Montse enshrined joy, vitality and generosity. Her character also came to the fore in sports. When she played tennis, she would run all over the court to battle for each point because she did not like to lose. Montse lived life intensely both in relation to God and others as her faith deepened. Tragically, she died very young a little before the age of 18, with many unfulfilled dreams and much yet to be achieved. Yet hers was a happy life for she lived it to the full, close to God. The life of each of us might be likened to a great match in which victory is assured if only we have God playing at our side in a game of doubles.
A great team
Montse was born in Barcelona (Spain), in a flat in the Eixample district. She took her first steps under the watchful eye of her parents and her brother Enrique, a year older than her.
Over the years, the Grases’ flat becomes cramped as the family grew with more children: Jorge, Ignacio, Pilar, the twins María José and Cruz, Rosario and Rafael.
Her father Manuel, worked as an Industrial Technical Engineer, while her mother, Manolita, took care of the house and the children. The boys’ studied at La Salle school, while the girls go to Las Damas Negras school.
At the beginning of the 50s, the company in which Manuel worked went bankrupt and he had to look for another job. The Grases slashed their outgoings, sold the car, and pawned the jewels to make ends meet. Despite all the sacrifices they were forced to make, they decided to keep their children on at good schools to ensure their Christian education. The family’s summer holidays were limited to a break at the seaside or up in the mountains, and the odd film at the local cinema Manolita was hard-pressed to look after the large family so soon the older children, Enrique and Montse, pitched in to help with the housework and look after the little ones, who were blissfully unaware of the hardships the family was going through.
Your family shares so many unforgettable moments. However, if love is lacking, joy is lacking; and authentic love is given to us by Jesus.
Pope Francisco
The parents’ Christian faith showed in several aspects of the family home. One of the rooms was presided over by a carving of The Virgin of Montserrat, which Manuel had lovingly restored. Since they were little, Montse and her brothers learnt from their parents to greet The Virgin, kiss her or leave a flower on the mantelpiece. At night the parents counted the rosary beads in front of that same image and on Sunday they all went together to Mass. The Grases also encouraged Christian behaviour. The children were taught never to lie nor to speak ill of others. They were also taught to care for books and personal items.
My God, make us good, Enrique, Jorge, Ignacio, Pilar, Cruz, Jose, Rosario, Rafael and me.
Montse
On Saturdays they would meet with the parents in a kind of ‘Family Council’, to talk over minor household matters. There Montse and Enrique tried to assert their status as adults. Although they did not always get their way, there was an ever-growing sense of unity between the two eldest children.
Between plants and sports
Montse started Secondary School and at the same time, studied music theory and piano at Guiteras Academy. On Sundays, she helped in the religious education taught by the nuns in the city outskirts, to which she often brought books, toys, and sweets for children.
Montse had a strong, lively character. She was an active girl and enjoyed the companionship of others. Montse was also quick to rise to challenges, which is why she loved sport. While she played to win, she also knew how to lose gracefully. She played tennis and ping-pong, and at school, she played basketball.
Alive, with initiative, determined, open to new challenges Simple, naive, with strong opinions, quick to correct Sensible and generous, cared about others, prayed to god for othersSeva
Over the years, the Grases spend their holidays in Vallvidrera, Calella, and Seva, the latter a village nestling in the Montseny mountain range. There, in the summer Montse went hiking with her family and friends.. Many of them shared their Christian faith and, as teenagers, forged a tradition of going to church before going on a hike. On their return, they would go into the church for a few minutes to visit Jesus in the tabernacle. Montse did not take ‘holidays’ when it came to showing her love for God.
After Mass we hovered around the church door, chewing the fat.
Mª Luisa Xiol
Montse enjoyed herself in Seva, where she loved walking, dancing, and singing. She was a cheerful girl and her joy was catching. With her friends she climbed the surrounding mountains, such as the Matagalls (5,568 feet). During the summer, the group rehearsed a play for the benefit of the parish. As the summer drew to a close, they would perform the play before the villagers and local holidaymakers.
Studies
Montse studied hard, while continuing her music classes and helping at home. She was a clever, practical girl and she passed the first three courses at Las Damas Negras school but had problems with some of the subjects. At the beginning of 1955 a sac formed in the wall of her small intestine — a condition that forced her to stay in bed for several weeks, making her lose several months of schooling. She finally completed the Elementary Baccalaureate in June 1956.
I admired Montse because she was strong, determined, and enthusiastic. Although we did not become friends, she was good company. I was deeply affected when I got back from the holidays and saw her obituary. It still hits me every time that I speak to Montse in my prayers as if nothing had happened.
Carmen Heredia
Llar
In October 1955 Montse went to Llar , (an Opus Dei centre on Muntaner Street, Barcelona) for the first time. Montse took to the place like a duck to water.
The people who lived in Llar at that time and the girls of Montse’s age describe her as an extraordinarily cheerful and rather mischievous girl.
She was very lively, affectionate, and above all, very cheerful. One afternoon, while I was giving private lessons around the table in a room, I suddenly felt the table move. Hidden under the tablecloth were Montse and Ana Maria, who after giving me the surprise of my life, ran out, laughing. Later on, I learnt that Montse was worried that she might have upset me.
