APOSTOLIC LETTER OF POPE BENEDICT XV
ANNOUNCING THE BEATIFICATION
OF LOUIS MARTIN AND ZÉLIE GUÉRIN

We,
fulfilling the wishes of our brothers
Pierre Auguste Pican, bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux,
and Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of Sées,
and the wishes expressed by many Brothers in the Episcopate
and by a multitude of the faithful,
after having consulted the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
permit,
by virtue of our Apostolic Authority,
that the Venerable Servants of God
LOUIS MARTIN and ZÉLIE MARIE GUÉRIN,
lay persons, spouses, and parents,
who, strengthened by the sacrament of marriage
and the example of the Family of Nazareth
have testified to their love for God, for the Virgin Mary,
for the poor, and for the missions,
and consecrated themselves diligently to their children,
among whom we count St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus,
are now to be called Blessed,
and that their feast may be celebrated each year on July 12,
the date of the anniversary of their marriage,
in the place and following the procedures established by law.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s,
October 15 in the year of the Lord 2008,
the fourth year of Our Pontificate.

Benedict XVI, Pope.

translated by Maureen O’Riordan for "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway"