On the Road to Sainthood

My spiritual hero is Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.  He has been beatified for a few years, close to canonization. Please pray with me that it happens soon.

Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P.

                          The Road

Servant of God: The first step, start the process with the Vatican.
Venerable: If your candidate is acceptable, the process may begin.
Blessed: One authenticated miracle caused by Father Lataste.
Saint: One more miracle is accepted.  We are awaiting acceptance.

Why do we have saints anyway and why so many?  I think the answer would be that we people need the assurance that heaven is attainable by ordinary people and that's the answer to why so many, too.  Surely, there's some model for everybody. The lives of the saints are reminders to us that we can do it too. 

Not only are they models for us but they become our friends.  The friends of God are our friends, too.  We can ask them to pray for us.  Don't we ask our family and friends to pray for us?  Well, the saints in heaven are more alive than we are!  Hence, all saints in heaven, pray for me!

Did you know that not until the end of the first millennium, that the pope was the final decision-maker in determining whether to call the Blessed, Saint?  Before then, it was easier.  Of course, if you died a martyr, you were called Saint, immediately.  That was the time when cults arose to honor the martyr.  In fact, when a martyr was beheaded, the followers rushed forward to dip pieces of cloth in his blood.  Then these souvenirs were kept to remind the faithful of his sacrifice and his goodness.  These souvenirs are called relics.

Once Christianity became legal, few died as martyrs, but it was obvious that some people lived very holy lives.  How to honor them?  These obviously holy people were canonized and called "confessors."  They are/were people who professed Jesus to the world. They were recognized not only by their holy lives but also by miracles attributed to them after they died.

The person who handled these claims was still the pope.  But it grew to be too much.  Pope John XV approved the first papal canonization in 993 in a method that resembled court methods. The person who examined became known as the "devil's advocate."  I picture him as the prosecuting attorney. 

Pope Benedict XIV wrote five volumes on beatification and canonization, and this was followed for 200 years. It became part of the Code of Canon Law in 1917. During Vatican II, a commission examined the process.  Pope John Paul II finished the reorganization in 1983. 

The person who gathers the material and does all the research is called the postulator.  By the way, the postulator doesn't work for love.  He has to eat.  IOW, he needs a salary, so it does take money to get a person canonized.  The postulator for Blessed Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste is Father Jean-Marie Gueullette, O.P. and he has already spent 20 years of his life working on Lataste's cause for sainthood. 

Would anyone do that if he didn't believe that Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste wasn't a saint?  So whether or not Pere Lataste is ever canonized we know that he really is a saint.

* "Making Saints" by Bill Dodds in Columbia, November 2000, pp.16-19 was the basis for this post.

Mama Antula Beatified

Argentine laywoman who kept Ignatian spirituality alive beatified: VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The life of Blessed Maria Antonia de Paz Figueroa, who continued to lead Ignatian spiritual exercises in Argentina after the expulsion of the Jesuits, remains an example of Christian witness and perseverance.

Beatification Commemorating the Martyrdom of Fra Girotti

Lost in all the hoopla of the canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII is

The Beatification of Giuseppe Girotti, OP.  

Picture: 

Body: 

On the 27th of March 2013, the Holy Father Pope Francis authorized Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to Promulgate the Decree on the Martyrdom of the Servant of God Giuseppe Girotti, a professed priest of the Order of Preachers. His beatification will take place on Saturday, 26^th of April 2014 at Duomo di Alba in Cuneo, northern Italy, the city of his birth.

The solemn celebration will be presided over by the delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Giovanni Coppa. Also expected at the celebration are; Bishop Giacomo Lanzetti, Bishop of the Diocese of Alb with the priests, religious and faithful of the diocese and other bishops. The Master of the Order, Fr Bruno Cadoré will also be there, accompanied by a host of Dominican brothers, sisters and laity.

