(Letter from the Prelate: March 2014)

My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me! The month of March always has a special connotation, since we celebrate both the Annunciation of Our Lady and the olemnity of t! Joseph! These two figures stand out for their faithfulness to "od#s plans, for carrying out fully what "od wished of them, because they $new how to love wholeheartedly! This year we also commemorate the centennial of %on Alvaro#s birth and the twentieth anniversary of his dies natalis, his transit to heaven! The supernatural and human virtue of fidelity shone forth li$e a bright pearl in his life! Later, on the &'th, the anniversary of our (ather#s priestly ordination also spea$s to us of integral loyalty to the divine call: an )untouchable fidelity, firm, virginal, *oyful, un+uestioned, to faith, purity and the way!,- .t#s only logical then that/while ma$ing a deep and grateful personal e0amination/we consider in these wee$s how we have responded to the divine call that each of us has received! The beginning of Lent, now very close, spurs us to wal$ with determination along this path! .t is a liturgical time that )should suggest to us these basic +uestions: Am . advancing in my faithfulness to 1hrist, in my desire for holiness, in a generous apostolate in my daily life, in my ordinary wor$ among my colleagues2,& Let us strive to live 3also in the other moments of the year as well4 a more intense prayer, a more generous mortification, the fre+uent practice of the spiritual and corporal wor$s of mercy, which, as acts informed by faith and charity, are a powerful impulse for our desires to be faithful! .t is not a +uestion of feelings but of the ardent 5eal of a soul in love, although weariness may come, the weight of our poor ego! Only a few days remain before the centennial of the birth of our beloved %on Alvaro, on the --th of March! ince the beginning of the year, we have had this date very much in mind, with our eyes focused on the e0ample of this son of t! Josemar6a, who gave himself without holding bac$, incarnating so admirably the spirit of Opus %ei! The decree by which the 1hurch recogni5ed his virtues states that his life was characteri5ed by an )un+uestioned fidelity to "od, carrying out his will promptly and generously7 fidelity to the 1hurch and the 8ope7 fidelity to his priesthood, and fidelity to his vocation as a 1hristian in every moment and circumstance of his life!,9 And it concludes that %on Alvaro#s life is an )e0ample of charity and fidelity for all 1hristians!,: The fidelity of the human being is intimately united to that of "od, who is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds!; acred cripture, in presenting the history of the patriarchs and the *ust in the Old Testament, )highlights an essential aspect of their faith! That faith is not only presented as a *ourney, but also as a process of building, the preparing of a place in which human beings can dwell together with one another ! ! ! <ith faith comes a new reliability, a new firmness, which "od alone can give!,=
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t! Josemar6a, Letter, March &:, ->9-! t! Josemar6a, Christ Is Passing By, no! ;'! 9 1ongregation for the 1auses of the aints, Decree on the Virtues of the Servant of God Alvaro del Portillo. : I id! ; Ps -:;?-::@:-9. = 8ope (rancis, Ancyclical Lu!en "idei, June &>, &B-9, no! ;B! -

