Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Louis Martin, born in Bordeaux in 1823, was a watchmaker who had once hoped to become a monk. Zélie Guérin, born near Alençon in 1831, had wanted to be a nun but became a skilled maker of Alençon lace. They met in Alençon and married on July 13, 1858. Of their nine children, four died young; the five daughters who survived all became nuns, the youngest being Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Their home was marked by daily Mass, prayer, hard work, charity to the poor and deep tenderness. Zélie died of breast cancer on August 28, 1877, at age 45. Louis moved with his daughters to Lisieux, generously gave each of them to God, and bore a long illness with faith until his death on July 29, 1894. Pope Francis canonized them on October 18, 2015, the first married couple canonized together.

Their feast on July 12, the eve of their wedding anniversary, is celebrated with blessings of married couples and families, especially in France, at the basilica in Alençon and at Lisieux. Their many letters, full of everyday family life, are read by couples around the world.