The entire preparation is a combined effort of the office of the Postulator General of the Order in Santa Sabina, the Organizing Committee of the Province of St Dominic in Italy (frs Lodovico Montoli, Igor Barbini and Massimo Rossi) and the Diocese of Alba. After the joint meeting of the group, the following were decided; the official image which will be used for posters and other souvenirs, a booklet of about 40 pages on his life and process, a documentary film on his life and testimonies about his life and a programme of events to create the necessary awareness.

Special thanks goes to fr Ludovico Montoli who laboured for 30 years on the cause of our brother Giuseppe Girotti. Thanks also goes to all other brothers, living and dead, who have contributed in one way or the other towards the cause. Not forgetting the other members of the Dominican family especially the Dominican Nuns who prayed earnestly for the beatification.

Come April 26, all roads will lead to Alba where we shall celebrate our communion as Dominicans in union with the Universal Church. For promotional materials, please contact, Convento S. Bartolomeo, Largo Belotti, 1, 24121 BG; assimoros@domenicanibg.it.

His Profile:

Fr Giuseppe Girotti was born in Alba, in the northern part of Italy on the 19th of July, 1905. He was born of a humble family that were esteemed for their hard work and godliness. At the age of 13, he was convinced of his aspiration for the priesthood which led him to enter the Dominican Seminary of Chieri (TO). He was a brilliant student, very lively and cheerful too. In 1923, he made his religious profession in “La Quercia”, near Viterbo and on August 3, 1930 he was ordained to the priesthood at Chieri.

He specialized in the interpretation of Scriptures at Angelicum, Rome and the Ècole Biblique of Jerusalem. At the Ècole Biblique, he was a student of the Servant of God Marie-Joseph Lagrange, OP and under him, he published his academic work, “Prolita in Sacra Scrittura” in 1934. He dedicated his life to the teaching of Scriptures at the Dominican Theological Seminary of Turin (S. Maria delle Rose). As a result of his extensive study of Scriptures, he published an extensive commentary on the Wisdom Books and the Prophet Isaiah.

Esteemed for his vast learning, he loved to exercise his priestly ministry among the poor and lonely especially at the hospice of the elderly which was close to his convent of S. Maria delle Rose, Turin. There came a period of trial and suffering for him, which he accepted in humility. He was deprived of further education and was transferred to the Convent of San Domenico in the historic centre of Turin. Despite this, he continued his research in Scriptures while intensifying the exercise of his priestly and charitable activities.

“Everything I do is for charity”, he candidly said once, indicating his continued growth in the virtue of charity.

After September 8, 1943, with the German occupation and the birth of the Italian Social Republic, Girotti began a centre for a vast network of support for Jews. His cultural affinity to Jews was nourished during his years of study in Jerusalem and further deepened by his actual study of Scriptures. It is in this sense that we understand his expressions “Carriers of the Word of God” and “Elder brothers” as referring to Jews. At this time, many of them, while facing persecution and much suffering, sought for safe havens and false documents for a new identity. Girotti was able to assist them in many ways.

His activities with Jews which were contrary to the Laws of the Fascist and Nazi led to his arrest on the 29th of August, 1944. He was betrayed by a spy who disguised as someone in need of help and he was taken to Villa Cavorette, the place where Girotti had hidden the Jewish Professor Joseph Diena. Girotti was subsequently arrested and imprisoned in the new prison at Turin. Despite the efforts of his prior to have him released, he was transferred first to San Vittore prison in Milan, then to the camp of Gries, Bozano and finally on the 5th of October 1944, he was taken to Dachau, Germany. According to Don Angelo Dalmasso, another priest with whom he was imprisoned, Girotti stood out for his generosity and openness toward the other inmates with whom he frequently shared the Word of God. He was imprisoned in Cabin 26 with a thousand other priests in a space that was originally meant for 180 inmates. Due to this condition, he became ill and was admitted at the infirmary.

