Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi (12 January 1880 – 9 November 1951) and Maria Corsini-Beltrame Quattrocchi (24 June 1884 – 26 August 1965) were two married Italian Roman Catholic laypeople who became the first couple to be beatified together in 2001. According to Pope John Paul II, they lived "an ordinary life in an extraordinary way". They are commemorated on 25 November—their wedding anniversary.
Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi
Luigi was born in Catania in 1880 to Carlo and Francesca Beltrame Vita. The second surname was added when Luigi was raised and then adopted by his childless aunt and uncle, Stefania and Luigi Quattrocchi, but maintained a close relationship with his birth parents. He attended school at Ancona and then moved to Rome, where he lived in the area of Esquiline. He studied jurisprudence at Sapienza University of Rome and graduated in 1902 with a degree in law.
After his graduation, Quattrocchi took a legal position with the Intendacy of Finances and later went on to hold a number of posts on the boards of a variety of banks, including the Bank of Italy.
Maria Corsini
Maria Luisa Corsini was born in Florence in 1884, a member of the noble Corsini family. Her father, Angeiolo Corsini, was a Royal Army captain of grenadiers. Her mother was Julia Salvi. Because of her father's frequent military transfers, the family lived in Pistoia, Arezzo and Rome.
Corsini had an excellent education from a young age. Parish priests taught her literature classes, which gave her the background to write essays and books on education, religion, the family and the spiritual upbringing of children. She followed a strict religious life, which included religious counseling, attending mass, receiving daily Communion, and reciting prayers. Although she had been enrolled at a parish school in Rome run by nuns, when one of the nuns talked ill of the King, Corsini transferred to a state-run school. After her graduation, she became a professor of education and lecturer.
Married life
Corsini met Quattrocchi, the son of a family friend, at her family's home in Florence. The two married on 25 November 1905 in the Cappella Corsini in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, in Rome. In the early years after their marriage, they lived together with parents and grandparents.
She was a highly devout person, but her husband, in the initial years, was not. In the first three years of marriage, Corsini gave birth to three children: Filippo (born 1906), Stephania (born 1908) and Cesare (born 1909). Diagnosed with placenta praevia during her fourth pregnancy, and given the dangers at that time of carrying the baby to term, doctors counseled the couple to abort the pregnancy. Her husband was advised that, barring a medical intervention, he should expect to be a widower with three small children to attend to. The doctors induced labour, however, and delivered the baby prematurely. Corsini attributed her faith in God to her and her baby's survival. Enrichetta (born 1914), along with two of her siblings, were present for their parents' beatification (in 2001).
Maria worked for the Red Cross during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and served as a voluntary nurse in the Italian Red Cross during World War II. The couple's home was open for those in need during wartime. Corsini was active with women's causes in the St. Vitale Parish and the women's division of Catholic Action.
Children
The couple had four children: Filippo (October 15, 1906 - February 20, 2003), Benedictine priest, known as Don Tarcisio or Don Tar. Stefania (March 9, 1908 - March 1, 1993), Benedictine nun, known as Suor Cecilia. Cesare (November 27, 1909 - December 31, 2008), Trappist monk, known as Father Paolino. Enrichetta (April 6, 1914 - June 16, 2012), whose cause of beatification opened in 2018.
Don Tarcisio and Father Paolino joined ASCI (Associazione Scouts Cattolici Italiani) as children, and after their ordinations, became scout chaplains. When it merged with AGI (Associazione Guide Italiane) to become AGESCI (Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani), both of them joined the new association.
Organizations
The couple were among the founders of many Catholic organizations: ASCI (Associazione Scouts Cattolici Italiani), the Italian Catholic scout association; Azione Cattolica, the biggest lay organization of Catholics in Italy; UNITALSI, an organization which carries infirm people on pilgrimages to Lourdes and other sanctuaries.