So, what’s up with this book project I am always talking about? I’ll give the short story first, and then the longer version for anyone interested.

In early 2020, I began researching and writing a book about married Saints. The book slowly came together framed around the Catholic marriage vows. Many drafts and rejections from various publishers later, in November 2022, I signed a book contract with Marian Press to publish my debut work! It is slated for release in mid-April 2024.

The Longer Story

In early 2020, I started feeling called to get to know some Saints and holy people who were married.  Of the dozens of Saints I had heard of, only a few had been married.  Don’t get me wrong, priests and religious are awesome, but, when I read about saints with those vocations, it was sometimes difficult for me to relate to their daily lives.  I wanted some role-models for my own vocation.

As I started to research married Saints (and Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God; abbreviated St., Bl., Ven., and SOG), I found mixed in with their biographical information lots of great quotes from the Catechism, papal encyclicals like Humanae vitae and Familiaris consortio, and, of course, Scripture.  In seeking to learn about how specific marriages were holy, I learned more and more about how any marriage could be made more holy.  It came down to growing in understanding of what Matrimony as a Sacrament really is and how to live it out through the marital vows.

There’s a reason Catholics don’t write their own vows- because it’s all there, spelled out perfectly in the vows proposed by the Church.  We need to love our spouse freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully; for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health; until death do us part.

My research eventually started becoming the foundation for a book, and I found that some of the individuals or couples I had been learning about were particularly great examples of one of these vows.  As I matched up people and vows, the framework of this book developed as follows, with one chapter on each of these:

Loving freely– Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérėse of Lisieux and the first couple to be fully canonized together.  They always worked to separate themselves from worldly attachments so they could be free to truly love.

Loving fully– Bl. Barbe Acarie, the foundress of the French Carmel.  She helped her husband carry his crosses and loved him fully, with all his shortcomings.

Loving faithfully– St. Thomas More, who was faithful not only to his wife but to the Church to his death.  Thomas was beheaded by King Henry VIII for refusing to support the king’s divorce/ remarriage and his claim of primacy over the Pope for England’s faithful.

Loving fruitfully– Bls. Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, the first couple to be beatified together.  They refused to abort their unborn child despite a 5% chance of mother and child surviving.

For better or for worse- Sts. Elizabeth and Zechariah, the parents of John the Baptist.  They experienced the deep low of infertility and soaring highs of bearing a son in their old age and meeting the Christ child.

For richer or for poorer– Bl. Karl I of Austria and SOG Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last emperor/ empress of Austria- Hungary.  This royal couple ruled as true Christians, thirsting for peace in WW1.  After the war, they were suddenly left penniless exiles.

In sickness and in health- SOGs Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba, killed in the Rwandan genocide for seeking ethnic harmony.  They witnessed great physical and spiritual healing, in their family and in the Christian community they built up in Rwanda.

‘Til death do us part– St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine of Hippo.  Monica did not cease praying for her spouse and children’s conversion until her death and she is a wonderful example of the Christian perspective on death.

Towards publication…

As I worked with Marian, they encouraged me to add a full concluding chapter focused on the Holy Family– not only Mary and Joseph, but also Mary’s parents Ann and Joachim, and Joseph’s parents, too! I also added some content about a Saint whose popularity has been proven to me by the number of hits on the blog post I wrote about her: St. Rita, patron of impossible/ unhappy marriages, the abused and the brokenhearted. My editor and I hope that adding in these two couples- one the exemplary marriage for us all, the other unhappy and broken but holy to the end- will help ensure all readers find a place somewhere in the pages of this book.

Wherever you are in your marriage, you are called to grow in holiness and walk this vocational path to heaven. And the Church has invaluable gifts to help you on the journey: the lives of the Saints, the roadmap of marriage vows, and especially the supernatural aid of sacramental grace. Let’s rediscover these gifts together and live out our vocations to Holier Matrimony!

Thank you all for your support and prayers for this project!  May God bless all your marriages. And, with publication just a few months away now, if you have connections or ideas about marketing the book, want to be a reviewer, etc. please let me know in the comments below!