Romana

In 2008, Leti Garay and her husband Hector Campogarrido, Opus Dei cooperators from Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico) who had first heard about St. Josemaría shortly before his canonization, decided that with the help of the new saint they could create a simple calendar that would further the task of evangelization.

“I had to do something to give thanks for the life of St. Josemaría and of so many saints who have been courageous in giving their lives for Christ throughout the ages,” Leti recalls. Remembering the saints and blessed who the Church presents to the faithful in the saints’ calendar, and proposing some of St. Josemaría’s phrases to help illuminate people’s daily life, accompanied by relevant photos, seemed to her the best way to put that idea into practice. Thus the Il Tempo Calendar was born, which has been published every year since 2009. Giving it an Italian name was a way of linking it to the ceremony of St. Josemaría’s canonization, held in Rome on October 6, 2002. The previous year, 2001, her son Hector José had died at the age of 13. He was a regular participant in the activities of the Cauda Club, and it was through him that the parents had come to know the then Blessed Josemaría Escrivá.

They sought out the help of a priest for the liturgical part of the calendar. They themselves oversaw the design and coordination of the project. They also asked for help from Opus Dei’s information office in Mexico to provide them with quality photos.

In addition to the printed version, this year and last year they have provided a pdf version (one sheet per month) that can be accessed from the website opusdei.org/es-mx/. Each month contains, in the upper part, an image related to St. Josemaría accompanied by a thought of his associated with it; and in the lower part, the table of the days of the month with an indication of the saint of the day and, sometimes, of some relevant event in the history of Opus Dei. By moving the cursor over the image or the day of the month, the user can find more information on the item in question.