Pope Pius XII's collection of papal addresses to newlyweds are collected in one wonderful book, Dear Newlyweds. It is a treasure for all married couples seeking to live out their vocations as Catholic spouses and parents.
Here the Holy Father illustrates how interconnected are the two vocations of Priesthood and Matrimony, and that our children are the stones needed to build up the Church. Beautiful.
....two paternities which, among Christian people, create and seal through the Priesthood and through Matrimony the fathers of the spirit and supernatural life, and the fathers of the flesh and natural life; two sacraments instituted by Christ for His Church to guarantee and perpetuate through the centuries the generation and regeneration of the children of God.
Two sacraments, two paternities, two fathers - partners who complement each other in the education of offspring, the gift of God, hope of the family, of the Church, of earth and of heaven. Here is the supreme concept of Priesthood and Matrimony given us by the Church, seen by St. John as the Holy City, the new Jerusalem descending from heaven, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband (Rev.21:2). She rises, constructed through the centuries with living stones, baptized and sanctified souls, as the sacred liturgy sings, until that day at the end of time when she will ascend to unite herself to Christ in the joys of heaven's eternal nuptials.
And who are the laborers who toil together in this slow construction? Above all the successors of the Apostles, the Pope, the Bishops with their priests, who smooth, set in place and cement the stones according to the design of the Architect, designated as they are by the Holy Ghost to raise up the Church of God (Acts 20:28). But what could they accomplish if they did not have at their side other workers who hewed the stones, cut them and shaped them as the edifice required? And who are these workers? They are the husbands and wives who give the Church the living stones and tend them with care; they are you dear sons and daughters. Therefore, remember well that in the fatherhood and motherhood which face you, you must not be satisfied with your efforts at hewing and collecting the blocks of rough stones; in addition , you must trim them, prepare them, give them the form that will best permit them to fit into the structure. For this dual task God has instituted the sacrament of Matrimony.
Dear Bridget, This is so beautiful! After reading this week about the rebuilding of the cathedral at Chartres, France (in Christ the King the Lord of History), this is especially poignant. May all Catholic families erect magnificent cathedrals as they trim the living stones God has entrusted to their care!
Posted by: servant2theKing | February 04, 2011 at 04:22 PM