Light a candle 
Contact 
Donate 
MenuLouis and Zélie Martin “failed” all the way to sainthood
Aleteia – 07/12/2016
What in our eyes can seem like embarrassing failures may look very different to God
How God uses “failures” for his purposes
All of us experience failure, whether in small ways – like failing a Geometry test in middle school — or in ways serious enough to change our life circumstances. Whatever the details, we all know that sinking feeling that comes with failure.
However, can we truly call any of our disappointments real, absolute failures? Something may look bad in the moment, and the future may seem bleak to us, but what does God think of it? As always, he is in control and knows how to turn a failure into the greatest blessing of a person’s life.
Take for example the lives of Louis and Zélie Martin.
Louis Martin, born into a strong Christian family, decided not to continue his father’s military career and instead pursued the call to the priesthood. At age 20, Louis traveled to the Swiss Alps to enter the Canons Regular of the Hospitaller Congregation of Great Saint Bernard (this is the same religious order famous for the “St. Bernard” dog). After making the long trek up the mountain, Louis was asked by the monks to improve his knowledge of Latin. He tried to learn it, but eventually gave up…