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Novena to SS. Louis and Zélie Martin

Day 3

10 min
Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena to SS. Louis and Zélie Martin

Opening prayer:

Holy spouses Louis and Zélie Martin, you made your home a school of faith and your marriage a path to heaven. As I begin this novena, obtain for me the grace to seek holiness in the duties of each ordinary day. Help me to love God in my family and my work. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 3: A home of prayer

The Martin home kept the rhythm of daily Mass at dawn, evening prayer together, observance of Sundays and the feasts of the Church, and care for the holy seasons. Faith was not a Sunday duty but the air the family breathed. They teach us that children learn to love God first by seeing their parents kneel before Him, and that a home steeped in prayer becomes the first and surest school of holiness.

O holy spouses Louis and Zélie, who made your home a house of prayer and built each day upon the Mass and the seasons of the Church, obtain for me the grace that my home may be marked by faith and prayer, a true school of holiness for all who dwell in it. Amen.

Today's intention:

That my home may be marked by prayer and the life of the Church.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

Saints Louis and Zélie, who trusted God through joy and sorrow and gave Him your children, intercede for all families and for mine. Teach husbands and wives to sanctify one another, and parents to raise their children for heaven. Obtain for us the grace to say in all things, 'God's will be done.' Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

About this prayer

Nine days with the first married couple canonized together, parents of St. Thérèse, who made holiness of an ordinary family life.

History

Louis Martin, a watchmaker, and Zélie Guérin, a skilled Alençon lacemaker, married in 1858 and raised their children in Normandy in deep faith. Of their nine children, five daughters survived, including St. Thérèse of Lisieux; four entered Carmel. Zélie died of breast cancer in 1877 and Louis after years of illness in 1894. Canonized together in 2015, they show that the path to holiness runs through marriage, work, and family.

How to pray it

Pray once each day for nine consecutive days. Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the opening prayer, prayerfully read the meditation and offer the day's intention, then conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, and the closing prayer.

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