St. Zélie Martin – Feast Day July 12

St. Zélie Guérin Martin (December 23, 1831- August 28, 1877) of Alençon, France, is best known as the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, but she is a saint in her own right for her devotion to God and her life as a Catholic wife and mother. She originally wanted to be a Sister of Charity but was refused by the order. She then became a skilled lacemaker and ultimately married Louis Martin, a watchmaker, in 1858.

Both Saints Zélie and Louis were deeply devoted to their faith, often attending daily Mass and performing works of charity. Together, the couple would have nine children, but only five of them would survive childhood. St. Zélie mourned the loss of her young children deeply but trusted that they were in heaven with God and she asked for their prayers for the family still on earth. All five daughters who lived entered religious life: four as Carmelite sisters (including St. Thérèse) and one as a member of the Visitation order.

St. Zélie died of breast cancer at the age of forty-five, leaving behind her husband and children, the youngest of whom, St. Thérèse, was only four years old.

What Homeschoolers Can Learn from St. Zélie Martin

Leonie Martin was the middle child, and St. Zélie struggled to parent her from the time she was a baby. She was different from the other girls: more sickly, less attractive, not as intellectually smart, and more difficult to manage. She’d promise to try harder to be good and then fail. She was kicked out of school. All the parenting techniques Zélie used with her other children didn’t seem to work. What was she doing wrong? How could she fix it?

At a time when there were no diagnoses of neurodivergence, Leonie’s difficulties seemed like moral failings. Zélie loved Leonie. She prayed and tried to do the right thing but somehow could still not get through to her daughter. She homeschooled Leonie between sending her to school and having her tutored. While St. Zélie wouldn’t live to see it on this earth, Leonie entered religious life and is now on the path to sainthood as a Servant of God.

St. Zélie is a heavenly friend for homeschoolers parenting children who don’t fit the traditional mold. She kept praying and trying her best even when life was hard and she was exhausted. She also balanced working from home as a lacemaker with caring for her family, which makes her a role model for those balancing work and homeschooling.

St. Zélie Martin, pray for us.

To learn more about St. Zelie Martin, check out The Life and Lessons of St. Zelie Martin by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Z%C3%A9lie_Martin_1.jpg, Public Domain