Originally published at Southern Cross
VATICAN CITY — Because the Holy Spirit specializes in love and unity, Catholic couples should pray regularly for the Spirit to be present in their marriage, Pope Francis said.
“Where the Holy Spirit enters, the capacity for self-giving is reborn,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Oct. 23, continuing a series of talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and its members.
While the pope explained the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to a couple through the sacrament of marriage, he repeatedly told visitors and pilgrims that the unity and love of parents are important for children’s growth and happiness.
“How beautiful it is to hear a mother say to her children, ‘Your father and I …,’ as Mary said to Jesus when they found Him at the age of 12 in the temple, and to hear a father say, ‘Your mother and I …,’ as if they were one,” Pope Francis said. “How much children need this unity — dad and mom together — this unity of parents, and how much they suffer when it is lacking! How much children suffer when their parents separate.”
But “to correspond to this
