Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
Sr. Milada of the Savior of the World, OCD
For Thérèse to achieve fullness and perfection of being, she did not need special revelations or transports (cf. AS 161).1 On the contrary, what was significant for her religious thinking was what she recognized through natural experience. For Thérèse, all things spoke of God and led her towards Him. She had an excellent observational talent, seeing parables in everything. The everyday reality was for her a symbolic response from the Father to her expectations, in which she sought spiritual instruction for herself and about her life. Relationships and ordinary incidents she encountered she often elevated to infinity. In this way, she sought God, His face.
In this regard, the love of her father and mother had the most intense effect on her, where she most applied this expansion. If later she could say: "God is gentler than a mother," (AS 166) and "it is so sweet to call the good God our Father" (CS 81), it was only because she applied in the supernatural world what she somehow had already experienced naturally.
Therefore, many authors are convinced that we owe the doctrine of spiritual childhood largely to Louis and Zélie Martin. They deserve thanks for living their Christian calling so faithfully and showing Thérèse the true image of God, who is more than a father and mother.
Thus, if it is generally true that when we want to know another person, we must familiarize ourselves with the environment in which they grew up and with their parents, then this is even more true for St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Louis Martin
Louis Joseph Aloys Stanislaus Martin was born in Bordeaux on August 22, 1823, in the family of Captain of the French Army Peter Francis Martin (1777–1865) and Marie Anna Fanie Boureau (1800–1883). The parents had three daughters and two sons, Louis being the middle child. None of his siblings lived to an older age.2 When he was seven years old, the Martins moved to Alençon. Louis grew up in a healthy Christian and militarily strict environment. He apprenticed as a watchmaker and goldsmith. At twenty, he visited Basel and Bern and stayed for a longer period in Strasbourg, where he improved his craft.
In 1845, while traveling in Switzerland and southern France, he visibly expressed how he would like to fulfill his life – visiting the monastery on the 2472 m high St. Bernard mountain, which was founded there for Augustinian canons in the 11th century by St. Bernard of Aosta (Menthon). The life of the monks there consisted of prayer and service to others – pilgrims and travelers. However, Louis Martin was rejected by the prior for his ignorance of Latin, which was necessary for studying philosophy and theology. After returning home, he began to learn Latin and Greek, but fell ill and had to interrupt his studies for a long time. He saw this as God's hand, and so after recovering, he gave up his intention.
He returned to his watchmaking craft and undertook an internship in Paris, which extended to three years. He regularly visited the church of Our Lady of Victories there. In 1850, he returned to Alençon, became independent from his parents, and opened a shop selling clocks and jewelry on Pont Neuf street. This house with an adjoining small garden was later inhabited by him with his wife and children until 1871.
His Character
Some authors somewhat disparagingly characterize Louis Martin as an idealist, dreamer, romantic, brooding loner, and a person without a sense of everyday reality. Even if this were so, it is certain (as can be seen from Thérèse's description) that within his temperament he achieved admirable human and moral maturity.
He loved to travel and was sensitive to the beauty of nature and art. From him, Thérèse inherited a passion for her homeland, flowers and meadows, the cloudy sky, stars, and the sea. His special joy was fishing. He spent long hours on the shore of the Arno river. Even before his marriage, he had the opportunity to acquire a plot of land near the river called the Pavilion.3 He purchased it immediately. This plot played a special role in the later life of the Martin family.4 Mr. Martin furnished it according to his taste. A certain noblewoman, Miss Felicita Baudouin, who helped him set up his watchmaking and goldsmith business, also gifted him a statue of the Virgin Mary, made according to the original of the famous sculptor Bourchandon.5 In the garden of the Pavilion, this 90 cm high statue took a place of honor.6
He loved music and enjoyed singing songs or reciting poems of his favorite authors during family celebrations. With his good memory, he was able to tell his daughters many small stories and funny anecdotes. He could imitate the songs of birds and the gestures and intonations of the people he spoke about. Thérèse inherited this talent for imitation from him, but unfortunately, she was not given a similarly beautiful voice. Father also had artistic talent, which his daughters inherited, especially Pauline, Céline, and Thérèse. On excursions, he often encouraged his children to draw.7
He had an artistic soul. He loved his craft, which required great precision and concentration on tiny parts. He also gave his daughters affectionate nicknames: Marie was 'diamond', Pauline 'noble pearl', Léonie was 'good Léonie', Céline was 'guardian angel', and Thérèse became for him 'little queen' to whom all treasures belonged. To be a 'queen' meant having unlimited power over his heart.
Mr. Martin longed for silence and often withdrew into solitude to meditate. In Buissonnet, he arranged a small room, a true hermitage, a cell just for prayer, reading, and reflection – high in the attic where even his daughters were not allowed to enter unless for spiritual conversations and discussions concerning conscience matters. After the death of his wife, he divided his day according to the monastic pattern. His friend, Jesuit Fr. Pichon, said of him that even as a widower, father of nine children, he gave the impression of a lost monk in the world. He was very sensitive – during his daily visits to the Blessed Sacrament, he often cried.
Until he was 35, his life was filled with business, fishing, church visits, and work in a charitable association. He did not think of women.
Zélie Martin
Zélie Marie Guérin was born on December 23, 1831, in Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon in a family of dignitaries. The spouses Isidore Guérin (1789–1868) and Louise Jeanne Macé (1804–1859) had three children. The oldest was Marie Louise (1829), who entered the order of the Visitation in Le Mans (1858) as Sister Marie Dosithée,8 two years younger was Marie Zélie (1831), and another ten years younger was their son Isidore.
