Thoughts of Escriva in London

By Robert Colquhoun in Love Undefiled

St Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, was a big fan of London. In fact, apart from Madrid and Rome, it was his favourite capital city and he visited many times.

One day he was walking down the street in the financial heart of the city of London and a sad thought suddenly occurred to him- he felt powerless in comparison to the modern world, the powerful banks and other financial institutions and that he was not able to do anything. But on this day, the 10th August 1958 he had a locution from God.

He would later say, "I somewhat lost my composure. I felt useless and powerless. Josemaría, you can't do anything here. Without God, I could not even pull a blade of grass from the ground. My whole miserable weakness was so apparent that I almost grew sad—and that is bad. Why should a son of God be sad? He can be weary, like a faithful donkey pulling a cart. But sad? Never! Sadness is evil. Suddenly, in the middle of the street, where people from all corners of the world were crossing paths, I felt within me, in the depth of my heart, the motion of God's power.

"I felt him reassuring me: 'You can do nothing, but I can do everything. You are weakness, but I am strength. I shall be with you, and that will have an effect. We shall lead souls to happiness, to unity, to the way of salvation. In the City of London, we shall sow peace and happiness in abundance.'"

And that is what he has managed to achieve even to this day.