Beatification process for Jacques and Raissa Maritain in the works




The sainthood process is a lengthy procedure. It's even longer and more complicated when you are dealing with the sainthood of a couple, like these two French intellectuals. Born into a Protestant family, Jacques Maritain and his wife, Raissa, a Russian Jewish émigré, converted to Catholicism, after studying the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Their sainthood would serve as an enduring example of a holy marriage.
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Comments

  1. Geremia2/12/11, 8:27 PM

    Wow, that would be quite amazing. I wonder what the cause's actors pushing for their beatification claim their miracles to be?

    I consider the Maritain couple mystics in the sense that they ardently sought unification to God through the intellectual life, especially á la St. Dominic and the Dominican intellectual tradition.

    As Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., asked: "Is the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith and the union with God which results therefrom an intrinsically extraordinary grace, or is it, on the contrary, in the normal way of sanctity?" He firmly held that it is indeed the normal way of sanctity.

    If the Maritains are beatified, it would show to the world that contemplation is not just for monks; it is for everyone. Contemplation of the "big questions"—answers for which all people thirst, e.g., esp. those fascinated by what modern science says about our place in the universe—would become more culturally acceptable and less scary, evidenced, e.g., by many people's hatred of silence by filling it with noisy music. People desire contemplation, but many avoid it because they think contemplation is passive and against the Protestant work ethic of constantly "being active" and "doing."

    Much good would result from the Maritain's beatification.

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