The e0ample of %on Alvaro is inscribed in that long chain of men and women loyal to "od /from Abraham and Moses to the saints of the Cew Testament/who strove to dedicate their entire life to carrying out the mission they had received! Cothing could separate them even a millimeter from the divine will: e0ternal or internal difficulties, sufferings, persecutions, because they found a firm anchor in the most lovable will of "od! Abraham is as$ed to entrust himself to this word! (aith understands that something so apparently ephemeral and fleeting as a word, when spo$en by the "od who is fidelity, becomes absolutely certain and unsha$able, guaranteeing the continuity of our *ourney through history! (aith accepts this word as a solid roc$ upon which we can build!, D And as Eenedict FG. said, )faithfulness over time is the name of love!,' <henever an important anniversary came around, %on Alvaro used to address our Lord with this prayer: )Than$ you, forgive me, help me more!, <e can imagine him reacting in the same way on the anniversary of his centennial! These words can be for us an e0cellent prayer for addressing the Elessed Trinity: giving than$s for the benefits received 3they are so many, far more than we can imagine!47 as$ing forgiveness for our faults and sins7 as$ing help to continue serving/more and better/as good and faithful servants! Hears ago, on another anniversary of this date, %on Alvaro cast a glance bac$ at the time that had gone by! Iis considerations can help us too to spea$ with "od7 especially when, for whatever reason, our mista$es and wea$nesses stand out more clearly! These were and are e0pressions that fill us with hope! )On contemplating the boo$ of my life,, he said, ). thin$ of the pages that have gone by! They have gone, but they have not been thrown into the wastebas$et, because they remain before "od#s eyes! o many gifts from "od! Aven before . was born, he prepared for me a pious 1hristian family, which provided me with a good formation! Then later, so many events that mar$ed my life! Above all the meeting with our (ather, which completely changed my life, very rapidly! And then almost forty years of intimate and constant contact with our (ounder!, > Our Lord watches over us too with infinite patience, over years, months, wee$s, forgiving us, helping us, encouraging us! Moreover, although many of you did not meet our (ather while he was physically with us, you can all get to $now him and spea$ with him than$s to his writings and the trusting conversation he wants to maintain with each of us from heaven! Ie has left in our hands, with the spirit of Opus %ei, the very specific possibility of being saints, living in depth this path that "od offers to many people! <ith "od#s help, with the intercession of Mary Most Ioly and of t! Joseph, of t! Josemar6a and of so many people who have already followed it to the endJ #ossu!us,-B we too can follow this path to the end! March ->, the solemnity of t! Joseph, also spea$s to us of the renewal of our dedication in the service of "od and souls! "od has called all 1hristians from eternity to identify ourselves with 1hrist! And t! Joseph, after Mary Most Ioly, is the creature who has best responded to this calling: he is the faithful and #rudent steward, who! the Lord set over his household!-%on Alvaro 3. never tire of repeating4 was a faithful man: a faithful 1hristian, priest, bishop!
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I id!, no! -B! Eenedict FG., Iomily in (atima, May -&, &B-B! > %on Alvaro, Cotes ta$en during a family gathering, March --, ->>-! -B $t &B:&&! -Koman Missal, olemnity of t! Joseph, %ntrance Anti#hon 3L& -&::&4! &

t! Josemaria remar$ed: ). would li$e you to imitate him in many things, but above all in loyalty! .n the long years of his vocation, there have been many occasions/humanly spea$ing/for getting angry, for becoming irritated, for being disloyal! Eut he has always had a smile and an incomparable fidelity/for supernatural reasons, not because of human virtue! .t would be very good for you to imitate him in this!,-& Iis continuous perseverance, completely supernatural, was rooted in the human virtue of loyalty, which he learned in his family home right from his youth and which, later, developed with the passage of the years! Iow necessary this virtue is! Many people don#t reali5e that, when it is absent, mutual trust is impossible and it becomes practically impossible to live together in society in an ordered, fruitful way! )Let us be, faithful, my daughters and sons! <ith the supernatural fidelity which is at the same time human loyalty, a virtue proper to mature women and men, who have put aside childish attitudes, and behave with a sense of responsibility, faithful to their commitments!,-9 )Loyalty! (idelity! Lprightness! .n what is great and in what is small, in little things and big things! %etermined to fight even though at times it seems that we don#t want to! .f the moment of wea$ness comes, open your soul wide and let yourselves be led gently: today . will go up two steps, tomorrow fourJ The ne0t day none, because we find we have no strength left! Eut we want to want to! <e must at least have the desire to have desires! My children, this is already fighting!,-: <e have to guide, to moderate our heart and feelings, by means of reason enlightened by faith! )Our heart and feelings can help us to be generous with "od, but they can#t be the principal reason for our fidelity: that would be sentimentality, a truly dangerous deformation of love! All too many give undue importance to feelings! They rely a great deal on the heart and too little on the intellect! .f they feel li$e it, if it#s attractive, they enthusiastically thin$ themselves capable of anything7 but if they don#t feel li$e it, they fall apart! <e have to be alert to this dangerJOnly thus will we recogni5e, in moments of trial, that infidelity is never a response to reason!,-; %on Alvaro followed very closely, first of all, "od#s call! "od had endowed him with outstanding human and supernatural +ualities, and he placed all of these at the service of the mission he had received! Iis response to the Eishop of Madrid shortly after being ordained a priest is well $nown! %on Leopoldo told him that, with his outstanding civil and academic credentials, %on Alvaro was very much appreciated and respected in ecclesiastical circles, where he could carry out many tas$s for our (ather! Eut after his ordination as a priest 3the bishop foresaw4, he would lose this high regard on the part of many people! %on Alvaro told him that it didn#t matter to him! Ie had already surrendered everything to "od/human prestige, professional plans and possibilities/from the moment he had answered the invitation from heaven to see$ sanctity in Opus %ei! Ie wasn#t concerned about the opinion of men, but only with the desire to love "od and fulfill his will! Ie wanted to hide and disa##ear, li$e t! Josemar6a, in order to be a useful instrument in the service of the 1hurch! Iis desire to identify himself with the spirit of Opus %ei was graphically e0pressed when he was designated as the first successor of t! Josemar6a! Ie said that the electors hadn#t chosen Alvaro del 8ortillo, but had reMelected our (ounder, who was continuing to direct the <or$ from
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t! Josemar6a, Cotes ta$en in a family gathering, (ebruary ->, ->D:! %on Alvaro, Letter, (ebruary -, ->'D 3Cartas de fa!ilia, vol! ., no! &'D4! -: t! Josemar6a, Cotes from a meditation, (ebruary of ->D& 3In Dialogue with the Lord, p! -:'). -; %on Alvaro, Letter, March ->, ->>&, no! 9- 3Cartas de fa!ilia, vol! ..., no! 9&-4! 9

