Pedro Rodriguez - The Way (Critical-Historical Edition)

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Scepter Publishers

London New York

CONTENTS

Section 1: General Introduction

I. The Author

II. Camino - The Way: History of its Redaction

III. Description and Analysis of the Material for the Critical Edition

IV. Literary Form, Aim and Structure of Camino

V. Description of the Documentation Used

Section 2: Text and Critical-Historical Commentary

A. Prayer, Expiation, Examination: chapters 1-10

B. Interior Life, Work, Love: chapters 11-21

A.

B.

A.

B.

FOREWORD More than sixty years have elapsed since the first edition of the best known work of St Josemara Escriv, The Way, appeared in Valencia. We can now count dozens of editions published in the most diverse countries and in a great variety of languages, with a total printing close to five million copies.One might be surprised by the great diffusion of this work: it is not a book for leisure, but an invitation to a personal commitment to the life of the spirit, making its appearance in the twentieth century, characterized by a strong utilitarian and technical bent. Even more surprising is that among its readers - we have very clear testimonials of the facts - we find not only Catholics, but also believers of all Christian denominations, Jews, Muslims and people of other religions. In any case, The Way is a new "classic of spirituality": this expression first began being used in the 1950's, and has proven to be most fitting.Its popularity and reputation would be enough for this critical-historical edition to be received with interest. But for innumerable people who come to The Way looking for direction in their spiritual life, this edition represents much more: appearing [in 2002] about the time of the centenary of the birth of St Josemara, it marks the first fruit of an ambitious editorial project aimed at the publication of the complete works of the Founder of Opus Dei.It is timely and important to share evidence of the ecclesial personality of Josemara Escriv: his priestly and apostolic labours (reflected in the extensive work with souls undertaken by the Prelature of Opus Dei on the five continents), his tireless preaching that directly benefited hundreds of thousands of people, and the abundance of his writings. Because of this, with the centenary of his birth approaching, I wished to establish the "Josemara Escriv Historical Institute" in Rome. As one of its first tasks, I commissioned the preparation of a critical edition of the complete works of the Founder of Opus Dei, the published works as well as the unpublished.As just noted, this edition marks the first front of this project. The selection of The Way as the pioneer for this endeavour is totally justified. Besides being the best known work of the Founder of Opus Dei, the General Archives of the Prelature hold a vast number of documents testifying to the fertile ground from which this work originates: the spiritual life and the apostolic activities of St Josemara during the first years of his priestly ministry. Moreover, even without entering into many aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei, it undoubtedly constitutes a testimony of special importance for the way in which this spirit was spread and was received in the thirties and in later years. From all this flows the importance of the present work,especially for the scholars of spirituality.Several years ago, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo stated in regard to The Way. "Nothing in this book is theoretical (...) nothing here is artificial or hypothetical: in each one of its points vibrates the countless richness of what has been really lived. From here flows its perennial freshness and this is, without doubt, the reason why even having been written in well defined particular historical circumstances, The Way interests millions of people who live in other cultural milieu". My predecessor as Prelate of Opus Dei pointed out that the deep origins of the spirituality emanating from The Way stress the human dimension (explaining its clear capacity to connect with the hopes and aspirations of many women and men of different backgrounds) and, at the same time, its explicitly Christian dimension, since Christ fills all its pages from the first to the last. This intuition of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo is manifested in the present critical-historical edition prepared by Prof. Pedro Rodriguez, Professor at the School of Theology of the University of Navarre, undertaken after a profound study of the sources, and a laborious work of composition, introduction and notes.Prof. Rodriguez is well known in the theological world; it is not necessary for me to introduce him. I only wish to note his great knowledge of the spirituality of St Josemara and, even more, his expertise with The Way, a book about which he started writing in the 1960's. I also wish to thank him sincerely for all the effort he lavished in making available this new edition of The Way to every person interested in the writings of the Founder of Opus Dei. His contribution, made with scientific rigour and, at the same time, with a pleasant yet precise language, is decisive for understanding the history of the composition of this work of St Josemara and to better appreciate his influence in the history of Christian spirituality.The importance of this work has been enhanced by the excellent [Spanish] edition by Editorial Rialp.As a final consideration, I wish to express my prayers to the Almighty, through the intercession of His Holy Mother: may the calm meditation of these pages convert them into an instrument for bringing many souls closer to God, as has happened for over sixty years with the meditation of the points of The Way.

+ Javier Echevarria

Prelate of Opus Dei.

Rome, 1 November 2001, Solemnity of All Saints.

THE COLLECTION OF COMPLETE WORKS On 9 January 2001, the Prelate of Opus Dei, the Most Reverend Javier Echevarra, established the "Josemara Escriv Historical Institute". One of its first undertakings is to publish, with professional care and rigour, the Complete Works of St Josemara. To this end, a Commission was created within the Institute to plan and coordinate the scientific work necessary to accomplish this objective. A study of the vast amount of material accumulated has led the Commission to structure it into five distinct series: Series I. Published works. The first series includes St Josemara's published books and other writings. The first publication in the series is his most widely-known work: The Way (1939). The original Spanish historical-critical edition also includes earlier redactions that appeared under the title of Consideraciones Espirituales (1932, 1933, 1934). The edition of The Way will be followed by editions of all the other works published during St Josemara's lifetime (Holy Rosary, 1934; La Abadesa de las Huelgas, 1944; Conversations, 1968; Christ is passing by, 1973); and after his death in 1975, ( Friends of God, 1977; The Way of the Cross, 1981; Furrow, 1986; The Forge, 1987). A final volume of Various Writings will be added, a collection of homilies, articles, interviews and conferences, not previously published in a single volume. Series II. Unpublished works. This series will include those unpublished texts of St Josemara which, strictly speaking, can be considered as complete works: distinct units of composition that the Author intended to be published. The series will include principally two types of documents that St Josemara called Instructions and Letters addressed to the faithful of Opus Dei. There are, in addition, other spiritual texts. Series III. Letters (Correspondence) This series will include St Josemara's voluminous correspondence (several thousand letters) with faithful of Opus Dei, and friends and acquaintances from all over the world. Series IV. Handwritten documents. Throughout his life, the Founder of Opus Dei had the habit of writing down notes of personal reflection relating to his own spiritual life and to apostolic initiatives. As part of his priestly work, he wrote outlines for preaching and other similar notes. These documents form a rich treasure of handwritten documents: their publication will require a monumental task of ordering and annotation. Series V. Oral preaching As with other great historical personalities, many people attracted by the preaching of St Josemara took notes or made outlines of his words; with the development of audiovisual tapes, this activity became more widespread and constant. As a result of this practice, there is a large quantity of material which captures his preaching and conversations in more or less detail. Even though it has not been reviewed by the Author, this preaching material helps in large part to position the reader face to face with the living personality of the Founder of Opus Dei, and to reveal the depth of his teaching.This short summary gives an idea of the quantity and diversity of the texts involved in the work of preparation and publication of the Complete Works. It will take many years to complete. The "Josemara Escriv Historical Institute" is pleased to announce that it has been able to begin the task with this critical-historical edition of The Way, a work of immense importance. Our hope is to maintain the same level of professional excellence in future volumes.Next page