NCRegister: The Secular Christmas Season is Actually the Secular Advent

It was usually the last Sunday of Advent, and sometimes even Christmas Eve, that my parents would put up the tree. The familiar crackling sound of the antique record player and Andy Williams crooning Sleigh Ride in the background always filled me with that warm Christmassy feeling. My father was a liturgical musician, and the one thing he was strict about was not listening to or singing Christmas music in the home or even decorating until it was nearly Christmas.

So, we embraced the Advent traditions of the Advent wreath and Jesse Tree. My mother always put up an outdoor Advent wreath complete with pink and purple bows, which got switched to red on Christmas Eve. Some well-meaning neighbor would always stop by the first week of Advent and let her know that three of her candles were burnt out.

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NCRegister: The Xennial-Millennial Modern Traditionalist

When I tried to fit myself into a few of the caricatures of the Catholic Tribes in American put together by Michael Warren Davis and Damian Thompson I somehow fell flat in the middle of nowhere. However, I know that there are American Catholics that think like I do since I know many of them personally, and perhaps, if I put this out there, I will find more of them.

A few years ago I wrote about a group of people that I called “Hipster Traditionalists”—people who love the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but don’t quite fit in with other traditionalists. These days I think that the title Modern Traditionalist is a better fit.

A Modern Traditionalist is a lover of all things traditional, not out of a nostalgia for things pre-1965, but out of a real love of the beauty preserved in it. For them it is not just a preference, but the realization that the older liturgy is more beautiful and profound...

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NCRegister: Is Your Family Vocation Active or Contempletive?

“Bless our families, bless our children. Choose from our homes those needed for your work.”

I knelt with my family at the Vigil of All Saints and prayed the Archdiocesan Prayer for Vocations of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We pray this prayer at every Mass at my parish, but that evening as my son was dressed as a priest-saint and my daughters dressed as saints who were religious sisters in preparation for the All Saints party, I hoped that God would choose all those from my home to do his work.

Perhaps it is a bold request and hope to desire my family to be like that of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who dreamt of and gave all of their children into religious life. Yet, I only think of it because I have felt that these saints are kindred spirits to my family, especially in the importance they placed on a prayerful, God centered family life that was separate from the influences of secular society. I also feel bold in hoping for it because of the sacramental graces of marriage, which can transform all of our human efforts into something better...

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NCRegister: When Jesus Brought My Miscarried Babies Back to Me

October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and Oct. 15 is the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. This year I was painfully aware of the day as friends posted their remembrances on social media. I kept thinking about how a year ago I was pregnant with our baby who passed out of me in early November. I could not muster the emotional strength to face the day publicly, so I held onto my three miscarried babies in my heart. I thought I had made it through my grieving, but perhaps not.

When I went on a silent four day Ignatian retreat last weekend, I did not plan on praying about my miscarriages. In fact, during the four days of the retreat, I barely thought of them. I went through the Ignatian exercises facing other spiritual things. I got to the point where I though I had gotten all I needed on this retreat (i.e., cried all of my tears), and I would just rest peacefully with God.

But on Sunday morning, the retreat director encouraged us to allow God to give us the extra graces he still had to offer us. In fact, the last short day of the retreat was often when one received more graces. I took his advice to heart and decided to be open to the movements of the Holy Spirit...

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NCRegister:A Priest is Just a Man, Imprinted with a Sacramental Character

I picked The Devil’s Advocate by Morris West off the shelf of Loome Theological Booksellers in Stillwater, Minnesota, flipping it over to look at the back. I was immediately intrigued by the fact that West was an Australian Catholic author. It took me another year to read the book, but I found that it was providential for me to have read during this time of scandal in the Church. It was helpful to read an account representing the state of the Church between World War II and pre-Vatican II where the hierarchy was detached from the day to day harsh realities of the People of God and priests had the same failings as other men. In fact it was quite familiar.

Morris West wrote the novel The Devil’s Advocate a couple of years after he spent time with a priest in the 1950s helping poor children in Sicily. He witnessed the state of the people there, and set his book in a similar setting among the poor, superstitious Italians in the hill country. He also was a witness to the politics of the Vatican under Pope Pius XII, and his novel provides for us the contrast between the bishops and cardinals striving for political power and the ill-educated clergy of the countryside. The stark, cool halls of the officials in the Vatican seem to have nothing in common with the barren, hot hills of the peasants, but somehow it is all the same Church.

