[A.A. Cunningham]

Married Saints

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[dangus]

Help me out, everyone, please...
Ping the Catholics! Ping the Orthodox! I need answers and a variety of perspectives!

[TotusTuus]

Here's a married couple who have been recently beatified. Frome the Vatican website: BEATIFICATION OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD LUIGI BELTRAME QUATTROCCHI AND MARIA CORSINI, MARRIED COUPLE

[A.J.Armitage]

I'm dead serious when I note that during sex is when some of the most hardened atheists call out for God.

The thing I love about Catholics is that you make observations like this.

[siunevada]

One of the great saints:

St. Frances of Rome
(Bussa di Leoni.)

One of the greatest mystics of the fifteenth century; born at Rome, of a noble family, in 1384; died there, 9 March, 1440. Her youthful desire was to enter religion, but at her father's wish she married, at the age of twelve, Lorenzo de' Ponziani. Among her children we know of Battista, who carried on the family name, Evangelista, a child of great gifts (d. 1411), and Ages (d. 1413). Frances was remarkable for her charity to the poor, and her zeal for souls. She won away many Roman ladies from a life of frivolity, and united them in an association of oblates attached to the White Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria Nuova; later they became the Benedictine Oblate Congregation of Tor di Specchi (25 March, 1433) which was approved by Eugene IV (4 July, 1433). Its members led the life of religious, but without the strict cloister or formal vows, and gave themselves up to prayer and good works. With her husband's consent Frances practiced continency, and advanced in a life of contemplation. Her visions often assumed the form of drama enacted for her by heavenly personages. She had the gift of miracles and ecstasy, as well as the bodily vision of her guardian angel, had revelations concerning purgatory and hell, and foretold the ending of the Western Schism. She could read the secrets of consciences and detect plots of diabolical origin. She was remarkable for her humility and detachment, her obedience and patience, exemplified on the occasion of her husband's banishment, the captivity of Battista, her sons' death, and the loss of all her property.

On the death of husband (1436) she retired among her oblates at Tor di Specchi, seeking admission for charity's sake, and was made superior. On the occasion of a visit to her son, she fell ill and died on the day she had foretold. Her canonization was preceded by three processes (1440, 1443, 1451) and Paul V declared her a saint on 9 May, 1608, assigning 9 March as her feast day. Long before that, however, the faithful were wont to venerate her body in the church of Santa Maria Nuova in the Roman Forum, now known as the church of Santa Francesca Romana.

[siunevada]

Second question:

I'll point you to the Catechism. Maybe it will offer you some insight but I doubt it will answer the question in the way you are seeking.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt3art7.htm


Just out of curiosity, is that a personal observation about atheists' exclamations?

[TotusTuus]

The issue is this: Most saints were priests, sisters or brothers.

I think it would be better to say canonized saints. I'm sure there are many, many saints in heaven who were married in life on earth and achieved holiness through their marriages. Their feast day would be celebrated Nov. 1st, All Saints Day.

There's a few married saints I can think of, who were married, and became saints in spite of their marriage.

Now that's funny. The above Beati I posted could be a start for you.

All people are called to holiness. Our Lord specifically raised the dignity of marriage to the supernatural order as a sacrament in his Church. Indeed, Christ's marriage to us, His Church, is THE marriage that all others are meant to participate in and symbolize.

If you are married, then your vocation has a name, and that name is the name of your spouse. It is precisely in marriage that the proper dignity of the sexual union of spouses as a function of love occurs. Anything less is, well, a sin. Yes, the conjugal act is meant to be holy, and is meant to be integrated in the lives of spouses to lead to more life and love (i.e. a family), extending the fecundity of God's Life and Love.

[conservonator]

St.'s Mary and Joseph. I think that's a pretty strong endorsement of marriage as a vocation.

[Maximilian]

One name that I didn't see mentioned in the "Married Saints" list is St. Monica. Also, unlike some of the other saints, she gained her sanctity through her married life, not by leaving it. She had a very difficult marriage, and the well-known problems with her son, St. Augustine.

As to the more general question, I think it is the wrong approach to say, "The Church is at fault by not canonizing more married people." Isn't it much more likely that married people are generally just not candidates for sainthood?

There are 3 levels of holiness: Level 1 is living in a state of grace; Level 2 is the habitual practice of virtues like charity, patience, humility, obedience; Level 3 is practicing the heroic virtues that we associate with canonized saints. How many married people ever ascend to Level 3? The evidence indicates very few.