On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, at barely 40years old, Girotti died. His death was probably aided by a lethal injection of gasoline as was the custom then. On his bunk, his fellow inmates wrote, “Here slept Saint Guiseppe Girotti”.

In 1988, the curia of Turin started the formal process for his canonization. On the 14th of February, 1995, 50years after his death, he received a posthumous medal as “Righteous Among the Nations”, a recognition from the State of Israel to all those who worked for the salvation of Jews during the Holocaust. His name is inscribed on the official list and a tree is planted in his honour at the Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. (The Postulator General of the Order)

Taken from http://www.op.org/en/content/beatification-giuseppe-girotti-op

Pilgrimage Day--Day Five

Tabernacle at Roche d'Or

My first thought upon waking was Pere Lataste's Rosary.  I couldn't wait for Morning Prayer.  We prayed in Roche d'Or's Chapel.  After prayer, we took turns holding the beads.  It's a habit rosary, so all of us could hold on to it as we prayed the rosary.  I was blessed enough to pray aloud the fourth decade of the joyful mysteries.  On the last decade, Sheila's voice broke.  I cried, too.  The immensity of the entire weekend hit me.  The history we were holding in our hands.  The blessing of being in Besancon.  The blessings we received all weekend.  Praying in community.  God is so good.

The rest of the day was spent with the Sisters of Bethany in Montferrand, France. Their doorway entrance was covered in bunting, the colors of the diocese of Besancon.

 Inside we met up with our friends, Father Prakash, Sister Hannah, Sister Barbara, and we met new friends.

The Vice-Postulator, Fr. Jean-Marie Gueullette, op met with us, alone.  He told us as a group, how he came to undertake the task of promoting the cause of beatification.  He worked for 20 years.

Cloistered Brother's Portrait

Lataste's Tomb

Mary Magdalene

I visited the new chapel, again, where Fr. Lataste is entombed.  The  chapel is very unique and different.  One wall has a picture of Mary Magdalene.  One corner has self portraits of my "cloistered brothers."  And then, of course, in the center of the floor, is Lataste's tomb.

Mass was celebrated in the sisters' chapel.  Afterwards, we had some refreshments.

There were plenty of opportunities to walk around their beautiful grounds and cemetery.  I took quite a few pictures.

Pere Lataste & prisoners

Mary

Grotto of Mary Magdalene

Cemetery

Sr. Pauline & Fr. Prakash

Faith & Fr. Prakash

Sister Renata & Fr. Prakash

The handsome Dominican friar that everyone wants their picture taken with is Father Prakash Anthony Lohale, op, the Socius of Apostolic Life.

Pilgrimage--Day Four

The big day finally arrived.  Pere Lataste's Beatification was here. We began the day as usual.  Breakfast, and then we prayed Morning Prayer in the chapel.  A bus picked us up and brought us to eat at a new place--the Metropolis.  It's bigger than the diocesan center.

Tomb of Pere Lataste

Afterwards, the bus took us to the Motherhouse of the Dominican sisters of Bethany and the tomb of Pere Lataste.  His chapel is very simple: an all white small room.  In the middle of the floor is a rectangle; this is the tomb of Pere Lataste.  If there weren't a vase of flowers in the center of it, everyone would be walking on it.

One wall has a faint picture of Mary Magdalene and a corner has faces.  These are self portraits--some are of my "cloistered brothers."  I made sure I took a lot of pictures of these.  My "cloistered brothers" will get a kick out of them.

There we met the Vice Postulator, Pere Jean Marie Gueullette, op.  I also met a friend, Father Prakash Anthony Lohale, op.  Since Father Prakash didn't speak anymore French than we did, we stayed together.  We walked around the cemetery visiting Mother Henri Dominique's grave and the other sisters'.

From the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany, we went to eat at the Metropolis.  There Father Prak introduced us to Father Vivian Boland, op.  Another one to add to our non-French speaking entourage.  We all ate dinner together.

