Pope Leo XIV has sent a message on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the canonization of the parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Louis and Zélie Martin, to Bishop Bruno Feillet of Séez (France). In his letter, the Holy Father presents this marriage as a “luminous and inspiring model” for Christian spouses today, emphasizing that “they did not sanctify themselves despite marriage, but through marriage.”
Marriage, a high and noble path
Leo XIV underscores that marriage is “one of the most noble and elevated vocations” to which man and woman can be called by God. Recalling the words of Cardinal Martins in the beatification homily, he quotes that Louis and Zélie understood that their union was “the starting point of an ascent for two,” a shared and everyday path of sanctification.
Saints in the ordinary
The Pope highlights that the parents of Saint Thérèse did not withdraw from the world, but lived their faith in the ordinary: their family, their work, their parish, and their social environment. “They are part of that multitude of saints next door,” he states, echoing an expression from Pope Francis. But he warns that their apparent normalcy hid a life “extraordinarily inhabited by God,” built on their motto: “God served first.”
Against false models of love
In a society where “counter-models of fleeting, individualistic, and selfish unions” proliferate, Leo XIV proposes the example of Louis and Zélie as a testimony to the “profound joy of fidelity and fruitfulness.” Far from a boring or outdated vision of the family, the Martins show that Christian marriage “makes happy” when it is centered on Christ, lived with joy in the everyday, prayer, and the shared cross.
A message to families
Addressing married couples directly, the Pope exhorts: “Place Jesus at the center of your families, your activities, and your decisions. Help your children discover his boundless love and tenderness.” He recalls that it was precisely in that family environment where Thérèse learned to love Jesus and Mary, and where the holiness that would later radiate to the entire world germinated.
Conclusion
Leo XIV concludes by entrusting all families to the intercession of the holy spouses Martin and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and grants his apostolic blessing “from the heart” from the Vatican, on October 1, 2025, the memorial of Saint Thérèse.
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Full text of the message from the Holy Father Leo XIV
Message from the Holy Father
To His Excellency Monsignor Bruno Feillet
Bishop of Séez
I am pleased to join you in thought and prayer, as well as all the clergy and the faithful people gathered, as you celebrate the tenth anniversary of the canonization of Louis and Zélie Martin, in the very places where they sanctified themselves in their married life. The first marriage to be canonized as such, this event holds particular importance, for it highlights marriage as a path to holiness.
Among the vocations to which men and women are called by God, marriage is one of the most noble and elevated. “Louis and Zélie understood that they could sanctify themselves not despite marriage, but through marriage, in marriage, and by marriage, and that their wedding should be considered as the starting point of an ascent for two” (Card. Martins, Beatification Homily). The Holy Marriage of Alençon is, therefore, a luminous and inspiring model for generous souls who have committed themselves to this path, or who plan to do so, with the sincere desire to lead a beautiful and good life under the Lord’s gaze, both in joy and in trial.
I desire that this anniversary be an opportunity to better publicize the life and merits of these incomparable spouses and parents, so that families—so dear to God’s heart, but sometimes so fragile and tried—may find in them, in all circumstances, the support and the graces necessary to continue their path.
Louis and Zélie did not seek holiness by withdrawing from the world. They fulfilled their state of life in the ordinary of daily life; they belong to that immense multitude of “saints next door” of which Pope Francis often spoke. It is not difficult for pilgrims who come to Alençon—where their moving memory is preserved—to grasp the concrete and everyday setting in which the Martin parents lived: committed to the Norman society of their time through their parish, their professional activities, their charitable works, their friendships, and, of course, their family life.
However, let us not be deceived: that “ordinary” life was inhabited by a presence at least “extraordinary” of God, who was their absolute center. “God served first” is the motto on which they built their entire existence.
Here is the model of marriage that the Holy Church presents to young people who desire—perhaps with some hesitation—to embark on such a beautiful adventure: a model of fidelity and attention to the other, a model of fervor and perseverance in the faith, of Christian education of children, of generosity in the exercise of charity and social justice; a model also of trust in trial. But above all, this exemplary marriage bears witness to the ineffable happiness and profound joy that God grants, already in this life and for eternity, to those who walk this path of fidelity and fruitfulness.
In these turbulent and disoriented times, in which so many counter-models of fleeting, individualistic, and selfish unions—bearing bitter and disappointing fruits—are presented to young people, the family as the Creator intended it might seem outdated or boring. Louis and Zélie Martin prove that it is not so: they were happy—deeply happy!—giving life, radiating and transmitting the faith, seeing their daughters grow and flourish under the Lord’s gaze.
What happiness in gathering on Sunday after Mass, around the table where Jesus is the first guest and shares the joys, sorrows, projects, and hopes of each one! What happiness in those moments of common prayer, in those celebrations, in those family events that mark the passage of time! But also, what consolation in being together in trial, united to Christ’s Cross when it presents itself, and what hope in reuniting one day in the glory of heaven!
Dear spouses, I invite you to persevere courageously in the path, sometimes difficult and laborious, but luminous, that you have undertaken. Above all, place Jesus at the center of your families, your activities, and your decisions. Help your children discover his boundless love and tenderness, and strive to make him loved in turn, as he deserves: that is the great lesson that Louis and Zélie give us for today, and of which the Church and the world are in such need.
How could Thérèse have loved Jesus and Mary so much—and transmitted such a beautiful doctrine to us—if she had not learned it from her holy parents from her tenderest childhood?
I entrust all families dear to the protection of Louis and Zélie Martin and of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Imploring for you the intercession of the Virgin Mary, I grant you from the heart, as well as to you, Excellency, and to all those present, the Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, October 1, 2025,
memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
Leo XIV