The beauty of the simple

Sunday October 19, the beatification of Luigi Martin (1823-1894) and Zelia Guérin (1831-1877), the parents of Saint Thèresa of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church and patron of the missions and of France (along with Saint Joan of Arc), will take place in the basilica of Lisieux (France). The rite will be presided over by the bishop of Bayeux et Lisieux, Msgr. Pierre Pican, while the beatification formula will be pronounced by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Luigi and Zelia had both conceived a religious life for themselves, before meeting and getting married on July 12 1858. They were practicing Catholics and had nine children, four of whom died in their first months or years of life. In 1865, Zelia got sick with cancer, yet she did not renounce another maternity. At the age of 41 she gave birth to her last-born, Teresa, who was four when her mother died. Luigi followed the human and spiritual development of his daughters and gave his consent to their religious vocation. In 1888 he contracted a disease which was to determine his death. The simplest, every-day life was that of their own home and family: father, mother and children. A pattern that set the pace of time and the passing of days. The experience of life and of existence that begins and ends, giving to each a face, an education, and a sense of belonging enabling the definition of “us”. “Us” Martin was the case. Luigi and Zelia and their many children, of whom only five survived the high child death rate of the time. Working middle-class: he a watchmaker and jeweler and she an entrepreneur both with fixed schedules and developing business. Zelia, gifted with talented hands, had learnt a special lace crochet called Alençon. However, she did not only produce it herself since she had trained a number of young women who worked for her. She did the most arduous part of the work since she had to put together the different parts of lace without showing the stitching. It was a strenuous and “detested” job since it drained all energies and yet she sought-after it, since raising and marrying off five daughters wasn’t easy, not even in the late nineteenth century. Luigi was an efficient breadwinner too, his store prospered, while he enjoyed fishing and traveling. However, the high-demand in lace led him to take over the sales business (so he could continue his travels!!) and the Martin’s bank account thus remarkably increased. A beautiful home, a housemaid, vacations at the sea: in short, the “status symbols” of middle-class life were all there. However, there was much more that was vibrating within this apparently obvious and predictable framework: the parents’ lives were centered on the love for God. It was the Holy Sunday or the holidays, that Christmas and Easter touch which was part and parcel of Catholic France. It was an atmosphere, an air to be breathed at full breath. Without constraints or rigor. Rather, with full and sovereign liberty. Luigi laughed and played with his daughters, and Zelia was always side-by-side to him during their holidays at the sea. Luigi’s beautiful voice livened the house, along with the giggles of the little ones and the child quarrels that were soon tamed and brought to peace. The true and solid human relations were the fruitful soil where the friendship of God spread its roots. It’s not a surprise that this small environment gave birth to the Great Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus. A daily experience was brought to the level of sanctity; a daily experience lived in the relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, without constrictions; in full adhesion and gratefulness. Parents often ask how faith can be passed on to their children. Sometimes this is a tearing question that clashes against the refusal on the part of the ones we hold so dear since they are our own flesh and blood. Luigi and Zelia probably never raised the question; they simply lived their testimony. Teresa wrote that she never needed to learn how to pray; it was enough for her to see the face of her praying father to understand how saints prayed. And she wasn’t mistaken! Both parents are saints, saints in the marriage bond and in their mutual affection. The society in which they lived, that under many aspects was affected by middle-class conditioning, was here enlightened by the light of the Gospel that bore the fruits of utmost simplicity: a loving couple that were also caring parents and Christians, devoted to serving all those in need. Lending consistent sums of money, eroding their savings to rescue someone in need isn’t an easy decision, it isn’t for a single, imagine a family with five daughters! Waking early for the 5,30 Mass, despite the annihilating cancer that for 12 years corroded Zelia’s body, while she never ceased doing her job or raising her children, isn’t “normal”. Accepting the most humble jobs (in short; emptying the family chamber-pots!) was an honorable task for Luigi, as much as night Adoration and a beautiful trip/pilgrimage. His temperament was brave and irritable, that grace made meek. It was possible to see him blush but not transcend. It cost him dearly to depart from Zelia and remain alone to raise his five young daughters. This he spoke with copious tears. He was generously determined to leave Alençon, where he was held in high esteem and had dear friends, in order to bring his daughters closer to his sister-in-law living in Lisieux. Luigi and Zelia: the happy, bourgeois face of a couple transfigured by Love that has become the feast of the saints.