It makes one think of St. Paul talking about the various parts of the Body of Christ, but it seems that in the Church the Head has lost touch with the Heart, and many of the seemingly insignificant parts are inflamed and infected.

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NCRegister:6 Prayers to Help Unite Your Suffering to Jesus Christ

After dealing with several chronic local infections this past summer, I was bit by a tick in late July and contracted Lyme disease. The Lyme targeted my right ankle and knee, making it impossible for me to walk without crutches and without extreme pain for nearly two weeks. The pain persisted even when I was lying down, and I insisted to my husband that this was more extreme pain than my four natural childbirths. It was the kind of pain where you would rather have the diseased limb cut off than wait for it to heal. I do not think I would have been able to bear the pain mentally, emotionally, or physically had I not taken my illnesses to prayer and offer them as sufferings united to Christ’s one sacrifice.

The initial shorter-term severe pains and the constant minor pains that have lingered on over many weeks have given me much opportunity to embrace redemptive suffering. I have heard much about “offering up” my sufferings throughout my life as a cradle Catholic, but it is something I did not really understand until I was given an opportunity to practice it.

This idea of our suffering being raised to the level of the Redemption is such a beautiful part of our Church’s tradition. I am focusing on physical suffering here, but it rings so true for other sufferings as well. There are several prayers and Scripture passages that I have found helpful to meditate with and rest in throughout my time of illness.

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NCRegister: There is Always Something More to Give Up

I sat on a blanket beside my friend on a warm summer morning as we watched our children participate in a soccer camp. We were reflecting on motherhood and how it had changed us over the long, but short, years that we had been mothers. My tenure as a mother is just shy of a decade, so really, not that long.

I explained to her how I had been reading the Institutes of St. John Cassian as part of my research for a (very, very) long term project, and that I have found his instructions to monks about growth in virtue very applicable to my life as a laywoman. Not that I am called to the austerity that the desert fathers lived, but that the austerity that they are called to is parallel to that which a mother and wife is called.

I brought him up to my friend, because, Cassian, when talking about covetousness made a point that rang so true to my experience of seeking to grow in holiness in my vocation: “[T]here is no one who has not something to give up.” (Book VI, Ch. 27)...

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Life These Days

 Somehow we have hit a rhythm that is working this semester. Maybe it is working for me because I get to sleep until my Lyme diseased body is ready to wake up, and the professor is doing the work of getting the children up for the day. But I think that perhaps he is okay with things as well, especially since we put our feet down earlier this year and made all the children ages 5 and up responsible for getting themselves ready and fed in the morning.

I have been waking up around 8 am most days to the sound of my children laughing and playing outside my door. By the time I am dressed and out of my room, the school aged children are hard at work at the dining room table, and the professor is working beside them. His sabbatical has become a semester of studious contemplation for us all. Once I am able to manage the school and teach the subjects that need teaching (about half of their work is independent requiring very little one on one instruction), the professor disappears to do his work away from the chaos of four children.

I guide the children through school until lunchtime at 12:30pm. We have fourth grader, second grader, kindergartner, and a three year old bundle of energy this year. Mostly the younger two entertain themselves with continual reminders to play somewhere else when they intrude upon school space. I do make time to work on math, reading, and handwriting with my kindergartner, and my preschooler is gleaning all sorts of things like counting, colors, playing blocks, building duplos, coloring, from his older sister.

We have found our rhythm in the elementary school level as well. I am used to our curriculum for each subject now (though fourth grade singapore math is getting intimidating--I can't remember at what grade level I learned the order of operations...but we just covered it!), so teaching is going smoothly.

Lunchtime has become super easy as well since we instituted the "make your own lunch" rule. To clarify, we have guidelines about this for them--they choose from a small variety of healthy options. The older children then move the dishwasher along after lunch while listening to a fairy story from the Andrew Lang Fairy Books (which we learned recently were actually compiled by his wife and some of her friends!).

After lunch is nap time for the three year old and quiet time for the rest of us. The girls and I start of each quiet time with a short prayer time where I read the daily Mass readings to them and then we reflect quietly (or look through saint books or children's Bibles) for ten minutes. They go off to their quiet time spots for an hour and I settled into reading theology for about an hour (trying to get through St. Gregory the Great's Morals on the Book of Job before Christmas), and then whatever writing or editing work I need to do for that day.

