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Blesseds Martin and your own saints show the way
CNS | Courtesy of Sanctuary of Lisieux Several years ago, Pope John Paul II asked Catholics for suggestions for married couples who could be considered for sainthood. He noted that some groups of lay martyrs had come into the canon of saints and that some men and women who were parents had become saints, but none who were recognized as a couple for the holiness of their married life. The Vatican hoped that by inviting the faithful to think of married couples who had lived lives of holiness, they could bear witness to the holiness of the vocation of marriage and family. They sought people who in their ordinary lives had lived lives of extraordinary fidelity to their spouse and to God. Of course, some pointed out that the Blessed Mother and her spouse, Joseph, were a married couple who are saints. But the point was made that they were not an ordinary couple. First, the church teaches that they lived a life of chastity and celibacy within their marriage, so that Mary remained ever-virgin. Part of the point of the pope’s call for married-couple saints was to affirm the value of married love, and to show that if God is present within such a relationship, great grace abounds. Besides, Mary and Joseph’s Holy Family had a huge advantage – Mary was born without original sin and Jesus was sinless as well. Two-thirds of the family was perfect to begin with, and Joseph himself was a “good and upright man,” good enough to be chosen as foster father of the Son of God. It would be hard not to be saintly in such a household. So suggestions poured in to the Vatican. Many suggested Juan Diego (who has since been canonized individually) and his wife, who eventually lived as brother and sister, forsaking the love of husband and wife. While admirable in some ways, this seemed to defeat the ideals of married life the Vatican hoped to promote. Some suggested lesser-known couples – even their own parents or grandparents – who had raised healthy and holy families. Many more suggested Louis and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The Martins had nine children, four of whom died in infancy. The other five entered religious life, and one, Thérèse was named a doctor of the church in 1997. She had described her parents as “more worthy of heaven than of earth.” Last weekend, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, former prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes, beatified the Martins in Lisieux, France. He encouraged those present to thank God for their own parents. “Louis and Zelie are a gift for spouses of all ages, through the esteem, respect and harmony with which they loved for 19 years,” the cardinal said. “They lived the promises of marriage, the faithfulness of engagement, the indissolubility of the bond, the fruitfulness of love, in happiness and in trials, in health and in sickness.” If your parents are still living, take the time to honor them for the gifts they bring to your life. They may not be as perfect as Mary and Joseph. They may not be as exemplary as the Martins – or maybe they are. For those whose parents have passed away, now is an opportune time to pray to them and for them, especially as we approach All Saints Day and All Souls Day, Nov. 1 and 2. If they are already part of the communion of saints, you can praise them for their example of faith, as Cardinal Martins said of Thérèse’s parents, for “walk(ing) humbly with God in seeking the advice of the Lord.” If they are not yet in heaven, pray that their souls soon find welcome in the Father’s house. Thank God for our parents – where would we be without them?
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