This past Sunday, we celebrated the feast of Saints Zélie and Louis Martin. They are recognized for their simple yet profound fidelity to Jesus Christ, lived through their vocation of marriage.
Their witness continues today in the lives of Augustine Institute alumni. At our May 2026 Commencement Exercises, three married couples graduated from the Augustine Institute after completing the Master of Arts in Theology program. Their stories show how pursuing theological formation side by side can deepen both marriage and faith.
The Woodsides
Residing in Sterling, Colorado, Jaren and Sydney Woodside began their studies with two young daughters, six and three. Today, they now have three daughters who are thirteen, ten, and four. They completed their studies while homeschooling their children and embracing life on the Colorado prairie.
"Studying theology together has brought us closer as a couple as we continue to grow closer to Christ," they write. "We shared countless opportunities for meaningful discussion, reflecting together on the lectures and the rich theological works we were assigned, often with our children joining in. The Institute has equipped us to speak about the faith as a family and strengthened our ability to evangelize first within our home and then beyond it."
Their studies deepened a passion for evangelization that has become, in their words, "a central part of our family's mission." The Woodsides now teach high school youth group together, Jared is launching a parish Bible study, and Sydney recently became OCIA Director at their parish, where the couple teaches side by side. This summer they celebrated nineteen years of marriage.
The Longs
Torey and Chris Long described their own journey. After Torey's return to the Church and her husband's reception into full communion in 2015, the couple became OCIA catechists, walking others into the faith. Years later, Torey and Chris felt called to pursue a “structured, authentically Catholic, and academically rigorous” theological education through the Augustine Institute's master's degree in theology.
"The program has not only been extremely educational and illuminating," he writes, "but also helped us accompany each other and grow as a unified man and wife with a common purpose of attaining the ever more desirable Beatific Vision. Our date nights became rich in intellectual and meaningful conversation." The fruit of their study shows in the lives of their three children, ages fifteen, thirteen, and ten, who he says carry a deeper faith than either parent knew growing up. "Becoming Catholic, and returning to the Church, transformed our lives: separately, together, and within our young family."
The La Rives
After three decades of marriage, Glen and Teresa La Rives have developed a more “comprehensive view of the Christian life,” shaped by their pursuit of theological study. Through their graduate studies, they came to “understand how the soul of theology is Sacred Scripture.” Glen and Teresa also spoke on how they have come to learn that the teachings of the Church are not simply matters of “black and white,” but are filled with wisdom, beauty and nuance. One question continues to guide their lifelong faith journey: “Are we Heaven-ready?”
For the past 33 years, The La Rives have dedicated themselves to a life of ministry at the Divine Retreat Centre in Chalakudy, Kerala, South India, a retreat ministry led by Vincentian priests that welcomes people from around the world. There, they preach, provide spiritual direction, and sing, guiding others toward deeper encounters with Christ.
The Martins
As stated above, we celebrate these stories the day after the feast of Saints Zélie and Louis Martin, the first husband and wife ever canonized together. Married July 13, 1858, in Alencon, France, they raised nine children, including St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Saints Zélie and Louis were canonized in 2015 and are the patrons of married couples and of parents who have lost a child.
Zélie and Louis never shared a graduate classroom, but their home became its own school of virtue. In his homily at their canonization Mass, Pope Francis observed that “the holy spouses practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters, among whom was Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.” The Martins, the Woodsides, and the Longs are separated by centuries and circumstance, yet share the same desire: to seek Christ together and to serve those entrusted to their care. Through lives that many would call ordinary, these couples have become extraordinary witnesses to the Gospel.
As St. Augustine wrote in his Commentary on the Psalms (121.2):
"If holy love energizes people and draws them to a physical place, what kind of love must it be that draws persons united in heart toward heaven, as they say to each other, 'We are going to the Lord's house'? Let us run and not grow weary, because we shall reach a place where fatigue will never touch us."
Let us pray for holy marriages, for families, and for the sanctity of life.
Saints Zélie and Louis Martin, pray for us.
Primary Source:
Francis. (2015, October 18). Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis at the Holy Mass with the Rite of Canonization. Vatican.
