Zélie Martin
A 19th-century lacemaker and mother of five nuns, the most famous of whom is a Doctor of the Church. She was canonized at the same time as her husband Louis.
- 19th century
- France
- Feast day July 12
- 1831 – 1877
- Confessor
Marie-Azélie Guérin, known as Zélie, was born in Gandelain, near Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, France. She was a talented businesswoman, successfully running a lace-making workshop specializing in Alençon point lace. In 1858, she married Louis Martin, a watchmaker and jeweler, forming a deeply pious and united couple. They had nine children, five of whom survived and all entered the Carmelite order, the most famous being Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Zélie Martin lived a life of intense Christian faith, marked by prayer, charity towards the poor, and exemplary devotion to her family, even in the face of great personal trials, such as the loss of four of her children at a young age and her own illness. She died of breast cancer in 1877, leaving Louis to raise their five young daughters. She and Louis Martin were beatified in 2008 and canonized together by Pope Francis on October 18, 2015, becoming the first married couple to be jointly canonized in the Church's history. Their lives bear witness to ordinary holiness lived within married and family life.