SmartLoving: Martyrs for marriage through the ages

Originally Published by www.catholicweekly.com.au

By Francine and Byron Pirola

While couple saints inspire us to emulate them in our homes, it’s the martyrs for marriage who embolden us in the public square.

Marriage – as God planned it – is foundational to revelation.

Beginning in the creation of stories in Genesis (Chapters 1 and 2), marriage is central to how humankind images God.

This spousal theme echoes throughout Scripture, culminating in the Marriage of the Lamb in Revelation (Chapter 19).

In fact, the spousal analogy is so woven into the bible, that St John Paul II called it ‘the least inadequate analogy’ for God’s love of humanity.

Although no words can capture the fullness of this immense mystery, marriage comes closer than all other analogies.

God is love itself, inviting each of us into a love relationship with him. As children, we first experience love in our families, where our parents’ love for each other prepares us for the eternal romance God desires with us.

When the marital model in our home is distorted, it clouds our ability to recognise God’s loving proposal. It’s no coincidence that the rise in atheism parallels the rise in divorce in Western culture.

St John Paul II understood this profoundly: if someone wanted to derail God’s plan for salvation, they’d target marriage.

Sr Lucia dos Santos, one of the Fatima visionaries, confirmed this in a letter to John Paul II’s aide: ‘The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.’

Indeed, many saints have laid down their lives to defend the sacredness of marriage. Let’s explore a few through history.

Biblical witness

When he criticised Herod Antipas for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias, St John the Baptist was arrested. It all came to a head (pun intended!) when her daughter so enchanted Herod with her dancing, that he foolishly promised her anything – even half his kingdom.

Coached by her mother, she requested the head of John on a platter (cf Mt 14:1-12).

The Gospels also record that John described himself as the ‘friend of the bridegroom’ (referring to Jesus – see Jn 3:29). His role in proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, mirrors the ancient Jewish wedding custom of the ‘friend’ heralding the approach of the bridegroom to escort his bride to the wedding.

Not long after John’s death, the bridegroom himself – Jesus – was also martyred. His passion and death on the cross offer us a profound model of sacrificial love for our marriages.

Renaissance defenders

In sixteenth century, England, King Henry VIII sought to divorce his wife and remarry.

When the pope denied his petition for an annulment, he founded the Church of England. Sts Thomas More (married) and Cardinal John Fisher opposed him and were beheaded for their trouble. Henry later annulled or beheaded four of his six wives.

Later that century, on America’s Georgia coast, five Franciscan friars were clubbed to death by local natives. They had denied permission for a baptised tribal leader to take a second wife and will be beatified in 2026.

Modern heroes

Beatified by John Paul II and canonised in October 2025 by Pope Leo XIV, Peter To Rot was a lay catechist in Papua New Guinea during the Japanese occupation of World War II.

When he denounced polygamy, which the occupiers promoted to curry favour with tribal leaders and weaken the church, he was arrested and executed by lethal injection.

And let us not forget the almost-martyr, St John Paul II, who survived an assassination attempt in 1981.

That day he planned to announce the establishment of the Pontifical Council of the Family and the Institute for the Studies of Marriage and Family. The date was 13 May – the anniversary of the first apparition at Fatima.

He reportedly said that blood would be spilt for his revolutionary Theology of the Body to be spread, saying: ‘If the word will not convert, the blood will.’

Following the example of these martyrs, Charlie Kirk also spoke boldly in public against the erosion of marriage and family in Western culture.

A devout Christian, he urged a return to biblical sexual ethics and lived it in his private life. Assassinated in September 2025, might he one day be among the canon of martyrs for marriage?

Emboldened by faith

Being such a crucial aspect of revelation, marriage has been the epicentre of spiritual warfare for millennia.

We may not be called to martyrdom ourselves, but as married couples we can strive to conform our lives to the vision God holds before us – not just for our benefit and those we encounter, but also to honour those who have given their lives defending it.

Let us be emboldened by the example of these martyrs whose witness never grows old.