Blesseds Luigi & Maria Quattrocchi Prayer Card (PC-43)
Pickup available at 7118 Beech Ridge Trail
Usually ready in 2-4 days
PC-43 — Blesseds Luigi & Maria Quattrocchi Prayer Card
The first married couple beatified together — who lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way
They were not martyrs. They were not mystics living in monasteries. They were not missionaries in foreign lands. Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi was a lawyer who became assistant attorney general of Italy. Maria Corsini was a catechist, writer, and educator. They married on November 25, 1905, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, raised four children, endured two world wars, prayed the Rosary together every evening, attended daily Mass, and opened their home to refugees and Jews during the Nazi occupation of Italy. They were, in every visible sense, an ordinary Italian Catholic family.
And yet. When Pope John Paul II beatified them together on October 21, 2001 — the first married couple in the history of the Church to be beatified jointly — he said they had lived "an ordinary life in an extraordinary way." Their secret was not heroic drama but heroic fidelity: daily Eucharist, the family Rosary, monthly holy hours, spiritual direction, retreats, and a marriage in which both spouses were genuinely racing each other toward holiness. Their son Cesare recalled, "There was a kind of race between Father and Mother to grow in spirituality."
Their pro-life witness was tested directly. During Maria's fourth pregnancy, doctors diagnosed placenta previa and urged abortion, giving her only a five percent chance of survival. Luigi and Maria refused without hesitation, entrusted mother and child to God, and both survived. That daughter, Enrichetta, sat in St. Peter's Square at age 87 to watch her parents be beatified — while her two priest brothers concelebrated the Mass with the Pope.
Three of their four children entered religious life. Their feast day is November 25th — their wedding anniversary.
Perfect for: Married couples, Pre-Cana and marriage preparation, wedding and anniversary gifts, pro-life ministry, Catholic family prayer, November 25th feast day, and anyone seeking patron saints of Catholic marriage and family life.