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Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena
Day 4 – Our Duties
« We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do. » Luke 17:10
Meditation
Louis and Zélie were entrepreneurs who successfully conducted their businesses independently of one another. Later, however, they worked together. It was said that Louis undertook « selling only objects of very good quality; he crafted and tested everything himself. » « He was very severe in regard to any sign of negligence or carelessness, » according to the testimony of his daughter.
Even when work seemed to overwhelm them, they knew where to turn in order to deepen their union with God. St. Zélie wrote, « It’s this miserable 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 … I have nightmares! Oh well, what can I do? I must accept it and come to terms with it as bravely as possible. » She said, « God, who is a good Father … never gives His children more than they can bear. »
In spite of the profit they could have made, Louis and Zélie did not work on Sundays. They did not consider their work a means of becoming rich. « I feel, » St. Louis said, « that I could easily acquire a taste for investing, but I do not want to be carried away by that current. It is such a dangerous incline. »
Along the same lines, St. Zélie wrote to her sister-in-law: « It’s not the desire to amass a great fortune that drives me … I must go all the way for my children, and I see myself in a dilemma: I have employees whom I must furnish with work. » « Money is nothing when it’s about the sanctification and perfection of a soul. »
Resolution
Today, I will accomplish my duties out of love for God and for the good of others.
Prayer
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to
Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.
Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.
