Tradition suggests that Anne and Joachim endured many years of infertility. Intense prayer and fasting were their consolation in this desert of barrenness. At long last, Mary, chosen spouse of the Holy Spirit and mother of the Christ, was fashioned from their union. Her soul was free from the stain of sin inherited from our first parents. From the depth of their faith, Anne and Joachim instructed Mary in wisdom. Under their canopy, this daughter of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob grew in faithfulness and virtue before God in preparation for her great Fiat.

As chosen grandparents of the long-awaited Messiah, Anne and Joachim must have marveled at their unique role in Jesus’ life. Certainly from their lap familial tales and sweet praises were entrusted to the little Christ Child.

Our Struggles Today

So often we are tempted to believe that the elderly are a burden to society. Their physical afflictions and mental deterioration hinder us from seeing the unique and important role they play in our families and in our culture. In rejecting them, we are deprived of knowing our heritage. Our children are robbed not only of the consolation of their grandparents, but also of their wisdom.

Scripture speaks of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s litanies to the abundant fruitfulness of God. Although the aged couple was righteous in the sight of God and observed all His commands, they remained childless. While Zechariah was humbly offering incense in the Temple, the angel Gabriel announced that Elizabeth would soon bear a son named John. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even in his mother’s womb, and prepare the way of the Lord. Because of his disbelief, Zechariah’s mouth was tied until he announced his son’s name.

When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, entered the house of Zechariah, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and the gift of understanding. The child leapt in her womb and she asked, “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).

Elizabeth and Zechariah nurtured the forerunner of the Messiah and he grew in virtue and conviction. They prepared John for his mission as “The Baptist.” They also met sorrow and loss at his beheading.

Our Struggles Today

When faced with a pregnancy at an advanced or inconvenient age, so many women are conflicted or afraid. Society tells us these pregnancies are burdens that interfere with career, self-fulfillment and a comfortable life. We may fear that we cannot provide for yet another child, and that by welcoming one more, we will jeopardize the security of our existing children. This fear prevents us from understanding the heart of our Heavenly Father and His blessings.

Prophets foretold that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and that He would come from the house of King David.

It was the Lord who chose Mary before her birth to be the bearer of His Son. He filled her with His grace from the moment of her conception in preparation for her role in salvation history. Choirs of angels and souls of the just awaited Mary’s Fiat. In the fullness of time, the angel Gabriel came to her with his divine invitation. Mary, in her humility and love of God, replied: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). The Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and the Word was made flesh. The new Adam, carried in the womb of the New Eve, would reverse the fall of our first parents, which implicated human flesh and soul alike.

Likewise, the Lord chose Joseph to be the foster father of His Son and protector of Mary. Scripture tells us he was a righteous man. Four times, Joseph trusted what the angel told him in a dream and promptly obeyed. His love of God overshadowed any fear or doubt he may have had in following God’s plan.

Mary and Joseph cooperated fully with the divine will, understanding that the child entrusted to them was the Messiah. Their son’s identity was confirmed by Elizabeth at the Visitation, by the shepherds and wise men at the Nativity, by Anna and Simeon at the Presentation, by the elders in the Temple, and by John the Baptist at the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River.

Our Struggles Today

So many of us have forgotten our true identity as sons and daughters of God. Because we’ve strayed, we no longer know who God is. In our pride and desire for self-gratification, we see Him as a taskmaster or tyrant, rather than the loving Father he is. We turn away from God and search for love outside of Him. Without His guidance, we are easily deceived. We choose darkness but call it light (Is. 5:20) and perceive the deviant as ordinary. We find ourselves enslaved by addictions, harmful relationships and other situations that belie our true worth.

Before meeting, Louis and Zelie Martin had decided to consecrate themselves to the Lord by entering religious life. But God had not created them for these vocations. Both discerned that religious life was not God’s will. Zelie mastered the delicate handiwork of lacemaking and Louis became a watchmaker. While perfecting their trade and living their Catholic Faith, they met and fell in love.

At the beginning of their marriage, Louis and Zelie were dedicated to a life of celibacy, viewing each other first as brother and sister in Christ and second as husband and wife. Following the advice of their confessor, the door of marital love was opened, their marriage was consummated, and they were blessed with nine children. Their life centered on daily Mass, the rosary, devotion to the Brown Scapular and care for those in need.

Their path to holiness was not without pain. Louis and Zelie suffered greatly at the loss of four of their children. Zelie died of cancer when their youngest child was just four years old. The Martin family did not lose hope, but learned to place even greater trust in God. Left a widower, Louis persevered faithfully and selflessly in the raising of his children. He suffered through severe sickness and deterioration of both mind and body, depending on his daughters’ care and drawing strength from the Lord.

