www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall What is Opus Dei?

As the topic states, I am interested to find out what Opus Dei is. Also, I would be interested in heaering about Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox points of view, if there are any.

Daniil

Dear Daniil,

While I'm at it, let me say that Opus Dei is a religious movement, like an Order, that was founded by Bl. Josemaria Escriva, who will be canonized a saint this year.

They are a wealthy order of traditional priests.

Some say they are almost like a cult, but are extremely loyal to the Pope and traditional Catholic faith and morality.

God bless,

Alex

The Catholic Encyclopedia has (if I remember correctly) a fairly substantial article on OD and their history. You might find that a better source of information than anything else.

As Eastern Christians, we are not on their radar screen.

Blessings!

Hi Daniil --

Before I became Orthodox, I was a cooperator in Opus Dei. A cooperator is not a full member, but one who helps in activities, etc.

Opus Dei is a Roman Catholic group devoted to sanctifying daily work while partaking in the sacramental life of the Church. There are three types of full members: priests, numeraries (celebate laymen and women) and super-numeraries (married laymen and women).

A day in the life of a numerary would be the following:

Rise from bed and engage in silent meditation for about 30 minutes.
Attend daily Mass
15 minutes silent prayer after Mass
Go to work (secular jobs)
Pray the Angelus at Noon
Come home from work
Eat dinner
Pray the rosary
Meditate on the other 10 mysteries
Read daily gospel
Silent prayer for about 45-60 minutes
Go to the Get Together (spend 30 minutes talking with fellow numeraries)
Additional prayers at night
Go to bed

In addition:

Go to confession every week
Go on yearly course (2 weeks a year)
Attend the Circle every week

Opus Dei is very "Roman" in its outlook. Ultra-montane and hightly Thomistic. The spirituality is as far away from an Orthodox spirituality as you can get...big time (as Dick Cheney would put it).

I didn't stay with OP long because of this. Opus Dei caters to highly educated, upper middle-class people. 99% of all OP Centers are situated around a major university...this way they can recruit individuals who will have an advanced degree and high earning potential. Kinda sounds like something Mormons would do.

Go to opusdei.org
Opus Dei [opusdei.org]

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, I heard it was kinda cultish, and so I wanted a second opinion.
Thanks.

Daniil

Dear Daniil:

The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei," or OPUS DEI for short, is the first (and, I think, the only one so far) personal prelature in the Catholic Church. It was erected by Pope John Paull II as his personal prelature on 28 November 1982. It was founded by Bl. Escriva in Madrid, Spain on 02 October 1928. It is international in membership having about 80,000 from more than 70 countries, and about 3,000 to 4,000 of them from the U.S.A. As can be gleaned from the name of the organization, it is composed of both the clergy and laity. It has its main center in Rome and is under the control of the Pope thru the Sacred Congregation for Bishops. Contrary to Dr. John's opinion, I think it is open to ALL Catholics.

To quote Fr. John Trigilio:

"Opus Dei is neither a religious order, like the Dominicans, Franciscans & Jesuits, nor is it a Secular Institute or religious movement, like
Cursillo or Charismatic. It is a Personal Prelature, 95% which is laity and only 5% clergy. It was founded by the late and recently beatified Blessed Jose Maria Escriva in the early thirties in Spain. Well before Vatican II taught the UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS of all the baptized, Msgr. Escriva sought to promote a spirituality for the laity. Previously, the only spirituality was that of the religious monks and nuns. The monastic life, especially the rule of St. Augustine and St. Benedict was the keystone of spirituality. The mendicant orders, Dominican & Franciscan, were a modification of these. The parish priest, i.e., the Diocesan (Secular) Priesthood was a further modification of those. Hence, all Priests, regular (religious) or secular (diocesan), must pray the Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours is designed in a monastic style, with the hours of the day broken up as the monks divided their day.

The laity had to adapt and dilute the already attenuated monastic spirituality for themselves. Consequently, laypeople had no spirituality
which was uniquely their own. It was nothing more than a watered down version of a religious spirituality. Msgr. Escriva found this
unacceptable, save for those laity who felt called to embrace the Third Order (tertiaries) of Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, et al. He
devised a spirituality of and for the laity. OPUS DEI, the Work of God, is a means by which the Catholic Faithful sanctify themselves and the
world in which they live and work. It is comprised of all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, homemakers, teachers, students, bus drivers, retirees, etc. The goal is for each member of Opus Dei to bring their Roman Catholic Faith into their WHOLE life, home, work & play. As leaven in the world, the laity being IN the world bring Christ and the Catholic Faith INTO that same world by the way they practice their Faith. The clergy's function is to HELP the laity find their spirituality and to help them bring the FAITH to the world.

Opus Dei, then, is a vehicle by which its members sanctify the world by sanctifying themselves in whatever situation and condition and vocation
they find themselves. The so-called "secret" of Opus Dei is that the members do not wear their religion on their armsleeves. They are very
well read in the Magisterial teachings of the Church, are very loyal to the Holy See, and they quietly but effectively defend Church dogma and
faithfully practice their Catholic Faith 24 hours a day without crediting it to Opus Dei,
necessarily. Their absence of self-publicity breeds contempt from their enemies who see them as clandestine. In reality, it is nothing more than humility. Opus Dei members study the Faith and they INFUSE Catholic virtues into a secular world and secular society. Rather than selling out to the social mores of the pagan culture like modern sycophants, Opus Dei members uphold the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Church and encourage all men and women of all faiths to obey the Natural Moral Law. Due to their resistance of diluting Church law, many opponents accuse Opus Dei of being anti-ecumenical.