Marijé Luna
On the very first day, she signed up for piano lessons but also helped out with practical things, because Llar has little in the way of materials. After a while, she began attending talks on Christian training, and prayers held by a priest, with whom one could hold confession. Llar swiftly became Montse’s second home.
Montse had become a teenager with a strong, clear personality. She was steadily growing to know herself and strove to soften and temper her character. Those who knew her well saw the changes in her. It was at this point that Montse decided to sign up for the match of her life, where what was really at stake was her own happiness and that of others.
Signing up for the great tournament
Montse matured quickly. She realised how much her parents worked to help her family get ahead and she strove ever harder in caring for her siblings and helping around the house. In Llar, she began asking for advice on how she could improve. She started to place greater value on studying and using her time wisely. She imparted religious education in the Montjuïc district’s slums, visited sick children in the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, and helped to raise funds for The Red Cross.
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When Montse gave me the news that her brother Enrique wanted to be a priest, she wept tears of pure joy.
Read the testimonyAna Maria Suriol
Ana Maria Suriol
Friend of MontseI met Montse when she was 14 years old and we immediately became very close friends. Almost every day we saw each other after school.
She was rather naïve, she always saw the best in people and believed everything with great naturalness. She embraced everything with great simplicity and joy. She was spontaneous and open, with an engaging smile. She treated everyone alike without regard to class or degree.
Sometimes we argued because our tastes were utterly opposed and it bothered us that we did not agree. Later this was cause for laughter, defusing something that annoyed us both.
Montse was extraordinarily sociable, and loved to be in a group and make a racket. I played basketball almost every Saturday. On Sunday mornings we went to dance ‘sardanas’ and once a month to the spiritual retreat at Llar. She loved music and singing.
Monte’s home was imbued with a plain, genuine Christian atmosphere, and the family was a big one. There was a great deal of trust between her and her mother. When Montse told me that her brother Enrique wanted to become a priest, she wept tears of pure joy. She spoke of him with great affection and yet also with respect and admiration.
She was incredibly considerate and always aware of others’ needs. For example, when we were alone talking for too long, I suffered because I knew that her mother would need her, or because someone would be looking for her. When she helped dress her sisters and comb their hair, she did so with pleasure, even though she sometimes grumbled when they did not do what she told them. Yet she always tried to style their hair the way they liked best.
When we were still young, we wanted to become nurses. We seemed to have a true vocation for it. Montse cared for those who suffered. Over Christmas, we went to visit a young girl who lived in reduced circumstances. The girl had a brain tumour that made her suffer a lot and from which she died. It made a big impression on Montse.
She clearly found it a spiritual struggle not to speak about herself.
Read the testimonyCarmen Salgado
Carmen Salgado
Friend of MontseI met Montse in Llar, in January 1957. To help those who lived there, we painted doors, we fixed furniture, we fixed the taps... Montse wanted everyone in Llar to be happy, have the best time and enjoy it. She often called me to help her bring a record player and one day, even a film projector.
She loved to prepare the Communion ornaments. She put her heart and soul into the task, as she did with everything bearing directly on God. She always washed her hands before touching the liturgical objects that were going to be in contact with The Body of Christ.
She used to save the money that she would have spent on the tram fare and walked home instead. That meant she would not have to ask her parents for money if she wanted to buy someone a small gift.
She was part of the Club Barcino basketball team and took part in a small tournament. Yet she would go to the club for her friends’ sake, even when she was not on the team. One day she invited one of them, a good student and a good athlete, to the meditation in Llar. At the end she asked her friend if he would like to receive spiritual direction from the priest. It made Montse very happy when her friend said she was.
Once we read the chapter of a book together in which the author spoke of surrendering oneself to The Will of God. When we finished, Montse exclaimed: “Isn’t this book wonderful!” She said it with such force and inner joy! It left a lasting impression on me.
It was shortly after she asked to be admitted to Opus Dei that she fell sick.
That made her resolve to dedicate her life to God’s Work all the more heroic. She was only seventeen at the time. She clearly found it a spiritual struggle not to speak about herself for she knew that doing so would only make others suffer too.
Montse was full of energy. We hiked and sang for all we were worth. Montse led and had a spring in her step.
Read the testimonySylvia Pons
Sylvia Pons
Friend of MontseI met Montse in Llar in 1957. I was older, I was 24 and I led a very social life. I coincided with her on a retreat and a conviviality course. It caught my attention to see Montse and her friends. They had a great time, running through the corridors, playing, talking, telling jokes.
Montse was full of energy. They hiked and sang lustily. Montse led and had a spring in her step.
Sometimes, since I was driving my father's car, I would go to Montse's house to pick her up to accompany her to Llar. I was waiting downstairs —- there was a lot of traffic. When I was invited in, I was strongly struck by the happy atmosphere in her family, the mess the brothers were making and how Montse took care of them. His mother was lovely and looked after everyone.