Louis and Zelie had instructed their children in the faith and their sacrifices bore great fruit. All five of their surviving daughters – including the youngest, Thérèse, the “Little Flower” – ultimately entered religious life.

Our Struggles Today

We find ourselves in relationships that are void of true love and justice. We value people based on how useful they are to us, selfishly manipulating them to get what we want. We are unable to find the human connection we long for because we seek fulfillment in artificial relationships, rather than offering to others a generous, self-giving love. We turn human beings into objects for our own self-gratification, often through technology or pornography.

By all appearances, Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi lived an ordinary, simple life. Yet beneath this humble exterior, their deep faith enabled them to follow God’s will in extraordinary ways. The Quattrocchis were well-educated and lived in Rome. Luigi was a lawyer and Maria a teacher and writer. Throughout their married life, they dedicated themselves to many apostolates that supported marriage and the family. They were strengthened by daily Mass, the rosary and devotion to the Sacred Heart.

With joy, they welcomed four children and poured themselves into their little “domestic church.” When Maria was pregnant with their fourth child, doctors diagnosed her with placenta previa, giving her a five percent chance of survival unless she aborted the child. Maria refused, trusting instead in God’s Providence. For the remainder of her pregnancy, both she and Luigi drew courage from Christ’s cross. To their great relief and gratitude, their daughter Enrichetta was born without complications.

Despite their work and apostolates, they never sacrificed time with their own children. Instead, their devotion and actions served as a living example of how to “appreciate everything from the roof up,” as Maria would often say. When the Nazis invaded Italy, the Quattrocchis opened their home to Jews and others desperate for shelter. After twenty years of marriage, Luigi and Maria took the unique vow of living together as brother and sister, humbly sacrificing marital love for the sake of the kingdom.

Placing themselves close to Christ’s Sacred Heart they tasted joy, suffering and self-sacrifice. This example was richly rewarded. Their two sons became priests, one daughter became a nun and Enrichetta dutifully cared for them in their old age until their deaths.
Our Struggles Today

We are tempted to place our careers and possessions before the practice of our faith and time with family. As a result, our relationships with our spouse, children, elderly parents and even God deteriorate. Across the nation and throughout the world, these fractured relationships lead to isolation, distrust and fear. Rather than reaching out to others, we withdraw, anxious of what the future holds for us and for our children.

Born tenth of thirteen children, Gianna grew up in a family whose focus was unity, sanctity, and sacrifice. Her parents taught her to seek and follow God’s will by participating in the sacrifice of the Mass, praying the rosary daily, consecrating herself to the Sacred Heart and continually accepting the crosses God sent. While the early death of her parents could have fractured her family, it instead strengthened their foundation of faith, making the bonds between siblings impenetrable. Gianna witnessed the mystical workings of God in the various vocations of her siblings, including religious life and the priesthood.

As an adult, Gianna felt called to serve God and others by becoming a doctor. She longed to be a medical missionary, but health issues made it impractical. She instead became a pediatrician, ministering to both the body and soul of her patients. It was at this time she met Pietro, her future spouse.

Throughout their engagement and marriage, their lives were intertwined with Christ. Shortly before their wedding, Gianna wrote to Pietro about her hopes for their life together: “With God’s help and blessing we will do our best to make our new family a little Cenacle where Jesus reigns over all our affections, desires, and actions.”

Despite difficult pregnancies and deliveries, Gianna experienced motherhood with an abundance of joy. She welcomed three children while continuing her profession as a doctor. During Gianna’s fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a large fibroid in her uterus that threatened the life of her unborn child. Untreated, it would pose a danger to her as well. Doctors advised an abortion. Trusting in Divine Providence and understanding the risks, she instead chose to have the fibroid removed. Gianna insisted that if a choice had to be made, they choose the life of her child over her own. While she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Gianna’s health rapidly declined and she began her own ascent to Calvary, joining her suffering to Christ’s. She died of infection just seven days after delivery. In the last moments of her earthly life, she was accompanied by the prayers, love, and support of Pietro and her siblings. Together they anticipated her union with Christ and her loved ones in eternal life.

Our Struggles Today

Our culture has lost the ability to see how God can transform our lives through suffering. We no longer believe that the truths of the Catholic Faith will sustain us through this suffering. Searching for the easy way out, we choose every means possible of escaping pain. We seek to prolong pleasure and the desires of our youth, forgetting we were not made for this world but the next. With our sights no longer set on heaven, we reject the crosses God asks us to carry, robbing ourselves of graces and deeper conversion.