First Married Couple Canonized Together

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin will be the First Married Couple Canonized Together
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ROME, March 03, 2015 (Zenit.org) - Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints [stated]… Louis and Zelie Martin, will be canonized this October, coinciding with the Synod on the Family, which will take place at that time in the Vatican.
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“Thanks be to God in October two spouses, parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized,” said the Salesian Cardinal, at a recent meeting … “Saints are not only priests and nuns, but also lay people,” pointed out Cardinal Amato, referring to this exemplary French married couple. Married in 1858, they had nine children, five of whom followed the religious life.
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The 218 letters that are kept of Zelie, written from 1863 until her death in 1877, record the rhythm of life with the War of 1870, the economic crises, and the births and death of their four babies. Daily Mass at 5:30 am, Angelus and Vespers, rest on Sundays, fasting during Lent and Advent — but also jokes and games, as Louis liked to fish and play billiards. They invited poor people to dine in their home and they visited the elderly. They also taught their daughters to treat the underprivileged as equals.
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Zelie died of a very painful cancer at 46. Louis was left with five very young daughters: Marie, Pauline, Leonie, Celine and Therese, who was only four and a half years old but who always remembered her Mother as a Saint. Louis died in 1894, after suffering a serious mental illness…Many have proposed their life of daily holiness as a model for our time…
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Blessed Zelie and Louis Martin, pray for us and for all the families of the world.
 
Thank you for forwarding this; what wonderful news!

ICXC NIKA.
 
pianistclare said:
Didn’t Pope St. John Paul II canonize a married couple???
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Dear pianistclare,

Pope St. John Paul II “beatified” together a married couple. In the process of “canonization” or the adding of certain persons to the list (or “canon”) of the saints, the Church follows a procedure of several steps. Beatification is the last step before Canonization. Of course there are many saints who are unrecognized on earth but who will be honored by God in heaven, but the Church is wise to draw attention to holiness.
For First Time, a Married Couple Is Beatified Together:
Pope Fulfills a Personal Wish
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VATICAN CITY, OCT. 21, 2001 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II fulfilled a long-held desire today when he beatified a husband and wife together, highlighting the fact that holiness is not restricted to religious and priests.
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The new blessed are Luigi (1880-1951) and Maria (1884-1965) Beltrame Quattrocchi of Rome, who were married for 50 years and had four children, three of whom are still alive and attended today’s ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica. Their two sons, Filippo and Cesare, were among the priests who concelebrated the beatification Mass with the Pope. Their daughter Enrichetta was among the faithful attending the Mass.
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The Holy Father explained during the homily that the couple “lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.” “Among the joys and concerns of a normal family, they had an extraordinarily rich spiritual life,” the Pope said. “Daily Communion was at the center, to which was added filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, invoked by praying the rosary every night, and reference to wise spiritual counsel.”…
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Pope St. John Paul II’s homily for their beatification can be read HERE

Perhaps Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi will be canonized together soon as well. God knows the perfect timing for all things. 🙂 Hopefully the Church will continue to find many more married couples to inspire God’s People.

Thanks for your reply and thanks to all who replied on this thread.
 
MariaChristi said:
Dear pianistclare,

Thanks. I’m quite familiar with the process.
I just knew and recalled that they we not the first ones ever considered.

Pope St. John Paul II “beatified” together a married couple. In the process of “canonization” or the adding of certain persons to the list (or “canon”) of the saints, the Church follows a procedure of several steps. Beatification is the last step before Canonization. Of course there are many saints who are unrecognized on earth but who will be honored by God in heaven, but the Church is wise to draw attention to holiness.

Pope St. John Paul II’s homily for their beatification can be read HERE

Perhaps Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi will be canonized together soon as well. God knows the perfect timing for all things. 🙂 Hopefully the Church will continue to find many more married couples to inspire God’s People.

Thanks for your reply and thanks to all who replied on this thread.
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pianistclare said:
Thanks. I’m quite familiar with the process.
I just knew and recalled that they were not the first ones ever considered.
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Dear pianistclare,

I’m grateful you asked the question, since I had forgotten about the Quattrocchi couple. As soon as I read your question I wondered if they had only been beatified, because I was pretty sure the Cardinal would not have made the announcement of Therese’s parents being the first couple to be canonized together, if the Quattrocchi couple were first.

At any rate it was good to read again about another married couple who grew in holiness together. We so need the example of lay witnesses in our day! May many more married couples be inspired by both Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi and by Louis and Zelie Martin.

I’m hoping to find some of Zelie’s letters online, since they were mentioned in the announcement. I know St. Therese’s letters have been published so I suspect her mother’s letters will be published too, if they are not already published. There is so much we can learn from the wisdom of the saints! Thanks again for your reply.
 
livingwordunity said:
I’m glad to hear this.
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Thanks for your reply, livingwordunity!

I’m so glad to hear of this also. Married couples need the encouragement and example of holy couples like Zelie and Louis Martin (to be canonized October 2015) and Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi (beatified by Pope St. John Paul II October 2001).

Lay persons in general need to be encouraged to seek the holiness to which we are all called.
Our Mother Mary and St. Joseph were “laity” as were other holy men and women throughout the centuries, yet somehow there has crept into the minds of many Catholics that only clergy and religious are “really” holy or that the word “vocation” only applies to the call to priesthood or the religious life.

Vatican II reminded us God calls all to holiness. We hear this call in His Word: “Be Holy because I am Holy” (1 Peter 1:16)
 
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