Inspiring Examples of Sanctity in Marriage

Next Thursday, 26 May 2022, the 2nd day of reflection on lay holiness will be held in Rome. Entitled "Sanctity, Marriage, Family," it will take place just one month before the end of the “Amoris Laetitia” Year of the Family. The Prelate of Opus Dei will give the closing address.

Luigi and Maria; Jozef and Wiktoria; Giovanni and Rosa; Edward and Laura; Franco and Maria; Cyprien and Daphrose.

The meeting will take place at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Rome time). It can be followed online, both in Italian ( YouTube channel ) and with translations into English and Spanish (via of the Zoom platform ). Those who wish to participate in person can register for free at this link.

The central event will be the round table dedicated to various testimonies about couples who have been beatified or are in the process of canonization, with the presence of friends, biographers and postulators of their respective causes. The couples highlighted are:

• The Italian blesseds Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini, the first couple to be beatified in the same ceremony, in 2001. In the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, they lived “an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.” The testimony will be given by Paola Dal Toso, professor and biographer of the blesseds.
• Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma, popularly known as “the Samaritans of Markowa,” in Poland (with Witold Burda, priest and postulator of their cause of canonization).
• Giovanni Gheddo (architect) and Rosa Franzi (teacher) members of Catholic Action in Italy, whose desire was to “always be pleasing to God” and “do good to others.” The person speaking about their life will be Lia Lafronte, lawyer and postulator of the cause.
Eduardo Ortiz de Landázuri (doctor) and Laura Busca Otaegui (pharmacist), whose life was marked by generous service to families and the sick, Francesco Calogero, teacher and postulator of their cause, will provide testimony about their life.
• Franco Bono and Maria Rosaria De Angelis, who stood out for their civic, ecclesial and professional commitment. María Rosa had a widespread spiritual influence through her commitment to the Focolare Movement . Pietro Rome, priest and postulator of their cause, will speak about their lives.
• Cyprien Rugamba and Daphrose Mukasanga, martyrs in the Rwandan genocide. The speaker will be Jean-Luc Moens, biographer and author of Cyprien et Daphrose Rugamba: Une Famille pour le Ciel. Before their martyrdom, they introduced into their country both the Emmanuel Community and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

The meeting will be introduced by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The closing address will be given by Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei. In addition, the theologian Carla Rossi Espagnet will offer some reflections on conjugal holiness.