Camino begins with a brief prologue, a poem of 14 lines, which sketches the nature and goal of the book:
Read slowly through these counsels.
Meditate deliberately these considerations.
They are things that I whisper in your ear,
in the confidence of friend, of brother,
of father.
And these confidences are heard by God.
I will not tell you anything new.
I am going to stir up your memories,
so that there may arise some thought
that pierces you:
and so you will improve your life
and set out on paths of prayer
and of Love.
And end up a discerning soul.1
As the first lines indicate, this book is a collection of “counsels” or “considerations,” 999 brief reflections of one or two sentences each, condensed from the rich texture of everyday life. They are written as “performative speech,” words that effect change rather than simply providing information: Escrivá intends the reader to “improve” his life and “set out” on new paths. And the overall goal of this change is for the reader to become alma de criterio — here rendered as “discerning soul.”2
This is a difficult phrase to translate, and it occurs only this one time in all of Escrivá’s works. The published English translations give “soul of worth,” but this discards a crucial aspect of the original meaning, which is central to the whole hermeneutic we are following in this series. The word criterio (just like the English “criteria”) derives from the Greek word “krisis,” which means the act of judgment. Criterio is what empowers one to cast a definite and stable judgment on one’s own actions and those of others. An alma de criterio is someone whose soul is characterized by this power, and who therefore becomes a natural point of reference, giving shape and direction to the whole social sphere in which he or she moves. In Escrivá’s vision, positive world change is accomplished through the presence of a few such individuals in each field of human activity, who serve to reverse whatever entropic corruption and automatism may have set in, injecting new vitality and purpose into the relevant institutions.
This vision is only plausible from the perspective of Trinitarian faith. The alma de criterio is someone who walks “along ways of prayer and of Love”: who communes with God, and comes to share in the Love (with a capital “L”) between the heavenly Father and his eternal Son, the Love which is itself divine. This occurs through communion with Jesus, the Son incarnate, by participation in his own eternal relation of origin and response of love to the Father, which he experiences and lives as a true human being. The alma de criterio can bear the world-historic weight that Escrivá places on him because he is another Christ, alter Christus, or even Christ himself, ipse Christus.3
But where does such a person come from? How could he possibly arise from the corrupt society he is supposed to enlighten? Marx’s insights about the (at least partial) social construction of individual identity necessarily lead to this “chicken-and-egg” problem. If the social structures that shape human thought are infected with injustice and oppression, how does the philosopher escape from this prison? For Escrivá, this conundrum has been solved by God’s own initiative. He presumes that the “ground” of his reader’s consciousness – forged by his interpersonal relationships and social practices – already contains everything needed to become the alma de criterio, to be the conduit for the irruption of new life: “I will not tell you anything new... I will stir your memory.” This perspective is a necessary consequence of Escrivá’s faith in the world change definitively accomplished by Jesus Christ in his life on earth. The whole project hinges on the continued persistence of the new, pure “ground” created by this event, and incarnated in a definite social structure — existing alongside and intermixed with human institutions in various states of corruption or rebirth.4 Just as Mary was preserved from all sin in order to be the mother of Jesus, an immaculate social matrix is necessary for the alma de criterio, as ipse Christus, to be conceived.5
But the act of writing the book indicates that this is still not sufficient: the reader already participates in this matrix, as a practicing Catholic, but has not yet reached the goal. The first lines of the prologue provide the missing piece, beginning with the initial imperative verb, addressed by the author to the reader. Like Socrates and Plato, Escrivá sees one-on-one conversation as the ordinary path towards interior transformation. Although he does not deliver any new “information,” the figure of the “friend, brother, father” plays an indispensable role in awakening the soul to its sublime destiny. This role is humble and discreet, since the “father” has no grounds for claiming ownership of the fruits of his work. The material all comes from the pre-existing immaculate “ground” of the Church, and the new life comes directly from God himself. The earthly father is the servant of a project that radically exceeds him, just like Joseph in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
The prologue thus reflects one of Escrivá’s deepest theological intuitions: the idea of traversing the “earthly trinity” of the Holy Family to reach the heavenly Trinity.6 The whole book can be read as an explanation of this path, tracing it out in detail from beginning to end. The first section (chapters 1-19) corresponds to Joseph, accompanying the reader through the principal stages of individual interior growth from the first flashes of spiritual magnanimity to full Christian maturity. At the conclusion of this process, the reader becomes aware of the rich matrix of practices, doctrines and relations that had been sustaining him this whole time, as typified by Mary nurturing the unconscious infant in her womb. The second section of the book (chapters 20-35) brings into focus the various aspects of this “ground,” helping the newly awakened reader to actively participate in all the relevant practices and relationships. Full of interior life and conscious of the fabric that sustains him, the reader is now ready for the final step: the invitation to become ipse Christus, Christ himself, the living presence of the divine source who continually generates the “ground” of the new humanity. The third section of the book (chapters 36-46) relays the divine invitation to ascend to this level, urging the reader to accept it unconditionally, which is the only way it can be actualized.