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In this daily improvement tournament, she did not play alone. In the training talks she got in Llar, she learnt to address God in a new way: in which she discovered him as Father. Montse also spent time talking with Jesus Christ in the oratory. She strove to become aware of his presence throughout the day, often going to Mass and making small sacrifices such as walking to save the tram fare or getting up earlier.
Montse made ever more friends, who are drawn from widening circles :the Seva group, the school, the Barcino Tennis Club, Llar. Furthermore, the bonds of friendship were becoming stronger. She began to share her feelings with her friends, which made her happy, especially her interest in getting closer to God. She told all her friends about Llar and invited them to receive the same spiritual help that had done her so much good.
After the summer holidays of 1956, Enrique, the oldest of the Grases, aged 16, told his family of his plans to become a priest. This news brought Montse. great joy. She always felt very close to her brother, and perhaps Enrique’s decision to dedicate his life in God’s service would influence her later vocation. In the autumn, aged 15, she took the step of attending her first spiritual retreat with two friends.
Montse wanted to become a nurse but she was still too young to start Nursing Studies and would have to wait another two years. Her parents suggested she enrol in the Women’s Domestic Crafts and Artistic Trades School, run by the Barcelona Provincial Council. The subjects taught there — sewing, dressmaking, drawing, cooking, art and crafts — did not enthuse her but she has discovered the value of a job well done and this encouraged her to learn new skills and do her best.
My dear young people, only Jesus knows what is in your hearts and your deepest desires. Only He, who has loved you to the end (cf. John 13.1), can fulfil your aspirations.
John Paul II
A new horizon
It was October 1957 and the beginning of a new school year. Enrique, had obtained his Higher Baccalaureate, and entered the Barcelona diocesan seminary. Montse practised nursing at the Hospital de San Pablo.
Months before, in a conversation with her friend Rosa, the theme of her vocation to Opus Dei came up. Montse’s reaction was one of bewilderment. With her natural honesty, she told her mother about the conversation and stopped going to Llar for a while. In the meantime, she kept praying and searching her conscience to find the voice of God.
Now she decided to attend a second spiritual retreat with a view to thoroughly examining what God’s plans for her life were. The first thing that she and Ana María did when they got to Castelldaura, the retreat house, was to find which bed had the fluffiest, most comfortable mattress. Once the best one was chosen, Montse leapt onto the bed… only for it to breaks beneath her. It was not the best start.
Yet the following days were to prove a watershed for Montse, who returned with renewed enthusiasm for what God asked of her. She prayed fervently to The Virgin and each night she briefly delved into her conscience in her quest for self-improvement. The weeks passed until, length, she grasps that if she surrendered herself to God, He in turn would lend her His Strength. Montse shared her thoughts with her parents, who advise her to think calmly and make her own choice. They say that she might like to talk to another priest they know and who does not work at Llar. Finally, after meditating and praying on her own, Montse asks for admission to Opus Dei. It was Christmas Eve 1957.
A new horizon opened up for her. His dealings with God and the desire to make others happy become the core of her life. From then on, she was even more attentive in the daily Mass, prayers, and the reading of The Gospel, recitation of the rosary, the hours of class offered to God. The change was also evident in her growing sensitivity towards others. She sought to help her parents in everything she could, she showed the patience of Job with her siblings, and she spent a lot of time with her friends, to whom she spoke about Jesus Christ. Everyone notices the joy that infused Montse.
"You cannot imagine, Father, how happy I am."
Montse
This is how Enrique describes his sister Montse’s relationship with the disease: “Pain challenged her but she overcame it. She was passionate about tennis and the whole thing was like a tennis match against pain. This match was always hard fought because there was no halfway house — either the pain wins or you do, by defeating it. Montse had the courage to look pain face to face: You are pain –she thought– but I shall use you to win! Montse turned her illness into an instrument of co-redemption“.
A match against the pain
A few days before asking for admission to Opus Dei, Montse began to feel discomfort in her left leg. At home they put it down to a fall while skiing and gave little thought to it. But over the weeks the pain worsened and her parents decided to take her to see a doctor.
The vitamins that had been prescribed had had no effect, so the doctors put Montse’s leg in plaster as a precaution. This only worsened the pain and after a few weeks they had to remove the cast. Montse’s long trek from specialist to specialist began but nobody could pin down the source of the pain. She found it ever harder to walk. in June 1958 Montse’s father received the final diagnosis: Ewing’s Sarcoma, a highly malignant bone cancer of young people that gave Montse just a few months to live.
Manuel and Manolita decided to only tell their daughter that she has a tumour and that she should start radiotherapy. Meanwhile, they strove to follow normal family life. They went to Seva, although Montse stayed in Barcelona on treatment days. She was not worried: she was young (her 17th birthday fell on the 10th of July), she was full of enthusiasm for her new vocation, and she trusted that God would give her the health to live it.
"Whatever you want"
As the days went by, Montse saw her parents’ worry and guessed that they were keeping something from her. She asked Llar’s Director: Do you know what is happening to me? When returning from Seva one weekend, at night, when the children were already in bed, Montse easked her parents to tell her exactly what she had. When she heard, she suggested having her leg amputated. But her parents had already asked the doctor: amputation would not help. Montse only said: What a pity! Then she bade them goodnight and went to her bedroom.