We have streamlined dinner meals to be shorter an easier these last few years, so I can usually get away with working until 4:30 or so before I cook dinner (which I have been able to do these past two weeks...this Lyme will be beaten!).

At dinner we will often have a discussion topic. We cover one painting and one work of music a week. Lately, we have been reading through the Constitution and discussing it. About once a week we watch Ken Burn's National Park's documentary with dinner, and that sparks discussion as well--our kids are turning into environmentalists! Sometimes we will discuss a question from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae. Then the professor reads to us from the Bible--a chapter of the Old Testament and a chapter of the New Testament in order. We have been doing this for over three years and it is so great to hear it, and for the children to learn salvation history in a family setting.

After dinner, I take my crazy amount of meds (had a morning dose as well), and help the professor clean the kitchen.

We get the kids to bed in a leisurely way with family prayers, stories, and lots of "last drinks" and visits to the bathroom. The professor reads to the older kids from a chapter book. They just finished Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and are reading The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle. It is the second time through for King Arthur, but the younger kids do not remember it.

Once everyone is in bed, the professor and I have been indulging in Star Trek: Enterprise. We were both into Star Trek in high school, gave it up in college, and tapped back into it our first years of marriage. This series is new to us, and has been a good way to enjoy the evening quiet while I have been sick. We usually have time for reading as well. I just finished Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and am now plowing through my second reading of Framely Parsonage by Anthony Trollope.

So, despite the annoyance of being sick since we got back from our wonderful trip Out West, I am finding a peaceful enjoyment in the studiousness of our life these days. I think it is good for the kids and for us to spend our days in study, even if my two afternoon hours does not seem like that much, it does wonders for me. This is the home school life I dreamed of, and I wish the professor's sabbatical would last forever...and maybe we could avoid all the extra curricular activities that have not yet started...

#SackClothandAshes: Acts of Reparation in the Face of Scandal

When Kendra and Bonnie invited me to join their time of fasting and prayer, I had to say Yes. All of this suffering (and not being able to eat anything good because of my Lyme/Candida diet) can be for something good. I can unite my sufferings with Christ for the sake of healing in our suffering Church. And YOU CAN, TOO.

Please consider joining in from August 22 on the Feast of the Queenship of Our Lady through the month of September. I think the images explain it all:

NCRegister: Chastity, for Each and All, is Central to the Life of Holiness

I know I am not alone in my sorrow over the reports of sexual immorality among the clergy of the Church from the scandals of abusive priests of the early 2000s to the more recent revelations of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s notorious predatory behavior, the letter of the Honduran seminarians about homosexual activity in their seminary, the stifled report of priestly abuse in Pennsylvania, and so on. The actions of abuse of children and clergy using their power to intimidate those below them into sinful actions and to covering up immoral acts are sins that cry out to heaven for justice.
The words of Jeremiah to the unfaithful Israelites in the readings recently ring true to us today:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ [...] ‘Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba'al, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, says the LORD. (Jeremiah 7: 3-4, 8-11)

Clergy and lay people in the Church have covered up these sins for too long. One of the many things that need to be improved is the understanding of the virtue of chastity as central to a life of holiness. I think it is not too much to expect that ordained clergy actively seek holiness, and along with holiness comes the formation of all the virtues. We are all called to live chastity; but it looks different in different states in life.

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Always Carrying About in the Body the Dying of Jesus

Two weeks ago I hobbled into my functional medicine practitioner’s office on crutches to discuss my gut healing that we had been working on. I left the office with a probable diagnosis of Lyme disease. The symptoms started the Sunday eight days previous before I even noticed a bite—my legs seized up at dinner several hours after walking slightly off a trail at near the Mississippi River. In the week that followed I had neck stiffness, leg swelling, headaches, blurred vision. It was not until midweek that I noticed large raised bug bite on my ankle. It did not hurt at all, nor look funny, but my ankle joint pain was getting worse.

I woke up in the middle of the night early Friday morning with shooting leg pain, and spent a half an hour Googling symptoms. I could not figure it out. By the next evening I could not walk around the house without help. I decided to go into urgent care on Saturday—because clearly I was injured. At urgent care I got an x-ray and a few blood draws, but their best explanation was a sprain or bursitis, though I had not had an injuring event. So, when I went to my appointment on Monday, it all came together.

