Our Lives in His Hands: An Ordinary Couple's Path to Holiness

By Olga Marlin

One of the young men who accompanied St. Josemaría Escrivá on his escape to freedom during the Spanish Civil War was Tomás Alvira. He wished to follow the founder of Opus Dei in a life of apostolic dedication, but as a married, rather than a single, person. St. Josemaría advised him to wait and, at the right time, he could become part of Opus Dei as well as be a family man with wife and children, which happened within 10 years. This is the story of the life and adventures of Tomás and his wife Paquita, who raised a large family and whose cause of holiness is now progressing through the approval process of the Catholic Church.