Saint Louis and Zélie Martin, Parents of Ste Thérèse de Lisieux

Description Saint Louis and Zélie Martin, Parents of Ste Thérèse de Lisieux

The quotation chosen for the right panel of this diptych dedicated to the holy parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux comes from a letter she wrote to Father Bellière whom she called her little brother. In this letter, dated July 26, 1897, she gives him some details about her family. You will find on the description of the religious triptych TRT73A an extract from this letter with the quote on his parents more worthy of the earth than of the sky. Father Tellière is a young seminarian called to military service. This prospect frightens him a little; so he wrote on October 15, 1895 to the prioress of Carmel of Lisieux to ask that a nun attaches particular importance to the salvation of his soul and that she obtain that he shall be faithful to his vocation as a priest and a missionary. The prioress responds positively to this request and designates Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face to fulfill this mission. Sainte Thérèse is at the height of happiness because she sees one of her great desires fulfilled, that is having a priest and missionary brother. So it is with joy that she will offer sacrifices and prayers for her "little brother". Since the quotation speaks of the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, it is perfectly appropriate to put opposite on the left panel the portraits of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin canonized in 2015. These charcoal drawings were made by their daughter Céline, in religion sister Geneviève. Saint Thérèse's parents are truly more worthy of Heaven than of earth since they were canonized together by Pope Francis on March 18, 2015. This double canonization shows that it is in marriage and through marriage that the two spouses have attained holiness. Obviously, it was the glory of Saint Thérèse that prompted us to take an interest in her parents. Indeed, on the evening of the canonization of Saint Thérèse, on May 17, 1925, Cardinal Vico, responsible for the causes of beatification exclaimed: "Well, now we ask Rome to take care of the papa!" The publication of family correspondence from 1941 then brought Zélie out of the shadows. Father Piat then wrote "The story of a family" that sold over a hundred thousand copies. Consequently, Carmel and the Vatican will receive thousands of letters which testify to the affection of people of all countries for Louis and Zélie, and graces obtained by their intercession. Petitions requesting their beatification receive tens of thousands of signatures. In response to popular fervor, the bishops of Lisieux and Alençon opened two beatification trials which were heard separately from 1957 to 1960, before being brought together in a single cause. In 1957, there was still alive a daughter of Louis and Zélie Martin, Soeur Geneviève; she was therefore able to give her testimony on her father and on her mother. For the first time, the cause of a couple is introduced to the Vatican, but this will not be the first canonized. In 1994, Saint John Paul II signs the decree of heroic virtues of Louis and Zélie Martin, proclaiming them venerable. On October 19 they are beatified. Quotation :

Le Bon Dieu m'a donné un père et une mère plus dignes du ciel que la terre. Ste Thérèse de L'Enfant-Jésus