A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux
The recent, and unprecented, canonization by Pope Francis of a husband and wife, Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese, has stirred a great interest in this extraordinary family. This work by the highly regarded expert on the Martin family, Father Stephane-Joseph Piat, OFM, is the definitive biography of this amazing "family of saints."
Saint Therese, a Doctor of the Church, wrote in her classic spiritual biography, Story of a Soul, how important her family life was in setting the foundation for her spiritual life. She grew up in a close family, where the deep love of parents and children for God, neighbor, and each other was the very heart of their home and family life.
This family of saints, who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, might appear from their quaint photographs to have lived a relatively serene and smooth path to sainthood, untarnished by modern problems. But, as this book shows, the reality is quite the opposite. They sufferd from the loss of four children, the failure of the family business, and the death of Zelie, at forty-five, to breast cancer.
The secret to their happiness then is the secret to our happiness now: unfailing love made possible by boundless faith in God. All the challenges the Martins faced, great and small, were met with a profound trust in Divine Providence. Illustrated with 8 pages of photographs
"For the first time in two millennia, an entry in the liturgical books will now read, 'Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, Spouses.' A married couple, a man and a woman, who were the parents of a saint, the Little Flower, and in whose married life mutual sanctification took place by cooperation with God's grace."
-George Weigel, from the Afterword
| Description | "God gave me a father and mother more worthy of heaven than of earth." - Saint Therese of Lisieux The recent, and unprecented, canonization by Pope Francis of a husband and wife, Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese, has stirred a great interest in this extraordinary family. This work by the highly regarded expert on the Martin family, Father Stephane-Joseph Piat, OFM, is the definitive biography of this amazing "family of saints." Saint Therese, a Doctor of the Church, wrote in her classic spiritual biography, Story of a Soul, how important her family life was in setting the foundation for her spiritual life. She grew up in a close family, where the deep love of parents and children for God, neighbor, and each other was the very heart of their home and family life. This family of saints, who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, might appear from their quaint photographs to have lived a relatively serene and smooth path to sainthood, untarnished by modern problems. But, as this book shows, the reality is quite the opposite. They sufferd from the loss of four children, the failure of the family business, and the death of Zelie, at forty-five, to breast cancer. The secret to their happiness then is the secret to our happiness now: unfailing love made possible by boundless faith in God. All the challenges the Martins faced, great and small, were met with a profound trust in Divine Providence. Illustrated with 8 pages of photographs "For the first time in two millennia, an entry in the liturgical books will now read, 'Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, Spouses.' A married couple, a man and a woman, who were the parents of a saint, the Little Flower, and in whose married life mutual sanctification took place by cooperation with God's grace." |
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