St. Josemaría Escrivá

St. Josemaría Escrivá (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was born at Barbastro in Aragon, Spain, and was ordained a priest in 1925. In 1928, through what he described as a divine inspiration, he founded Opus Dei ("the Work of God"), a movement dedicated to spreading the message that all the baptized are called to holiness and apostolate in the midst of the world, sanctifying their ordinary work, family life, and daily duties.

He led Opus Dei through the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War and its growth into an international institution, eventually erected as a personal prelature. He wrote widely read spiritual works, most famously The Way, a collection of short, pointed maxims on the interior life. His teaching on the universal call to holiness anticipated a central theme of the Second Vatican Council. He died in Rome in 1975 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002, who called him "the saint of ordinary life."