I had always been terrified of someone in our family getting Lyme—I knew it was bad—and now we are living it.

The first week of treatment had me just getting worse—as the bacteria started to die off, they released toxins into my body, which increased my symptoms. I could not even get up to go to the bathroom without extreme leg pain, which then led to my legs throbbing for almost an hour after I made it back to the bed or couch. But I had to drink fluids to promote healing, which would lead to another painful hour of recovering from getting up.

The professor took care, still is taking care, of all my needs. He makes me breakfast in bed, lunch on the couch, dinner on the couch. He helps me pick out clothes. He helps me run the bath and shower since I do not have the strength to stand in the shower. He brings me my medicines and fluids. He takes care of all the kids needs. He preps the dinners and washes all the dishes. And I can’t do a thing to help him, because I am too sick and too tired.

A sweet friend arranged a meal delivery sign-up as soon as she heard of my illness, and we have been supported by so many meals all accommodating my extreme dietary restrictions. THANK YOU FRIENDS! You are the best!

Last Friday, our pastor came over and I received three Sacraments: Holy Eucharist, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. It was so beautiful to experience a Sacrament specifically praying for my bodily health—my health so that I can serve the Church again. As Father left, he said that he felt that my whole motherhood was under attack because of the way I have been limited from doing my normal tasks of motherhood for my children and for my family. Which is true.

But all along as I have not been able to walk and have been in pain, I have been thinking about how an illness in one part of the body affects the whole body. I have been praying for the whole Body of Christ throughout my suffering, because our Catholic Church so needs it.

But while we are afflicted in every way, we will not be destroyed, because Jesus rose.

This summer since we got home has been a ridiculous one. I had a bad case of mastitis (which they thought was cancer for about 5 days), and then have been being treated for candida (an overgrowth of yeast) in my gut, and now this. But the Lord is giving me the great gift of uniting my suffering, my fatigue, my fears, with Him.

I do not know how long I will be ill. Some people take years to recover from Lyme. For most, if it is caught early, the first four week round or so of antibiotics is enough. It would be nice if the professor could actually use his sabbatical to write his book, and if I could have the strength to home school the kids each day soon.
 
I am walking mostly pain free now--still limping, so still using a crutch. Today, while I was in less pain, I barely had energy to sit up and eat. Eating has been a trial--I struggle to get through each meal and feel triumphant and relieved when the last bite is in. Yet, I am steadily getting better.

So, please pray for my complete recovery, and I will continue to offer this all for the Church, that healing will happen, the truth will be made clear, and that justice will be done.

NCRegister: St. John Cassian, Gluttony, and Internet Intemperance

...While gluttony is certainly a temptation in my life, though my vocation has not lead me to the austerity of the monastic life, this monk’s account of his battle with gluttony rang very true to a different form of intemperance in my life. The truth is, and I am certain I am not alone, that I struggle daily to have self-control in my use of the internet and social media.

The more I have tried to limit my use of the internet, the more I realize that this tool is a necessary part of the life I live. It is central to much of my work, managing my children’s home school, cooking meals, keeping up on basics like weather and news, staying in touch with out of town relatives and friends, and my prayer life. Yet, I can never seem to come to terms with it, especially since I got my first smartphone a few months ago (and I still call myself a millennial)...

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NCRegister: How I Keep my Children Clothed and Build Up the Body of Christ

As in all callings, raising children is full of Sisyphean tasks, and the acquiring, ordering, and cleaning of their clothes is probably the most Sisyphean of them all. Thanks to Adam and Eve it is an unavoidable task as well. Children need to be clothed (in public at least), and in Minnesota where I live, for most of the year it is a necessity to keep them warm. This aspect of a parent’s vocation is a topic that comes up fairly often in my conversations with other parents. We discuss laundry routines, trying to get a better handle on our own. Whether we realize it or not, but doing this we are actually helping each other on the path to sanctification—when Christian parents help each other do even the smallest of necessary tasks we are building up the Body of Christ.

Managing of the clothes of multiple little people (or even one) can often be an overwhelming task. Recently, a good friend of mine shared her exasperation over it on social media, and we commiserated over the drudgery of it all.

