As the 80th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Women’s Section of Opus Dei was approaching, we asked Forum readers who or what came to their minds; one of the replies was “the first women of Opus Dei, especially those first sent to Rome who were needed to give support to the Founder”. One of these important ‘pillars’ of Opus Dei, especially during the beginnings, was Encarnación ‘Encarnita’ Ortega, whose process of beatification is in progress.

Encarnita Ortega was born on 5 May 1920 in Ponte Caldelas (Pontevedra). She first met St Josemaría in Valencia during a Retreat in March of 1941. This meeting was referred to by the current Prelate of Opus Dei in his Address to Priests last 5 February 2010:

“She attended the first Retreat preached by St Josemaría for female university students in Alacuás, where the Operarias Doctrineras [‘Workers of Doctrine’] had a Retreat house. Encarnita, then a young lady of 21 years, had gone those days to that Retreat, moved by the desire ―or perhaps a curiosity― to know the author of The Way, a book that had caused a profound impact on her….”

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The following year, in 1942, the Founder presented her with many apostolic initiatives that he thought the women of Opus Dei could and should carry out. One of these is the so-called “Apostolate of Fashion“. In 1993, she publishes the book “LA MODA: ¿la conoces en toda su dimensión?“, the Foreword of which was written by Enrique Loewe Lynch. Please click here for a provisional translation of Chapter 2 “Ethics” of the book. You may click here, too, for Fashion and Lifestyle links (suggested by men and women)

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Prayer for private devotion:

Oh Lord, you have shown your daughter Encarnita the attractiveness of sanctity in the middle of the world and have given her the grace to faithfully walk the path of Opus Dei: Grant me, as you granted her, the grace of discovering your Love each day and of communicating it to those near me. Deign to glorify your daughter Encarnita and grant me through her intercession the favor I request. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D. is the founder and President of the Ruth Institute. Dr. Morse brings a unique voice to discussions of love, marriage, sexuality and the family. A committed career woman before having children, she earned a doctorate in economics, and spent fifteen years teaching at Yale University and George Mason University. In 1991, she and her husband adopted a two year old Romanian boy, and gave birth to a baby girl. She left her full-time university teaching post in 1996 to move with her family to California. She was a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. Until August 2006, Dr. Morse and her husband were foster parents for San Diego County. In the summer of 2008, Dr. Morse founded the Ruth Institute, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to bringing hope and encouragement for life-long married love.

What I wish to highlight here are characteristics that I think set the Institute apart from other pro-family organizations that defend and promote marriage as a natural institution: its grounding in honest-to-goodness research as well as its special focus on young people, especially university students.  For instance, recently some students’ essays at a Conference called “Stand For Family” have been awarded for being the best research outputs for topics ranging from Parenting and Marital Relationship Quality, to Family and the Natural Law, to the phenomenon of Same-Sex ‘Marriages’.  The essays have been made available here.