M
mdgspencer
Guest
Within a period of three years, Zelie and Louis Martin had five of their children die, two baby boys, a six-year-old girl and and an infant… The following is from a book about their lives. (Both of them were canonized as Catholic saints in October 2015.)
“Zelie became outraged whenever she heard people say it would have been better not to have had the children then to have lost them: ‘I didn’t think that the sorrows and worries could ever be weighted against the eternal happiness of my children.’ Bitter tears for Louis and Zelie, but joy for their children, that is the consolation of generous parents.
With their little ‘angels’ they experienced the communion of saints in heaven and on earth. Five weeks after the death of the first little Joseph, Zelie felt inspired to have him pray for Helene who had a dangerous ear infection that the doctors couldn’t cure. The next day, her ear was perfectly healed. Louis and Zelie began the habit of invoking their children in heaven and obtained many graces through their intercession. At the Martins’ home, the death of children was not a forbidden topic. Those children were still living members of the family who participated in family life, and the Martins talked about them, spoke to them, and awaited the joy of seeing them in heaven. Therese said that during her adolescence she looked to her brothers and sisters in heaven for help, and they never let her down.
We can understand how Zelie, despite all the sorrow of her grief, could speak without pretense about ‘the joy of having a child in heaven.’ Louis and Zelie never failed to witness to this wonderful reality to those around them, but with the sensitivity of experienced people. 'You can see, my dear sister, that it is a great good to have a child in heaven, but it is not less painful for our human nature to lose the child; these are the great sorrows of our lives.”
As Zelie said, ‘There is always joy alongside the pain.’"
(From “The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux,” by Helene Mongin [Our Sunday Visitor Pub, 2015], pp. 101-2.)
“Zelie became outraged whenever she heard people say it would have been better not to have had the children then to have lost them: ‘I didn’t think that the sorrows and worries could ever be weighted against the eternal happiness of my children.’ Bitter tears for Louis and Zelie, but joy for their children, that is the consolation of generous parents.
With their little ‘angels’ they experienced the communion of saints in heaven and on earth. Five weeks after the death of the first little Joseph, Zelie felt inspired to have him pray for Helene who had a dangerous ear infection that the doctors couldn’t cure. The next day, her ear was perfectly healed. Louis and Zelie began the habit of invoking their children in heaven and obtained many graces through their intercession. At the Martins’ home, the death of children was not a forbidden topic. Those children were still living members of the family who participated in family life, and the Martins talked about them, spoke to them, and awaited the joy of seeing them in heaven. Therese said that during her adolescence she looked to her brothers and sisters in heaven for help, and they never let her down.
We can understand how Zelie, despite all the sorrow of her grief, could speak without pretense about ‘the joy of having a child in heaven.’ Louis and Zelie never failed to witness to this wonderful reality to those around them, but with the sensitivity of experienced people. 'You can see, my dear sister, that it is a great good to have a child in heaven, but it is not less painful for our human nature to lose the child; these are the great sorrows of our lives.”
As Zelie said, ‘There is always joy alongside the pain.’"
(From “The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux,” by Helene Mongin [Our Sunday Visitor Pub, 2015], pp. 101-2.)