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NCRegister: Praying to Sts. Louis and Zelie Brough Grace into my Marriage

When my husband was discerning his vocation during the semester we spent abroad taking classes in Gaming, Austria and traveling around Europe he prayed to St. Thérèse of Lisieux to be “offered red roses” if he was meant to marry me. And one afternoon in Venice outside St. Mark’s Basilica (my husband’s namesake) a flower vendor offered red roses. Mark did not purchase them, nor did he give up his discernment immediately, but I still credit the Little Flower’s intercession to him feeling what I had felt all along—that we were meant to be married. Three years later our dear St. Thérèse led us to her parents.

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Day Nine, July 12: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Statue above the East transept altar of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in its eponymous Basilica.
By KJK - Own work (Original text: self-made), Public Domain

 Day Nine: The Virgin Mary

“Behold, your mother!” John 19:27

“I would like to say, humbly, to those who suffer and to those who struggle and are tempted to turn their backs on life: turn towards Mary! Within the smile of the Virgin lies mysteriously hidden the strength to fight against sickness and for life. With her, equally, is found the grace to accept without fear or bitterness to leave this world at the hour chosen by God.

            “To seek this smile, is first of all to have grasped the gratuitousness of love; it is also to be able to elicit this smile through our efforts to live according to the word of her Beloved Son, just as a child seeks to elicit its mother’s smile by doing what pleases her. And we know what pleases Mary, thanks to the words she spoke to the servants at Cana: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”

            Benedict XVI, Homily at Lourdes, 15 September 2008

“My dear brother, if you would agree to this one request I’m asking of you, I’d be happier than if you sent me all of Paris. Here it is: you live very close to Notre-Dame des Victoires. Well! Go there just once a day and say a Hail Mary to the Blessed Mother. You’ll see that she’ll protect you in a very special way.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 1

“I have nothing new to tell you. I expect my father will tell you all that he knows. Remind him to light a candle for himself and for me in Notre-Dame des Victoires. He promised me he would.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 9

“I had the happiness of receiving communion at Notre-Dame des Victoires, which is like a little heaven on earth. I also lit a candle for the intention of our entire family.”

            Letter of Louis to Zélie, CF 2-a

At the end of this novena, let us place all our intentions in the heart of the Virgin Mary. Louis and Zélie Martin drew strength and hope from Notre-Dame des Victoires; she will obtain for us too the grace and peace of God our Father.

Magnificat (Luke 1:46–56)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.

------

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.

Day Eight, July 11: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Day Eight: Abandonment to Providence

“He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

“We too must place our trust in God alone. It is tempting to think that today’s advanced technology can answer all our needs and save us from all the perils and dangers that beset us. But it is not so.

            “At every moment of our lives we depend entirely on God, in whom we live and move and have our being. Only he can protect us from harm, only he can guide us through the storms of life, only he can bring us to a safe haven.”

            Benedict XVI, Apostolic Journey to Malta, 18 April 2010

“I was like you when I began my Alençon lace business, and I made myself sick over it. Now, I’m much more reasonable. I worry much less and resign myself to all the unfortunate events that happen to me, and may happen to me. I tell myself that God allows it, and then I don’t think about it anymore.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 26

“The best thing to do is to put everything in the hands of God and await the outcome in peace and abandonment to his will. That’s what I’m going to try very hard to do.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 45

Praying this novena with perseverance, let us confidently place ourselves in the Lord’s hands, and ask for the grace to do his will in all things.

Psalm 143

Lord, listen to my prayer:

turn your ear to my appeal.

You are faithful, you are just; give answer.

Do not call your servant to judgment

for no one is just in your sight.

The enemy pursues my soul;

he has crushed my life to the ground;

he has made me dwell in darkness

like the dead, long forgotten.

Therefore my spirit fails;

my heart is numb within me.

I remember the days that are past:

I ponder all your works.

I muse on what your hand has wrought

and to you I stretch out my hands.

Like a parched land my soul thirsts for you.

Lord, make haste and answer;

for my spirit fails within me.

Do not hide your face

lest I become like those in the grave.

In the morning let me know your love

for I put my trust in you.

Make me know the way I should walk:

to you I lift up my soul.

Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies;

I have fled to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will

for you, O Lord, are my God.

Let your good spirit guide me

in ways that are level and smooth.

For your name’s sake, Lord, save my life;

in your justice save my soul from distress.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.
_______

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.

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Day Seven, July 10: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Cathedral in Lisieux. Photo by Katie Boos.