The evidence of today indicates that only a very small percentage is making it even to Level 1. The vast vast majority are living in mortal sin. Then of the small number who at least rise above Level zero, how many of them ever become truly humble, truly mortified, truly immune to the temptations of the world. I find that even among the "good Catholics" that I know, there is a pervasive worldliness that would preclude them from being considered even for Level 2.

And then of that number, how many ever approach to Level 3? How many married people ever experience mystical union with Christ, how many are given the gift of miracles or of reaching thousands of hardened hearts? Canonized saints are not just people who squeaked under the bar. They must possess unusual heroic virtues that are attested to by supernatural events. This virtually never happens with married people. Right now the Church is rushing to canonize some married people for reasons that are open to question, but I have yet to hear that any of them possessed miraculous spiritual powers such as we associate with Padre Pio.

Lest we married people feel discouraged, there are other categories of Catholics that are even more under-represented, such as parish priests. The devil himself, while tempting St. Jean Vianney the Cure of Ars, told him that he was wasting his time since no parish priest had ever become a canonized saint. St. Jean Vianney proved the devil wrong in his own case, but I'm not sure whether there have been any others since then.

[Maximilian]

I'm not saying this out of any partisan or sectarian spirit, and in fact you'll find that any discussion of the SSPX comes not from me but from those who want to accuse me of schism, but the most inspiring story of a holy married couple I have ever read were articles in back issues of The Angelus magazine that related the story of Archbishop Lefebvre's parents. They truly lived lives of heroic virtue. Of their 8 children, 2 sons became priests and 3 daughters became nuns. His mother lived a very saintly life, both early in her marriage when she was struggling to raise a large family and later after her husband died and she struggled to keep the family business going. All the while she practiced an intense spiritual life and was the local director of a 3rd order group. Archbishop Lefebvre's father was also a model of sanctity who served in the French underground in both WWI and WWII (their region of northern France was occupied both times). Eventually he was arrested by the Nazis and executed.

[dangus]

Thanks for your answers, all, but do any of you have a Catholic list you could ping?

[GirlShortstop]

Timothy and Maura MM (RM)

Died at Antinoë, Egypt, in 298. Joined in life as husband and wife for three weeks, the newly-weds Timothy and Maura were nailed against a wall because Timothy, a reader, refused to hand over the Sacred Books. They consoled and encouraged each other during the nine days they hanged there until their martyrdom under Diocletian (Benedictines, Coulson).

[GirlShortstop]

some of the most hardened atheists call out for God.

Great homily just a week or so ago on EWTN about the Catholic view of sex; it's sacred between a husband and wife because... we have the "power of God" in creating life... God allowed humans that Gift even after The Fall.  homily in real audio

[Gumdrop]

St. Louis IX, King of France, married to Marguerite of Provence. He was considered a holy, kind, and just ruler; he died in Tunisia in 1270, on the way home from one of the last Crusades (gasp!).

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

We are called to be who God created us to be. Not everyone can or should be a priest or nun. Our challenge in this lifetime is to discover our talents, and use them for God's work in the world as He intended.

That being said, Marriage and Holy Orders are both Sacraments and I wouldn't label one path as better than the other. God's will is paramount.

It is easier for a single religious to achieve an advanced spiritual state because they are not distracted by the cares of the world as much as those who live in the world. That is why monastics reach greater heights rapidly, more so than parish priests or non-cloistered nuns. A life given completely to God every minute of the day culminates in mystical union with God. St. John of the Cross' "Ascent of Mt. Carmel" is a wonderful guide to the mystical path (as are his other works).

So, in answer to that part of your question, I think the scarcity of married saints is more practical than theological.

As to the sexual aspect of your question, it depends on its use (like food or anything else, it can be good or bad). The OT Song of Songs uses marital sexual imagery as metaphor for the soul's mystical union with God. Mystics such as St. John of the Cross and several others do the same. Celibates give up the earthly parallel of this union for the higher, ultimate manifestation. Some married couples also choose to do the same.

My overall point is, where a person's focus goes, progress follows. Everyone is called to be a saint. Whether we achieve it in this lifetime or not depends on our ability to detach from material desires of this world.

[dangus]

It's been suggested to me I ping you two to this topic about marital vocations and Catholic sexuality. Irish, you have an extensive ping list... Could you ping them for me?

[Coleus]

American-Born, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was married and was NOT canonized because of marriage, she founded a religious order of nuns.