“Hidden under this garden covered in roses, he said, is the silent effort of so many souls who with their work and prayer, their prayer and work, have won from Heaven abundant showers of grace, which makes everything fertile.” – St. Josemaría Escrivá Furrow, 530

A coffee table book narrating the behind the scenes view of St. Josemaría Escrivá’s canonization. Includes a CD.

About the Author

Born in a family of seven children, Bess did her studies in primary and secondary school at St. Rita College in Quiapo, Manila. In the University of Santo Tomas she studies in the Faculty of Commerce.

It was during her last years in the University that a friend of hers brought her to a Center of Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church of which shortly after she became a member. From then on, she has dedicated herself to the tasks of the domestic Administration of different centres of Opus Dei, especially in Rome where she lived for almost twenty-eight years.

During that period, she received several times the assignment of decorating for important events, among them: for the Prelatic Church of Holy Mary of Peace; for the Basilica of St. Eugene, on commemorative anniversaries of the death of the Founder of Opus Dei, Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer and for his beatification in 1992; for the International Congress The Grandeur of Ordinary Life in the birth centennial of St. Josemaría; for the Basilica of St. Mary Major, on the 50th anniversary of the priestly ordination of the Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Javier Echevarría. For the canonization of the Founder of Opus Dei, she took care of the design and supervision of the decoration of St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica of St. Eugene of which she narrates in this book.