Gwen Coniker, far left, and husband Jerry, far right, with their 12 children, two sons-in-law and four grandchildren in front of their home in Kenosha, Wis., in 1985.
Posted on 09/11/2007 1:44:08 PM PDT by NYer
There are men who say, "My wife is a saint for putting up with me." But an Ohio man, Jerome Coniker, may prove it.
The Vatican has given approval to pursue sainthood for his late wife, Gwen, who was 62 when she died in June 2002.
"When the church looks for sanctity, they don't seek phenomenal signs or revelations or apparitions. They just look for the virtuous life. She sure qualifies for that," said Mr. Coniker, co-founder with her of the Apostolate for Family Consecration in Bloomingdale, Ohio. Together they raised 12 children, and have 65 grandchildren.
A 10 a.m. Mass today in the chapel of Catholic Familyland, a resort-retreat center that the Conikers built, will open the investigation into whether Mrs. Coniker exhibited the "heroic virtue" that the church requires of a saint. For six months investigators will interview more than 100 witnesses and examine everything ever written by or about her. She will then become known as "Servant of God Gwen Coniker."
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Some experts say that Mrs. Coniker appears to be the kind of new saint that the Vatican is looking for: She lived and died in a happy marriage. The claim for heroic virtue is based partly on her refusal to abort her 11th child after a doctor warned that the birth would kill her. With her husband, she gave up affluence to found a ministry to families."She really thought she was going to die giving birth to Theresa," Mr. Coniker said.
She wrote a letter to her other 10 children, expecting them to read it after her death. In it, she told stories about each of their births, and how she had loved and welcomed each of them. It was her way of telling them to welcome and love the new baby in spite of her own death, said Theresa Schmitz, 31, the child she refused to abort.
"All 12 of us children felt like we were her best friend," said Mrs. Schmitz, who works at Catholic Familyland. All 12 children are active Catholics.
...her refusal to abort her 11th child after a doctor warned that the birth would kill her.
And then this:
"All 12 of us children felt like we were her best friend..."
Not only did she risk her own life persisting in bringing child 11 into the world, but she went on to have a twelfth!
That's just beautiful.
If I could live long enough to become a widower, I think what would be most fair is if I myself was put up for sainthood.
I remember seeing this man on EWTN! What a wonderful testament he is giving for his wife in declaring ehr a saint!
Best wishes to the cause!
(I had to laugh at the 80’s clothes and hairstyles in this picture, though. I looked like the lady in the center of the back row, behind the one holding the baby with red stripes. :-).
A beautiful living testament.
**All 12 children are active Catholics.**
This is outstanding in itself.
Future saint ping!!
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