Her mother saw her kneeling before the Virgin of Montserrat and praying before going to bed. Manolita went in to have a word with her daughter. Montse told her mother that she had prayed to The Virgin for ‘good luck’. Later on, Manolita would learn that Montse had in fact only uttered the words “Whatever you want” to the statue of The Virgin.
Dear young people, do not fear to face these challenges! Never lose hope. Be brave, even in difficulties, remaining steadfast in your faith. You may be certain that in every circumstance you are cherished and protected by the love of God, who is our strength.
Benedict XVI
From now on, Montse lived as she had planned before getting sick, namely with a full commitment to God and to others. She had hoped her adventure that would last many years, and that she might even go to Paris to help start the first residence for university students. Yet God had other plans in store for her and she trusted that with His Grace she will be able to embark on the same divine adventure on each day of the time that she had left.
Montse took her radiotherapy sessions in good humour. Her leg was getting ever darker. She noticed the change but did not make a fuss when getting into a taxi to go to the hospital. When she saw that her fully-stretched leg would not fit on the back seat, she joked that she needed a bespoke taxi.
She went to Seva when the treatment came to an end. The neighbours were astonished to see how happy she was. Since the radiotherapy had given her back a little mobility, she dared to go cycling, pedalling with just one leg to go to mass with her friends. She did her utmost to keep up her pastimes: sport, bathing in river pools, dancing sardanas, theatre. The only thing that now lay beyond her was climbing Matagalls.
Irrepressible joy
At the end of September, she returned to Barcelona and the pains that had subsided after radiotherapy became more acute. Yet she tried to lead as normal a life as possible. She had enrolled in the Women’s Domestic Crafts and Artistic Trades School but after a few months she was forced to stop going to class. In spite of the physical difficulties and moments of discouragement, she strove to practice her faith which only grew stronger following her request to join Opus Dei. She wrote down her daily dealings with God in her notebook every night as she worked on improving her character, and better fulfilling God’s purpose the next day. She did not stop talking about God to all her friends and took a deep interest in people she barely knew. His family and friends noted her waxing mildness, strength and patience, all fruits of her faith and openness to God’s Grace.
There were moments of uncertainty. In Llar she told the Director that she sometimes made a mess of things when asking God for his healing or not.
And when I get in such a mess, I tell The Virgin to suit herself.
Yet Montse’s humour never flagged. One day, one of her friends was driving a motorbike-and-sidecar and spotted Montse at a bus top. He asked her if she would like to hop in. Montse said smiling: I want to hop in but I am not sure my leg does.
At the end of November her health swiftly began to worsen, her leg swole alarmingly, making venturing out ever harder. In those moments, Montse struggled to be happy and to cheer up the lives of others. At the same time she strove to be closer to God with each passing day in both her prayers and in a thousand other little ways.
A trip to Rome
Seeing the speed with which his daughter’s health was going downhill, Montse’s parents decided to do something that will mean the world to her, notwithstanding the impact it would have on the family’s slender resources: a lightning trip to Rome. In November Montse spent four days in The Holy City. She attended the Angelus with The Pope and visited St. Peter’s Basilica. She also met the founder of Opus Dei, Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, and lived in a residence with other young people from Opus Dei. Despite her exhaustion, she fondly recalled the trip during the following months, exclaiming: What a joy those days were!
Bed-Ridden
Christmas was spent in bed, in the room with the statue of The Virgin, a brighter space, accompanied by her family. From then on, she would hardly leave home. The pain was frightful — It is as if a dog were constantly biting my leg, she would sometimes say. Even so, Montse kept conveying the same joy and good humour as always. She tried hard to make everyone around her happy and that is why she learnt to play the guitar in bed. Sometimes she hummed a song and asked everyone to sing along. When her father, too choked with emotion to sing, hid behind the newspaper, Montse told him: Dad, I cannot hear you… I want you to be happy.
Seeing her like this, many of her friends found it hard to believe that she really was so sick. Behind her attitude were details that suggested great sacrifice: She never said no to visits; she arranged when they could come and see her; she apologised for the work she made for others; she only spoke of the pain she was in with her parents and a few people from Opus Dei. Her mother sometimes hesitated to let friends visit, fearing that they will leave her daughter exhausted. Yet Montse insisted: Mum, we’re not put here on this Earth to do whatever we want — let them in.
If a new medicine comes out, I’ll take it; If they have to cut my leg off, let them. If the Good Lord wants me to die… then I’ll die. I fight because I want to live, because I belong to Opus Dei, because I want to serve God, because I want to save my parents suffering. I love life but if God wants me to die, then I shall… because I can also help from Heaven.
In the midst of great sorrows, Montse sought to unite herself ever more with Jesus on The Cross. Her enforced physical inactivity was accompanied by an intense dialogue with God. Some days she could not read or write. Sometimes she invited someone to accompany her in prayer: We shall pray a little or Can you read The Gospel to me? Those around her were moved to see how she had accepted her life as an offering to God and how God was present in her fibre of her soul, giving her a joyful serenity.
