A Christian marriage isn't just a big ceremony held in a church with nice flowers and everyone wearing fancy clothes and taking lots of pictures, Pope Francis said. Marriage is an act of faith between a man and woman who are both fragile and limited, but courageous enough to follow Christ and seek to love each other as he loves them, the pope said during his general audience in St. Peter's Square. "Men and women, courageous enough to carry this treasure in the 'earthen vessels' of our humanity, are an essential resource for the church and for the whole world," he said. "May God bless them a thousand times for this!" The pope continued a series of talks about the family by focusing on the beauty of Christian marriage as a sacrament that builds up the church and the world. A Christian marriage "is not simply a ceremony that you have in church with flowers, the dress, photos. Christian marriage is a sacrament that takes place in the church and is also something the church does, ushering in a new domestic community," he said. All Christians "are called to love each other like Christ loves them," and to be at the service of each other, he said. But the love between husband and wife is given greater, even "unthinkable," dignity when St. Paul says the love between a husband and wife reflects the love between Christ and his church, the pope said.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...