- Léonie Martin: A Difficult Life
- The beautiful truth about the "difficult sister"
- A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux - Saints Thérèse, Louis, and Zélie
- Illustrated with many wonderful family photos
Léonie Martin: A Difficult Life
A sister of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Léonie Martin (1863-1941) was one of the five daughters of Zélie and Louis Martin, who were canonized by Pope Francis. She was the least gifted of the five Martin sisters, an emotionally disturbed child who suffered much and caused much anguish in her family.
Marie Baudouin-Croix has carefully researched Léonie's life, including her mother's voluminous correspondence about her family life. In letters to her daughters, sister, brother, and sister-in-law, Zélie confided the challenges she faced in raising Léonie. Yet Léonie was the first one in the Martin family to understand and to follow Thérèse's Little Way.
After three valiant but unsuccessful attempts to enter consecrated religious life, Léonie was finally accepted by the Visitation Order in Caen. As a Visitation nun she succeeded in conquering a difficult temperament and other personal challenges, so that by the time of her death at seventy-eight years old she was regarded by many as a saint. Her convent at Caen has been inundated with letters testifying to her posthumous intercessory aid.
How did this troubled child turn into the nun remembered by many as so kind, serene, and happy that they could not believe she had such a difficult childhood? She discovered God within herself, in her weakness and suffering, and she became a great disciple of Thérèse's "way of confidence and love." Léonie practiced the Little Way so deeply that in 2015 the cause for her sainthood was officially opened by the Church.
A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux–Saints Thérèse, Louis, and Zélie
"God gave me a father and mother more worthy of heaven than of earth."
- Saint Therese of Lisieux
The recent, and unprecedented, canonization by Pope Francis of a husband and wife, Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of their very famous daughter, St. Therese of Lisieux, has stirred a great interest in this extraordinary family. This work, by the highly regarded biographical writer and expert on the Martin family, Fr. Piat, is the definitive biography of the amazing "family of saints".
St. Therese, a Doctor of the Church, wrote in her classic spiritual biography, Story of a Soul, how important her family life was in setting the foundation for her spiritual life. She grew up in a close family where the deep love of parents and children for God, neighbor and each other was the very heart of the home and family life.
This is the story of a modern family of saints, who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a family that seems on the outside to have had a relatively serene life and a smooth path to sainthood. But, as this book shows, the reality is quite the opposite. They suffered the deaths of four children, almost lost a fifth in Therese, had financial challenges, and lost the mother, Zelie, at only 45 years old to breast cancer.
The secret to their happiness and success was that deep family love, and boundless faith in God. The Martin parents lavished the love they had for each other on to their children. All the challenges they faced, great and small, were endured with this strong love, and a profound trust in Divine Providence.
This powerful story of a husband, wife and five daughters who overcame many troubles in life is a shining example for all families today in attaining true happiness by putting the love of God and each other at the center of family life.
Dimensions and Specifications:
Léonie Martin: A Difficult Life
- ISBN: 9781621641704
- Author: Marie Baudouin-Croix
- Format: Softcover
- Language: English
- Pages: 168
A Family of Saints: The Martins of Lisieux
- 6 x 9 inches
- ISBN: 9781621640790
- Author: Stephane-Joseph Piat
- Format: Softcover
- Language: English
- Pages: 392
