Typical hit piece.
There are a lot of Catholics who attend daily mass and read the bible and pray the rosary or a similar prayer every day...
Even some famous people who are busier than the average Senator manage to do it...
As for the priest that converted this Senator, wasn't he the same one who converted Robert Novak?
As for the crap about "self flaggelation" and "reading the mail" ...this was part of most convents and men's orders before Vatican II. The "flaggelation" is a limited thing, done during the recitation of psalm 101...once a week, and more symbolic than real. This is discussed in the novel "the Nun's story", by the way.
What people don't realize is that many Catholic "orders" have first, second and third orders. The first order is cloistered/full time people who pray a lot and take very strict, very formal vows that can only be released by the Pope.
The second are usually priests who preach or teach.
The third order is two types: People with simple vows (most American sisters are third order, who use a simplified version of the cloistered order, live in common, and whose vows are easily released by the bishop.
Then you have the lay third orders: Lay people who follow a limited rule of prayer, such as the "daily mass and daily rosary" (nowadays they usually say the psalms instead), and live simply.
Most Catholic parished have third orders, usually Franciscan, but there are also Carmelites and Dominicans.
These groups have different "charisms". This is the style or way you follow the Lord. Franciscans tend to stress living poorly and working with the poor. They also are pacifists in their tradition. Carmelites tend to emphasize prayer and the duties of one's daily life as a prayer, copying the way Jesus prayed a lot but lived simply as a carpenter for 30 years. Etc.
I have no idea of Opus Dei, but their fruits tend to be good, and their enemies a bit liberal. Personally, they are too rule oriented for me. If this senator wants to join Opus dei, he'd be this "third order" type and would have to study a year or so before he could join, and could leave without any big deal.
Before Vatican II, my aunt the religious sister could only come home once a year, and then in the company of another sister.
My dad calls her "sister-sister".