The Stolen Years

The story is a bittersweet account of twelve years as a celibate Member of Opus Dei. It starts in Dublin in June 1981 and sets the scene for my first contact with Opus Dei. I am sixteen years of age and very vulnerable. I have a mentally abusive relationship with my mother who tears me to strips any chance she gets. I have just finished my Leaving Cert and come face to face with a priest of Opus Dei in my own house. My mother has invited him to bless the house and he takes a shine to...
More Description

The story is a bittersweet account of twelve years as a celibate Member of Opus Dei. It starts in Dublin in June 1981 and sets the scene for my first contact with Opus Dei. I am sixteen years of age and very vulnerable. I have a mentally abusive relationship with my mother who tears me to strips any chance she gets. I have just finished my Leaving Cert and come face to face with a priest of Opus Dei in my own house. My mother has invited him to bless the house and he takes a shine to me.He sets me up to go to Spain to teach English in a centre of Opus Dei. I go with my best friend Mel, and unbeknown to me, Opus Dei start weaving the threads of their cobweb to trap me. After three years of relentless brainwashing, I am eventually caught and I begin life as a celibate member at the tender age of nineteen. I go into the organisation totally ignorant of what my calling will involve. I believe I have escaped from a loveless relationship with my mother but have no idea what is ahead of me. My money is taken away from me and I must ask for a weekly allowance. I am not allowed receive birthday or Christmas presents and must give them up if I do. Six months into the organisation, I am asked to do corporal mortification which terrifies me when I am given my own cilice and whip. I am very much alone and go through crisis after crisis. I am not allowed see my blood family as Opus Dei is now my new family. I struggle with celibacy and find it a totally unnatural state. I fight against temptation but then fall badly in London where I respond to a man's affection. I am banished from London by Opus Dei and sent back to Ireland in shame. I struggle for the next four years to become an exemplary Numerary member of Opus Dei. Then in October 1994, my father falls gravely ill. He dies tragically in March 1995. My life is brought to a crisis point where I see for the first time in twelve years that I did not have a true calling to Opus Dei. I was in fact a victim of circumstance. A week after my father's tragic death, I leave Opus Dei voluntarily and never look back.