Dream, and your dreams will fall short, Saint Josemaría Escrivá told early members of Opus Dei. This third and final volume of the most extensively researched work on the founder of Opus Dei covers his years in Rome, from 1946 until his death there in 1975. It describes how Opus Dei overcame major obstacles and blossomed from a handful of members in Spain into a worldwide institution, with more than 60,000 members of 80 nationalities. Andres Vazquez de Prada, a Spanish diplomat, writer, and historian who knew Saint Josemaría personally, narrates the story, using previously unpublished letters, diaries, and other sources from the archives of the Prelature of Opus Dei.

This second volume of the three-volume biography of St. Josemaría covers one of the most remarkable periods of his life: from the outbreak of the civil war in 1936 to his departure for Rome in 1946. In Republican Spain fierce anti-Catholic persecution led St. Josemaría to do his priestly work in secret, fully aware that if caught, he would be executed - as were 6000 other priests. This book recounts the saint's dangerous journey across the Pyrenees to the Nationalist zone, where he could exercise his priestly ministry more freely, his tireless labors to counter (with both heroic charity and determination) the slanders that threatened to overwhelm Opus Dei, and more. Here is an unforgettable picture of the saint's activity during the years of crisis that threatened to obliterate his great gift to the church: Opus Dei.

This is the first volume of three about the life of Saint Josemaría Escrivá. He has been hailed as a pioneer in helping ordinary Christians find God in their daily lives. Moved as a teenager by footprints of a barefoot Carmelite priest in the snow, Josemaría felt called to greater generosity in the priesthood and in his struggles to build up Opus Dei during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This latest biography is the most extensively researched work on his family history, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. The reader benefits from an enormous wealth of details in extensive notes and appendices. Accompanying them are excerpts from his correspondence, spiritual writings and testimonials from dozens of friends and acquaintances. The remarkable story continues in volumes II and III.

“Wanting Jesus Alone to Shine” is a biography of the founder of Opus Dei illustrated with more than 300 photos, maps, infographics and autograph texts. The authors, Jesús Gil and Enrique Muñiz, desire to offer a biography in which the images allow readers to enter into the life of Saint Josemaria: not only to learn about his experiences intellectually, but also to share in some of the feelings that accompanied these experiences.

This biography is part of the most extensive research on Escriva to date. It includes many incidents from his youth and family life that illustrate his deep personal relationship with God. As a child, he witnessed the deaths of his three sisters, the collapse of the family business, and his father's premature death. As a teenager, he noticed one day the footprints left by a Carmelite priest walking barefoot in the snow. Moved, Josemaria felt called to greater generosity. These devine caresses, as he called them, continued during the first years of his priesthood, during which he struggled to build Opus Dei as the Spanish Civil War raged around him. The reader benefits from an enormous wealth of details in extensive notes and appendices. Accompanying them are excerpts from his correspondence, spiritual writings, and testimonials from dozens of friends and acquaitances. Two further volumes will complete this massive undertaking.