Readings & Reflections: Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time & Sts. Louis Martin & Zelie Guerin, September 25,2019
Jesus summons the Twelve and gives them “power and authority over all the demons and to cure diseases.” For those like Ezra, who “rose in his wretchedness, stretching out his hands to the Lord,” the preaching of the Twelve is the mercy that comes to us from the Lord. Through the apostolic Church, “God has brightened our eyes and given us relief in our servitude.”
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
“Lord, make me a channel of your grace and healing love that others may find life and freedom in you. Free me from all other attachments that I may joyfully pursue the things of heaven. May I witness the joy of the gospel both in word and deed.” Amen.
Reading 1
Ez 9:5-9
At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,
and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,
stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.
I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven.
From the time of our fathers even to this day
great has been our guilt,
and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered up,
we and our kings and our priests,
to the will of the kings of foreign lands,
to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace,
as is the case today.
“And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God, who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place;
thus our God has brightened our eyes and given us relief in our servitude. For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather, he has turned the good will
of the kings of Persia toward us. Thus he has given us new life
to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins,
and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.”
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Tobit 13:2, 3-4a, 4befghn, 7-8
R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
He scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Praise him, you children of Israel, before the Gentiles,
for though he has scattered you among them,
he has shown you his greatness even there.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
So now consider what he has done for you,
and praise him with full voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of ages.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
In the land of my exile I praise him
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones,
and may all of you praise his majesty.
Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Gospel
Lk 9:1-6
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.
He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”
Then they set out and went from village to village
proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection 1 – Total dependence and trust in God
Today’s gospel reading brings us to the initial assignment Jesus gave His disciples. They were to raise the dead, cure diseases and proclaim the reign of God that is within their midst. But more notable than what their work should be was how they should conduct their ministry. They should do it in TOTAL DEPENDENCE AND TRUST on the Lord. What comes to mind is how we as disciples of Jesus conduct our ministry for Him.
There are days when the best thing one can do is leave everything to God. This can be true in one’s work in the office, at home or even in one’s work for the Lord through His church. Given Jesus’ exhortation that we should conduct our work with total dependence on God then we should not sweat, fret, cry, or give up and feel disappointed and frustrated when things do not fall in place… just smile and leave all to our Lord’s disposition. Others who are so intense in their desire to succeed may call it cop-out while others whose threshold for endurance is quite low may consider it burn-out. But no matter what happens, leave it to God.
Your heart and your mind may insist that you move into great action. But amidst the obstacles on hand and the apparent opposition to your work, everything could be futile. Given the circumstances, this is what God means when He says to fully depend and trust on Him. One should not yield to one’s heart and pride but leave all to God.
God wants us to realize that whatever gifts and talents we may have are of no great value without His empowerment. He wants us to realize that we are not significant because of what we have done or what we endeavor to pursue in His Name. God imparts upon us that what is important is who we are in His eyes. Jesus said: “Do not rejoice so much in the fact that the devils are subject to you as that your names are inscribed in heaven.”
For some time, I felt driven and drained by the demands of ministry. If couples cannot seem to see the importance of conjugal prayer, I felt so frustrated. If some drifted away and could not be one with the Lord and community, somehow I blame myself for not being able to do something. If I did not see much progress in the spirituality of those whom God has asked me to minister to, my heart broke and ached that at times I wanted to give up. When believers start stabbing each others’ back and the values of the world become their main concern, I blame myself for being a poor witness. When I find myself shut out from God’s flock because I do not live up to the standards set by the righteous, I am left with no recourse but to cry to our Lord in prayer and ask Him to transform me, heal me and make me whole.
God has slowly changed my attitudes and dispositions. Virtually, all those negative circumstances which somehow took the joy of working for the God, I have learned to leave at the foot of the Cross of our Lord. I have depended on Him to do the best and most appropriate work for His people.
One may say that maybe I do not care anymore. Of course, I care! But I have learned to place all my cares and concerns in the hands of the One Who can properly handle them. Amidst the passion in my heart to do His will and be able to contribute to His work, I have learned to keep silent and give up all to our Lord. Opposition and criticism used to cripple me for days but now I am able to sit down and relax and offer them to our Lord Who makes things happen.
Leaving such things to God, depending on Him and trusting Him has given me more room to re-think God’s plans for me, rebuild them and live with them. As what I have shared in one weekend encounter, the only way to trust is just to trust… whether it be your spouse or friend more so, if it is GOD!
