Saint John Chrysostom, patron saint of preachers and whose feast day is celebrated this September 13, wrote a profound prayer about the love of spouses, pointing out that they are “the very image of God.”
Also a Doctor of the Church (347-407), he was Bishop of Constantinople (today Istanbul, in Turkey), a very important city in the first centuries of Christianity. He became a great defender of the truths of faith, earning the nickname “golden mouth” and being the patron of all those who preached about God.
In one of his homilies, he indicated that “prayer is the light of the soul, the true knowledge of God, the mediator between God and men.”
“It causes the soul to rise to heaven, to embrace God with ineffable hugs, craving, just like the child who cries and calls his mother, the divine milk: he exposes his own desires and receives gifts better than all visible nature.” , he added.
Collecting some of this saint’s writings for the benefit of family ministry, the Diocese of Pistoia, in northern Italy, offers on its website a prayer that Saint John Chrysostom wrote as a thank you to God for spousal love.
In it, the holy Doctor of the Church indicates that love can “change the substance of things.” Below we present the prayer:
“Thank you, Lord, that you have given us the love capable of changing the substance of things. When a man and a woman become one in marriage, they are no longer like earthly creatures, but the very image of God. Thus, United, they are not afraid of anything. With harmony, love and peace, man and woman are owners of all the beauties of the world: they can live peacefully, protected by the good they desire, according to what God has established. “Thank you, Lord, for the love you have given us.” Amen