Blessed Louis Martin

Wikipedia.

Blessed Louis Martin (22 August 1823 - 29 July 1894) was a French layman and the father of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. His wife was Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin.

Although Louis intended to become a monk, wishing to enter the Augustinian Monastery of the Great St Bernard, he was rejected because he did not know Latin. Later he decided to become a watchmaker, and studied his craft in Rennes and in Strasbourg.

He later fell in love with Marie-Azélie Guérin, a lacemaker, in 1858 and they married just three months later. Her business was so successful that Louis sold his watchmaking business to go into partnership with her.

Louis and Marie-Azélie Martin were declared "venerable" on 26 March 1994 by Pope John Paul II. They were beatified on 19 October 2008.