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Ever since she was very small
Carmen was a happy,
sociable, generous child
with a strong character.
She liked animals, plants,
reading and music
and continued to love these things
all her life.
She was especially close
to her brother, Josemaria,
two years younger than her.
Then came Chon,
Dolores and Rosario.
All the children learned from their parents
what real piety meant
and abandoning yourself into God's hands as his children.
In Madrid, on October 2, 1928,
Fr Josemaria saw that God
was asking him to do Opus Dei.
There would be people from every walk of life.
A path to holiness in the middle of the world,
through doing your ordinary work
perfectly, for love of God
and also fulfilling
your ordinary duties.
He immediately started to teach
this spirit entrusted to him by God
to the people around him.
Opus Dei grew silently
on the basis of the founder's
prayer, sacrifice and work.
Carmen and her mother, Dolores, very naturally
opened up their home and helped in thousands of ways
in St Josemaria's priestly ministry.
Dolores - or Grandmother,
as she is affectionately known in Opus Dei -
died suddenly on April 22, 1941.
Carmen missed her a lot,
but did not let this new sorrow hold her back.
Now she was like a second mother
to her youngest brother and at the same time
looked after the cooking and housekeeping
for the first Opus Dei centers.
In 1957 Carmen was diagnosed
with a serious form of cancer.
Fr Josemaria asked for prayers
for a miracle
if it was God's will.
The life of Carmen Escriva,
Aunt Carmen,
is a simple, ordinary story
like that of so many women
who give their lives for others
without asking for any reward.
But at the same time it is the story of the daily heroism
of the silent holiness
of an ordinary Christian.