Stephane-Joseph Piat - A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux‐Saints Thérèse, Louis, and Zélie

A FAMILY OF SAINTS

STPHANE-JOSEPH PIAT, O.F.M.

The Martins of Lisieux
Saints Thrse, Louis, and Zlie

Translated by
A Benedictine of Stanbrook Abbey

God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of heaven than of earth .
Saint Thrse of the Child Jesus

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Original French edition: Histoire dune famille: Une hole de saintete
Copyright currently held by Pierre Tequi, 8 rue de Mezieres75006 Paris

First English edition: Copyright 1948 by P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New York. Published by P.J. Kenedy & Sons under the title: The Story of a Family: The Home of The Little Flower .

Nihil Obstat: Justin McCann, O.S.B.
Censor Deputatus

Imprimatur: Herbert Byrne, O.S.B., Ab. Praes.
June 19, 1946

This present edition has been amended to accord with the fourth edition of Stephane-Joseph Piat, O.F.M., Histoire dune famille: Une ecole de saintete; le foyer ou sepanouit sainte Thrse de lEnfant-Jesus (Lisieux: Office Central, 1946), and with the translations from the original manuscripts made of her autobiography, correspondence, and last conversations published by the Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington, D.C. www.icspublications.org

Cover art: Ss. Louis and Zellie Martin with St. Thrse of Lisieux and Siblings, by Paolo Orlando. Copyrighted.
Courtesy of Trinity Stores, www.trinitystores.com, 800-699-4482.

Cover design by Riz Boncan Marsella

2016 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-62164-079-0 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-68149-707-5 (EB)
Library of Congress Control Number 2016932120
Printed in the United States of America

Ancestry and early years of Louis Martin and Zlie Gurin

Louis Martin at the Grand-Saint-BernardThe watchmaker of the rue du Pont-NeufZlie Gurin, the lace makerThe providential meeting

Virginity in the married stateThe call of lifeMarie, Pauline, Lonie, and HlneMme. Martin as a letter writerHer relationship with her brother, M. Gurin

Professional workFirst symptoms of Mme. Martins illnessBirth and death of the two sons, Marie-Joseph-Louis and Marie-Joseph-Jean-BaptisteIllness and death of M. Gurin the elderIllness of the VisitandineBirth of ClineDeath of Hlne

Birth and death of Marie-Melanie-ThrseAlenon during the war of 1870Threats of a social crisisA mothers courage

The rue Saint-BlaiseAwaiting ThrseBirth and illness of ThrseIllness of MarieUnfolding of the Flower

In what sense was the Martin family bourgeois ?The spirituality of the homeFamily virtues, affections, and relations

Principles and method of educationTraining of Marie and PaulineLonie: the problem childCline: a child developing

The mothers testimonyMoral physiognomy of ThrseTraining in generosityPrecocious virtue and parental pride

A souls ascentFinal onset of the maladyDeath of the VisitandineThe reformation of LonieLourdesLast days, death, and funeral of Mme. Martin

Settling in at Les BuissonnetsLisieuxOrganization of the householdThe childrens educationFamily leisureSpiritual lifeM. Martin in the Belvedere

A day in Thrses lifeSchool at the AbbeyFirst CommunionM. Martin in Central EuropeThrses conversionHer real characterUnion of hearts at Les Buissonnets

The parents attitude toward the religious lifePauline and Marie at CarmelThrses vocationThe pilgrimage to RomeThe papal audienceThrse enters CarmelVocation of Cline

The prophetic visionThe offeringThe great afflictionThe Clothing of ThrseThe sanctification of sufferingThe Holy FaceProfession and Veiling of ThrseDeath of M. Martin

The family destinyThrses spiritual heritageFamily solidarity in the spiritual life, the apostolate; and sacrificeTheir share in the glory of the saint

During the production of the feature film Thrse , I thought a great deal about the parents of Saint Thrse of Lisieux, Zlie and Louis Martin, who were canonized on October 18, 2015. I played Zlie in the film (my husband, Leonardo, played Louis), and after my one cheerful scene in the garden, I spent the next scene lying in a coffin. It took many hours to film that five-minute funeral scene, and I had plenty of opportunity to contemplate this heroic couple.

These words of Zlie from a letter about her daughter Hlne, who died suddenly at the age of five, came back to me:

Here was a mother who understood what it is to love, with all her heart, and to lose what is dearest to her. Here also was a woman whose eyes were focused on the life to come:

In the nineteenth century, infant and child mortality was horrifyingly common. We are so fortunate now to have modern medicine to cure so many childhood diseases, but the experience of fear for the lives and souls of our children is still a reality with which we deal daily. Now, often instead of diseases, our children are threatened by the scourges of materialism, drugs, violence, pornography, promiscuity, and divorce. How can we protect them? Can a holy couple from the nineteenth century, when life was so simple and family life so insulated, teach us anything about resisting the temptations of the twenty-first century?

The Church thinks so, which is the reason she has given us the Martins as examples to emulate. Four outstanding qualities of their marriage deserve special attention.

The first thing to note about Zlie and Louis is their unity. Although they certainly did not lack for differences, the front they presented to their family and the outside world was one of a unity that could not be broken. If they fought, they fought in private. They looked on marriage as their vocationas a clear directive from God on their way to reach Heaven. All of their sufferings were always framed in the context of salvation. Everything was an opportunity to grow closer to God.

Which leads to the second attribute of this coupletheir clearness of purpose. Never did they waver in their pursuit of one thingholiness. They were examples to their children and to all those who knew them. In looking at their parents, the Martin children saw a reality that was undeniablethis world is not all there is. God is real. Heaven is real. We will meet again. Saint Thrse captured her parents witness in a poem:

I loved Mamas smile.

Her deep gaze seemed to say:

Eternity overwhelms me and attracts me.

Im going to go up in the blue Sky

To see God!

The third attribute of Zlie and Louis Martin was their extraordinary charity. This translated, for their children, into recognition of Christs face in the poor. Although they were comfortably well-off, through their business acumen and hard work, the Martins never hesitated to give to those in need. At the time of their beatification, Sareiva Cardinal Martin described them in this way: The Martin familys openness and the generosity of their welcome [are] legendary: not only was the house open and welcoming to all who knocked at the door, but they were enormously warm-hearted and ready to give of themselves.