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The children remember their parents’ deep devotion. They saw
them prepare themselves before receiving Communion; they regularly
went to confession. In the morning, father, Eduardo, would leave early
to go to Holy Mass before going to the clinic. The parents prayed the
rosary together late in the evening, but the children heard them and
whoever wanted to, even if they were already in bed, could pray with
them. «They lived their devotion intensely but also very naturally» .
8
ENGAGEMENT, MATRIMONY AND CHILDREN
tWo diFFerent personalities

Despite the difference in their personalities and ways of doing
things, Eduardo and Laura lived an authentic love, which demanded
constant attention in “making the other person feel good”. «My mother
undoubtedly consumed herself in order to please my father, but it is
also true that she knew how to get on his good side and deal with him.
They never fought, at least not in front of us children. We never saw
them argue. […] They loved each other profoundly and because of this
the smallest display of affection was considered by the other as a great
gesture of love» .
9

HardsHip and illness 10

A certainly difficult and painful moment for Eduardo and Laura
was the internment of their third son, Eduardo, into a psychiatric facility
due to the progression of his mental illness.
When the children were still young, Laura was diagnosed with
a spinal disease that caused her severe back pain but that, at the same
time, she accepted while trying not to burden the family.
Shortly after retirement, Eduardo was diagnosed with a tumor that
had already metastasized and before long he found himself hospitalized
in his clinic and was examined by his colleagues. He accepted his
suffering, in which he felt united to the suffering of Christ on the Cross.
He died on the morning of May 20, 1985, with Laura by his side and
while repeating this prayer: «Lord, increase my faith, increase my
hope, increase my charity, so that my heart may be more and more like
yours!» .
11
8, 9, 10 Opus Dei: Laura Busca y Eduardo Ortiz de Landázuri, op. cit.
11 Cf. Servi di Dio Eduardo Ortiz de Landázuri Fernandez de Heredia e Laura Busca Otaegui Sposi
(18/02/2014), <www.santiebeati.it>.