Across from where we ate was a huge auditorium where the beatification was to take place.  As we walked in, we were given scarves.  On each scarf was stamped the image of Pere Lataste.  Surprisingly, we had reserved seats.  I sat in the third row.  The auditorium was filled to over capacity.   I was told that it held 5000 people and the crowd was estimated to be 5200.

What a joyous occasion! My "cloistered brother," Rocco would say, "Un...believable!"  I will remember this Mass as long as I live.  What an experience!  It truly is the experience of a life time.

Mass began.  The cross, the altar servers, the candle bearers, the incense swingers, and then Ruth, and fr. Remy, and the Lataste family carrying the reliquary, containing some bones and other artifacts from Pere Lataste, the Lector, bishops, the Master General of the Order of Preachers, Sister Sara and Sister Pia Elizabeth, and Cardinal Angelo Amato.     It was a very auspicious procession, very serious, quite somber--except for Ruth.  She was smiling radiantly. Her grin lit up her face.

The main celebrant of the Mass was Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Saints, who was acting in place of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

The music was a little Taize style.  The incense flooded the atmosphere.  I loved it.  The Archbishop of Besancon welcomed everyone.  There were a lot of priest up on the altar.  It looked like about 50 bishops.

When I saw the Master General of the Order of Preachers, Father Bruno Cadore, I remembered something, and my heart dropped to my stomach.  I remembered that I had promised a couple of people that I would get rosaries for them and have them blessed by Cardinal Amato, and the Master, and Pere Lataste.  I had broken my promise.  I was at the tomb of Pere Lataste and could have easily placed the rosaries on his tomb and prayed for his blessing.  But I didn't give my two friends a thought--not a second!  How could I have been so self-absorbed, so self-centered, selfish, so-so-so stupid!  And now here I was down below the altar/stage, out of reach of the Master and Cardinal Amato.  There was no way they could bless the rosaries.  I had blown my chance with my thoughtlessness.  I am such ninny. I hated myself.

However soon I was lost in a dance.  A beautiful interpretive dance quieted the crowd. And the excitement of the people, the music, incense, prayers, singing, etc.  I forgot about my broken promise about getting the rosaries blessed.

During the Mass, a slide show of all the Bethany communities was shown.  And Our Lady of Mercy Chapter was in it!  And I was in it!  At first, I didn't understand how these pictures were taken, but then I remembered that La Vie Catholique came to Our Lady of Mercy Chapter and took pictures for the publication.  They must have given the Beatification committee these photos.

The recessional music was my "cloistered brothers" singing "I've been redeemed."  Everyone was clapping and swinging their scarves in the air.  You would have thought our team had won the soccer tournament.

Then something caught my eye.  I saw Ruth run up the aisle.  I looked at her and then she dropped to her knees.  What?  Why?  Ah...I saw that she was kneeling in front of Pere Lataste's reliquary.

The reliquary.  THE RELIQUARY!

I ran up to the reliquary, too.  Two very stern looking priests were standing guard beside it.  I took the rosaries out of my pocket and motioned to one of the priests that I wanted to place the rosaries on the reliquary.  The priest nodded assent.  So I carefully, but definitely, placed the rosaries on Pere Lataste's reliquary.  I prayed for Pere's intercession and blessing.  I also thanked God for being so good to me.

I could barely believe it.  I felt so blessed.  Deo Gratias.  A couple of hours ago I was despondent because I had broken my promise.  Now God did something better.  It was something better because the reliquary contained first class relics.  And I placed the rosaries on them.  Do you know what that makes the rosaries?  They are now second class relics because they have touched Pere Lataste's relics.

God is so good.

As I was relating this blessing to my group of friends, guess who walked by?  Father Bruno Cadore, the Master General of the Order walked by.  I stopped him and asked him to bless the rosaries.

HE DID.

Deo Gratias!  Oh Lord I am not worthy that You should bless me so much.  I felt humbled by God's generosity.

I am sure that my friends will be pleased and happy when I tell them the story and give them the rosaries.

