The Work, "firm, compact and secure," closely united to our Father in the same intention, has prayed, suffered, hoped, and worked. And this has meant an immense good for Opus Dei and for the entire Church... God constantly took the initiative, acting in many different ways in our Father’s heart and mind. We, his daughters and sons, have benefited from this... Despite our personal wretchedness the Work has traveled "at God’s pace." Our Father took up this pace heroically from the very beginning. In the midst of a divinely accompanied solitude, it was "his lot" to tackle the steepest slopes towards which our Lord was directing us. Our task was to follow him, all together, though perhaps we were unaware of the thorns that pierced his soul at each step.
Álvaro del Portillo,
Letter November 28, 1982, no. 3, in Rendere amabile la verità, p. 50.
