As the second married couple to be declared saints (along with Sts. Anne and Joachim, the parents of Mary), and the first to be canonized together, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin offer a model of the vocation to love and holiness that is at the heart of the sacrament of marriage.
By showing how God worked through both their successes and failures as spouses and parents (including of St. Thérèse of Lisieux), the Martins can offer inspiration and hope for Catholic couples seeking to live out their faith in their everyday married life, which we celebrate Feb. 7-14 with National Marriage Week.
Opposites attract
Zélie Guérin was a formidable young woman. Alongside her faith, the defining feature of Zélie’s personality was her determination to acquire financial independence. Her childhood had been an unhappy one, marked by material hardship. After she was denied entry to the convent, she turned to the art of lacemaking to acquire the respectable dowry which her parents’ poverty had denied her. These early experiences scarred Zélie, leading her to become what would today be called a workaholic.
Louis Martin could never be described that way. The youngest son of a military officer, he lived a prosperous but almost monastic existence as a watchmaker in Alençon after failing in his youthful attempt at a religious vocation (he did not know Latin). Hardworking and introverted, Louis divided his energies between his successful business and an intense religious devotion. Unlike many other businesses, his shop always remained closed on Sunday. Still single in his 30s, it was rumored he had taken a vow of celibacy.
Louis’ mother, concerned about her youngest son’s extended bachelorhood, met Zélie at a class on lacemaking and immediately saw a potential match for her son. How this connection led to the young couple’s initial meeting on a bridge in town is unknown. Told by an inner voice that the handsome stranger she encountered was to be her future husband, the ever-energetic Zélie wasted no time fulfilling this prophecy. Their marriage followed within three months, in July 1858.
A growing but imperfect family
Louis initially offered Zélie a “Josephite” (celibate) marriage. Zélie’s somewhat reluctant acceptance of the offer made her a natural match for this quiet man. However, their spiritual adviser quickly put an end to this arrangement, and Zélie eventually gave birth to nine children, five of whom survived into adulthood.
Zélie’s personality made it difficult for her to express the love she had for her children. Unintentionally, Zélie inflicted the emotional neglect she had suffered upon her own daughter, Marie-Léonie. The struggles that Léonie had should put to rest any illusions that either the Martin marriage or their parenting was perfect.
The love between Louis and Zélie, and the faith upon which it rested, was put to its greatest trial by the cancer from which she would die in 1877. Several years earlier, Zélie had seen the first symptoms of illness. She ignored her condition while the tumor metastasized and spread. By the time she sought help in late 1876, her condition was beyond treatment.
Confronted with her terminal diagnosis on the eve of her 45th birthday, with five children and a husband in need of her care, Louis and Zélie fell back upon their faith.
At her deathbed, both spouses revealed the deep love and faith upon which they had built their lives. Their daughter, Celine, recalled: “We were all kneeling beside her bed, in order of age, with Thérèse beside me. Our poor dear father could not restrain his grief. As for our mother, she remained calm and self-possessed. She was to die in a truly saintly way, giving us, to the very end, the example of complete self-forgetfulness and most lively faith.”
A model for others
The scene, combining tragedy and sorrow with the comfort and security of a profound faith in God, serves as a miniature of their married life.
Already shattered by her death, Louis gradually retreated from the world, retiring from business to care for his family. In 1886, Louis had his first episode of dementia, wandering alone for four days.
The last fragment of his writing we possess was a letter to his daughters from 1888. He writes: “I want to tell you, my dear children, that I have the urgent desire to thank God and to make you thank God, because I feel that our family, though very humble, has the honor of being among the privileged of our adorable Creator.”
As the first married couple to be made saints simultaneously, Louis and Zélie Martin are a model for couples seeking to live out their faith amid the pressures of work, children, illness and loss.
— Lance Richey, OSV News