The blessings continue.  We ate our supper and Sister Renata had a surprise for us.  She had Pere Lataste's rosary.  Yes!  Really!  You see, when he was dying he gave Mother Henri Dominique his rosary.  Mother Henri Dominique passed the rosary to the next Prioress General.  Ever since then, the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany has Pere Lataste's rosary.  Sister Pia Elizabeth let Sister Renata have it for the night.

We showed everybody.

We wanted so much to go home and pray on Pere Lataste's beads.  But when we arrived home, we all agreed that we were too tired.  We did promise to meet in the chapel, after breakfast, and then we'd pray a Rosary.

Pilgrimage--Day Three

I woke early, Saturday, June 2, 2012, showered, took my camera and went for a walk.  Roche d'Or is beautiful.  There are gardens galore.  There were also an awful lot of slugs around.  We have those in the USA but not the amount that I saw in France.

After Morning Prayer, we were picked up and brought to the Diocesan Center for lunch.  We were guests of the Archbishop of Besancon.  There were people giving speeches, so I guess we were late.  Here is a picture that we sat under.  It is a depiction of the Apostle, John.  The title of the picture is "John's First Mass."  Unfortunately, I don't know the artist, but I love that painting.

Something very distressing happened to me personally.  There I was all dressed up: high heels, jewelry, skirt, scarf and matching top.  Less than a second, my clothes were ruined--at least my top.  The first thing I did was stick my fork in the knockwurst, and the largest splat you ever saw, shot out from that satanic sausage and blasted me, dead center of my chest.  I didn't believe it: so fast...so obvious a place.

It's a good thing that I was wearing a scarf on my hair, because I took it off my head and wrapped it around my neck.  I arranged it so that no one could see the huge stain.  I tried to lessen the damage by dabbing the grease spot with water.  That didn't work.  I had a water stain surrounding a grease stain.

The wine was very good.  Some of the Lataste family own a vineyard, and they donated the wine for the night.

The rest of the meal was a salad of lettuce and beets. Lamb and cauliflower were the main dish.  Different kinds of cheeses.   Dessert was coffee with ice cream.  Then there were speeches from the Vice-Postulator of the cause for the Lataste Beatification and the Master General of the Order of Preachers.

Afterwards, we were brought by van to the Vigil before the Beatification.  The van parked and we walked the rest of the way.  It seemed funny to see all these pilgrims walking to the Cathedral of St. Jean.  All along the way were signs in store front windows, advertising the Beatification.  Here are some pictures:

The cathedral itself is being renovated.  Personally, I think that's a lost cause.  It would cost a fortune to fix it up, never mind maintain it.  It's a money pit!

Famous Clock in St. Jean Cathedral

The inside of the cathedral has many side altars and statuary.  Sister Pauline took a picture of a statue of a bishop, reclining.  She plans to send it to a bishop and say "Stop lying down on the job!"

z-z-z-z-z

The church was full of people.  The way the people dressed reminded me of home.  You would have thought the people were going to the beach: shorts, tank tops.  No one wore a hat.  The men wore the shortest shorts!  And it was noisy.  It was a nice ceremony.  All the bells and whistles.  Readings were from Pere Lataste's sermons.  The homily was given by the Vice-Postulator.  And the ceremony closed with the singing of the Dominican Salve.  Here are some pictures:

Pilgrimage--Day Two

The Dominican Sisters of Bethany were to meet us at the train station on Friday, June 1, 2012.  But the road to the train station is under construction--a car could not get through.  So we had to take this little train; it was so cute--a mini bullet train.  It was very crowded and when we got in the train, many of the male passengers stood up and gave us their seats.  The French are so polite!  Sister Renata was explaining in French, to a man who had given up his seat, why our group was traveling.  I could visibly see everyone in the train turn their heads to listen to her.

Sister Sara carries letters.  Sister Pia Elizabeth carries paper roses.

