Saint Louis Martin and Marie-Zélie Guérin

An exciting day for us married folks, we have a new beatified couple to look up to, none other than the parents of St Theresa of Lisieux.

Here are some excerpts from the article on Zenit to contemplate.

"The first married couple to be beatified together -- Italians Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, who died in 1951 and 1965, respectively -- were beatified in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Martin (1823-1894) and Guérin (1831-1877) were the parents of nine children, four of whom died as children. After concluding the beatification rite, Cardinal Saraiva Martins gave "thanks to God for this exemplary testimony of conjugal love."

Their example, the prelate assured, can "motivate Christian families in the integral practice of Christian virtues, just as it stimulated in Thérèse the desire for sanctity."

Cardinal Saraiva Martins said that in the moment of the beatification, "I thought of my father and my mother, and in this moment, I would like you to also think in your fathers and mothers, and that together, we give thanks to God for having created us and made us Christians, thanks to the conjugal love of our parents."

The cardinal presented the Martins as "a gift for spouses of all ages because of the esteem, respect and harmony with which they loved each other for 19 years."

He said the couple is also "a gift for parents" and "for all those who have lost their husband or wife."

"Widowhood is always a difficult condition to accept," the cardinal said. "Louis lived the loss of his wife with faith and generosity, preferring the good of his children over his personal preferences."

And, Cardinal Saraiva Martins said, this couples is "a gift for those who face sickness and death. In our world, which tries to hide death, they teach us to look at it face to face, abandoning ourselves in God."

The Pontiff also approved the beatification of four Servants of God:

* Vincenza Poloni Mary - virgin and founder of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, on Sunday, September 21 in Verona Italy.
* Miguel Sopocko – priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus, on Sunday, Septmber 20, in Bialystok, Poland.
* Francesco Pianzola, - priest and founder of the Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Queen of Peace, on Saturday, October 4, in Vigevano, Italy.
* Giovanni Francesco Bonifacio - priest and martyr, also on Saturday, October 4 in Trieste, Italy.