Little Therese had such affection for her parents that she could not bear to think that she had grieved them.
The ninth child of St. Louis Martin and St. Zelie Guerin was born on Jan. 2, 1873. On Jan. 4, the baby girl was carried to the Church of Notre Dame to receive the sacrament of baptism; her eldest sister, Marie, was her godmother, and she was given the name of Marie Francoise Therese.
Regarding her childhood, Therese wrote, “All my life it has pleased him to surround me with affection. My first recollections are of loving smiles and tender caresses; but if he made others love me so much, he made me love them too, for I was of an affectionate nature."
“You can hardly imagine how much I loved my father and mother, and, being very demonstrative, I showed my love in a thousand little ways, though the means I employed make me smile now when I think of them.”
In a letter, Zelie wrote about her daughter Therese: “Baby is the dearest little rogue; she comes to kiss me, and at the same time wishes me to die. ‘Oh, how I wish you would die, dear Mamma,’ she said, and when she was scolded she was quite astonished, and answered: ‘But I want you to go to heaven, and you say we must die to go there;’ and in her outburst of affection for her father she wishes him to die too. The dear little thing will hardly leave me, she follows me everywhere, but likes going into the garden best; when I am not there she refuses to stay, and cries so much that they are obliged to bring her back. She will not even go upstairs alone without calling me at each step, ‘Mamma! Mamma!’ and if I forget to answer ‘Yes, darling!’ she waits where she is, and will not move.”
Louis delighted in calling his daughter, Therese, his “Little Queen,” adding at times the high-sounding titles – “of France and Navarre.”
Therese recalled: “Papa’s name fills me with many happy memories. Mamma laughingly said he always did whatever I wanted, but he answered: “Well, why not? She is the Queen!’ Then he would lift me on to his shoulder, and caress me in all sorts of ways. Yet I cannot say that he spoilt me. I remember one day while I was swinging he called out as he passed: ‘Come and kiss me, little Queen.’ Contrary to my usual custom, I would not stir, and answered pertly: ‘You must come for it, Papa.’ He refused quite rightly, and went away. Marie was there and scolded me, saying: ‘How naughty to answer Papa like that!’ Her reproof took effect; I got off the swing at once, and the whole house resounded with my cries. I hurried upstairs, not waiting this time to call Mamma at each step; my one thought was to find Papa and make my peace with him. I need not tell you that this was soon done.”
Little Therese had such great affection for her parents that she could not bear to think that she had grieved them, and she would acknowledge her faults instantly.
Therese also had great affection for her older sisters, especially Pauline. She wrote, “Sometimes I heard people saying that Pauline would be a nun, and, without quite knowing what it meant, I thought: ‘I will be a nun too.’ This is one of my first recollections, and I have never changed my mind; so it was the example of this beloved sister which, from the age of two, drew me to the Divine Spouse of Virgins.”
小德蘭對家庭表現親愛
1873年1月2日，聖類斯.馬定及聖薛妮.姬娜的第九名孩子出生了；兩日後，他們把這女嬰帶到聖母聖堂接受洗禮，大女兒瑪麗當這新生命的代母，給她取聖名為瑪麗.方濟.德蘭馬定。
德蘭憶述童年，說：「天主樂意在我的整個生命讓以愛來環繞我。我最初的記憶是愛的微笑與溫柔的憐愛；但若天主令他人那樣也讓愛我，祂也令我回愛他們，因我有親愛的性情。」「你們很難想像我多麼愛我的父母 ── 表達絕不含蓄，我有千百樣的方法去表達我對他們的愛 ── 當我回想這些方法，也禁不住笑起來。」
薛妮在她的一封信函中談到她的小德蘭：「嬰兒是個最可貴的小鬼頭，她常來親吻我，並同時想我死去。『親愛的媽媽，我真想你死去』。當我責怪她這樣說時，她滿臉委屈解釋說『但我是想你升天堂啊！你不是說我們必定要經過死亡才能到天堂嗎？』當她向父親表達愛意，她也希望他死去。這親愛的小東西對我很痴纏，出入都要跟著我，特別是到花園去；如果我不是和她在一起，她便不願意留下，並大哭著，以至他們要帶回去。她要到上層時，會在每上一梯級叫聲『媽媽！媽媽！』若聽不到我回答她『是，甜心！』，她便不動地等候我的回應。」
類斯喜稱小德蘭為「小皇后」，甚至稱她是「法國和納瓦拉的小皇后」。
小德蘭還記得：「父親給我的名字，讓我想起很多愉快的回憶。母親笑說他常常對我唯命是從，他總說『為何不？她是皇后啊！』他會把我提到他的肩膊上，疼愛著我。不過，他又沒有把我寵壞。有一次，我正在盪韆鞦，父親剛好走過，他對我說：『小皇后，過來親親我。』我一反常態，沒有移動，無禮回贈他說：『你要我親，你自己走過來吧。』父親不認同，便走開了。大姐瑪麗在場，便責難我說：『你太頑皮了，你不應這樣回答父親！』她的怪責馬上奏效，我匆匆跳離韆鞦，整座屋子都充滿著我的喊聲。這次不等在每級叫母親，便趕快攀到上層，我一心想著要找到父親，與他修好。當然，這事很快便辦到了。」
小德蘭非常愛她的雙親，絕不想令他們難過，對每一錯誤都願意立刻認錯。她亦很愛她的姐姐寶蓮。她寫道：「曾聽得有人說姐姐寶蓮要當修女，雖然我那時候不明白什麼是當修女，但我想：『我也要當修女。』這是我其中最早的記憶，我從沒有改變過這想法。故此，這個好姐姐的表樣，在我兩歲時起，已牽引我到諸童貞的神聖淨配。」