forty days::spiritual reading

"The good God gave me a father and mother

more worthy of Heaven than of earth." ~St. Therese

Written by her daughter, Celine Martin, this is the "insider's" story of the recently canonized Zelie Martin-mother of St. Therese the Little Flower. It is a modern tale of a 19th century woman who wed at the age of 27, bore nine children whom she loved "madly", and ran a successful business. It is the story of a woman who suffered poor health, bore the sorrow of losing four of her nine children while they were still very young, and died a painful death at the age of 45 from breast cancer, yet remained happy and steadfast in her Faith. It is the tale of woman much admired by her family, neighbors, and servants for her incredibly generous spirit and pious soul. Celine writes of her (p62):

In everyone's estimation, as I have already said, Mother was
completely unselfish and utterly forgetful of self. As a result, she could
think of others and devote herself entirely to their service.

The book is filled with excerpts from letters written by St. Zelie; it seems she was rather prolific with her pen and for that we can be grateful. In this letter written to her daughters Pauline and Marie on All Saints Day 1873, we are witness to her humility (p43):

I want to become a saint; it will not be easy at all. I have a
lot of wood to chop and it is as hard as stone. I should have started
sooner while it was not so difficult; but, in any case, 'better late than
never'.

A truly lovely and inspiring story that belongs in every mother's library.