In the matter of community financial support, I have trusted God’s divine providence will be upon us even as we endeavor to serve God and community and the poorest of the poor. Our tithes, alms and other charitable donations will always bear fruit, a thousand fold. Our personal lives will be blessed as we are transformed. Our community fruitful and the poor redeemed from extreme dehumanizing levels of existence. We are therefore to place our trust in the Lord that if we do something in His Name, He will bless us beyond measure.
Today let us pray to our Lord and ask His guidance in case we are ambivalent or just worried about the matter of tithing; about directly helping those in need and are hungry, the homeless and the sick, the poorest of the poor, amidst our limited resources!
Today even as I proclaim my faith in our Lord, I seek His grace that I may truly believe and depend on His grace as we endeavor to spread the Good News where almost every path we take is filled with detours, at times, even dead ends!
In all these…our guiding principle is to “Let go and let God!”
In all these, all we need for our journey is an open heart which is always ready to be filled by His grace!
In God we TRUST!
Direction
To do God’s work one needs to abide by His word and be totally be dependent on Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me the strength to do as You have willed and to surrender what is rightfully yours. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Reflection 2 – Jesus gave them authority over all demons and diseases
What kind of power and authority does God want you to exercise in your personal life and service? God’s word has power to change and transform our lives. Jesus gave his apostles both power and authority to speak and to act in his name – to cast out evil spirits, to heal, and to speak the word of God. When Jesus spoke of power and authority he did something unheard of. He wedded power and authority with love and humility. The world and the flesh seek power for selfish gain. Jesus teaches us to use it for the good of our neighbor.
God gives power and strength to those who rely on him alone
Why does Jesus tell the apostles to travel light with little or no provision? Poverty of spirit frees us from greed and preoccupation with possessions and makes ample room for God’s provision. The Lord wants his disciples to be dependent on him and not on themselves. He wills to work in and through each of us for his glory. Are you ready to handle the power and authority which God wishes you to exercise on his behalf? The Lord entrusts us with his gifts and talents. Are you eager to place yourself at his service, to do whatever he bids you, and to witness his truth and saving power to whomever he sends you?
“Lord Jesus, make me a channel of your grace and healing love that others may find life and freedom in you. Free me from all other attachments that I may joyfully pursue the things of your heavenly kingdom. May I witness to others the joy of the Gospel both in word and deed.” – Read the source: https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2019/sep25.htm
Reflection 3 – What is your walking stick?
Ask yourself, “What is my walking stick?” You know that one thing you find most difficult to abandon for the sake of the gospel. Perhaps it is a relationship that leads you into compromising God’s word, an addiction to food, alcohol or gambling that corrodes the presence of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, an influential position that undermines your ability to let God be God.
The advice Jesus offers in this gospel is a necessary bylaw of discipleship. The beatitudes put it another way: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). The point is that unless we are free of attachments we are not able to walk with Jesus Christ. Walking sticks, sacks, food, money, clothes weigh us down and prevent us from keeping up with the fast-moving pace of Jesus. There is no way we can devote ourselves to our stuff and still have energy and vision for the gospel walk. The virtue of poverty is about not letting anything own us except the Lord.
The walking stick can represent the place our mind wanders when we have nothing else on our minds: work, shopping, health, children, and sports. It is important to take inventory of our lives occasionally. In the language of this gospel, we look to see what kind of stuff we have picked up along the journey since our last check. Jesus invites us to abandon those things and follow him. It is high time to release the grip we have on our personal walking sticks.
Pilgrim people, holy people travel very light with another virtue that replaces that walking stick, the virtue of hope. Hope allows us to believe that we don’t need a crutch on which to lean. We can rely on the strength of our savior to keep us walking. Just like a child learning to ride a bike, the day comes when we learn how to balance our lives without anything to lean on except Jesus Christ. A walking stick is no substitute for the hand of the Lord. (Source: Jeanne Hunt, Weekday Homily Helps. Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, September 24, 2008).
Reflection 4 – Time to stay or move on?
In our efforts to help others grow closer to Christ, and in our desire to change our parishes or workplaces when God’s will is not being done, we don’t always succeed. God’s not asking us to. Sometimes, all he wants us to do is plant seeds that new people will fertilize and still others will harvest.
Look at what’s frustrating you today. Do you know if God is asking you to stay or leave?
Jesus makes it clear in our Gospel reading today that first we try — it’s our responsibility, our mission as members of the Body of Christ. And if the message he gives us to share is rejected, we are not supposed to keep trying. He’s not telling us to be quitters; he’s saying: “Don’t force God and the Church upon those who are not ready to hear the truth.”
