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Close of the diocesan phase of the Cause of Canonization of the servant of God Encarnación Ortega Pardo

On January 20, Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Perez, of Valladolid, concluded the diocesan phase of the process of canonization of the servant of God Encarnación Ortega Pardo (1920-1995), a faithful of the Prelature of Opus Dei since 1941.

The Archbishop emphasized that “this celebration has much to tell us.” He referred to her “proximity in time and space,” since Encarnita lived for more than twenty years in Valladolid; and he emphasized her exemplary life, in which she harmonized her work in the field of fashion with her apostolate.

Archbishop Blázquez said that Encarnación Ortega “received God’s touch after assisting at a day of recollection preached by St. Josemaria, founder of Opus Dei,” and that her life was an eloquent witness to love for God, including her way of confronting sickness.

During the ceremony the boxes containing the more than five thousand pages with the documentary and testimonial evidence gathered by the tribunal since March of 2009 were closed and sealed, and they will be sent for study to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

According to the postulator of the Cause, Father José Carlos Martin de la Hoz, “the zeal of the servant of God for the advancement of women, without distinctions of any form, her bringing forward tasks of formation, social assistance and education, and her work in the field of fashion to foster the dignity of women, make her a good example for the evangelization of the world in which we live.”

Encarnación Ortega was one of the first women of Opus Dei, and worked closely with the Founder, both in Madrid and Rome until 1961, the year when she returned to Spain. She spent the last twenty-five years of her life in Valladolid.

In 1980 she was diagnosed with cancer. She lived with her sickness for fifteen years, without letting it slow the rhythm of her work. Her life of piety led her to convert human friendship into an opportunity to help others draw closer to Christ. She died with a reputation for holiness in Valladolid on December 1, 1995. Since then, that reputation has been extending throughout the whole world and many people have obtained graces and favors from God through her intercession.

Romana, n. 54, January-June 2012, p. 126-127.

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