Escriva says that he “saw” Opus Dei in 1928 in a divine inspiration. Its mission was to remind all Catholics of the universal call to sanctity. Escriva says he “founded” Opus Dei after carrying out an exhaustive search of existing Catholic institutions that might embody what he had “seen”.
Meet Saint Pedro Poveda, a Spaniard like Escriva:
On detecting the de-christianizing of culture and of education in his own time, Poveda understands the responsibility of all believers in this matter.
He is aware of the need for training well-formed professionals, ready to be present in the structures of society.
His idea, strong and daring, is for true Christians to become like yeast in the dough. The old and new idea of a spirituality lived in the midst of the world, as the first Christians, inspires the start of the Teresian Association in the year 1911.
To opt for holiness, to respond to God who wants us holy: What is so new about it? The fact that the Founder of the Teresian Association was speaking, half a century before Vatican II, to groups of lay people who were investing their lives in evangelization and in human development by means of education and culture.
It was new then, in the year 1911, to see ordinary lay people committed to the call to true holiness not only as individuals but also as an organized body.
“The work of evangelization we intend to do must be identical to that started by the first Christians, and the means are to be the same they used” (1920). This is what gave way in 1911 to the Teresian Association. It was a Work for our times, approved as a civic organization in Jaén and recognized among the diocesan associations of the local church in 1917. In 1924 it received Vatican approval as a Pious Union. (Pedro Poveda)
In Covadonga, he devoted much time to prayer and reflected particularly on the problem of education in Spain. He understood that the Lord was inviting him to open new paths in the Church and in the society of his time. He began to publish articles and pamphlets on the question of the professional formation of teachers and was also in contact with other persons who felt the need for the presence and action of Christians in society.
He believed that a solid faith and professional qualifications were both needed to keep the Gospel message alive.
In 1911 he opened the St Teresa of Avila Academy as a residence for students and the starting point of the Teresian Association, dedicated to the spiritual and pastoral formation of teachers. The following year he joined the Apostolic Union of Secular Priests and started new pedagogical centres and some periodicals.To further his work Fr Poveda moved to Jaén, where he taught in the seminary, served as spiritual director of Los Operarios Catechetical Centre, and worked at the Teacher Training College. In 1914 he opened Spain’s first university residence for women in Madrid.
It was during the religious persecution in Spain that Fr Poveda would be called to the martyrdom he so desired. At dawn on 28 July 1936, when told by his persecutors to identify himself, he said, “I am a priest of Christ”. He died a martyr for the faith. (Pedro Poveda Castroverde (1874-1936))
See also Newman ahead of Opus Dei by 120 years and Frank Duff earlier than Escriva.