Forcing them is not loving them, it’s diminishing them. Remember, God never forces us to do anything that he asks of us. And Pope Francis keeps reminding us that we need to be a Church that heals wounds and warms hearts rather than a judgmental force that condemns and pushes people away.
Wherever Jesus sends us to proclaim the kingdom of God, we have to pay attention to whether or not the hearers are open to receiving the truth. If they are not, we have fulfilled our responsibility by making the truth known; now it’s their responsibility to act upon it.
To discern correctly if it’s time to move on, we have to ask the Holy Spirit if what we’re doing has been commissioned by God or if it was our own idea. If it was God’s idea, then we have to ask if this is still what he wants us to do.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and notice the doors of opportunity to which he leads you. See Jesus knocking on the doors of people’s hearts. When a door swings open, walk through it. When a door slams shut, know that Jesus will either help you find a secret passage that will get you inside, or he will tell you to clean off the person’s dirty life from your shoes and he will lead you away from there.
If the latter is true, God already has another plan in mind for that person, and if we keep banging on their door, we’ll only get in the way. And if we bang harder, our hand begins to hurt, so then we beat our heads against the door and get a head-ache. This is not God’s plan!
Moving on could mean literally leaving, or it could mean redirecting our efforts to other people and other ministries while we stay and quietly pray and give unconditional love. If you’re not certain which you’re being called to do, talk to a spiritual director or Christian counselor. – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2017-09-27
Reflection 5 – The Mission of the Twelve
“See what the Apostles were, by way of contrast, and then you will see what is the true life of the Spirit, the substance and full fruit of holiness. To love our brethren with a resolution which no obstacles can overcome, so as almost to consent to an anathema on ourselves, if so be we may, save those who hate us, – to labor in God’s cause against hope, and in the midst of sufferings, – to read the events of life, as they occur, by the interpretation which Scripture gives them, and that, not as if the language were strange to us, but to do it promptly, – to perform all our relative daily duties most watchfully, – to check every evil thought, and bring the whole mind into captivity to the law of Christ, – to be patient, cheerful, forgiving, meek, honest, and true, – to persevere in this good work till death, making fresh and fresh advances towards perfection – and after all, even to the end, to confess ourselves unprofitable servants, nay, to feel ourselves corrupt and sinful creatures, who (with all our proficiency) would still be lost unless God bestowed on us his mercy in Christ; – these are some of the difficult realities of religious obedience, which we must pursue, and which the Apostles in high measure attained, and which we may well bless God’s holy name, if he enables us to make our own.” – Blessed John Henry Newman (+1890)
Reflection 6 – Apostolic Mission
“I am writing this letter in farewell, while we are getting ready to leave the city of Cadiz and embark for Mexico. The day fixed upon is unknown to me, but the trunks containing our baggage are locked and strapped, and they say that after two, three, or possibly four days, the ship called Villsota, in which we are to embark, will sail….
“Friend of my heart, on this occasion of my departure, words cannot express the feelings f affection that overwhelm me. I want to ask you again to do me the favor of consoling my parents, who, I know, are going through a great sorrow.
“I wish I could give them some of the happiness that is mine; and I feel that they would urge me to go ahead and never to turn back.
“Tell them that the dignity of apostolic preacher, especially when united with the actual duty, is the highest vocation they could have wished me to follow….
“Tell them how badly I feel at not being able to stay longer and make them happy as I used to do. At any rate they know well that first things come first; and our first duty, undoubtedly, is to do the will of God. Nothing else but the love of God has led me to leave them. And if I, for love of God and with the help of his grace, can muster courage to leave them, might I not suggest that they also, for the love of God, be content to forego the happiness of my presence?
“Let them listen attentively to the advice they will receive on this matter from their Father Confessor; and they will see, in fact, that now God has truly entered their home. By practicing holy patience and resignation to the divine Will, they will possess their souls, and attain eternal life.
“They should hold nobody but our Lord God alone responsible for the separation. They will find how sweet his yoke can be, that what they now consider and endure as a great sorrow will be turned into a lasting joy. Nothing in this life should cause us sadness. Our clear duty is to conform ourselves in all things to the will of God, and to prepare to die well. That is what counts; nothing else matters. If this is secured, it matters little if we lose all the rest; without this all else is useless.
