Envision the family portrait. The husband and wife stand in Victorian dress with their five adult daughters, all in habits. It’s nothing I’ve seen on any Christmas card, but it’s an icon Catholics should expect this coming year in preparation for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St. Therese the Little Flower. The couple, married in 1858, had nine children — seven daughters and two sons — but only five girls survived infancy. All five joined the convent; one became a Visitation sister, and the others Carmelites in Lisieux.