After a short ride we arrived at our stop.  The first sight, and a very welcome one at that, was a Dominican sister, in habit, welcoming us with open arms.  Deo Gratias!  It was Sister Sara Bohmer,op, the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany in Venlo.  Imagine, a Prioress General meeting us!

We all hugged and kissed and followed Sister Sara to an awaiting van.  As we approached, another Prioress General pops out of the van!  It was Sister Pia Elizabeth,op, the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany in Mont.  God is too good!

Now, we all traveled to Foyer de Charite Roche D'Or. Pilgrimage-Day One has some pix.

The place is beautiful.  We all had our own rooms with a bath.  The one thing that surprised me was that they don't have any screens on the windows.  I guess in Europe they don't.  Don't they have mosquitoes?  The supper and all the meals were so exquisitely delicious!  It's part of their charism to be hospitable.  That's how they show Christian love.

All their food and flowers were from their own gardens.  Each table had a bouquet of beautiful cut flowers.  There was one other group with us.  They were from Catholic French TV.  They were there to film the beatification.  You can watch what they did on You Tube.

Flower Bouquet

Annunciation

Sister Pauline smelling the flowers.

I did not sleep well that first night.  The pillows were strange: one was a bolster pillow and the other was in the shape of a large square--it took up half the bed.  I read and journaled and napped now and again and again, for the rest of the night.  I guess I was just too excited to sleep.

Pilgrimage--Day One

Gate Entrance

 Fourteen of us are on this pilgrimage to the beatification of Pere Marie Jean Joseph Lataste, op.  Today, May 31--June 1 was spent traveling.  We left Boston Thursday night via Icelandair to Reykjavik--approx. 5-6 hours.  Somewhere there, the day changed to Friday.  From Reykjavik we flew to Paris--approx. 3 hours.

Anybody who told you that everybody in Europe speaks English, is a liar.  They must stay in the tourist areas.  It's just like in the US.  99% only speak their native tongue.  For example, the bus driver going from the airport to the train station didn't speak English.  Don't you think that someone who drives people around trains and planes would speak English?

We had a couple of hours to kill before we caught the train to Besancon, so we went to a restaurant in Paris.  Again no one spoke English.  There was one waiter who spoke a little--very little, but he helped us.  The food was delicious.  I had an omelet--very light and cheesy.  I wish I remembered the name of the restaurant, but I don't; but it's across the street from the train station in Paris.

Annunciation by Joseph Pyrz

I don't know how many trains it took to get to where we were staying in Besancon, but we finally got there.  I do remember that the train ride was for two hours.  We stayed at this retreat center called Foyer de Charite de la Roche D'Or.  It's a Lay Catholic Community.  It was founded in 1950 by Pere Florin Callerand.  The community follows the spirituality of Marthe Robbins.

Tabernacle

Dining Room

Here is a picture of their chapel.  The place is beautiful!  Here are some pictures. 

Within the next couple of hours, I'll be leaving for Besancon, France.  I'm going for the beatification of Pere Marie Jean Joseph Lataste, OP., as the Apostle of Prison.  I'm not taking my lap top with me.  So there will be no blogging until I come back.  I'll be gone for a total of two weeks.  Then I'll chronicle the event and my prayers, poetry, and thoughts, from the retreat at St. Niklausen.

I’m very excited.  This is an adventure.  I even feel like Mary in this morning’s gospel, “My soul magnifies the Lord.    My spirit rejoices.  He has looked with favor upon me.”  That’s how I feel.  Wowza!

 

I was blessed beginning with Morning Mass at the Abbey.  An old friend was there—Deacon Dick.  He was never my spiritual director-- he was better!  I would go and tell him what my SD said and we’d discuss it.  It was perfect for me.  He always helped me put things in perspective.  Dick lives in Virginia now, and was just by coincidence visiting friends around here.  See—I feel so blessed.

All day friends and family have been calling and tweeting and texting their good wishes and love.  I am very blessed.