“Happy they to have a son a priest – however bad and sinful – who, every day, in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, prays for them, as best he can, and very often offers for them exclusively his Mass so that the Lord send them help, that they be not without the necessities of life; that he grant them to grace of patience in their trials, of resignation to his holy will, peace and union with their neighbors, courage to resist the temptations of the devil, and finally, at the proper time, a happy death, in his holy grace.
“If, by the help of God’s grace from above, I succeed in being a good religious, these prayers of mine will be all the more powerful and my parents will be the first to profit from them” (Source: St. Junipero Serra, +1784 A.D., Magnificat, Vol. 17, No. 7, September 2015, pp. 330-332).
Reflection 7 – He summoned and sent them
“God’s works are not regulated by our plans and wishes. We should be content with making the best of the few talents he has placed in our hands, and not distress ourselves about having more or greater ones. If we are faithful in that which is little, he will place us over that which is great. That, however, must come from him, and not be the result of our efforts. Let us leave it to him an curl ourselves up in our shells. The company began without any plan on our part. It has multiplied by God’s guidance alone…. Let us continue to act in the same way. Such abandonment will place God greatly, and we shall be at peace.
“The spirit of the world is restless, and wishes to do everything. Let us leave it to itself. Let us have no desire to choose our own paths, but walk in those which God may be pleased to prescribe for us. Let us regard ourselves as unworthy that he should make use of us, or that others should think of us, and then all will be well with us. Let us offer ourselves to him to do and to suffer all things for his glory and the establishment of his Church. He asks for nothing else. If he desires results, they rest with him and not with us.
“Let us courageously extend the confines of our heart and will in his presence, and let us not decide upon doing this thing or that until God has spoken. Let us implore him to grant us the grace to labor meanwhile to practice those virtues which our Lord practiced during his hidden life.” (Source: St. Vincent de Paul, +1660 A.D., Magnificat, Vol. 19, No. 7, September 2017, pp. 373-374).
Reflection 8 – Blesseds Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin (1823-1894 A.D.) & (1831-1877 A.D.)
Born into a military family in Bordeaux, Louis trained to become a watchmaker. His desire to join a religious community went unfulfilled because he didn’t know Latin. Moving to Normandy, he met the highly-skilled lacemaker, Zélie, who also had been disappointed in her attempts to enter religious life. They married in 1858, and over the years were blessed with nine children, though two sons and two daughters died in infancy.
Louis managed the lacemaking business that Zélie continued at home while raising their children. She died from breast cancer in 1877.
Louis then moved the family to Lisieux to be near his brother and sister-in-law, who helped with the education of his five surviving girls. His health began to fail after his 15-year-old daughter entered the Monastery of Mount Carmel at Lisieux in 1888. Louis died in 1894, a few months after being committed to a sanitarium.
The home that Louis and Zélie created nurtured the sanctity of all their children, but especially their youngest, who is known to us as St. Thérese of the Child Jesus. Louis and Zélie were beatified in 2008.
Comment:
In life Louis and Zélie knew great joy and excruciating sorrow. They firmly believed that God was with them throughout every challenge that married life, parenting, and their occupations presented.
Quote:
Therese once wrote, “God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of heaven than of earth.”
Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1859
SAINT OF THE DAY
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint.
Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin
| SAINT LOUIS JOSEPH ALOYS STANISLAUS MARTIN | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| BORN | Louis Joseph Aloys Stanislaus Martin 22 August 1823 Bordeaux, Gironde, France |
| DIED | 29 July 1894 (aged 70) Arnières-sur-Iton, Eure, France |
| VENERATED IN | Roman Catholic Church |
| BEATIFIED | 19 October 2008, Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse, France by Pope Benedict XVI |
| CANONIZED | 18 October 2015, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis |
| FEAST | 12 July |
| SAINT MARIE-AZÉLIE GUÉRIN | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| BORN | Azélie-Marie Guérin 23 December 1831 Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, Orne, France |
| DIED | 28 August 1877 (aged 45) Alençon, Orne, France |
| VENERATED IN | Roman Catholic Church |
| BEATIFIED | 19 October 2008, Basilique de Sainte-Thérèse, France by Pope Benedict XVI |
| CANONIZED | 18 October 2015, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis |
| FEAST | 12 July |
Louis Martin (22 August 1823 – 29 July 1894) and Marie-Azélie “Zélie” Guérin Martin (23 December 1831 – 28 August 1877) were two married Roman Catholic French laypeople and the parents of five Roman Catholic nuns, including Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelitenun who was canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church in 1925. On 18 October 2015, the couple were also canonized as saints, becoming the first spouses in the church’s history to be canonized as a couple.[1]
Contents
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Early life[edit]
Louis Martin[edit]
Louis Joseph Aloys Stanislaus Martin was the third of five children of Pierre-François Martin and Marie-Anne-Fanny Boureau.[2] All his siblings died before reaching age 30.
