The Novena of Louis and Zélie Martin, Our Patron Saints
The feast of our patron saints Louis and Zélie Martin is in ten days. To prepare for this great day, would you consider praying a novena with us, for the flourishing, protection, and growth of Martin Saints Classical High School?
This novena is a short series of prayers, with a different prayer offered daily for nine days. If you start with us tomorrow, your novena will climax on July 12, the day of the feast.
You can sign up for the novena here, and you'll receive a daily email reminder with that day's prayer. Of course, you can add your own special intentions to these prayers, your own variation on ways to help support Martin Saints through prayer.
Please pray for our students. They are a beautiful, bright group of teens, but, especially for young people, our culture can be challenging and hard to navigate. Pray that they find the meaning and horizon of their lives in our faith, and that Martin Saints would give them the depth and capacity for living a beautiful and faithful Catholic life.
Please pray for our parents and teachers, the adults who lead and serve, fostering the atmosphere in our homes and school. They work so hard. Pray that they get the rest and recalibrating that they need over the summer. Pray for their vision, fidelity, and inspiration, and that they would be credible witnesses for our students.
Please pray for our donors, for their intentions and flourishing. Tuition only covers 50% of our school expenses. There is no Martin Saints without our donors. They are sacrificial, generous friends who want to renew the Church by enabling this special school, this faithful Catholic community. Please also pray that we make new friends and grow our circle of support.
Please pray for the future growth of our school. We expect to enroll about 70 students in the fall. Our long term goal is 160 students. Please pray that we grow and welcome new students and parents. Pray that more families in the surrounding area find us and enroll here, so that we can build the hospitable, faithful Catholic school that is our dream.
On July 12, or at any point during this novena, you might want to visit our Philadelphia cathedral. Last year, right here in Philly, our hometown cathedral received relics of Louis, Zélie, and Thérèse. This beautiful reliquary is unique in the whole world, and a worthy place to pray, a worthy destination for a local pilgrimage. You can read more about the spirituality of the Martin family, as well as the cathedral's relics, in last year's newsletter.
(If you visit the cathedral, as you enter the main doors, the relics are located in the far right, rear corner, next to the baptistry. The baptistry chapel is usually locked, but the relics are near the entrance, and it is easy to kneel or sit with them. Mass or confession, followed by a visit to the relics, would be a great day downtown.)
You may also want to save another date on your calendar. On Friday, October 3, our school will host our second annual vision dinner. More details soon, but here's a sneak preview. This amazing evening happens on the Friday nearest Thérèse's feast. On this evening, we will celebrate to the hilt, together.
But for now, in these hopefully quiet and restorative days of summer, please join us in praying the Louis and Zélie novena. There is so much that is wonderful about this school, worthy of protecting and amplifying. And we have great, great dreams for the future, dreams that need your prayers and support. Thank you!
Dear saints Louis and Zélie, this is your school. We hope it is pleasing to you. Please watch over us and commend us to the Lord. Amen!