Saint Who?
Saints Who Worked with Their Hands
Saint Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin
Married laywoman († 1877) Feast: July 12
Marie-Azélie Guérin, commonly called Zélie, was born near Alençon, France. Her parents were faithful Catholics, but they were also strict and did not display affection toward their children. Zélie later described her childhood as a sad one.
When Zélie tried to become a nun, she was sent away, probably because of health problems. But she accepted this as God’s will. Soon afterward she heard a quiet voice which told her how to support herself: “Undertake the making of Point d’Alençon lace.” After completing the training required to make this costly lace, she started her own business. A few years later, she heard that voice again as she was crossing a bridge and encountered a man named Louis Martin. They soon married, and Louis and Zélie eventually had nine children.
Although Zélie sometimes yearned for the life of a nun, she was also perfectly content as a wife and mother. She tried to provide the sort of affectionate, happy Catholic home that she had not known as a child. She became a successful small businesswoman with several lacemakers under her direction, and Louis quit his business to support hers. She died at the age of forty-five of breast cancer, but not before she had made a profound impression on all her children, including her youngest, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Loving Father, help us discover our true vocations in life.