Although Louis intended to become a monk, wishing to enter the Augustinian Great St. Bernard Monastery, he was rejected because he did not succeed at learning Latin.[2] Later he decided to become a watchmaker and studied his craft in Rennes and in Strasbourg.[2][3]
Azélie-Marie Guérin[edit]
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Azélie-Marie Guérin was born in Gandelain, near Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, Orne, France. She was the second daughter of Isidore Guérin and Louise-Jeanne Macé.[4] She had an older sister, Marie-Louise, who became a Visitandine nun, and a younger brother, Isidore, who was a pharmacist. Her maternal family was from the Madré, in the neighbouring department of Mayenne, where her grandfather, Louis Macé, was baptised on 16 March 1778.[citation needed]
Zélie wanted to become a nun, but was turned away by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul due to respiratory difficulties and recurrent headaches. She then prayed for God to give her many children and that they would be consecrated to God. She later decided to become a lacemaker, manufacturing Alençon lace.[4] She fell in love with the watchmaker Louis Martin in 1858 and married him, only three months later, on 12 July 1858, at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Alençon.[4] Zélie’s business became so successful that, in 1870, Louis sold his watchmaking business to go into partnership with her.
Marriage and family[edit]
Although the couple lived as brother and sister for ten months after their wedding, they decided to live as husband and wife after a spiritual director encouraged them to do so.[5] They would later have nine children, though only five daughters would survive infancy:
- Marie Louise (22 February 1860 – 19 January 1940), as a nun, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, Carmelite at Lisieux;
- Marie Pauline (7 September 1861 – 28 July 1951), as a nun, Mother Agnès of Jesus, Carmelite at Lisieux;
- Marie Léonie (3 June 1863 – 16 June 1941), as a nun, Sister Françoise-Thérèse, Visitandine at Caen; candidate for sainthood since January 2015;
- Marie Hélène (3 October 1864 – 22 February 1870);
- Joseph Louis (20 September 1866 – 14 February 1867);
- Joseph Jean-Baptiste (19 December 1867 – 24 August 1868);
- Marie Céline (28 April 1869 – 25 February 1959), as a nun, Sister Geneviève of the Holy Face, Carmelite at Lisieux;
- Marie Mélanie-Thérèse (16 August 1870 – 8 October 1870);
- Marie Françoise-Thérèse (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), as a nun, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Carmelite at Lisieux, canonised in 1925.[6]
As a father, Louis loved nature with a deep sentimental enthusiasm. It was from him that Thérèse inherited her passion for flowers and meadows, and for her native landscape, clouds, thunderstorms, the sea and the stars. He made pilgrimages to Chartres and Lourdes, went to Germany and Austria, travelled twice to Rome and even to Constantinople, and planned, but did not live to carry out, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[7] Along with this desire for adventure was an impulse towards withdrawal; in Lisieux Louis arranged a little den for himself high up in the attic, a true monastic cell for praying, reading and meditation. Even his daughters were allowed to enter it only if they wished spiritual converse and self-examination. As in a monastery, he divided the day into worship, garden work and relaxation. As a jeweller and watchmaker, Louis loved the precious things with which he dealt. To his daughters he gave touching and naïve pet names: Marie was his “diamond”, Pauline his “noble pearl”, Céline “the bold one”, and “the guardian angel”. Thérèse was his “little queen … to whom all treasures belonged”.[8]
Death[edit]
Zélie died of breast cancer on 28 August 1877 in Alençon, aged 45, leaving her husband and daughters.[4] Her funeral was held in the basilica where she had married Louis.[9] A few weeks later, Louis sold her lacemaking business and their house along Rue St. Blaise,[10] and moved to Lisieux, Normandy, where Zélie’s brother Isidore Guérin, a pharmacist, lived with his wife and two daughters.