All in all, Opus Dei is a superb method for any Catholic Christian to know their Faith more fully, to create a concrete strategy for Christianizing the world and to build up the kingdom of God via ALL members of the Church, lay and clergy. As it is more cerebral and
intellectual, it may not attract everyone just as the Cursillo and Charismatic Movements are not for everyone either. It is fully legitimate and fully recognized by the Church, from the Roman Pontiff on down. All I can say is to check it
out by attending a day of recollection, make a retreat or talk to some members of Opus Dei to see if it is for YOU. Read Msgr. Escriva's
monumental work, "THE WAY" and see if it helps you in developing a spirituality; a plan of life. If not, at least it won't be a waste of
time by any means."

A group I have recently heard of is Miles Jesu.

They seem to have a healthy understanding of the Eastern Church, going so far as having a section of eastern prayers in their group prayer book.

They also have a small book titled A Comparison of the Eastern and Western Liturgies.

I will see if I can find more out about them after Easter.

There web site is at http://www.milesjesu.com/

If you click on the General Information link you go to a web page that has a picture of their founder, Fr Duran. With the vestments he is wearing, the hand cross he is holding, and the icons in the background, it appears that he is somewhat eastern, doesn't it.

Any one know anything about them? Or should I find out and share with all?


Your brother in Christ,
David

Dear Daniil:

If I may add, the OPUS DEI is not a cult nor is it "cultish." It is just that it requires more commitment.

By the way, the conversion of the famous Jewish abortionist, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, and author of "Aborting America" and "The Abortion Papers" is credited to the persistence of an OPUS DEI priest.

Yours in Christ.

Thanks, Greg, for that information. I always had the impression, when I was a RC, that this was an organization largely comprised of elites -- sort of an elite prelature within the Church. Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the noted spokesman for the Pope, is a member of O.D.

Brendan

Yes, Miles Jesu people are in L'viv, and their parish is the only one in the city - Orthodox or Greek Catholic - with traditional style iconography!

Good point, Amando. I guess people that devote their lives to something that is not completely sociallly accepted are considered cultish sometimes. No wonder my friends think that Eastern Catholicism and Orthodoxy is weird.

Daniil

Here in Glasgow [ I don't know about elsewhere] we have 2 houses for Opus Dei members . They live in community there , going out to work and return to the houses at night. I don't know if it is common practice. Even the name plates for the houses do not mention Opus Dei.

Very little seems to be known about them - other than what has been entered above - this to me seems a shame as it suggests a secretive side. The one member I do know certainly does not 'advertise' she is a member.

Examining the daily activities of the OD member, I think it would be very difficult for an Eastern Catholic to be a member. We don't have Mass/Liturgy daily; we don't do the Angelus; we don't do the Rosary, and so we'd have to find something else to substitute for each of these three. (I'm not saying that one couldn't do them; it's just that one would be doing syncretism, and that's a canonical no-no.)

My point in saying that "we are not on their radar screen" was not that Easterns couldn't join, but rather that they are intensely Roman Catholic, and that the rest of us are just not Roman Catholic enough for them. So, we are not missionized by them, which, of course, is good for us since we are trying to continue our movement East.

Blessings!

Dear Dr. John,

How would private devotions (which are free to be taken up by or left alone by anyone) and going to Mass in the rite of a Church with which you are in communion be canonically wrong (syncretism)?

It's a question of spirituality. Our Byzantine (and your Syriac) tradition have been developed over many centuries and an organic whole. The prayers (particularly) and the liturgical celebrations (generally) lead one in a specific direction perforce of the words, the music and body-movements.

Introducing other elements tends to lead a person on tangents. This is not good for one's spiritual progress because I fear that doing the 'crazy quilt' thing in spirituality may lead to all sorts of psychological/spiritual/theological places that are, for lack of a better word,: untested. The great advantage of following a consistent spirituality is that our ancestors have been there and done that and we know where it leads.

In addition, our spirituality has got to be in harmony with our community. We Easterns are really community oriented, much more so than the massive 'community' engendered by (non-Eastern) parishes in the U.S. (This is our secret!!! We are community!)

So, no offense to the other ways of doing things, but it's critical for us to be with 'our own' and to do whatever "we" do.

Blessings!

One of the posts above quoted them as saying that monastic spirituality is not the spirituality of laypeople.

That's why Opus Dei will never jive with Byzantine Catholics or Orthodox--there is no difference in spirituality between monastics and laymen, because the cornerstone of Byzantine spirituality is the Jesus Prayer, which can be prayed by anyone. The Philokalia, while written in a monastic context, is applicable to anyone. There is no strict division between monk and layman in our Church. All are called to put away the world. Renunciation is paramount.

In Christ,

anastasios