Ватикан рассматривает дело канонизации испанской пары Томаса и Пакиги Альвире

The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints is currently reviewing the lives of Tomás and Paquita Alvira, a Spanish couple who could be the next canonized married saints. In recent years the Vatican has received a number of causes for canonization that include married couples. This growing number of holy couples is a reminder that all of us -- and not just priests, bishops, or religious -- are called to be saints. Most recently the Vatican has received the "positio," or "official biographies" of the lives of Tomás and Paquita Alvira, a Spanish couple who both died in the 1990s. Who were Tomás and Paquita Alvira? Born in the early 1900s, Tomás and Paquita Alvira lived in Spain and after the Spanish Civil War, they were married in Saragossa. They went on to have nine children and lived in Madrid for much of their married life. Tomás was a friend of St. Josemaria Escriva, and traveled on foot with him to escape the persecution of the Spanish Civil War. Both Tomás and Paquita would eventually become members of Opus Dei, seeking to live out their Catholic faith in their daily lives. One of their sons, Rafael Alvira, explained the love they had for each other in a talk he gave at the University of Piura in Lima, Peru: My parents persevered in their eagerness to love one another right to the end of their lives. A friend of one of my sisters told her that she was envious of my parents, because she would see them walking in the street and could tell that they still loved each other as when they were dating. As the years went by, my parents had the same eagerness that they had the day they got married, and their love was always increasing. Additionally, he said that they respected the freedom of their children: Respect for freedom. My parents always had a great respect for our freedom. They never pushed us to make a specific decision. For example, at home my parents prayed the Rosary every day. But they never forced us to pray it with them. They prayed it attentively, and although they invited us to join them, they never imposed it on us or insisted that we take part. If Tomás and Paquita Alvira are eventually canonized saints, they will join the ever increasing list of married couples who lived lives of holiness in the context of family life.