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"Friends of God" in Slovakia
May 23, 2010
Cover image of ‘Friends of God’ in Slovak
The book Friends of God by St Josemaria Escriva is now available in Slovak for the first time. A Slovak translation of Christ is Passing By is currently in preparation. The writings of St Josemaria Escriva that have already been translated into Slovak are The Way, Furrow, The Forge, Holy Rosary, and The Way of the Cross.
Many of the books by St Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, were translated into Slovak in the 1990s. These translations were made from English or German versions. Now it is hoped that new translations, made directly from the Spanish originals, will be published little by little. The first of these is the recently-published translation of Friends of God.
Kristina Kudelova, the translator of this new version, talks about what the work of translating it meant to her.
Kristina Kudelova, translator
When I first read Friends of God in the original Spanish, not having read it before, I felt strongly attracted by its forceful, magnetic spirituality, the vigour and directness of its words, which call, exhort, penetrate and inspire one. It was a huge surprise for me, because Slovak readers are used to spiritual books being written in rather sweet language that can sometimes be overdone. So translating St Josemaria Escriva into Slovak was a big challenge in that sense too.
The intention behind the work of translation was to find language that would express the author’s style adequately and as faithfully as possible, while reproducing his words in our language with its own modes of expression. Doing all of that without diminishing the clarity of his speech, his great human warmth and his forceful way of rousing, enthusing and involving the reader, was not an easy task. The theological and spiritual depth of the whole book had to be maintained. Another challenge was how best to bring out the way St Josemaria loved God and talked about him; the forcefulness of his loving heart and the love that set everyone around him on fire; his tender, filial relationship with the Blessed Trinity; his burning adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; his immense love for and confidence in our Blessed Lady; his fatherly and priestly concern for all souls; and his desire to undergo any suffering he might encounter, as an offering for the Pope and the Church.
After finishing the work of translating this book, I would like all the Slovaks who read it to be able to experience at least something of St Josemaria’s ‘craziness’ for God, to be infected by his love for Jesus Christ, and to be confirmed in their resolve to follow him closely, to find new horizons opening up in their lives, and to discover their responsibility as Christ’s followers in present-day society, and the transforming power of Christianity.
My desire in translating this book was for the author’s message to reach the hearts of all the Christians in my country, young and not so young, and leave its mark on them – in the form of a decision or at least an ambition to say yes, generously, to God’s plans for each individual.
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