Louis and Zelie Martin-Examples of Virtue:
In 2015, Pope Francis canonized the first ever husband and wife saint duo: Louis and Zelie Martin. However, their cause for canonization became a joint effort several years before when Pope John Paul II paired their veneration together. Despite, having several saints in the Catholic Church who were parents, until this point no others were joined together like this. Their feast day is celebrated on July 12th. As a result, we have to ask, what made Louis and Zelie different?
Louis and Zelie met and married in France in the 1850s. Although they had both pursued religious life, unfortunately both were dismissed. Because of this, their parents introduced them. Their attraction grew into a fast courtship and marriage, seeing each other as virtuous matches to live a God-centered marriage with. Through their union, Zelie bore nine children. Unfortunately, four died in childhood and only five survived to adulthood. Sadly, we know very little about them. We do know that Zelie died of cancer at age 46, leaving Louis to provide for his daughters. Louis lived a very quiet life.
So we must ask, how was a Pope able to look at them, over one-hundred years later, and say they deserved veneration?
The heroic virtue of marriage and parenthood.
Louis and Zelie were the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, who as we know, is a Doctor of the Church. Therese is most well known for her “little way to Heaven.” She lived a quiet life in her cloistered convent. She prayed, helped with chores, and wrote, alone. Even though, her life made minimal impact on others while she was alive, her writings have changed the lives of many. It was only after her death that anyone realized how blessed she was with understanding of Heaven in her writings. She died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-six.
Pope John Paul II understood Therese was aided in her pursuit of the Lord. She grew up surrounded by service of God through every little act of love her parents showed her. Louis and Zelie did not perform miracles, leave behind great writings, or give up their lives for religious vocations. Instead, they made marriage and parenthood their road to Heaven. Louis and Zelie did small acts every day with great love. Because of this, they made their daily lives full of heroic virtue.
As husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers, we will forgo many opportunities for “great things.” For instance, we likely won’t be accredited with tremendous miracles in our Church, or even with impressive accomplishments in our lives. However, when we stand at the gates of Heaven, we can say we lived with love. Because of Louis and Zelie, we know God will see the heroic virtue of cradling our children in the middle of the night. He will remember the labor pains to bring our babies to baptism. God will see our struggles with NFP and chastity. He will reward our tears of struggle and pain. Everyday heroic virtue is every married couples path to Heaven.
