Saint Who?
Saints Who Grew Up in Poverty
Saint Zélie Martin
Married laywoman († 1877)Feast: July 12
Marie-Azélie Guérin was the daughter of a French soldier and his wife. The family finances were tight, and her father refused promotion because a commission brought more expenses than income, joining the police force instead. Their home, a biographer notes, observed a “rigid economy.”
Zélie, the second daughter, was a delicate and sensitive child. Between the age of seven and twelve she suffered repeated headaches and serious illness. And though her parents loved her, her mother did not sympathize with her daughter’s temperament. Young Zélie was denied many kindnesses. Her charming younger brother, by contrast, was usually indulged and excused. To this brother, whom she loved dearly, Zélie later wrote: “My childhood and youth were shrouded in sadness; for if our mother spoiled you, to me, as you know, she was too severe. Good as she was, she did not know how to treat me, so that I suffered deeply.”
When Zélie realized that the religious life was not to be her vocation, she began to prepare for marriage. There was little money for a dowry—the funds were going to her younger brother’s education. But in prayer she was directed to become a lacemaker and was soon making a good living. In 1858, she met the thirty-four-year-old Louis Martin, and the two were married three months later. They became the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Heavenly Father, through the motherly intercession of Saint Zélie, grant healing and consolation to those
who are deprived of family affection.