In the next essays, we will examine each of these parts in more detail. Here is the full table of contents indicating which chapters belong to each part and sub-part, to refer back to as we go along (the full book can be found in the original Spanish and in English translation at escrivaworks.org):7
I. Joseph – spiritual awakening
A. Praxis: Character, Direction, Prayer, Holy Purity, Heart, Mortification, Penance, Examination, Resolutions, Scruples
B. Gnosis: Presence of God, Supernatural life, More about interior life, Lukewarmness, Study, Formation, The plane of your sanctity, Love of God, Charity
II. Mary – the ecclesial matrix
A. Practices and relations: The means, The Virgin, The Church, Holy Mass, Communion of Saints, Devotions
B. A life awake to the ground: Faith, Humility, Obedience, Poverty, Discretion, Cheerfulness, Other virtues, Tribulations, Interior struggle, Last things
III. Jesus – becoming alma de criterio
A. The divinized personality: The will of God, The glory of God, Proselytism, Little things, Tactics, Spiritual childhood, Life of childhood
B. The specific invitation: Calling, The apostle, The apostolate, Perseverance
Camino (part 3)
In the last essay, we saw how Saint Josemaría Escrivá’s proposal for changing the world relies on the formation of almas de criterio: people filled with divine wisdom through their identification with Jesus Christ, who become points of reference for their whole sphere of professional work and social life. The first step in producing such an individual i…
Lee despacio estos consejos.
Medita pausadamente estas consideraciones.
Son cosas que te digo al oído,
en confidencia de amigo, de hermano,
de padre.
Y estas confidencias las escucha Dios.
No te contaré nada nuevo.
Voy a remover en tus recuerdos,
para que se alce algún pensamiento
que te hiera:
y así mejores tu vida
y te metas por caminos de oración
y de Amor.
Y acabes por ser alma de criterio.
This translation was helpfully suggested by ChatGPT:
The Spanish phrase "alma de criterio" can be translated into English in various ways, capturing its essence in different contexts. Here are five alternative translations:
1. **Discerning Soul**: This translation emphasizes the ability to judge and make decisions based on careful consideration and sound judgment.
2. **Thoughtful Spirit**: This translation highlights a deep-thinking and reflective nature that considers various factors before forming opinions or making choices.
3. **Judicious Essence**: This translation conveys a sense of wisdom and balanced judgment that is inherent to the person's core nature.
4. **Critical Mindset**: This translation emphasizes the capacity for critical thinking and analysis, indicating someone who evaluates situations and ideas thoughtfully.
5. **Perceptive Being**: This translation highlights the individual's ability to perceive and understand matters keenly, suggesting an insightful and intuitive nature.
cf. Christ is Passing By, n. 96: “We can't let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls. The Christian is obliged to be alter Christus, ipse Christus: another Christ, Christ himself.”
The precise nature of the relation between this new society and natural human institutions is the subject of many of Jesus’ parables, including the parable of the leaven, that of the mustard seed, and that of the salt. Augustine of Hippo attempted a systematic analysis of this problem in his masterwork City of God, and it continues to be a matter of debate among Catholic scholars. Escrivá’s program involves a particular perspective on this issue, which will emerge with more clarity as we proceed.
Normally, the inevitable personal defects of those in authority tend to gradually erode the purity and vitality of any institutional structure, no matter how noble its beginnings. Escrivá’s proposal relies on the belief that the Church of Christ is exempt from this rule thanks to her divine origin — that even the worst scoundrels who have come to occupy high positions have not managed to infect the underlying “ground.” What is meant by this will hopefully become clearer when we reach the section of the book dedicated to the Church.
Apparently this insight is not entirely original to Escrivá, since it is clearly visible in the seventeenth-century painting reproduced above, with the phrase itself appearing in the painting’s title.
Escrivá divided the book into 46 chapters, but did not indicate the larger-scale section divisions. The divisions given here coincide with those identified by Pedro Rodriguez in the introduction to the critical edition of Camino, but he gives them different names, and does not connect them to the members of the Holy Family. The terms “praxis” and “gnosis” come from the standard terminology of the Greek Fathers for describing the two principal elements of Christian life, as will be explained in more detail in the next essay.