ARGENTINA, Editors •
The Institute of Marriage and Family of the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) presented the book “Caminos de Santidad Matrimonial” (Paths of Marital Sanctity) by Leonardo Cozzi and Paola Risuleo, members of the Institute of Schoenstatt Families. Schoenstatt.org had already reported on the book immediately after its publication. —
Fewer vocations?
The coincidence in time is remarkable. On the same day, the Holy See published the Pontifical Yearbook 2024 and the Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2022, in which the number of bishops, priests, religious and deacons worldwide is listed. Various media reported on these statistics, mostly with headlines such as: More Catholics, fewer vocations.
Excuse me? Far from belittling vocations to the priesthood or religious life, it is time to recognize and value marriage as a vocation. Married couples confer the sacrament of marriage on each other, marriage is a vocation and service in and to the Church, marriage is a path to holiness. The merit of this new book, written by a couple who are aware of their vocation, is to draw attention to this.
Leo and Paola Cozzi
Canonized couples
The presentation took place on Thursday, April 4 at 7:00 pm at the Casa de Pastoral Universitaria (Riobamba 1227, in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires) and could be followed both in presence and via streaming.
The book gathers the testimony of different couples who have been declared saints or are in the process of canonization, as models of inspiration for all those who choose marriage as a vocation.
The authors explain that the book was inspired by the phrase of Blessed Charles I of Austria: “Remember: the main purpose of marriage is to bring your spouse to paradise”. “This sentence characterizes the spirit of the work that, with God’s help, we published in Buenos Aires in December 2023. Recounting the lives of spouses who have traveled the different “paths of marital sanctity” over twenty centuries of history has been a journey in itself. As in the couple: a journey together to find their way back to the right path again and again. In many ways, this journey has only just begun.”
“Our idea was born in times of pandemic, from research at home. Reading about the great saints of all times, we felt the need to find a collection of saintly spouses or those in the process of beatification from which we could draw to strengthen our vocation as spouses,” say Cozzi and Risuleo.
Photo: www.schoenstatt.org
Few sources on the lives of holy couples
“However, we realized that there were very few sources, and these were rather incomplete. This triggered our own search, which suddenly revealed to us a world full of admirable lives. For the most part, they are unknown even to Catholics, but they provide valuable lessons waiting to reach those of us who have chosen this path of lay vocation.”
The presentation was given by the authors of the book, Leonardo Cozzi and Paola Risuleo, on April 4, 2024 at the Casa de la Pastoral Universitaria in Buenos Aires. It was organized by the Institute of University Culture and the Institute of Couples and Family of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.
Video of the presentation (Spanish)
On Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m., another presentation of this book will take place in Auditorium 10 of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (Calle 57 nr. 936 between 13 and 14) in La Plata. The event is free and open to the public and will be co-organized by the authors Leonardo Cozzi and Paola Risuelo.
Bibliographical information
Also on Mercado Libre
So far, no delivery outside Argentina
With material from AICA
Original: Spanish. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoenstatt.org