heaven! Ie didn#t see in this way of spea$ing and acting anything special or out of the ordinary, since he was deeply convinced that "od had sought him out to be the )shadow, of our (ather on earth7 and then, as the channel for communicating a great part of his graces to the faithful of Opus %ei and to so many other men and women throughout the whole world! Vir fidelis !ultu! lauda itur,-= the faithful man shall be greatly praised! <ith good reason we can apply this phrase from cripture to our beloved %on Alvaro! John 8aul .. did so in the telegram he sent us on the day of March &9, ->>:, on the death of such a good (ather and 8astor! <hile communicating to all the faithful of the <or$ his great sorrow, he recalled )with gratitude to "od the deceased#s life filled with the 5eal of a priest and bishop, his constant e0ample of strength and trust in %ivine 8rovidence, as well as his fidelity to the ee of 8eter and his generous service to the 1hurch as the closest coMwor$er and wellMdeserving successor of ! ! ! Josemar6a AscrivN!,-D Another marvelous anniversary that spea$s to us of this 1hristian virtue, at the end of the month, is that of our (ounder#s priestly ordination! On March &', ->&;, our (ather sealed in a new, sacramental way, the commitment of fidelity that he had been living since he first felt those )in$lings, of a divine calling, when still an adolescent! Ie $ept it ever alive and operative, and at the end of his earthly life he could say: )%on#t ever falter! Kight now . tell you ! ! ! that you have a divine vocation, that 1hrist Jesus has called you from all eternity! Cot only has he bec$oned you with his finger, but he has $issed you on the forehead! That#s why, for me, your head shines li$e a star! )That business of the star is another storyJ, li$e those stars that twin$le in the night, high up there in the dar$ blue s$y, li$e great diamonds of fabulous splendor! That#s how clear your vocation is, yours and mine!,-' Let us $eep on praying for the 1hurch and for the 8ope, especially during the retreat he will be ma$ing! . am beginning my own retreat tomorrow in order to ta$e part in the 1ongress on the centennial of %on Alvaro, organi5ed from the -&th to the -:th at the 8ontifical Lniversity of the Ioly 1ross! And today . will administer/*oyfully, as always/the sacrament of the diaconate to two Associates of the 8relature, in the parish of t! Josemar6a! Let us as$ our Lord that they be very faithful to this new call they have received, and let us e0tend our prayer to all the seminarians and priests throughout the whole world! . don#t want to finish without telling you that on the &&nd, when celebrating Ioly Mass in the Easilica of t! Augene, to recall %on Alvaro#s transit to heaven, . will be more united, if possible, than ever to all of you, as$ing our Lord that he ma$e us all completely faithful and that he fill us with his 5eal for souls, as the 8ope fre+uently reminds us! As . always tell you, support me in my intentions! <ith all my affection, . bless you, Hou (ather, O Javier
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Prov &':&B! John 8aul .., Telegram to Msgr! Javier Achevarr6a, March &9, ->>:! -' t! Josemar6a, Cotes from a meditation, March ->, ->D;! :

Kome, March -, &B-: