Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri

On January 25, 1944, Guadalupe met Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. On March 19, 1944, she requested admission as a numerary. She dedicated herself to the formation of young women in Madrid and Bilbao. In 1950, she left for Mexico to establish Opus Dei there. She promoted the creation of a university residence in Mexico City and engaged in the advancement of women from rural areas, notably through the reconstruction of the former sugar plantation of Montefalco to turn it into a center for vocational and agricultural training. In 1956, she moved to Rome to collaborate in the governance of Opus Dei, but heart problems forced her to return to Spain in 1958. There, she defended her doctoral thesis in chemistry in 1965 and participated in 1968 in the creation of the CEICID.

Guadalupe's life is a testimony to holiness in the ordinary, with a Eucharistic and Marian spirituality. Despite fragile health due to her heart condition, she refused to complain and looked after others. In June 1975, she was admitted to the University Clinic of Navarre in Pamplona for a complex heart operation. The surgery took place on July 1, 1975. She subsequently developed acute respiratory failure and passed away peacefully on July 16, 1975, the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at the age of 58.

The cause for beatification opened in 2001. On May 4, 2017, Pope Francis declared her venerable. On June 8, 2018, a miracle was recognized: the instantaneous and unexplained healing in 2002 of Antonio Jesús Sedano Madrid from a basal cell carcinoma near his right eye, after having prayed to Guadalupe. She was beatified on May 18, 2019, at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, representing Pope Francis. Her liturgical feast is set for May 18.

The first layperson of Opus Dei to be beatified, her spirituality rests on the sanctification of professional work and a contagious joy. She proved that there is no contradiction between a scientific career and a life of prayer. In 2024, the Official College of Chemists of Madrid chose her as their patron saint. The institutions she founded, such as the Montefalco College in Mexico, continue to educate generations of young women.