I have sighed on occasions and begun to beseech The Lord but I caught myself in time and said “But Thou shalt console me”.
Montse’s life is ebbing fast. Her family and Llar’s do not leave her unattended. Instead, they minister to both her bodily and spiritual needs as the dark day nears. Finally, on the 26th of March, Maunday Thursday, the wellspring of life runs dry, with the small cross that Montse had kissed so often still clasped in her lifeless hands.
Montse enshrined that spirit of victory because she knew that God does not lose battles. She also knew that God's love is always stronger than death. She knew how to give everyone the love that lay within her, and she had outmatched pain, drawing upon the suffering of Christ on The Cross, with God alongside her as her tennis partner. With God on her side, it was she who won game, set, and match. I think that is part of my sister’s message to us. She turned all that pain into pure Love.
Enrique
Montse’s life and death left none of us who knew her untouched. Montse’s message still rings in my ears: Rest assured, I shall help you from heaven and never leave your side.
The gold medal of holiness
The burial took place on Easter Saturday in Barcelona’s Montjuïc Cemetery. A week later, the funeral was held in the parish of Pilar. It was attended by her parents, her brothers and her friends, for whom she done everything in lifeto make them happy. There was Enrique, who was still preparing for the priesthood. There was little Nacho, for whom Montse always picked up veneers from the floor for his collection, despite having to bend over with her badly swollen leg. There was Mari Carmen, who recalled how Montse convinced her three months earlier to make a knitted sweater between them and to give it away as part of the Llar’s giving of Christmas presents. There was also the priest who had held communion with her every day for Montse’s last months.
Montse gave me the strength to continue every day of my illness.
Read the testimonyGrace
Grace
DubaiI was given a picture of Montse when I was 10 years old and I read her biography when I was 11. Her story struck me, and even if I was not aware of the seriousness of her illness at that tender age, I knew that it was both disturbing and dramatic. The way she accepted it is remarkable. There is a phrase in the book that sticks in my mind. "She received the news by simply pouting," without complaint or words.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. The love I received from my family, friends and acquaintances helped me forget the pain and suffering, the worries about my future health and my job. Accepting God's Will gave me hope and strength to love my illness and embrace it as a gift from Him. Montse is definitely an inspiration, she gave me the strength to continue every day of my illness. As of January 2016, I am cured of my cancer. Having God close to me always makes me happy and my goal is to continue doing His Will every moment of my life.
Montse’s name is familiar to the many Congolese girls who ask for her intercession.
Read the testimonySonia
Sonia
CongoMy name is Sonia, and I am an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Kinshasa and Director of the Montse Grases Choir in Kinshasa (Congo).
In Africa, where everything is celebrated through songs and dances, choirs are very common and highly appreciated. Some are famous worldwide, such as the Luc Gillon Choir of the University of Kinshasa.
Well, since 2015, there is a new choir in Kinshasa, the "Chorale Montse Grases", formed by 50 voices of Congolese girls aged between 13 and 25.
The choir was founded to make Montse better known in Kinshasa, especially among young girls, so that she could be a paragon of holiness for them. Some choristers already knew about Montse having read her biography or had recited the prayer shown in the picture.
Little by little they invited other choristers, and we held rehearsals, which had to be done in separate groups. In March 2016, we were asked to sing at the Mass of Blessed Alvaro in the Cathedral of Kinshasa on the 12th of May. It was our first performing success.
Before each rehearsal, one of the choristers recited the prayer to Montse asking for everything to go well. Even on the day of the mass, before we began, we recited that prayer.
The choir is still running, and partly thanks to it, Montse’s name is familiar to many Congolese girls, who ask her to intercede in their exams, their personal decisions, for healing relatives, and even when they draw water from a well!
I was impressed that, like me, she had a strong character but sought to mellow it and that is how she entered heaven.
Read the testimonyRita
Rita
LebanonMy name is Rita and I am Lebanese. When I was 25 years old I left my village in the mountains and went to live in an Opus Dei centre in Beirut: I had seen that my path to holiness lay in carrying out household chores that help my family make ends meet. I decided to become an auxiliary numerary. In the centre, I was struck by a book with an orange cover and I fell in love with the story. It was a biography of Montse. Once I had picked it up, I could not put it down until I had finished reading just a couple of days later.
The book spoke of the joy of giving in Montse’s life. I was impressed by her commitment to doing God’s Will. At that time, Opus Dei suggested that I move to Spain for a while, to complete my training. I thought that if I had had trouble living in Beirut, leaving the country would be much worse but I felt that Montse encouraged me and gave me strength to take this leap.
Since I read her biography, we have become very close friends. Her shining example helps me a lot, she spurs me on whenever I feel something is beyond me. Her smile and her look greatly inspire me. I always read things about her on the Montse website.
I am impressed that like me, she had a strong character but sought to mellow her temperament and by so doing, reached heaven. It makes me to think that I can also strive for holiness in the same way.
I have a picture and a relic that are a great help in my many prayers for Montse’s intercession.
