Blessed Louis Martin and his spouse, Blessed Zelie, are set to become saints coinciding with the upcoming Synod of the Family, after Pope Francis gave his thumbs-up for their canonisation.
The two, who are known for being the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, will be declared saints later this year as the decrees needed for their canonisation were approved during a consistory of bishops at the Apostolic Palace on Saturday, the Catholic News Agency reported.
The two will become the first couple to be declared saints in a single ceremony, to be held on Oct.18 at the Vatican.
They give testimony to their "extraordinary witness of conjugal and familial spirituality," said Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
The two had an "exemplary life of faith, dedication to ideal values united to a constant realism, and persistent attention to the poor," he added.
Their canonisation will come just less than three weeks after the Oct. 1-feast day of their daughter, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who is considered as doctor of the Church.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church has recognised a miracle credited to the St. Therese' parents on March 18.
The two were declared blessed on Oct. 19, 2008 by the Pope Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Blessed Louis and Blessed Zelie were married in 1858 only three months after meeting each other. After living in celibacy for almost a year, they had nine children, four of whom died in infancy. Their five remaining daughters entered religious life.
Blessed Zelie died from cancer in 1877 while Louis died in 1894, after suffering from two strokes in 1889.
The two will be canonised alongside two others: Blessed Vincenzo Grossi, an Italian priest who founded the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory; and Blessed Maria of the Immaculate Conception, Spanish superior general of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross.
Their canonisations will coincide with the three-week Synod of Bishops on Oct. 4 to 25, with the theme: "The vocation and mission of the family in the church and the modern world."
