthe thrust of a life that is centered on God. It is the life of someone who has
\nbeen touched by the greatest Love and who lives totally on that love; someone
\nwho, while experiencing their own human weakness and limitations, trusts in
\nGod\u00e2??s mercy and wants all mankind, their brothers and sisters, to experience it
\ntoo.<\/p>\n
\tDear brother, Blessed \u00ed\u0081lvaro del Portillo is sending
\nus a very clear message. He is telling us to trust in the Lord, that he is our
\nbrother, our friend, who never lets us down and is always at our side. He is
\nencouraging us not to be afraid to go against the current and suffer for
\nannouncing the Gospel. He is also teaching us that in the simplicity and
\nordinariness of our daily lives we can find a sure path to holiness.<\/p>\n
\tI ask all the faithful of the Prelature, priests and
\nlay-people, as well as all those who take part in its activities, to please pray
\nfor me. At the same time, I give them all my Apostolic Blessing.<\/p>\n
\tMay Jesus bless you, and may the Holy Virgin watch
\nover you.
\n\tFraternally,Franciscus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
September 27, 2014. ;Pope Francis sent a message on the occasion of the beatification of Alvaro del Portillo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"http:\/\/youtu.be\/Zndy2Ej84vg","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/","international_url":"","type":"none","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}