Friday, September 21, 2007

Excerpt from "The Catholic Book of Marriage" (1951)

M is for MARY, the greatest of all God's children, Queen of Heaven and earth; Mother of Christ and of us. She is the model of all wives, as St. Joseph is the model of all husbands.
A is for AFFECTION. The Immaculate Heart of Mary was filled with loving affection, first for God and her Child, Jesus; for her beloved husband, Joseph, for her close neighbors whom she was ever ready to help, and for all mankind, destined to be her children in the Lord.
R is for the family ROSARY. The marriage that is firmly established on the love of Mary through the Family Rosary is destined for success. Jesus and Mary will be with it to bless parents and children in life and in eternity.
R is for mutual RESPECT. Respect flows from love. Mary loved and respected Joseph as the divinely appointed head of the home. Joseph respected Mary as the dearest woman in the whole world, dearer to him than his very life. So the faithful husband and wife never endanger or offend their mutual love.
I is for INCOME. A practical law of life is to live within you income. The happiest couple that ever walked this earth enjoyed no great mansion; they had no expensive pleasures. Joseph supported his family by the work of his hands, as a carpenter. Though poor, he always had a little for someone that needed it more.
A is for living ALONE. The Lord demands that a man "leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife...that they be two in one flesh."
G is for GENEROSITY. Love is generous. It never counts the cost or weighs the sacrifice. Love is willing to do more, and more, to please the beloved.
E is for the EUCHARIST. Jesus was the center of Joseph's and Mary's life, their bond of union and their salvation, the heart of their home. Jesus, the Author of all marriage, is the life and light of all hearts, without Whom nothing good can exist.

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