When Zélie was twelve years old, they moved to Alençon. Her childhood was not very happy. Between the ages of seven and twelve, she was constantly ill, suffering from headaches. Even more, she was troubled by a lack of love and tenderness in the family. Her parents were honest people, had a sense of duty and piety, but were harsh. The sternness and grumpiness of Mr. Guérin inadvertently affected her mother as well. Zélie experienced deep mental suffering. With a similar sensitivity and capacity for deep emotional experiences, we can later encounter her children. However, she avoided the mistakes of her parents.
She mentioned the pain of her childhood in a letter to her brother: “My childhood and youth were as gloomy as a burial shroud, for while your mother spoiled you, to me, as you know, she was very strict; although she was so good, she did not know how to deal with me, and I suffered greatly deep in my heart!”9
Brother Isidore always had preference with their parents, was spoiled, yet Zélie preserved a very special affection for him throughout her life. She found some balance with her sister Marie Louise, with whom she got along very well and who became her confidant. Both began attending a higher school run by the Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary (while Isidore attended gymnasium).
At the school run by the sisters, Zélie received very good literary education. Later, when recalling her school years, she wrote: “My essays were so good that I received first prize for them. Of 11, 10 of my essays were always the best. In other subjects, I was among the best students in the higher grades.”10 In addition, she deeply deepened her religious life there.
She also desired to consecrate herself to God. Given her active nature, she wished to devote her life to the service of the sick and enter the Vincentians in the hospital in Alençon. However, the superior, after a lengthy conversation, irrevocably stated – apparently due to her weak health – that Zélie's entrance to the convent did not align with God's will. Zélie responded to this with a prayer: “(Jesus,) if I am not worthy to be your bride, then I want to enter marriage to fulfill your holy will. I ask you to grant me many children and let them all be consecrated to you.”11 This intention led her to marriage. She asked for priests, missionaries, saints who would replace her consecration in the order. “I have always wished to have many children, so I could raise them for heaven.”12 Nine times – in a total of nine pregnancies – she carried this hope. In all five of her children who lived to adulthood, this persistent maternal wish was fulfilled, but only after her death. Only with her beloved second daughter Pauline was she allowed to see and support the affection for religious life.
Because the circumstances of the Guérin family were modest, Zélie was forced to start earning a living for herself. She prayed about what path to take to fulfill God's will. On December 8, 1851, she received an inspiration to try making Alençon lace. Throughout her life, she considered this decision a direct inspiration from the Mother of God. She began attending a vocational lace-making school, and in 1853 opened a workshop on St. Blaise Street where she trained her workers, drew patterns for them, took orders, and negotiated with customers. Due to her great skill and good taste, she received many orders and quickly earned money.
Louis Martin's mother also attended the lace-making course. There, she met Zélie Guérin, got to know her better, and respected her. She was greatly concerned about her son, saddened that he was still so alone. And so one day – by coincidence? – Louis and Zélie met and realized that they belonged together. They celebrated their wedding just three months after their meeting, on July 13, 1858, at midnight in the church of Our Lady in Alençon.13 Only close relatives were present. The newlyweds moved into Mr. Martin's house on Pont-Neuf Street. Thanks to their hard work, they did not lack anything as a couple from the start. When they married, their total wealth amounted to 34,000 francs,14 they owned two houses and the Pavilion.
Her Character
Zélie Martin was in many ways the stronger and leading half of their marriage. “Our mother had an extraordinarily energetic character and was so firm in self-denial that she completely forgot about herself. She worked with great courage to provide us with careful upbringing.”15 Similarly, Sister Dosithée characterized her in a letter to her brother in Lisieux: “What pleases me is the spirit of faith in this woman and her almost incredible and miraculous courage. How strong this woman is! Misfortune cannot destroy her, and happiness does not make her proud. She is an admirable woman!”16
Zélie was a dynamic, entrepreneurial woman, very realistic, with an eye for detail. Her dominance in practical matters was so great that she managed the business even while dealing with a large household, nine pregnancies, numerous illnesses of the children, and all the worries and duties of a housewife. This gives us an image of a very industrious and efficient person. Her workday lasted almost 18 hours. Nevertheless, gradually, everything earthly lost its value and attraction for her; on earth, only her love for her family remained. However, she did not become apathetic; she always remained cheerful and kind. She had great social qualities, was intelligent, and could share very well. Zélie harmoniously combined the life of a model wife, mother, and at the same time, a successful, tireless businesswoman with the life of a nun to a remarkable and impressive extent.
She was a great correspondent. We do not know when she found time to write, but from the years 1863–1877, about 200 of her letters remain. They show her great literary talent. The letters soothe the powerful impression of fear that might overwhelm us from her competence and energy. In them speaks a cheerful and sincere, practical woman, with both feet on the ground, distant from piousness. There shines through a deep faith, wit, and observation talent. She appears as a happy mother who, despite all the worries and responsibilities, devotes herself to her children.
Letters to her brother Isidore have been preserved; on the contrary, letters to her sister, who was her confidante, have unfortunately mostly been lost. In one letter to her brother, she wrote: “Now I have told you everything I wanted to inform you. But if you saw the letter I just wrote to my sister in Le Mans, you would be jealous: it was five pages long! To her, I will tell things that I cannot tell you. We both enjoy discussing the mysterious heavenly world in our letters, but with you, I must write only about the earthly world.”17 Her letters to her brother also provide us a deep insight into Zélie's soul. Moreover, her poetic style helps us to get to know the environment of the Martin family and Thérèse's childhood well.
