The beloved parents of the Little Flower, Louis and Zelie Martin, were canonized in Rome yesterday, marking the first time in the history of the Church that a husband and wife were canonized at the same time.

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting on the canonization of the Martins, along with Blessed Vincent Grossi and Blessed Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, which took place yesterday in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Pope Francis has had a lifelong devotion to the Martins’ daughter, known as St. Therese of Lisieux, and said he had a copy of the Story of a Soul on his bookshelf since entering the novitiate. Her image sat on his desk when he served as archbishop of Buenos Aires and he still prays to her whenever he has a problem. She often answers him by “sending” him a white rose.

It was with particular joy that he canonized St. Therese’s parents, Louis and Marie-Azélie Guérin (“Zelie”) Martin, a devout couple who raised five daughters, all of whom entered religious life.

“The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters,” he said in his homily.

Their canonization is significant because it falls at the beginning of the last week of the Synod of Bishops on the Family when the Church is deliberating on ways to better communicate the message of the importance and beauty of the family to the modern world.

“It’s the first time a couple have been canonized as a couple, and this is a beautiful sign for Christian families, who often are left without any support and have to go against the grain, especially in the West, to live and educate their children in the truth of creation and with that love that God has given us in Christ,” said the Rev. Romano Gambalunga, the postulator of the Martins cause for sainthood, to the AP.

The miracles that enabled the beatification of the Martins concerned a young boy named Pietro Shiliro who was born in the Italian city of Monza in 2002 with a congenital lung deformation. Doctors did not believe he would survive. The priest who was summoned to baptize the child encouraged the parents to pray for the Martins intercession. Even though he came close to death, the boy survived and is now a healthy teenager.

The second miracle also involved a child, this one named Carmen who was born at 28 weeks in Valencia, Spain on October 15, 2008 after a difficult pregnancy. Two days after her birth, Carmen suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that caused near-fatal blood poisoning. Her parents sought guidance from local Carmelite nuns who advised them to pray to the Martins for help. After three months, Carmen was cured. She was released from the hospital on January 2, 2009, the 135th anniversary of the birth of St. Therese.

Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us and for all of the families of the world!

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