Last of the Romantics

St Josemaria in the Twenty-First Century

“I love the freedom of others,” said St. Josemaría, “yours, that of the person passing by right now on the street, because if I didn’t love it, I couldn’t defend mine. But that’s not the main reason. The main reason is this: that Christ died on the Cross to give us freedom, so that we could live in the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

St. Josemaría Escrivá referred to himself as the “Last of the Romantics,” and under this title Mariano Fazio portrays the founder of Opus Dei as a passionate defender of freedom. As he does so, Fazio offers an orderly, clear, and attractive presentation of many of St. Josemaría’s key teachings. These teachings will challenge his readers and hopefully awaken in them the same love of freedom that St. Josemaría bore in his heart. “Don’t let me be ‘the last of the romantics,’” he would say. “This is Christian romanticism: to love the freedom of others, with love and affection.

Rev. Msgr. Mariano Fazio Fernández (Buenos Aires, 1960) is a historian and philosopher. From 2002 to 2008 he was Rector Magnificent of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and President of the Conference of Rectors of the Pontifical Roman Universities. He is the author of more than twenty books on philosophy and history, which have been translated into several languages.