M
Mercury3
Guest
I know there are a wealth of Catholic saints who were married, but one ting keeps bugging me. Why does it seem that all married saints, excepting those who became martyrs, at some point gave up conjugal relations? Are there any examples of saints who did not do this? It seems to me that the tradition of the church is saying somehow that the marital embrace and holiness are mutually exclusive.
Now, I have read several orthodox theologians (John Paul II, Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand, Fr. John Hardon, Fr. William Most, Germain Grisez, etc.) who all agree that marital sexuality can itself be a path to holiness if it’s done as God designed it. And I think that idea is beautiful, and I admire those couples who carry their mutual love into their sunset years, well past child-bearing age.
But is this somehow “less holy?” I just get the impression that married saints always seem to “grow out of it,” and to me that seems sad, because I always expected that a loving married couple would “grow into it,” that is, develop the marital embrace chastely and purely as a way to shower the other with love. Is a married couple in pursuit of holiness supposed to follow the example of such saints? This depresses and confuses me. I know there may be times where we will be asked to give it up (sickness, injury, impotence, etc.), but does holiness really require this?
Now, I have read several orthodox theologians (John Paul II, Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand, Fr. John Hardon, Fr. William Most, Germain Grisez, etc.) who all agree that marital sexuality can itself be a path to holiness if it’s done as God designed it. And I think that idea is beautiful, and I admire those couples who carry their mutual love into their sunset years, well past child-bearing age.
But is this somehow “less holy?” I just get the impression that married saints always seem to “grow out of it,” and to me that seems sad, because I always expected that a loving married couple would “grow into it,” that is, develop the marital embrace chastely and purely as a way to shower the other with love. Is a married couple in pursuit of holiness supposed to follow the example of such saints? This depresses and confuses me. I know there may be times where we will be asked to give it up (sickness, injury, impotence, etc.), but does holiness really require this?