Fr. Joseph Muzquiz: Boston Archdiocese Opens Cause for Opus Dei Priest

José Luis Múzquiz de Miguel was born in 1912, in Badajoz, Spain. While studying engineering in Madrid in 1934, he met St. Jose­maría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Responding to God’s call, he joined Opus Dei in 1940. Until his ordination as a priest, he worked as a civil engineer building bridges and railroad stations for the Spain’s national railroad system. He would eventually obtain three doctorates: Civil Engineering, History and Canon Law.

In 1949 Father Joseph and a young Spanish physicist, Salvador Ferigle, came to the United States to start Opus Dei’s apostolic work. They began in Chicago and within ten years had also established centers in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Boston and Washington. He also helped start Opus Dei’s work in Japan and Canada.

In the late 1950s, he trav­eled extensively, laying the groundwork for Opus Dei’s beginnings in Asia. He subsequently worked in Rome, Switzerland and Spain, and then in 1976 he returned to the United States. He resided in Boston from 1981 until his death on June 21, 1983. He is bur­ied in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Brookline, MA. 

The Servant of God, Father Joseph Muzquiz

Prayer for Private Devotion

God, you helped your servant Joseph work with generosity and simplicity. He spread the message of sanctity in secular life to many people, teaching them to find joy and peace in their daily life. Help me to seek first the kingdom of God, by sanctifying my everyday work and dedicating myself generously to the salvation of souls. Glorify your servant Joseph, and through his intercession, grant me the favor I ask of you.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

~ Excerpt and prayer from Opus Dei ~

Putting Down Roots by John Coverdale (author of Uncommon Faith) is the exciting story of the beginnings of Opus Dei in the U.S. It tells how Fr. Joseph Muzquiz came to America in 1949 to begin Opus Dei with very little money and only a rudimentary command of the language. At the time, only a handful of Americans had ever heard of Opus Dei. But by the time he passed away in 1983, Opus Dei had put down deep roots in this country.

In Putting Down Roots, we learn many remarkable details about Fr. Joseph’s life including:

• His first meeting with St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei.

• His tireless efforts, first as a layman, then as a priest, to spread Opus Dei in Spain during the 1940s.

• His remarkable faith beginning Opus Dei with Salvador Ferigle in the U.S. with no money, few contacts, and a very rudimentary command of English.

• The many heroic virtues he lived, earning him a reputation as an unusually holy priest.

Today, many people in the United States and in other countries pray to Fr. Joseph, as he was called in this country, and hope that one day the Church will declare him a saint. This book explains why.

Putting Down Roots contains eight pages of photos.

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.