The Poor Man of Assisi esteemed marriage in the Christian life as a place of witness to God's fountain of love for man and woman, knowing how to welcome and await God's timing in every situation.
It is recounted in the Sources that a noblewoman once came to him to ask the saint for a remedy for a very bad husband, who was hindering her in the service of Christ.
"After listening to her, he said to her: 'Go in peace and be assured that in a little while you will get from your man the consolation you desire.
And he added: "You shall tell him from God and from me that now is the time for mercy, then for justice".
Having received the blessing, the woman returns, finds her husband and tells him those words.
The Holy Spirit descended upon him, transforming him into a new man, thus inducing him to respond with all meekness: "Madam, let us serve the Lord and save our souls".
At the urging of his holy wife, they led a celibate life for several years, until they both returned to the Lord on the same day" (FF 1193 - Major legend).
But for those who, like Francis and Clare of Assisi, follow their call to become disciples in poverty following Christ [eunuchs for the Kingdom of God] life unfolds differently.
We read about St Clare:
"When therefore she began to feel the first stirrings of holy love, she considered the perishable and false flower of worldliness despicable, instructed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit to attribute little value to things that have little value.
And indeed, beneath her precious and soft robes she wore a small cilice, appearing outwardly adorned for the world, but inwardly clothed in Christ.
Finally, wanting her to marry her nobly, she did not consent in any way: but, pretending to wish to postpone the earthly wedding until later, she entrusted her virginity to the Lord' (FF 3160).