A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux-Saints Therese, Louis, and Zelie

by Stephane-Joseph Piat

"God gave me a father and mother more worthy of heaven than of earth." Saint Therese of Lisieux

The recent, and unprecedented, 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, O.F.M, 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 suffered from the loss of four children, the failure of a 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"

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction, Biography, Spirituality

392 pages, Paperback

Published May 26, 2016

Reviews

[Mark Axelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only was this a good description of a holy family, but it was a snapshot into the historical setting of France at that time. The Church was rising from the ashes of the 1789 carnage, and it was interesting to see it through the perspective of this particular saintly family.

[The Nutmeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The missing star is because the book itself is very French, by which I mean, flowery to the point that I don’t know where veneration ends and hero-worship begins. It’s ok for saints to have imperfections, and I like a book that’s willing to grapple with its subjects’ struggles as they grow in virtue.

Which maybe this book is and I just kinda missed it?

Anywho the Martins themselves are epic and their story made me cry. Multiple times. Highly recommend making their acquaintance.

[Becca O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any lover of Therese of Lisieux will learn a lot from this book. Insightful, informative, rich with gems and insight, AND extremely well-written. I would definitely recommend!

[Meghan Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried on the final page of this book because it was such a companion to me! Understanding Therese’s family illuminates the theology of spiritual childhood so clearly. She was radically blessed to be raised by saintly parents and siblings. I underlined many parts of this book to share with my friends who are parents because it was simply gold.

[BonnieL · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that focuses on the parents of St Therese of Lisieux who were recently canonized, as a couple, by Pope Francis. The majority of the book by the author was originally written in the 1920s and is translated from the French. As a result it sometimes seems somewhat stilted and stiff but blame that on the translator. There is also a new section that explains the importance of this canonization in the history of the Catholic church.
Anyone who has read St. Therese's books will be familiar with the prose of the late 19th and early 20th century. To us today, it may seem flowery and more intense than we use but one can easily become immersed in it and enjoy an intriguing glimpse into the lives of this incredible family that produced 5 nuns, several canonized saints and who all lived dedicated lives of faith, religion and family values.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, great ideas for how to raise a Catholic family. The style in which it is written is a bit too Romantic for me...

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s so much more context here for what happens in the Story of a Soul autobiography by St Therese. At times, the quotes from her journal have become dry and we imagine her as suffering abstractly in a cloister from a spiritual dark night and her own developing tuberculosis. But she was still closely tied to her family and her father’s suffering outside the cloister, as it should be.

Her sufferings are very concrete and relatable. Her father suffered several strokes, had become prone to wandering, and was lost for a couple days. And he had to go to a nursing home. No wonder the vision of a veiled elderly man would haunt her.

Also her devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, the other part of her religious name is explained. It is connected to her father’s growing loss of independence and confusion. The trial brought her closer to the Passion of Jesus via meditating on his Holy Face, imprinted in blood on the cloth Veronica used to wipe his face on the way to Calvary.

Also, I learned more about Leonie, who was treated poorly by a maid. Also, Therese’s mom Zelie is shown as a very human mom. She didn’t realize Leonie was being bullied by the maid for years. She made her last days count in rectifying her mistake by showering her with attention and preparing her future. Zelie was running a business and suffering from early stages of breast cancer. She lost several children to the unexpected illnesses of the time, and Therese was the last and much hoped for child after several miscarriages.

Saints are who we want to be because all it means is that we have reached heaven. We all want to be even uncanonized saints in heaven because that is where our Father — He is our family. God draws attention to some saints by granting miracles, so we can model our lives on them. These few get canonized as saints by the church. They are mentors and teachers from heaven - the big brothers and sisters we look to for help.

But saints are only people who trust God, who live according to his teaching to navigate life well. They depend on him, making their lives radiate His love in self gift to their neighbors. It doesn’t mean they don’t suffer from failing businesses, losing a mother to cancer, post-partum depression, war, mistakes in parenting (Leonie) or worrying about schooling or losing self control to old age.

This all happened to this “family of saints”, whose married and cloistered life serves as an inspiration for how holiness can be lived every day, even through grave family misfortune, in ordinary loving ways.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a biography of the Martin family, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. It was originally written at the end of World War II, and looked at their life and relationship. All of their surviving children became nuns, include St Therese, the most famous. I found the story less than compelling, as it didn't describe them in any detail, despite being a biography. It was mostly focused on the charity work that Therese's mother did (much of it informal). This is laudable, but there wasn't much detail in it. I didn't come away having the sense of what any of them were like as persons. The book does talk in great detail about the various devotional practices that they participated in, but again, is rather low on details. The author seemed to concentrate more on the fact that the Martons were descended from people who opposed the French Revolution than on anything that happened during their lives. The book also talks more about St Therese's older sisters than about her, but never follows up on what happened to the older sisters after they joined the convent. The afterward, by George Weigel, argues that the modern French Church dates to the 19th century efforts to re-evangelize the country after the French Revolution (of which the Martin family was a part), but this idea isn't really developed throughout the book. Still, it provided some insight into the lives of French Catholics during the 19th century, something that is often touched upon in novels of the period, but usually by more skeptical authors. This book 19th century French Catholic life from the perspective of the faithful.

[Alicia McCallum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was quite long and thorough, and I’m glad I read it on my kindle because I definitely had to look up definitions for some of the words. But this book was SO good! It felt like a privilege to be able to read so much about such a holy and beautiful family. I loved learning more about St. Louis and St. Zelie, and the upbringing of St. Therese. The parts where Therese’s siblings passed away had me heartbroken. This book really impacted me and I’m so glad I read it.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this. It was written in the 1940s, and I feel like there's more we know about the Martin family now, but this is a really well done overview. I would have liked to have read more on the canonization process for St. Therese, as well as Pauline and Celine's work in spreading St. Therese's message, but those are minor issues in light of this deep look into a holy family.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So inspiring, in the sense that hearing about someone running a marathon inspires you to get off the couch and walk around the block. I loved hearing about their everyday, family life and their willingness to let God make them saints in whatever way He chose.

[George Bastedo IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was excellent. Not many books have moved me to tears, but this one did. Such a simple account of holiness, but it contains powerful lessons for all of us. I cannot recommend this highly enough.