Day Seven: Enduring Trials Together

“Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” Ephesians 5:2

“[It is possible that a] crisis will become a passage of growth and that love will emerge from it purified, matured and strengthened. God alone can do this. He wants his disciples to serve as effective collaborators, to approach couples, listen to them and help them rediscover the hidden treasure of their marriage, the flame that has been buried under the ashes.

            “It is he who revives this flame and brings it back to life; certainly not in the same way as falling in love, but in a different, more intense and profound manner; but it is always the same flame.”

            Benedict XVI, Address to the World Meeting of the Retrouvaille Movement, 26 September 2008

After the death of little Hélène at the age of five, Zélie wrote: “I didn’t expect such a sudden end, nor did my husband. When he came home and saw his poor little daughter dead, he began to sob, crying, “My little Hélène! My little Hélène!” Then together we offered her to God.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 52

When her cancer was diagnosed, Zélie wrote to her sister-in-law: “I couldn’t help myself from telling my family everything. I regret it now because there was a grief-filled scene [...] My husband is inconsolable. He’s given up the pleasure of fishing and put his lines up in the attic, he doesn’t want to go to the Vital Circle anymore. It’s as if he’s shattered.”

            Letter of Zélie to her sister-in-law, CF 177

We are not alone in the trials we endure: the Lord is with us, as he was with Saints Louis and Zélie Martin. Like us, they knew all kinds of difficulties, and their intercession opens a way of hope for us.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,

Lord, who would survive?

But with you is found forgiveness:

for this we revere you.

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

My soul is longing for the Lord

more than watchman for daybreak.

Let the watchman count on daybreak

and Israel on the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption,

Israel indeed he will redeem

from all its iniquity.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.

 ------ 

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.

Day Six, July 9: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Les Buissonnets, The Martin family house in Lisieux. Photo by Kristi Tyler.

 Day Six: Marriage Through the Test of Time

“It was thy word, O Lord, which heals all men.” Wisdom 16:12

“This lack of wine [at the wedding at Cana] brings to mind the moment in a couple’s life when love ends, joy runs out and the enthusiasm of the marriage suddenly drains away. [... But Jesus transforms] the water into wine. We know that this ‘good wine’ is a symbol of salvation, of the new nuptial covenant that Jesus came to make with humanity. Yet every Christian marriage, even the most wretched and insecure one, is a sacrament of precisely this and therefore can find in humility the courage to ask the Lord for help. When a husband and wife in difficulty or even already separated entrust themselves to Mary and turn to the One who made ‘one flesh’ of two, they can be certain that, with the Lord’s help, this crisis will become a passage of growth and that love will emerge from it purified, matured and strengthened.”

            Benedict XVI, Address to the World Meeting of the Retrouvaille Movement, 26 September 2008

“I wonder if my plan to go see you will ever be realized. I encounter so many obstacles that I dream about them at night. For example, one time I dreamed that I left, and I saw my husband make a long face, saying that I was leaving him in a predicament. The next day, I told him about my dream, and he said that I had dreamed the truth. He didn’t need to tell me; I know it well. It’s true that it’s not easy for me to be away, above all because of my lace business. And then, when it’s necessary to leave four children for two weeks, it’s a little long. However, I really want to get away, but I don’t know how to do it.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 19

As we entrust our intention for this novena to Louis and Zélie Martin, let us consider how they emerged victorious from the test of time, and invoke their fidelity.

Psalm 144

Blessed be the Lord, my rock

who trains my arms for battle,

who prepares my hands for war.

He is my love, my fortress;

he is my stronghold, my savior,

my shield, my place of refuge.

He brings peoples under my rule.

Lord, what is man that you care for him,

mortal man, that you keep him in mind;

man, who is merely a breath,

whose life fades like a shadow?

Reach down from heaven and save me;

draw me out from the mighty waters,

from the hands of alien foes.

Let our sons then flourish like saplings

grown tall and strong from their youth:

our daughters graceful as columns,

adorned as though for a palace.

Let our barns be filled to overflowing

with crops of every kind;

our sheep increasing by thousands,

myriads of sheep in our fields,

our cattle heavy with young,

no ruined wall, no exile,

no sound of weeping in our streets.

Happy the people with such blessings;

happy the people whose God is the Lord.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.

-------

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.

Day Five, July 8: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Statue of St. Louis and St. Therese. Photo by Katie Boos.

