Our Blog Saint(s) for 2009
Allison, on her family blog, graciously invited readers to request a Saint for the year. She says that the Saint picks you, not the other way around. From the little things I read from other bloggers, it's really something worth trying. Thank you Allison for taking the time to pray for me!
She wrote me today:
Well...
My dad just posted his excellent homily about Marriage. My husband and I have been working on improving our own Marriage. We have been telling people about Fireproof and the Love Dare for a few months now. Marriage has been a common subject in my families discussions lately. I think this topic of marriage is my current calling - and topping it off with this recommendation of a Saint.... wow.
What I then found about these two:
-Blessed Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi currently await sainthood. At the end of 1913, Maria was advised to abort her unborn child to save her own life. The couple graciously relied on their trust in divine providence and were blessed with a healthy baby girl "Enrichetta". They also raised their family to be just as virtuous; three of four children joined religious orders.
Luigi and Maria supplemented their faith by attending daily Mass, receiving Holy Communion, and praying the rosary. The couple also opened their home to refugees during WWII. Maria worked as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross and was a catechist to fellow women parishoners. Luigi, a lawyer and honorary deputy attorney general, was a devoted family man who along with Maria, is said by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, (Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints) to have made the family into a "domestic church" open to prayer life, solidarity with the poor, and the social apostolate.
Their beatification miracle involved the healing of a young man in Italy with a severe illness who is said to have recovered shortly after their prayers. More miracles await them as devotion continues to grow. May our prayers assist them in their cause and bring them closer to sainthood.
- On October 21, 2001, Pope John Paul II beatified the first married couple. Other couples have been beatified separately for their heroic witness but the married life of Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini vedova Beltrame Quattrocchi provides heroic witness to inspire other Catholic spouses to do the same.
-November 25th was designated the Feast Day for the couple, to commemorate the anniversary of the date of their marriage in 1905.
-I urge you to read the Homily of Pope John Paul II during this beatification. This part caught my eye...
She wrote me today:
In prayer, my hand was led to
Blessed Luigi & Maria Quattrocchi
They sound like St. Gianna Beretta Molla and her husband.
Pray for strong, virtuous, holy families.
Well...
My dad just posted his excellent homily about Marriage. My husband and I have been working on improving our own Marriage. We have been telling people about Fireproof and the Love Dare for a few months now. Marriage has been a common subject in my families discussions lately. I think this topic of marriage is my current calling - and topping it off with this recommendation of a Saint.... wow.
God's really telling me something important!
What I then found about these two:
-Blessed Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi currently await sainthood. At the end of 1913, Maria was advised to abort her unborn child to save her own life. The couple graciously relied on their trust in divine providence and were blessed with a healthy baby girl "Enrichetta". They also raised their family to be just as virtuous; three of four children joined religious orders.
Luigi and Maria supplemented their faith by attending daily Mass, receiving Holy Communion, and praying the rosary. The couple also opened their home to refugees during WWII. Maria worked as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross and was a catechist to fellow women parishoners. Luigi, a lawyer and honorary deputy attorney general, was a devoted family man who along with Maria, is said by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, (Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints) to have made the family into a "domestic church" open to prayer life, solidarity with the poor, and the social apostolate.
Their beatification miracle involved the healing of a young man in Italy with a severe illness who is said to have recovered shortly after their prayers. More miracles await them as devotion continues to grow. May our prayers assist them in their cause and bring them closer to sainthood.
- On October 21, 2001, Pope John Paul II beatified the first married couple. Other couples have been beatified separately for their heroic witness but the married life of Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini vedova Beltrame Quattrocchi provides heroic witness to inspire other Catholic spouses to do the same.
-November 25th was designated the Feast Day for the couple, to commemorate the anniversary of the date of their marriage in 1905.
-I urge you to read the Homily of Pope John Paul II during this beatification. This part caught my eye...
This couple lived married love and service to life in the light of the Gospel
and with great human intensity. With full responsibility they assumed the task
of collaborating with God in procreation, dedicating themselves generously to
their children, to teach them, guide them and direct them to discovering his
plan of love. ... Drawing on the word of God and the witness of the saints, the
blessed couple lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way. Among the joys
and anxieties of a normal family, they knew how to live an extraordinarily rich
spiritual life.
I am however having trouble finding a specific prayer to them. If I don't get any suggestions, I'll look for a prayer for marriages and the domestic church.
God Bless you and yours!
