{"id":25900,"date":"2010-10-30T19:30:27","date_gmt":"2010-10-30T23:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/10\/spouses-are-to-help-each-other\/"},"modified":"2010-10-30T19:30:27","modified_gmt":"2010-10-30T23:30:27","slug":"spouses-are-to-help-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/10\/spouses-are-to-help-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Spouses are to help each other follow a path of sanctity, Pope Benedict teaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"St<\/a>On Wednesday, October 27, Pope Benedict XVI noted that in
\nthe Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II
\nproclaimed Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), co-patroness of the whole of
\nEurope. It’s the hope of all of us, as Benedict indicated, that Saint Bridget
\n“…can intercede effectively before God, to obtain the much-awaited grace of the
\nfull unity of all Christians. We want to pray … for this same intention, which
\nwe consider so important, so that Europe will be able to be nourished from its
\nown Christian roots, invoking the powerful intercession of St. Bridget of
\nSweden, faithful disciple of God, co-patroness of Europe.”<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
In his address the
\nPope noted something that I think is quite interesting, perhaps quite bold to
\nsay, even if it is the teaching of the Church, that married couples are to help
\neach other get to heaven: “to advance in the Christian life.” Our Catholic
\nteaching on marriage is that man and woman are to form a “conjugal
\nspirituality<\/b>” that is “follow a path of sanctity.”<\/span> The two pertinent paragraphs
\nof a longer address are here:<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
“Bridget, spiritually guided by a learned
\nreligious who initiated her in the study of the Scriptures, exercised a very
\npositive influence on her own family that, thanks to her presence, became a
\ntrue “domestic church.” Together with her husband, she adopted the
\nRule of the Franciscan Tertiaries. She practiced works of charity towards the
\nindigent with generosity; she also founded a hospital. Together with his wife,
\nUlf learned to improve his character and to advance in the Christian life<\/u>. On
\nreturning from a long pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, taken in 1341 with
\nother members of the family, the spouses matured the plan to live in
\ncontinence, but shortly after, in the peace of a monastery to which he had
\nretired, Ulf concluded his earthly life.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\"Cristina<\/a><\/p>\n

The first period of Bridget’s life
\nhelps us to appreciate what today we could define an authentic “conjugal
\nspirituality”: Together, Christian spouses can follow a path of sanctity<\/u>,
\nsupported by the grace of the sacrament of Marriage<\/b>. Not infrequently, as
\nhappened in the lives of St. Bridget and Ulf, it is the wife who with her
\nreligious sensibility, with delicacy and gentleness, is able to make the
\nhusband follow a path of faith. I am thinking, with recognition, of so many
\nwomen who, day in day out, still today illumine their families with their
\ntestimony of Christian life<\/b>. May the Spirit of the Lord fuel the sanctity of
\nChristian spouses, to show the world the beauty of marriage lived according to
\nthe values of the Gospel: love, tenderness, mutual help, fecundity in
\ngenerating and educating children, openness and solidarity to the world,
\nparticipation in the life of the Church<\/u>.”<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
When was the last time you heard a priest speak of marriage in such a beautiful way? That husband and wife not only love each other, raise children, and are active members of the Church but also see to it that the other spouse intimately know the person of Jesus Christ. How important it is to realize that we have to help each other see God face-to-face!!! When we learn the lesson that indeed heart to speaks to heart in marriage in Christ<\/i>, then will the renewal of the Church happen.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, October 27, Pope Benedict XVI noted that in the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II proclaimed Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), co-patroness of the whole of Europe. It’s the hope of all of us, as Benedict indicated, that Saint Bridget “…can intercede effectively before God, … Continue reading Spouses are to help each other follow a path of sanctity, Pope Benedict teaches<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2550,2551,1700,2129,2552],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}