Day Five: Work and the Duties of One’s State in Life

“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord.” Colossians 3:17

“From the example of St. Joseph we all receive a strong invitation to carry out with fidelity, simplicity and modesty the task that Providence has entrusted to us. I think especially of fathers and mothers of families, and I pray that they will always be able to appreciate the beauty of a simple and industrious life, cultivating the conjugal relationship with care and fulfilling with enthusiasm the great and difficult educational mission.

            “May he help every Christian to fulfill God’s will with confidence and love, thereby cooperating in the fulfillment of the work of salvation.”

            Benedict XVI, Angelus, 19 March 2006

“I have many problems that other women in my situation don’t have. It’s this awful Alençon lace that makes life difficult. When I have too many orders, I’m a slave to the worst kind of slavery. When it’s not going well and I find myself liable for 20,000 francs out of my own account, and I have to send to other firms the workers who were so hard to find, this gives me reason to worry, as well as nightmares! Oh well, what can I do? I must accept it and come to terms with it as bravely as possible.”

            Letter of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 15

“Needless to say, your letter made me very happy, except I see that you’ve tired yourself out far too much. So I strongly recommend calm and moderation, above all in your work. I have some orders from the Compagnie Lyonnaise; once again, don’t worry so much. We’ll manage, with God’s help, to build a good little company.”

            Letter of Louis to Zélie, CF 2-a

Louis and Zélie Martin both worked hard to provide for the education of their children. In asking for their intercession, let us offer the Lord the duties of our state in life, and increase our prayers for those who lack work.

Psalm 127

If the Lord does not build the house,

in vain do its builders labor;

if the Lord does not watch over the city,

in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

In vain is your earlier rising,

your going later to rest,

you who toil for the bread you eat:

when he pours out gifts on his beloved while they slumber.

Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,

a blessing, the fruit of the womb.

Indeed the sons of youth

are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

O the happiness of the man

who has filled his quiver with these arrows!

He will have no cause for shame

when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.

------

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.

Day Four, July 7: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin

Rue Saint-Blaise's house at Alençon : The family home and
Thérèse’s birthplace. Photo by

Pierre-Yves Emile

 Day Four: In Difficulties with Children

“We are God’s fellow workers.” 1 Corinthians 3:9

Speaking on education, Pope Benedict XVI encourages parents and teachers thus: “Continue, therefore, without letting yourselves be discouraged by the difficulties you encounter. The educational relationship is delicate by nature: in fact, it calls into question the freedom of the other who, however gently, is always led to make a decision.”

            Benedict XVI, Address to the participants in the Ecclesial Diocesan Convention of Rome, 6 June 2005

“I know you’ve learned from her aunt in Le Mans of my poor Léonie’s departure from the boarding school. As you can imagine, this upsets me greatly. That doesn’t say it enough. This has caused me profound sorrow, which still continues. [...] I believe that only a miracle could change her nature. It’s true, I don’t deserve a miracle, and yet I hope against all hope.

            “The more I see her being difficult, the more I convince myself that God will not permit her to remain that way.”

            Letter of Zélie to her sister-in-law, CF 117

Louis and Zélie Martin teach us always to press on without getting discouraged, whether in our prayer, in the task of education if we are parents, or in our relationships with our neighbors. This is how we too can become “God’s fellow workers.”

Psalm 46

God is for us a refuge and strength,

a helper close at hand, in time of distress:

so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,

though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea,

even though its waters rage and foam,

even though the mountains be shaken by its waves.

The Lord of hosts is with us:

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within, it cannot be shaken;

God will help it at the dawning of the day.

Nations are in tumult, kingdoms are shaken:

he lifts his voice, the earth shrinks away.

The Lord of hosts is with us:

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come, consider the works of the Lord,

the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.

He puts an end to wars over all the earth;

the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps.

He burns the shields with fire.

“Be still and know that I am God,

supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us:

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Glory to the Father...

Novena Prayer

O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an example of holiness lived in marriage.

Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen them with your love;

Let young people find in them the support they need to hear your voice and respond to your call.

Support the sick and the elderly with your power.

Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...

            (period of silence, or state the intention)

Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of love.

Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.

Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.

-------

Sources

Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner Nevitt from: Neuvaine par l’intercession des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires (Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias, rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.

Louis and Zélie Martin. A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885. Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation of Correspondance familiale (1863–1885), Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.

“Benedict XVI.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html

The Psalms: The Grail Translation. 1963.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. 1966.