After Zélie’s death, Pauline, Thérèse (Françoise-Thérèse), and Céline all became Carmelite nuns, along with a cousin, Marie Guérin. Léonie became a Visitandine nun at Caen after leaving the Poor Clares.[11]
In 1889 Louis suffered two paralyzing strokes followed by cerebral arteriosclerosis, and was hospitalised for three years at the Bon Sauveur Asylum in Caen. In 1892 he returned to Lisieux, where two of his daughters looked after him until his death on 29 July 1894 at Chateau La Musse near Évreux.[citation needed]
Beatification[edit]
_-_relics_of_Louis_%26_Marie-Az%C3%A9lie_Gu%C3%A9rin_Martin,_detail.jpg)
Relics of Louis and Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin at Saint Patrick Church (Columbus, Ohio)
Louis and Zélie were declared “venerable” on 26 March 1994 by Pope John Paul II. They were beatified on 19 October 2008 by José Saraiva Cardinal Martins, the legate of Pope Benedict XVI in the Basilica of Saint Thérèse, Lisieux.[12]
A few months earlier, the Catholic Church had recognized the miracle of Pietro Schiliro, an Italian child cured of lung trouble at their intercession.[13] For Louis and Zélie to be canonized, the church needed to find that God worked a second miracle at their intercession.[citation needed]
Canonizations[edit]
Canonization tapestry in 2015.
On 7 January 2013, Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Valencia, presided at the opening of the canonical process to inquire into the healing in 2008 of a girl named Carmen, who was born in Valencia four days before Louis and Zélie were beatified.[14][15] Eight doctors testified that there was no scientific explanation for her cure.[citation needed]
The diocesan tribunal held its closing session on 21 May 2013, and the file was sent to Rome for review by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.[16][17]
On 3 March 2015 Angelo Cardinal Amato announced informally that Louis and Zélie Martin would be declared saints during the Synod of Bishops.[18] The Congregation accepted and promulgated the miracle on 18 March 2015.[19]
On 26 June 2015, Miracle of Life in Valencia, a film produced by the Archdiocese of Valencia about the canonization miracle was released online in English.[20] The next day, at a consistory of cardinals in Rome, Pope Francis approved the decree for the canonization of Louis and Zélie Martin and announced that the ceremony would take place in October in Rome.[19]
On 18 October 2015, Louis and Azélie-Marie Martin were canonized as saints by Pope Francis.[21]
Publications[edit]
In 2011, the letters of Zélie and Louis Martin were published in English as A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885(ISBN 0818913215). Although only 16 letters from Louis survive, many of Zélie’s 216 letters give vivid details about the family’s life and Louis’s character as a father.[citation needed]
References[edit]
- Jump up ^ Ziegler, J.J. (22 April 2015). “History awaits in canonization of married couple”. OSV Newsweekly. Retrieved 4 November2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Biographical Profile of the Venerable Servants of God (PDF). Office of the Postulator General of the Discalced Carmelites. 19 October 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “Louis a reliable and committed man”. The Martin Family. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d “Zélie, a modern woman”. The Martin Family. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ Louis et Zelie Martin: une saintete pour tous les temps, by Jean Clapier. Paris, Presses de la Renaissance, 2009, pp. 89-90
- Jump up ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. “Storm of Glory: St. Therese of Lisieux from 1897–2014”. Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- Jump up ^ Görres, Ida (2003). The Hidden Face. Ignatius Press. p. 41.
- Jump up ^ Görres, Ida (2003). The Hidden Face. Ignatius Press. p. 42.
- Jump up ^ “Ste. Thérèse of Lisieux Part 1 – Her Family”. canadiancatholicblog. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “The family home”. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ O’Riordan, Maureen (2013). “Léonie Martin, Disciple and Sister of St. Thérèse of Lisieux”. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “Saint Louis Martin”. CatholicSaints.info. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “The first miracle of Louis and Zélie Martin, the Blessed”. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “The second miracle of Louis and Zélie Martin, the Blessed”. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. “The cure of Carmen: Is this the miracle that will make Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, canonized saints?”. Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway.
- Jump up ^ O’Riordan, Maureen. “Vatican to investigate “presumed miracle” attributed to Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Will the healing of little Carmen make them saints?”. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: A Gateway.
- Jump up ^ “Canonization of a model couple”. Sanctuaire d’Alençon. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- Jump up ^ “Canonization of St. Therese’s Parents to Coincide with Synod on the Family”. ZENIT. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Wooden, Cindy (18 March 2015). “Pope Francis recognizes miracle needed to declare French couple saints”. National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- Jump up ^ Miracle of life in Valencia. YouTube. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015 – via YouTube.
- Jump up ^ “Santa Messa con il Rito di Canonizzazione dei Beati: Vincenzo Grossi, Maria dell’Immacolata Concezione, Ludovico Martin e Maria Azelia Guérin”