Last night, Fr. Frank Campo said a beautiful blessing over me.  My parish prayer group prayed over me.  Before that, my Dominican Study Group prayed for me.

My soul really rejoices in the goodness of God.  I’ll tell you all about it when I return home, after June 14^th.

Victim Souls

When I'm attending the beatification of Pere Marie Jean Joseph Lataste, OP,  I'll be staying at one of the retreat houses, Foyer de Charite, founded by the Victim Soul, Marthe Robin.  

     Victim Souls are rare but are definite examples of God's presence.  My friend Rose Ferron is one.  I never met Little Rose, personally, but I was introduced to her in a retreat.  Victim Souls suffer much more than most of us.  They agree to undertake their sufferings as expiation for the sins of mankind--just like Christ. 

Process of Canonization

This post is written by a guest blogger. Let me introduce you to my "cloistered brother", Steve. We are putting together an issue of eLumenate, highlighting Pere Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., who will be beatified, June 3, 2012. Brother Steve thought that he would explain the process of canonization. Hence this post.

In the early days of the church, cults grew amongst the followers of certain holy persons, of which nearly all the martyrs were considered saints. Though without approval of the local bishop their recognition was not official. For nearly 1200 years, the authority to declare a person a saint lay with the local bishop.

In 993, the first official canonization by a Pope was made by John XV, when he elevated St. Ulric of Augsburg to sainthood. Not until 1171, was the process of canonization reserved to the Holy See by Pope Alexander III. The present process dates to 1588, when Sixtus V established the Sacred Congregation of Rites,, now handled by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (CCS). In 1983, Pope John Paul II made several changes to the canonization process, most notably the elimination of the "Devil's Advocate."

The process of Canonization can be lengthy and normally begins five years after the death of the Servant of God (waived in 1999, for Mother Teresa). Thereupon, the local bishop investigates the life and writings of the candidate and sends this information to the vatican. After approval of a panel of nine theologians, and the bishops and cardinals of the CCS, the Pope may then proclaim the candidate "Venerable."

Upon confirmation of a miracle (not necessary for martyrs), the person or persons are beatified, or "blessed", which allows veneration by a particular group or region. (Pere Lataste is at this stage.)

Only after the proof of one more miracle (martyrs included), the Pope will canonize the saint. Whereupon, his or her names (s) will be enrolled in the Canon of the Saints, and presented to the entire Church for veneration and emulation.

Nota Bene: Canonization does not "make" a saint; it only recognizes what God has already done.

Bls. Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini

Here's another pair of saintly spouses. They both are holy people. The Prefect of the Congregation promoting their sainthood said that it was impossible to beatify them separately, since one could not separate their holiness, which they lived so intimately. They are models for all married couples.

They met as teens and married in their twenties. He was Catholic but not noticeable devout. And I haven't read anything about Maria's spirituality. But I bet she was the heart of the family. It seems that once they married they took their religion seriously and participated in many devotions. I've seen this before. Many couples decide that they've grown up, now. They've matured; it's time to be responsible. This results in taking their responsibilities seriously. Included in the term "responsibilities", is religion, especially bringing children up in the faith. What could be more important than saving your children's souls?

During Maria's last pregnancy complications developed. An abortion was recommended because Maria was in danger of not surviving. If they weren't religious before, they certainly were now. Enrichetta was born healthy and Maria was fine. Their faith had strengthen them.

Their family consisted of two boys and two girls: Filippo became a Monsignor for the diocese of Rome, Cesare became a Trappist monk, Stefania was a Benedictine religious, and Enrichetta married. Three of the children were alive to see their parents beatified.

Pope John Paul II assigned Nov. 25th as their feast day. Usually, feast days of saints are on the date of their deaths; however, since their deaths occurred on separate days, their marriage date was chosen as their feast day. Their beatification was in 2001.

h/t Father Kevin Kraft, O.P. and his work compiling "well married saints."