I said: Montse, you who prayed on your knees have to get me out of this scrape Marc
Read the testimonyMarc
Marc
BarcelonaMy name is Marc and I live in Barcelona. I am 25 years old and I will soon finish my Industrial Organization Engineering degree. At age 22 I was diagnosed with a myxoid liposarcoma in the left thigh. When I saw that the result of Pathological Anatomy took longer than usual, a friend encouraged me to go and entrust the matter to Montse Grases, since the Crypt was very close to my home. He took me there. I had never heard of Montse Grases before, but there I entrusted her with healing my illness. At the door I wrote in the guest book and I took a book on her life. When I read it at home, I saw that Montse had died from Ewing's sarcoma and I said: "Montse, you who prayed on your knees have to get me out of this scrape".
Soon the result of Anatomy arrived: Grade 1, with free margins. It only took 30 radiotherapy sessions to clear the cancer, and I follow the usual controls.
From time to time, I still go to the Crypt, I tell her how my life is going and I ask her to leave me in God’s hands, as she did.
Montse answered my prayer: my niece escaped the fate the doctors had forecast.
Read the testimonyLeticia
Leticia
BrazilWhen I met Montse, I took to her from the outset. Her unwavering smile in the photographs convinced me that she had already discovered Heaven and God’s presence.
When in October, after the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, I returned from the Mass held at the Butantã Cultural Centre in São Paulo, I got news that my niece, Isabella, then 4 years old, had been urgently taken to hospital. It was a very difficult time because had no idea that she was seriously ill before the admission.
That same night, the doctors told us that her case was grave and that Isabel’s life was threatened. Without an ICU to transfer her to, Isabella did not respond to drug treatment and steadily got worse. To make matters worse, my sister (Isabella's mother) was nine months pregnant, and they had a baby boy aged two and a half.
I prayed again and again before the picture of Montse asking her to intercede to aid my niece’s recovery.
The days passed and we managed to take the girl to a hospital that had a paediatric ICU. I saw Montse's hand behind this sign of grace. Yet Isabella continued to get worse, she was diagnosed with acute asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia in both lungs. The drug treatments did not work and then I asked my friends to pray for my niece through the intercession of Montse Grases. told my friend that if the favour were granted, I would let everyone know about it.
After two days of deep prayer , my niece suddenly began to get better.
The doctors had given her a month's stay in the ICU, and if she did not improve quickly, they would intubate her. Luckily, Montse answered my request for intercession. My niece escaped the fate the doctors had forecast and Isabella left the ICU and the hospital fully cured.
She is stronger than ever today and we are all grateful for each and every favour granted through Montse’s intercessions with The Good Lord. I have a friend in heaven, and shall never forget it!
Thanks, Montse
I always ask her to help me deal with the pain.
Read the testimonyClara
Clara
AustraliaMy name is Clara. I am 16 and I am currently in my junior year of Secondary School. I have belonged to a girls' sports club since I was ten years old and I am now involved in holding weekend club activities for 14-year old girls. My devotion to Montse began when I sprained my ankle during a trip to Madrid for the beatification of Álvaro del Portillo in 2014. Due to my stubbornness and love for sports, it never healed. I went to The World Youth Day in Poland last year and the pain worsened during the trip due to all the walks. So I recited Montse’s prayer and I remember thinking: 'My pain is nothing compared to her cancer!' This kept me going and I always ask her to help me deal with the pain. We are also asking Montse to cure Ellie, a fifteen-year-old girl from my school who was diagnosed with cancer last October. Everyone here is praying very hard to Montse in the hope of a miracle!
When a sick person comes to me and I know not what to do, I turn to Montse.
Read the testimonyDuni
Duni
Ivory CoastI discovered Montse after leaving school. I had always felt sympathy for her but had never prayed to her. My stay in Spain for several years did not change this. I even went to Barcelona several times. When I was in the city, I thought a little more about her.
In 2009, during a stay abroad, I decided to entrust the good guidance of a little sister to her safekeeping. Since I was not in Ivory Coast at the time, all I could do was pray. I started using prayer for private devotion and after a week I heard good news from my sister. From then on, my devotion to Montse grew.
I entrust all the difficulties my nieces go through in their careers and lives, relationships with parents, etc. She has always answered my prayers. In one of the last favours she granted me, I asked her to help one of my nieces follow her mother's advice in choosing her academic career and place of study. When I saw my niece, I was so happy and pleased that she had listened to her mother's advice — thanks to Montse.
I also draw on Montse’s strength in my professional work. I work in a public hospital that is bereft of supplies and equipment. The hospital is getting worse by the day. When a sick comes in and I do not know how to treat him, I turn to Montse to help me find me find a place in the emergency room or in the wards so that the necessary tests can be done.
I have prints of Montse’s prayer in French, English and Spanish. I pray in one of these three languages, depending on my inspiration at the time. Sometimes I look at her picture and talk to her to ask her to help me get to Heaven too.
Please help our courtship and marriage thrive and take care of our future.
Read the testimonyMateu and Judit
Mateu and Judit
BarcelonaOur names are Mateu and Judit and we live in Matadepera. Mateau is an architect and I am a pharmacist. We have been dating for two years and we are engaged. We will marry on the 17th of June this year, God willing.
