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Fresh after writing her testimonial to St. Junipero Serra, alumna novelist Suzie Andres (’87) has authored a tribute to the Church’s two most recently canonized saints, . The Martins “are quite near to us,” Mrs. Andres observes, and this proximity makes their holiness tangible — and attainable — to us, their faithful contemporaries. As such, they are a valuable and much-needed model for our time:

“Louis and Zelie’s message isn’t new; it’s the same message their daughter has been spreading so handily for the last 120 years, the message of the Gospel. But if we ask where Saint Thérèse learned her little and very ordinary way of sanctity, the answer comes back from the Church: she learned it first in the home of her parents, whose way was absolutely ordinary. …

“The message of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin is simply this: Sanctity is not beyond our reach — it is Christ’s doing, and He thirsts to do it in us. The Church will not rest until she gets this message through our very thick heads: the saints were human like we are, and we need not be daunted by their greatness. It is just such greatness that Jesus has in mind for us, the greatness of the little ones. Without Him, we are nothing, and when He makes us great, it is simply His greatness shining forth in us.”

His Holiness Pope Francis canonized the Martins this past weekend on World Mission Sunday. Saints Louis and Zelie, pray for us!