St. Therese and her sister Celine
History and Significance
History and Significance of the Relics of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin
Louis and Zélie were married on July 13, 1858, in the Church of Notre-Dame d’Alençon at midnight. Both wanted to live married life as religious. Fortunately, their spiritual director advised them to serve God by having children. Louis and Zélie had seven daughters and two sons, four died in infancy. They wished the best for their children: to become saints! Their faith was great, unshakeable.
Prayer was embedded throughout their daily lives and the Eucharist was at the heart of their day. Louis and Zélie went to the early morning Mass each day with their children. They were an exemplary couple of generosity towards their children, employees, neighbors, and the poor.
Every day Louis and Zélie submitted their marriage to God and resolved to do his will in all things. God and their faith were the center of their lives. Engaged unreservedly in the responsibilities of daily life, Louis and Zélie became saints in the fabric of their marriage. Heroically, lived their motto: “God must be served first.” They taught it to their children, no matter what it cost them.
On October 18, 2015, Louis and Zélie were canonized by Pope Francis; they are the first non-martyred spouses to be canonized together as a couple in the history of the Church!
History and Significance of the Relics of St. Therese
From an early age, it was Thérèse’s ambition and desire to be a saint. Her early childhood was marked by the death of her mother when she was four and a half years old. When her elder sister, Pauline, entered the local Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, Thérèse felt like she had lost her second mother. Shortly afterwards, Thérèse experienced a painful illness. For three weeks she suffered from a high fever. Eventually, Thérèse felt completely healed after her sisters placed a statue of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the bed.
Soon afterward, she felt a very strong calling to enter Carmel at the early age of 15. While initially denied because of her young age (even after asking the Pope himself!), she eventually was able to join her two sisters in Carmel of Lisieux.
St. Thérèse has given us her “little way” of confidence and love. For Thérèse, what was important was not doing great works but doing little things with the power of God’s love. If we can maintain the right attitude, then nothing shall remain that cannot be accomplished.
St. Thérèse died early at the age of 24 from tuberculosis. However, after her death, her writings were read and loved all over the world. St. Thérèse was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925, only 27 years after her death. On October 19, 1997, Pope St. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Catholic Church. She holds this title along with four female saints out of 37 doctors of the church in total. Pope Pius X referred to St. Thérèse as “the greatest saint of modern times.” St. Thérèse, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us!
The visit to the Archdiocese from October 4 - 15 of the relics of St. Thérèse, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of St. Thérèse (1873), the 100th anniversary of her beatification (1923), and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Martin (1823).
