Pope Leo XIV issues a letter about Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin on the tenth anniversary of their canonization, October 18, 2025

COMPOSITE PHOTO OF STS. ZELIE AND LOUIS MARTIN,
COURTESY OF THE SHRINE AT ALENCON

Today the Vatican released Pope Leo’s letter for the tenth anniversary of the canonization of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, written on October 1, the feast of St. Therese, to Mgr Bruno Feillet, bishop of Séez, the diocese where Sts. Louis and Zelie lived throughout their marriage and where all their children were born.

Pope Leo writes:

As the first couple to be canonized as such, this event is of particular importance as it highlights marriage as a path to holiness. . . . “Louis and Zélie understood that they could become saints not despite marriage but through, in and by marriage, and that their marriage should be considered as the starting point of a journey together” (Cardinal Martins, Homily for the Beatification).

Later, he speaks of the family as a place in which to experience the boundless love of Jesus and to love Him in return:

Dear couples, I invite you to persevere courageously on the path you have undertaken, which is sometimes difficult and laborious, but luminous. Above all, put Jesus at the centre of your families, your activities and your choices. Help your children discover His boundless love and tenderness, and strive to make them love Him in return as He deserves: this is the great lesson that Louis and Zélie teach us today, and which the Church and the world so urgently need. How could Thérèse have loved Jesus and Mary so much – and then passed on such a beautiful doctrine to us – if she had not learned it from her saintly parents from an early age?

Please see the text of Pope Leo’s letter.

Gifts for the feast of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, July 12, 2024

To enrich your celebration of the feast of the first couple canonized together, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux and her sisters, consider:

• “The Wedding of Zelie Guerin and Louis Martin, July 13, 1858: “Frequently Asked Questions: A Story with 21 Photos To Celebrate Their Feast on July 12.”

• “Supper with the Martin Family” - a video of Maureen O’Riordan’s conference about Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin for the Center for Carmelite Studies, October 3, 2023:

• Click for this rich slideshow of the lives of Saints Louis and Zelie

• See a photo show with the scenes of the family’s life at Alencon and Lisieux, with photos, documents, many objects that belonged to them, and images of their beatification:

Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin Novena, July 2024 - Introduction and Day One

Introduction to the novena to the Martin spouses

Click on the photo to see a foreword and reflection that will create the context for this novena to Saints Louis and Zelie Martin

To prepare for the feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin on July 12, 2024, please make this novena: a special prayer exercise each day for nine days. Click on the image above to visit the introduction to the novena and the prayers for Day One. May God answer the prayers we offer through their intercession.

"Supper with the Martin Family" - Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - Center for Carmelite Studies - Catholic University of America

On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., I will have the honor of speaking on Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, St. Therese's parents, and on the Martin family for the Center for Carmelite Studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. This is part of a series of events the Center is sponsoring in honor of the 150th jubilee of St. Therese's birth and her recognition by UNESCO. Everyone is welcome.

The event will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SIbdaFH2Os

Supper begins at 5:45 p.m. This same information is available on the University's Web site at https://cua.campuslabs.com/engage/event/9362223

For the feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, July 12, 2023: their relics and those of St. Therese to visit the United States in September and October

A blessed feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin! This year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of their daughter, St. Therese of Lisieux, and of the 200th anniversary of St. Louis Martin’s birth, which we celebrate on August 22, 2023, the relics of Sts. Louis and Zelie will visit the United States for the first time, together with the relics of St. Therese, which visited this country once before, in 1999.

The relics will come first to the National Shrine of St. Therese in Darien, Illinois from September 17, 2023 through October 1, 2023 (the feast of St. Therese). They will be available for public veneration. For the details of this visit, cut and paste this URL into your window:

https://www.littleflower.org/learn-about/special-events/2023-st-therese-relics-visit/

Next the relics will go to the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, from October 3, 2023 through October 15, 2023. From the pastor of St. Therese Parish in Deephaven, Minnesota, I received a schedule for this visit; click on it at https://mcusercontent.com/9b4aea9f9a9fdb3d1e0055f56/files/d937def6-2ddc-a723-9d30-43ce569f5ee3/ST_Therese_Relics_v5.pdf

I hope many of you will be able to pray in person in the presence of the relics of the Martin family.

interview with Fr. Antonio Sangalli, vice-postulator for Louis and Zelie Martin, in 2015

In the meantime, to celebrate the feast, please watch this short conversation in English with Fr. Antonio Sangalli, who was interviewed in 2015 before the canonization of Sts. Louis and Zelie. He says Louis and Zelie lived simply, but were generous to the poor; that, in the face of many tragedies, they continued to trust in God; and that they specialize in helping persons find a boyfriend or a girlfriend; helping couples have children; and helping spouses love each other more every day. May they bless you and your family on their feast day.