The Way is a book on spirituality written by Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei

Opus Dei

Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...

. The book was first published in 1934 under the title Consideraciones espirituales. It later received its definitive title in 1939. More than four and a half million copies have been sold, in 43 different languages. The same title has also been given to certain companies that manufacture Bibles.

According to Escrivá his motivation was: "The 999 points which make up The Way were written with yearnings to see 'Christ, the Light of the World.' Anyone who reads it with the same yearnings will not have opened this book in vain."

The Way was written based on notes Escrivá took during the day and during times of prayer, notes which are based on his reflections on the gospel

Gospel

A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...

 and its application to specific situations arising from his personal pastoral experience. Many of the points are counsels he actually gave to persons in spiritual direction

Spiritual direction

Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their own personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of his or her encounters of the divine, or how he or she is experiencing...

. Some are letters he wrote and received. Thus it has a conversational style. As a reviewer in the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 newspaper Osservatore Romano (March 24, 1950) put it: "Msgr. Escrivá de Balaguer has written something more than a masterpiece; he has written straight from the heart, and straight to the heart go the short paragraphs which make up The Way." The writer on the Spanish Catholic world, Frances Lannon

Frances Lannon

Dr Frances Lannon, FRHS is a British academic and educator. She is Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall and at St Antony's College...

, has described it as " a bizarre amalgam of traditional piety, penitential discipline, and crude popular moralizing; it aims at a fusion of devotion with efficiency, inward humility with the exercise of leadership and power. Its readers are exhorted to childlike simplicity, to silence and discretion, and to orderliness; they are encouraged to pray to guardian angels

Guardian Angels

The Guardian Angels is a non-profit international volunteer organization of unarmed citizen crime patrollers. The Guardian Angels organization was founded February 13, 1979 in New York City by Curtis Sliwa and has chapters in 15 countries and 144 cities around the world.Sliwa originally created the...

 and to the souls in purgatory

Purgatory

Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...

, and to bless themselves every day with holy water

Holy water

Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...

. But they are also urged to acquire professional competence, to stand out from the crowd, to lead and to dominate."

External links

• The Way, full text of the book