- As the Prelate explained in his letter on January 30, 2021, a study was carried out regarding the Prelature's circumscriptions, in order to spur forward and coordinate its apostolic undertakings. Part of this project involves reducing the number of organizational and governmental structures, to contribute to greater efficiency and to allow greater agility and fruitfulness in the apostolic work and more attention to caring for people.
- In addition to establishing the new region of the United States and Canada, the Prelate, with the Central Advisory and the General Council, has decided to integrate and centralize all the governance of this new region directly under the new vicar with his councils (Advisory and Commission), dissolving the Delegation of Central US and the Delegation of California.
- These changes will also take effect on March 19, 2024. At that time, the territory that comprised the Delegation of Central USA (Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) and the Delegation of California (Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) will depend directly on the Prelature's Regional headquarters.
- On March 19, a statement on the website about the merger with Canada and the suppression of the two delegations will be published.
- We go to St. Josemaria’s intercession so that this reorganization in the US may contribute, with the grace of God, to the growth of the Opus Dei's apostolate and to supernatural fruits in the lives of many people.
Moving forward, Romana will discontinue its print edition and transition to digital distribution. This change will enable us to reach a broader audience and ensure more timely publication.
Best of all, subscribing is completely free and can be easily done through the website, romana.org. To sign up, visit the "newsletter" and "subscribe" sections, and enter your email address. When a new issue is released, you will receive an email with a link to download it in various formats, including PDF, ePub, and Mobi (compatible with Kindle).
In the near future, existing subscribers to the print version will receive an email containing links to download the most recent issues.
The digital version will encompass all articles available on the website, along with some additional content not found on the site.
We encourage you to help us spread the word about this exciting change. It's a fantastic opportunity to promote Romana and broaden our readership. Thank you for your support!
Exciting news! A new website, escriva.org, is now live, making it easier for everyone to explore the writings of Saint Josemaria. This website has replaced the older escrivaworks.org and comes with some great upgrades.
Here's what you can look forward to:
- Faster and more user-friendly design.
- A handy search feature to help you find specific points by chapter or topic.
- Improved compatibility with mobile devices, so you can access it on the go.
And the best part? You can read Saint Josemaria's works not just in English but also in over 20 other languages.
We encourage you to spread the word about this website, especially among those involved in the means of formation. This initiative aligns with the Pope's call to deepen our understanding of Opus Dei's mission and charisma.
- The Holy Father has introduced some modifications to the Code of Canon Law concerning personal prelatures.
- Please have a look at the letter of the Father about it and the statement by Opus Dei.
- Let us try to live with the same spirit of Saint Josemaria and his sucessor, D. Alvaro, during the entire juridical path of Opus Dei. Feeling that we are very much children of the Church and the Holy Father. It is an opportunity to strengthen our sense of unity with the Father and with each other. At the same time, we should also live an exquisite charity towards everyone.
- The news that appear in the media could be a great opportunity to evangelize and make known the spirit of Opus Dei, which is made a reality in the lives of so many people and recognize as a gift of God for the Church by the Roman Pontif.
- This article in the Vatican news may be helpful for now.
- If anyone is contacted by the the media about this, please contact Brian Finnerty (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
- The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary reminds us of St. Josemaria's constant filial recourse to her maternal intercession. Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Marian!
| January | Centrality of Jesus Christ. The call to conversion, to holiness. If we are weak and fragile, to what specifically does Christ call us? What must we do to follow him? Identification with Christ: Way, Truth and Life. |
| February | The Church, Mother. We are all Church. The teaching of the Church and its value for our whole life. The Church is everyone’s task: sheep and shepherd. What happens when there is faith in God but not in His Church? Is it not enough to believe in God and to do good? The holiness of the Church and our vulnerability as men. |
| March | Maturity: the complete person. A harmonious personality. The human being: his life. Knowledge of oneself. Putting all our capacities at the service of one’s final end. Intelligence, will and affectivity. |
| April | The freedom of the children of God. Personal responsibility. Freedom of spirit and opinion. Initiative. Forming a good conscience. The danger of relativism. |
| May | Vocation to love: created in the image and likeness of God, out of love and in order to love. The vocation to happiness. To love with the whole person, integrating all human dimensions and capacities: physical, psychological and spiritual. |
| June | Sin, the enemy of a free and full life. Consideration of sin from the perspective of divine filiation. Why is there so much sin? The prodigal son and divine mercy. The sacrament of confession. |
| July | The gift of grace (God freely helps us so that we can respond to his call). Grace and struggle: grace precedes and accompanies the ascetic struggle, and makes us capable of acting as children of God. Avoid trying to progress in the spiritual life relying mainly on one’s own efforts. |
| August | The sacraments: Christ present in our lives. Relationship of the sacraments with the mystery of Christ. The way to identify with him. Some of the sacraments can be commented on according to the audience (older people, young people, singles, etc.) |
| September | Marriage, vocation to holiness. Married love shapes one’s path to heaven. To give life is to give love, affection, tenderness, sensitivity. Facilitating its improvement. Details and gestures to show one’s love for one’s spouse. Generosity. Commitment and wanting to work together. |
| October | Communication. Respect. Trust. Necessary attitudes for good conjugal harmony: affection (tenderness); sharing (not isolating oneself); caring (service); complementing each other; accepting the other (respecting their tastes and interests, making them one’s own). |
| November | The gift of children. The formation and education of children. Giving a good example. Husband and wife united in their approach to the formation of their children. Training as parents (IFFD or other initiatives). Getting involved in their children’s schools. To welcome the vocation of the children: to thank God, to help them on their way. Married couples without children are also blessed by God. |
| December | The Christmas Season. |
(Numbers correspond to the topics list document.)
