That conjunction of events has sparked a question: I wonder if my wife and I could ever be named saints, as a couple? I’m not being egotistical: I am far from saintly (my wife, Angelika, is closer). But, in any case, the church instructs Catholics to aspire to sainthood.
Unfortunately, the odds for us married folk seem terrible. Of more than 10,000 formally recognized saints, only about 500 have been married, even though many billions of married people have roamed the Earth over the centuries.
And things look really bleak for couples hoping to clear the sanctity hurdle together. Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, attained sanctity as a couple; so did Mary’s parents, John the Baptist’s parents, and a handful of other couples.
But what about more accessible role models than the Biblical era titans?
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A change could not be timelier: Pope Francis has launched the Synod on the Family, a yearlong reflection on the joys and struggles of married couples and their loved ones. The Synod’s interim report cautions against, “proclaiming a merely theoretical message,” and, as Pope Paul VI famously observed, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers.”
So, Pope Francis, with Valentine’s Day upon us, please instruct the Vatican bureaucrats to elevate more witnesses, flesh-and-blood saintly icons of married love from centuries past!
In the meanwhile, my wife Angelika and I are loving each other and our married life, and we welcome all saints and sinners, whatever their spiritual or religious tradition, to share their advice for a happy, holy marriage.
