The Holy See has announced that Pope Francis has recognized the miracle attributed to Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. The Holy Father approved the decree during a meeting this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
At an event earlier this month, Cardinal Amato already announced long-awaited canonization of the saintly couple.
“Thanks be to God in October two spouses, parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized,” the Salesian Cardinal said, at a recent meeting organized by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV).
“Saints are not only priests and nuns, but also lay people,” he said, referring to the exemplary French married couple.
This will be the first time that a married couple is canonized together.
Married in 1858, they had nine children, five of whom followed the religious life.
Zelie died of a very painful cancer at 46. Louis was left with five very young daughters: Marie, Pauline, Leonie, Celine and Therese, who was only four and a half years old but who always remembered her Mother as a Saint. Louis died in 1894, after suffering a serious mental illness.
The pair was beatified on October 19th, 2008 by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Most notably, although the precise date of their canonization has not been announced, their canonization in the month of October will coincide with the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod will discuss the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.”
Louis and Zelie Martin are the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions and one of the most loved Saints by Pope Francis. St. John Paul II proclaimed her Doctor of the Church in 1997.
