This morning, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei, celebrated the funeral Mass for the repose of the soul of Rosalía López Martínez at the prelatic church, Our Lady of Peace.

Rosalía was born in 1925 in Busnela (Burgos, Spain). She met Opus Dei at the age of 21, in February 1946, when she began working in the administration of the Abando Residence in Bilbao. There she worked, among others, with Blessed Guadalupe Ortíz de Landázuri, who accompanied her in the process of vocational discernment. She discerned her vocation after attending a retreat preached by Fr. Jose María Hernández Garnica.

She was one of the first four women to ask for admission to Opus Dei (on 28 July 1946), to dedicate herself, through her professional work, to the domestic management of the houses of Opus Dei houses and caring for people. A few months later, on 27 December 1946, she moved to Rome. She lived in the Eternal City from that date on, working alongside St. Josemaría for 30 years, and, over the next decades, alongside his successors at the helm of Opus Dei.

We do it for Him

In the homily he preached this morning, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz insisted that "Rosalía's life on this earth has been a long one, just a few months shy of a century! It has been a life of service to the Lord, doing the Work, also through her direct assistance to our Father, to Don Álvaro, and to Don Javier." He added: "In the Gospel we heard during this Holy Mass,^[1] we were reminded of the way the Lord put caring for others at the centre of the Final Judgement: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, visiting the sick... We have meditated on these words many times, and it impressed us, and still impresses us, to hear Jesus tell us that what we do for others, we do for Him! He himself affirms that it is the condition for entering the Kingdom of Heaven!"

Young people from different countries and many people who lived with Rosalía and learned many aspects of the spirituality of Opus Dei from her – especially about working with love, eagerness to serve, competence, and good humour – were present at the Mass. She passed away just after turning 99, and in the last years of her life she was cared for with affection and gratitude.

Because of her many years of close collaboration with the founder, the current Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, has arranged for Rosalía's mortal remains to rest in the crypt of the prelatic church of Our Lady of Peace, in Rome, next to Carmen Escrivá de Balaguer and close to St. Josemaría Escrivá and his first successors, as well as Dora del Hoyo, the first assistant numerary, who is in the process of canonization.

^[1] Mt 25:31-46.