Gift par saligförklarat

Föräldrarna till Thérèse av Lisieux saligförklarades (första steget innan eventuell helgonförklaring) förra månaden. De är det andra gifta paret som har nått så pass långt, så detta hör (tyvärr) till sällsyntheterna...

Fast givetvis finns det många som under årtusendenas lopp har levt ett heligt liv tillsammans, men som inte har uppmärksammats av Kyrkan på detta sätt.

Tips: det kan vara en god draghjälp att ha ett helgon till dotter... ;-)

Nedan några utdrag ur en intervju i Zenit.

***

"Q: Why are there few lay and married saints?

Rava: During the first centuries of the Church there were laypeople, young people of different professions, families recognized as saints such as St. Cecilia, her husband Valerian and her brother-in-law; or St. Vitalis and his wife St. Valeria and their sons, Gervase and Protase, martyrs.

However, in the course of the centuries, though holiness was always a universal vocation, in pastoral practice withdrawal from the world was favored, and the practice of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, and the profession of these as the state of perfection.

The layman, to the degree that he is immersed in the world and has obligations of a temporal character, seemed relegated to a less exacting and committed Christianity.

In the history of spirituality, it is only with St. Francis of Sales and later St. Thérèse herself that in the pastoral order, holiness was increasingly a universal call addressed to all and accessible to all. This is the "novelty" of Vatican II.

Beginning with Pope John Paul II's pontificate, the Church became increasingly interested in promoting the causes of laypeople who lived their Christian faith by assuming all their temporal commitments in a heroic way.

I believe this explains in part the small number of [lay] saints and blesseds.

Q: What positive influence might the model of the Martin spouses bring?

Rava: In general, blesseds and saints are remembered in the liturgy on the day of their death. With the beatification of the Martin spouses, the Church has established for the first time that the commemoration of these spouses not be the day of their death, but of their marriage. With this I understand that the Church wishes to point out the importance of marital union as a way of sanctification and source of elevation of society.

Although the Martins lived in a historic time and circumstances that are very different from our own, their experience is an example for us in many aspects.

Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guérin can give light and strength to Christian spouses and parents to make their marital life a source of joy and a way of holiness. They give witness to the fact that, when the Christian family is animated by reciprocal love it is the ambit where everyone -- parents and children -- can grow and develop to the point of attaining holiness and thus make an irreplaceable contribution to society and the Church."

Läs hela intervjun här.