Louis Martin was born into a military family in Bordeaux region of France. As a young man, he desired to join a Catholic religious community, but was not admitted because he could not speak Latin and thus could not study theology. He trained to become a watchmaker and moved to the Normandy region of France where he met Zélie Guérin, a lace maker. Zélie also had tried to enter the convent as a nun, but was turned down. They married in 1858. They raised a family in a very loving Catholic home. Zélie died of breast cancer in 1877. After his wife’s death, he moved his family to the town of Lisieux to be closer to extended family members so that they could help him raise his five daughters. Zélie and Louis Martin nurture their own holiness and faith and the faith and holiness of their daughters, all of whom became nuns. Their youngest daughter was Therese of Lisieux, one of the most beloved saints in the Catholic faith and a Doctor of the Church. Louis and Zélie were canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.
We hear Jesus send out his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God, to heal the sick, and to bring back the lost sheep of Israel. We all proclaim the kingdom of God in different ways. As a diocesan priest, I proclaim the kingdom of God in my service to the faithful in the parishes in Clinton and Raymond, in my different ministries and works of mercy, and in my service as vicar general to the Diocese. Louis and Zélie Martin proclaimed God’s kingdom in the way they raised their family. Their daughters proclaimed the kingdom of God in their prayer life and in their way of life as cloistered nuns. May the Lord forever lead us to proclaim the values of his kingdom in the reality of our lives.
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