Faith Formation classes will begin on Monday, September 28th at 6:45 pm for grades 1-8. All registered children and parents should go to the School Chapel for a brief prayer service with Fr. Henry. If you haven’t registered your child, please call Bonnie at the Faith Formation Office at 313-532-4394 x101 and we will register your child over the phone.
All 2nd and 8th graders who are making a Sacrament this year must provide a Baptismal Certificate if they were not baptized at St. Valentine.
The Martins
Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin eventually met in Alencon, and on July 13, 1858, Louis, 34, and Zelie, 26, married and began their remarkable voyage through life. Within the next fifteen years, Zelie bore nine children, seven girls and two boys. “We lived only for them,” Zelie wrote; “they were all our happiness.”
Attending Mass each morning at 6:30 and creating an atmosphere of prayer, devotion, forgiveness, generosity to the poor and affection, the Martins found joy in Catholic family life. Working hard at their home-based businesses they experienced relative financial prosperity.
The Martins’ delight in their children turned to shock and sorrow as tragedy relentlessly and mercilessly stalked their little ones. Within three years, Zelie’s two baby boys, a five year old girl, and a six-and-a-half week old infant girl all died.
Zelie was left numb with sadness. “I haven’t a penny’s worth of courage,” she lamented. But her faith sustained her through these terrible ordeals. In a letter to her sister-in-law who had lost an infant son, Zelie remembered: “When I closed the eyes of my dear little children and buried them, I felt sorrow through and through….People said to me, ‘It would have been better never to have had them.’ I couldn’t stand such language. My children were not lost forever; life is short and full of miseries, and we shall find our little ones again up above.”
The Martins’ last child was born January 2, 1873. She was weak and frail, and doctors feared for the infant’s life. The family, so used to death, was preparing for yet another blow. Zelie wrote of her three month old girl: “I have no hope of saving her. The poor little thing suffers horribly….It breaks your heart to see her.” But the baby girl proved to be much tougher than anyone realized. She survived the illness. A year later she was a “big baby, browned by the sun.” “The baby,” Zelie noted, “is full of life, giggles a lot, and is sheer joy to everyone.” Death seemed to grant a reprieve to the Martin household. Although suffering had left its mark on mother and father, it was not the scar of bitterness. Louis and Zelie had already found relief and support in their faith.
The series of tragedies had intensified the love of Louis and Zelie Martin for each other. They poured out their affection on their five surviving daughters; Marie, 12, Pauline, 11, Leonie 9, Celine, 3, and their new-born. Louis and Zelie named their new-born; Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin. A century later people would know her as St. Therese, and call her the “Little Flower.”
…to be continued.
The St Valentine Parish Pastoral Council is seeking nomination for five openings on the Council. The membership runs three years and begins September 2015. The members will be selected once the submitted names are received and approved by the pastor. To be eligible for nomination a person must be 18 years of age or older, have received the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation, a registered parishioner, and a weekly Mass attendee. Meetings are scheduled the third Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm and are held September through June. You may submit your name or that of someone else. For those who may be interested in further information about the work of the Council, please call the Parish Office 313-532-4394.