Being from Matadepera, we do not go to Barcelona very often but when we do, we attend Mass in Bonaigua, where we like to pray at the Montse Crypt. It gives us peace. We ask you to help us live well together and look over our marriage. May she help us to live for others and close to God, as she did.
Thanks, Montse!
She is on a pedestal and is one of the women to whom I have spoken most in my life.
Read the testimonyAndrew
Andrew
EcuadorI am a journalist, I work with several publications and I am doing postgraduate studies in Philosophy in Rome.
I first heard of Montse’s story when I was 17. I loved seeing how glad she was to give her life to God at so young an age. I find God in the same ordinary things that she did, so I wrote this little text:
"She is on a pedestal and is one of the women to whom I have spoken most in my life. It is hard to pen these lines when one is in one’s pyjamas, ready to throw out the rubbish in a black plastic bag. Anyway, she always she always realises when I come out with some half-baked truth and does not let it ride when she disagrees with me. She also has no hang-ups about telling me that I am overweight. She is always beautiful, with dark circles round her eyes, chewing gum, with that smile of hers that would make all the hearts of the world’s criminals melt, knowing that they will be truly forgiven for their sins. When I first met her, I was seventeen years old. I had time on my hands and I pored over her notebooks night after night. They were written in typical school handwriting, and they drew up a Balance Sheet of what had happened during the day. "Prayer, late and half asleep, but I fought. " Or: "Restlessness, lack of peace, then no longer". She died just a few days after those lines were penned, on the 26th of March 1959, at exactly the same age as I was when I first read them. Life tragically slipped through her fingers. She had already planned a great trip to Paris after a skiing holiday but cancer appeared in her leg and put paid to such ideas. It was a Ewing sarcoma. There are just three cases per million people under the age of twenty. Such a cell mutation did happen to her neighbour, to her friend, to her sister, or to me. Maybe she kept her spirits up because she was blissfully unaware of what lay in store — painful cures, haemorrhages and radiotherapies. Yet she found the time and strength to learn so much during her illness. One was the only six guitar chords that a friend of hers knew —in fact, the ones we all know: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La — indeed everything one needs to sing the romantic songs of the 1950s without having to get out of bed. It may sound odd but her rendition of the words was different from what was played on the radio. She imbued them with her special love off life and God, even though she was racked with pain at the time.
She was an instrument that God used to tell me what he wanted from me.
Read the testimonyCynthia
Cynthia
LebanonMy name is Cynthia, I am Lebanese and I am studying Translation in Beirut.
I had begun to receive the same Christian training that some girls at Opus Dei were given in a flat. I found a book about Montse Grases there and what I read grabbed my attention because it spoke of a vocation that I did not know of — that of Opus Dei, and lived out by the Order’s numeraries.
Some time later, when there was already a centre in Jounieh (which is where I am from), I got talking with someone from Opus Dei. I knew there were centres and that numeraries lived in them. I asked about what I had read in Montse's book and then I started thinking about what my vocation might be.
Montse was an instrument that God used to reach me. Through her, I learnt what He wanted from me. I pray to Montse and ask for her intercession.
She has been the intercessor of our summer camp in Brazil.
Read the testimonyMaria Cecília
Maria Cecília
BrazilMy name is Maria Cecília. I am 26, and a teacher living in São Paulo, Brazil.
Montserrat has been the intercessor of our summer camp in Brazil, the Kalola. In the first version (2015) we had to make this activity known to many people and that is why we asked her for help.
We had a problem with the printing order of two brochures to publicise the activity. We ordered a thousand, but then we realized that it was not enough and, being an online company, if we changed the amount, we would lose the money from the previous order. After some weeks of negotiation and asking for Montse to intercede, the printing company relented, changed the order and sent us five thousand perfect brochures.
The Kalola was a great success and during 2016, the organising committee prayed nine prayers of The Venerable Montse daily, asking her to intercede to boost entries and the fruits of our activities.
I learned that holiness can be achieved at any age.
Sam
U.SMy name is Samantha and I am taking the first year of Nursing and Spanish at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth (United States). I am a former student of Montrose School, which is inspired by the teachings of Opus Dei, in Medfield (Massachusetts).
I heard about Montse for the first time in Religion Class, in 8th Grade (2nd ESO), and from the outset I was inspired by her strength and courage in the face of illness. But what really shocked me was how young she was. As I learned more about her life, I understood that years count for nothing when it comes to holiness — a State of Grace that can be reached at any age. From that day, Montse showed how a young person can be inspired by Opus Dei. It has shown me how to sanctify the work and activities of each day: study, play sports, and go out with my friends.
I pray through her intercession every time I find it hard to live as a Catholic teenager in a secular world. It encourages me to deepen my trust in God and in my relationship with Him.
Montse shows how a modern teenager can achieve holiness, and this is a source of immense encouragement for me every day.
I ask her to intercede for my friends and to help me be a good friend like her.
Read the testimonyPili
Pili
GuatemalaFor me Montse is a friend to whom I can tell anything and ask for advice.
