Maria Carmen Cominges first met Dora in Rome in June of 1957. They worked together from 1965 until March of 1996.

“If there is a virtue which especially characterized Dora, it was diligence.She used her time very well. I can still hear her saying, ‘Since I have a few minutes, I am going to use them to do this or that.’ She was heroic right up until the end. She would always ask to be given more work, and when she began to lose some of her physical abilities—her sight, for example—she did simpler things, like darning socks or answering the telephone.

Dora always prayed for the Pope

“She loved people in both a human and a supernatural way. She gave them her time:forming and teaching them professionally, and giving them the benefit of her experience. Occasionally she got angry and scolded—only when someone was careless or lazy at work—but her anger never lasted long, and people never felt hurt. I never knew her to be offended by anyone, or to bear a grudge.

“She loved the Pope very much—whoever he was—and she always prayed for him and for the bishops. I remember how excited she was in December of 1978 to attend the Holy Mass celebrated by John Paul II and to receive Holy Communion from his hands.

“She tried not to call attention to herself and to pass unnoticed, and one time Saint Josemaria pointed this out to us. It was March 24, 1974. The founder of Opus Dei was visiting Albarosa for the first time, a Center of Opus Dei which had just opened in Grottarossa, near Rome. All of us who lived in Albarosa had gathered together in order to be with him, and at one point he noticed that Dora was missing. He asked us, ‘Where is that daughter of mine who always wants to remain hidden?’ Saint Josemaria took advantage of her momentary absence to praise her very affectionately.”

Maria Carmen Cominges

Valencia, Spain