For Catholics, online dating is becoming more commonplace. As dating methods have changed in the modern age, you may be surprised to learn that Saint Josemaria Escriva can offer insightful lessons for Catholic singles. Spain has produced many saints over the years, and one of its newest is Saint Josemaria Escriva. St. Josemaria was a Spanish priest who lived from 1902 to 1975. As a young man, Josemaria learned the meaning of the cross as his family faced severe financial problems and the deaths of several of his siblings. Despite these obstacles, he followed the call of God and went on to study law and become a priest.

He spent time living in Madrid. Here he worked with all types of people, blue collar workers as well as professional people, helping them to practice charitable works toward the sick and impoverished in Madrid.

Later on in his priesthood, he realized God was calling him to form a lay movement. This lay movement was called Opus Dei and is an organization within the Catholic Church, dedicated to helping lay people to become holy in the ordinariness of their lives through their work.

This movement is made up of the laity who can be numeraries (lay people who do not marry but may live in centers of Opus Dei) and supernumeraries (lay people who marry and live in homes), and also cooperators, those who support Opus Dei with prayers and financially.

Priests are also part of Opus Dei. Josemaria’s vision was that God is calling every person to become a saint. He foresaw the universal call to holiness before it was announced by Vatican II.

Miracles of St. Josemaria Escriva

This saint has interceded before God for many miracles. He is a great saint for finding work but for any type of miracle, really.

My family experienced a miracle through the intercession of St. Josemaria and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When I was in high school, my mother (who is a supernumerary member of Opus Dei) was extremely sick with a disease called ARDS. Most people who contract ARDS do not survive. There was a healing mass held for my mother. Hundreds of people were praying for my mother.

At the same time, one of my older brothers was traveling in Europe and visited the Marian Shrine of Medjugorje where Our Lady is currently appearing. He prayed for my mother and placed her photo on Mt. Krijevec, where there is a huge cross.

Over two days, on the feast days of St. Josemaria (June 26) and Our Lady of Medjugorje (June 25), my mother began to make a miraculous recovery.

She is alive and vibrant today thanks be to God. Doctors still cannot explain the reason for her recovery.

Lessons for Singles from St. Josemaria Escriva Worth Remembering as You Browse Catholic Online Dating Sites

Consider the concept of divine filiation

I think one of the most beautiful messages emphasized by this saint is the idea of divine filiation.

Divine filiation means that each of us is a child of God and has God for Our Father. Yes, each of us is a son or a daughter of the Most High God. This should give us such pride and happiness each day. This should make us hold our heads very high.

St. Josemaria taught this concept often. It is an idea that came to him from God while he was on a tram in a square known as Glorieta de Atocha in Madrid, Spain.

Catholic online singles would do well to remember we have a Heavenly Father who loves us with a perfect love.

View marriage as a vocation

St. Josemaria definitely taught that each person has a unique call from God.

Marriage is a vocation to which God calls you. As singles, we must discern if this is where God is calling us, even if you’re perusing Catholic online dating sites.

If it is, we should have great joy and no fear in committing to this vocation, knowing that God will accompany us in this sacrament with His great grace.

St. Josemaria taught that marriage was a path to holiness and that the two spouses should help each other get to heaven. He felt that communication between partners was vital and that if something was bothering one spouse, he or she should communicate about the matter.

He also believed that spouses should practice sacrificial love and be aware and understanding of each other’s defects. For example, if a husband is coming home from work, tired and exhausted, the wife might do something special like have a drink ready for the husband or wear a pretty dress for her husband.

He taught that spouses should love and take care of each other. Even if you meet your spouse through a Catholic online dating site, these truths still hold.

Dress with class

St. Josemaria perhaps, not surprisingly, had a very good taste for a Catholic priest. He was a man who relished the details of life. He believed in wearing a nice cologne, French cufflinks, and polished nice shoes.

He believed we should dress up each day as we are children of God. We reflect God to those in the world.

Singles can imitate this quality by dressing up, taking care of our appearance, looking nice for a date. Be sure to dress nicely for the photos in your Catholic online dating profile.

St. Josemaria Escriva, pray for us singles!

Prayer to St. Josemaria Escriva

O God, through the mediation of Mary our Mother, you granted your priest St. Josemaria countless graces, choosing him as a most faithful instrument to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian’s ordinary duties. Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving You and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love. Deign to grant me, through the intercession of St. Josemaria, the favour of … (make your request). Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

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