"It's great to have your daughters, when they are in high school, getting spiritual direction from someone like him," Cook said.
Today, Cook prays for Father Muzquiz's intercession.
Father David Cavanagh, an Opus Dei priest from Cambridge and who is the postulator of Father Muzquiz's cause for canonization, said that he has prayed to him and received favors, like others he knows.
"We keep track of these," he said. "That's all pertinent."
However, Father Cavanagh said he is not aware of any first class miracles that can be attributed to him yet.
"This is normal," Father Cavanagh said. "The process is just getting underway."
In order to become a saint, a person must have two verified first class miracles attributed to them -- one to be beatified and another to be canonized.
Father Cavanagh discussed the process towards canonization, noting that Cardinal O'Malley has accepted Opus Deis' petition to open Muzquiz's cause. Bishop Emilio Allue, vicar of the archdiocese's Hispanic Apostolate, is spearheading the effort on behalf of the cardinal.
Initially, witness testimony regarding Servant of God Muzquiz's sanctity had to be gathered. The information then had to be forwarded to the archdiocese to request the cause be opened.
Father Cavanagh also said that Cardinal O'Malley has requested a "Nihil Obstat", Latin for "nothing hinders," from the Vatican's Congregation of the Saints, which would indicate the Vatican does not object to moving the cause forward.
The next step in the process is to solicit input from bishops of surrounding dioceses.
Jose Luiz Muzquiz was born in Spain in 1912. He met St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, in the winter of 1934 while studying engineering. Muzquiz joined the Nationalist army after his city was taken by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. In 1940, he asked to be admitted to Opus Dei and on May 31, 1941 he was permanently incorporated into Opus Dei.
He was ordained to the priesthood on June 25, 1944. From 1944 to 1949, he developed numerous Opus Dei apostolates in Spain and Portugal. He arrived in the United States in 1949, and for two years was the only Opus Dei priest in the U.S. He helped establish Opus Dei centers in Chicago and Washington, D.C. and also laid the foundations for Opus Dei's work in Canada, Japan and Venezuela. During the 1960's and 1970's he worked in Europe and pressed for the canonization of the order's founder.
He returned to the U.S. in 1981, settling in the Boston area at Arnold Hall. He suffered a heart attack on June 20, 1983 while teaching a class on Canon Law there and died the following day at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth. His funeral was at the former St. Aidan's Church in Brookline and he is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in West Roxbury.
"Father Joseph Muzquiz was a good and dedicated priest who brought many people closer to God," said Brian Finnerty, a spokesman for Opus Dei. "We're happy that the Archdiocese of Boston is taking this step."