I ask her to intercede for my friends and to help me be a good friend like her.
My devotion to her is strong because she was a shining example of how a young girl can be saintly in everything one does.
On the ninth of the month, the pain suddenly went away.
Read the testimonyIsabel
Isabel
HollandMy name is Isabel, I am 20, and I live in Amsterdam. I am currently taking the first year of the International Business Administration degree at Vrije Universiteit [‘The Free University].
I discovered Montse Grases a year ago. I was in the last year of school, preparing for university entrance exams. A week before the final exams I had a motorcycle accident that caused serious bruising to my shoulder blade. The doctor prescribed absolute rest. This was out of the question as I had a lot of studying to do. The doctor prescribed medicines to alleviate the pain and wished me good luck with the exams.
A friend advised me to ask Montse Grases for a favour. For me it was something new, I did not know that there were people who were in line for sainthood and could not have guessed that such a young girl was one such candidate. This friend told me about her life and that she, being very young, had suffered a very painful illness, which she had borne in an exemplary way. We thought that, as Montse and I were now in a similar situation, we could ask for the favour so that I could prepare well for the exams. For 9 days we prayed for my shoulder to heal. It kept hurting the whole week but on Sunday night — the ninth day — the pain suddenly went away. I was impressed by the strength of the prayer. I am very grateful because I was able to wholly concentrate on the entrance exams and they went very well.
Since then I always carry a devotional image of Montse with me wherever I go. Now it helps me to take the chronic pain in a knee. She has taught me to offer the devotional prayer to others and spread the good world. For Montse, doing God’s Will was her way of attaining the greatest happiness. Despite her illness, she radiated happiness. That is why she has taught me that smiling helps bring others closer to God and that by putting our trust in Him, everything is possible!
From her I have learned how wonderful ordinary life is and how to thank her every day.
Read the testimonyHaruka
Haruka
JapanMy name is Haruka. I am a 3rd-year student of Japanese Classical Literature at the Doshisha Women's University and a resident of Shimogamo Academy (Kyoto, Japan).
I admire the life that Montse Grases led. Shortly after I began college I heard about her and that is when I thought: Why is it that people show religious devotion?
My question went answered until the spring of this year when I went to Barcelona and visited Montse’s tomb. I was impressed by how nicely and carefully kept everything was. Despite the harsh illness she suffered, Montse was a normal girl, and the fact that many people after her death showed religious devotion to her made her an even more attractive figure.
My age is not that far from Montse's when she died; I have learned from her how wonderful ordinary life is and how to give thanks for this every day.
Montse’s story turned my personal problems upside down.
Read the testimonyLaia
Laia
BarcelonaMontse’s story turned my personal problems upside down. When I went to visit her tomb in October 2015, I made the biggest decision of my life: to get baptised and to live as a Daughter of God.
I go almost every day to visit her and I ask her about everything. She never tires of conceding me favours, though what I most value is her company. Moreover, she never fails to remind us that The Good Lord constantly offers us his help.
Thank you, Montse, for teaching us more with every passing day.
Montse has served as a model to emulate for many of the patients I treat.
Read the testimonyJames
James
MexicoMy name is Jaime and I am a Cardiologist. I hail from Guadalajara, Mexico and am 33. Eight years ago, I moved to Barcelona because of studies and it was the first time I had heard of Montse Grases. A friend briefly told me her story and invited me to visit her crypt. It was then that I became interested in learning more about Montse's life. The thing that most impressed me was how naturally and bravely she bore her illness, an attitude that was the fruit of an intense inner life and her unconditional acceptance of God’s Will. These are aspects that I have tried to bring to my own life. Since I learnt of her story, Montse has served as a model for many of the patients I have treated, especially during the toughest times of their illnesses.
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Those who knew her well believe Montse was very close to God. Soon after, many people began asking for Montse’s divine intercession with The Good Lord. Soon a brief prayer for the private devotion of Montse Grases was broadcast. On the 19th of December 1962, the informative process of her canonization cause began.
In May 1992, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints decreed the validity of the process and, in April 2016, Pope Francis declared the heroism of Montse Grases virtues, venerable on her.
By declaring her venerable, the Church indicates that Montse is an example worthy of devotion and emulation by the Catholic faithful; and that also encourages us to ask for her intercession to obtain favours from heaven.
Mons. José Luis Gutiérrez
The publication of several newsletters andand various texts on Montse helped spread news of her life and her message across the planet. Her reputation for holiness has spread to the four corners of the world. People write in every day to the “oficina del postulador” describing favors received through Montse’s divine intercession.
In 1994, the remains of Montse Grases were transferred to the crypt of The Oratory of Santa Maria de Bonaigua, in Barcelona, in a chapel presided over by the image of The Virgin of Montserrat, before which she so often prayed. Many people go there daily to ask for her help and intercession, attracted by the sincere joy of someone who lived her short life to the full and who unstintingly served God.
The Montse Grases Route
This map shows the locations of the most important places in Montse’s life: the family home, the summer resorts, the schools where she studied, and the former Llar headquarters, among others.
See the map