Do you know much about the lives of St. Louis and Zélie Martin? Doug Hinderer will share about their lives with you!

They weren’t perfect; they weren’t “saints” from birth. Nope, they dealt with messy stuff like mental health struggles, family loss, and some serious heartbreak. Yet, here they are, canonized together as a married couple, showing us that even with life’s mess, holiness is still on the table.

 

They Tried the Convent and Monastery Life First… but God Had Other Plans

Louis and Zélie both originally wanted to enter religious life. Louis headed to a monastery, but it turned out he didn’t know Latin, so he had to leave. Meanwhile, Zélie was all set to join a convent, but her health issues (headaches and respiratory problems) made it a no-go. God had it designed all along for them to meet and get married! 💍✨

 

Love at First Sight

Louis and Zélie met, fell in love pretty much instantly, and were married within three months. At first, they actually intended to live as celibates. But their confessor encouraged them to start a family and went on to have nine children, although only five daughters survived to adulthood. Heartbreaking, right? But through it all, they stayed rock-solid in their faith.

 

Kids as a Gift to God 🙏

Zélie had this beautiful (and bold!) prayer she’d say at the birth of each child, asking God to keep her kids pure and close to Him, and even saying she’d rather they go to heaven early if they were at risk of losing their souls. Can you imagine the faith and trust that took? Their five surviving daughters all became nuns, including one pretty famous one: St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Yeah, that St. Thérèse.

 

The Struggles Were Real: Mental Health Battles and All 💔

Zélie battled with anxiety, grief, and even something called scrupulosity (basically, intense anxiety about sinning). Losing four kids only intensified those struggles. She was worried, sad, and probably a little on edge, but she loved deeply and had an unshakeable faith.

 

Louis, on the other hand, fell into depression after Zélie passed away. He even experienced memory loss and episodes of severe mental distress later on. It got so rough that he eventually had to be committed to a mental health institution. It wasn’t pretty; there was family gossip, people judging his daughters for “abandoning” him, and just… a lot. But Louis took it all with this almost supernatural acceptance, saying he knew God allowed this suffering for his own humility and purification. That’s real faith! 😇

 

Faithful Parenting and Perseverance: They’re Saints for All of Us ❤️

Despite their struggles, Louis and Zélie created a home soaked in faith. They prayed together, supported each other, and modeled a marriage that embraced God in the everyday. They taught their kids to love God by living it out. Even though they had their issues, they didn’t let those struggles define them or their family.

 

Their story reminds us that holiness isn’t just for the perfect or the “put-together” people. It’s for the real, flawed, messy people who want to love God right where they are. They didn’t let their mental health battles or grief or any of their struggles get in the way of pursuing holiness. That’s something we can all take to heart.

 

So, if you’ve got anxiety, worries, or just a bunch of stuff you’re dealing with: St. Louis and Zélie are here for you. They show us that sainthood is about staying faithful, loving big, and trusting God through all of life’s ups and downs.

 

 

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