St. Zelie Martin

I’m pretty sure I have mentioned St. Zelie Martin at least a few times. She is one of my very favorite saints. She is the namesake of one of my miscarried babies, and a woman who captivated me from the first moment I heard about her. I consider her a mom for all moms: any mom or would-be-mom can look to her for inspiration, encouragement, comfort, and intercession. In case you’re not very familiar with her, I’d like to introduce you to her. When you’re captivated, I recommend this book, written by one of her daughters, to learn more.

Marie-Azelie Guerin (later Martin) was born on December 23rd, 1831, and died on August 28, 1877, at age 45. Her first/most-recognizable claim to fame is being the mother of the Doctor of the Church, St. Therese of Lisieux.

Zelie was canonized with her husband St. Louis Martin on October 18th, 2015. They were the first married couple ever to be canonized together, and they share a feast day on July 12th.

My favorite story about Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin is as follows: Zelie wanted to join a convent, but her health and circumstances prevented her from doing so. Likewise, Louis wanted to be a monk or priest, but supposedly his lackluster skills in Latin prevented him also. Finding themselves both apparently called to marriage against their wills, when the two met in 1858, they ended up marrying rather quickly. If either of them had insisted on pursuing religious life themselves, the world would have missed out on our dear St. Therese! I just love this story.

In total she gave birth to nine babies; three died in infancy and one at age 5. The remaining five, all daughters, joined convents by the time they reached adulthood.

In the booklet I linked to above, which her daughter Celine has written about her, the quality that stuck out to me on repeat was her abnegation. She was always so focused on making sure others’ needs were met (those of her husband, children, employees, neighbors, etc.) that “she quite forgot herself.” She never demanded what was probably “due” to her, but rather—as St. Paul advises the Thessalonians (and all of us) to do—worked quietly and earned her own wages. Celine summarizes by saying that “what characterized her was the certainty that God governs all things,” which allowed her to accept and bear everything that came her way.

Zelie suffered from breast cancer at the end of her life. Her daughter Celine states that she still insisted on going to Mass until she physically couldn’t walk there, even with help. She died from the cancer on August 28th, 1877, when Therese was only four years old. Here is a link to another so-sweet story of St. Zelie mothering little St. Therese.

She is so relevant to women and especially mothers today:
–She obviously had a lot of babies!
–She knows the pain of infancy loss (the more acutely when her two sons died right in a row). She has been a great comfort to me facing all three of my miscarriages over the last few years.
–She knows the struggles of breastfeeding—in fact she was unable to nurse her own babies and missed them terribly while they were away with wet nurses in infancy.
–She also owned her own business making lace, which she didn’t exactly love doing, but she did it so diligently that she was quite successful at it. Even Louis quit his watchmaking to join in on the family lace business.
–Her preoccupations over her children consisted mainly in concern for their souls reaching Heaven, much more so than for their success in school or anything else. She reminds me of St. Monica praying for St. Augustine, in her persistence for doing everything possible to facilitate a good relationship between God and each of her children. Her daughter Leonie was the most difficult and worrisome (Zelie uses the word “stubborn” in her letters) as a child, but now Leonie is “waiting in line” for beatification herself—the only other, so far, after Therese.

I have a special affection for this saint, and I love talking about her!

Tell me in the comments below: who is your favorite mom saint, or your favorite lesser-known saint?