Here are the links to the first four digital Cronicas in English:
Issue 1: joom.ag/AwcI
Issue 2: joom.ag/XeQd
Issue 3: joom.ag/hwad
Issue 4: joom.ag/bxzd
The following locations offer confessions in the San Antonio area:
- Fr. Arnold Ibarra at Santo Nino Parish in San Antonio, Mon-Sat: 5-6 PM.
- Fr. Antonio Hernandez at St. Joseph in Devine.
- Fr. Jorge Campos, Our Lady of Grace, Tue, Thu: 4:45-5:15 PM; Sat 4:30 and 5:15 PM.
- Fr. Charlie Garza, St. Albert the Great in Austin: Tue, Thu 5-6 PM; Sat 3:45 PM.
- Fr. Arnold Ibarra at Saint Anthony Claret, Sunday 4-8 PM.
All of them can also hear confessions in Spanish.
Becoming a Cooperator of Opus Dei
The application form to request being appointed a cooperator of Opus Dei can be found here. Please submit the application to the center with which you are in contact.
- A Wikipedia entry will frequently be one of the highest ranked pages returned in a Google search on a given topic. Wikipedia relies upon a large network of volunteer editors, thousands of people who create new articles or improve existing ones. Anyone can become an editor on Wikipedia and immediately begin making contributions. The basic requirement is to act in accord with Wikipedia’s core professional principles, e.g., editing articles so they are neutral in point of view, factual, documented with references to respected media sources, etc. Conflicts of interest and advocacy are to be strictly avoided. Disputes about how to edit an article are resolved based on consensus; particular weight is given to editors who have a long history of making positive contributions on a broad variety of topics.
- For those able to participate, editing Wikipedia could be a worthwhile contribution to the spread of knowledge, including in topics related to the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church, as well as other subject areas. Thus, it could be useful to sponsor activities on teaching how to contribute to Wikipedia. Someone with specialized knowledge might choose to edit entries related to his or her area of expertise. Or contributing to Wikipedia could be a worthwhile activity for a retired person who has the time and aptitude. Wikipedia has abundant help pages on how to get started.
- If you are aware of someone with significant experience with Wikipedia, please pass along the information to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
These are some of the ideas that came up in the workshop :
How to foster friendship in the circle
- Prepare get together well:
- Have someone other than the talk-giver lead the announcements
- Have a snack after get-together
- Foster friendship outside circle
- Pass along articles to read to others in the circle. Sometimes that is a topic for conversation at the circle.
- Helpful to have WhatsApp group or something similar
- Organize activities for people in the circle. That may include children/family. For example: camping and fishing
- Keep in mind different activities coming up (recollections, workshops), and try to get the cooperators to go together
- Encourage guys to find our whether they share a hobby
- Ensure everyone is included in conversationsRead more: Ideas from Workshop on Cooperator Circles held at Chaucer on July 24, 2021
There are various lists of recommended books for spiritual reading:
- https://where-you-are.net/books
- All the books from the the Murray Hill list (see next bullet point) are included here, and are marked with a green star.
It was updated on Feb 23, 2021. Other books may be added, but those will not have a green start, even tough they may also be considered good for spiritual reading (letters of the Prelate, encyclicals, etc).
- All the books from the the Murray Hill list (see next bullet point) are included here, and are marked with a green star.
This list can only also be found here with links to ebooks/audiobooks
- Christ is Passing By
- Friends of God
- Conversations
- The Founder of Opus Dei, VÁZQUEZ DE PRADA, Andrés
- Immersed in God, PORTILLO, Álvaro del
- Álvaro del Portillo, BERNAL, Salvador
A new spiritual reading book has been published, He Knows Not How: Growing in Freedom, by Julio Diéguez. It is based on the manuscript called Formar Personas Libres, which was used in priest workshops last year.
Fr. Tom Bohlin, the Vicar of Opus Dei in the US, visited San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, Nov 19-23. A get-together was held in each of the cities in which he encouraged the participants to take advantage of the current situation. He shared news from his trip to Rome in September, during which he spent time with the Father. Fr. Tom also told us how impressed the Father and the Custodes were with the many families they met during their trip to the US. The Father also asked Fr. Tom when he was going to invite him back to visit the US.