"STS. LOUIS AND ZELIE MARTIN, ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX, AND SIBLINGS" - ICON By PAOLO ORLANDO
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On June 19, 2005, Guy Gaucher, O.C.D., auxiliary bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux and consummate scholar of St. Therese, preached at a service of thanksgiving for his episcopal ministry in the Basilica of St. Therese at Lisieux. With thanks to the late Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm., who made it available on the Web, and to Internet Archive, on the seventh day of this novena of gifts I offer Bishop Gaucher's beautiful homily "Why I Love You, O Therese."
Every year thousands of people gather in Lisieux to celebrate the feast of St. Thérèse. This year the faithful all over the world are invited especially to unite themselves with the pilgrims at Lisieux in praying for priests and for the priesthood. Please use this schedule and the films of the feast-day celebrations in Lisieux to continue in union of prayer with those who are privileged to celebrate the feast at Lisieux.
Communiqué
His Excellency, Monseigneur Jean-Claude Boulanger, Archbishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, and Monsignor Bernard Lagoutte, Rector of the Basilica of St. Thérèse and Director of the Pilgrimage Office at Lisieux, inform you
of the celebrations of the feast of Saint Thérèse in 2010
with Cardinal Hummes, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy, presiding
This year, the celebration of the Thérèsian feasts will be marked by the grace of this Year of the Priest. The celebration will open with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 26 at the Basilica of St. Thérèse.
On Monday, September 27, we propose that all priests and bishops of the world and all the lay people who have it at heart to support them and pray for them and for vocations participate in this day at Lisieux. Cardinal Hummes will give a conference and will preside at a Mass at the basilica at 11:00 a.m.
The schedule of the celebrations is:
Saturday, September 25:
9:00 a.m.:
Mass at the Carmel of Lisieux
3:30 p.m.:
Concert of organ and harp music in the crypt of the basilica.
8:30 p.m.:
Procession of the Relics of St. Thérèse from the chapel of Carmel to the basilica, followed by a prayer vigil in the basilica.
The video below shows the 2009 candlelight procession of the major reliquary of St. Therese from the Carmel of Lisieux up the hill to the basilica, where you can see the priests and the people venerating the reliquary as the prayer vigil begins. I thank Susan Ehlert, who produced the film, for permission to display it here.
Sunday, September 26:
10:30 a.m.
Solemn Mass at the Basilica. Cardinal Hummes will preside.
3:30 p.m.:
Procession of the relics from the Basilica to the Cathedral of St. Pierre, where we will celebrate Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament exposed for our adoration.
The film below shows the procession of the reliquary into the Cathedral of St. Pierre, where the Martin family attended Mass and Vespers on Sundays during their years in Lisieux. I thank producer Susan Ehlert for permission to display it.
The film below, also thanks to Susan Ehlert, shows the relics returning in procession to the chapel of the Lisieux Carmel:
Monday, September 27:
A day of thanksgiving for the Year of the Priest: Thérèse and priests
9:00 a.m.
The office of Lauds (Morning Prayer) in the Basilica
9:30 a.m.:
Cardinal Hummes will give a conference: “Priestly Spirituality”
11:00 a.m.:
Celebration of the Eucharist in the basilica
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.:
The event “Thérèse and priests"
Each person can choose one of the six venues below. Based on the location, a facilitator will discuss the relationship between Thérèse and the priesthood. In each place the activity will take place in three stages:
the presentation of the theme
the distribution of the texts of Therese
a time of silence and prayer
The six places are:
The upper Basilica
The crypt of the Basilica
The sacristy of the Basilica
Les Buissonnets
The Cathedral of St. Pierre
The chapel of the Carmel of Lisieux
3:30 p.m.:
Return to the Basilica
3:30 p.m.:
A conference by Monseigneur Jean-Claude Boulanger, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux: “Priests: disciples and apostles in following Jesus”
4:30 p.m.
Evening Prayer at the Basilica
Tuesday, September 28 through Friday, October 1 (October 1 is the liturgical feast of St. Thérèseof the Child Jesus of the Holy Face):
At 3:00 p.m.each day
a conference on the spirituality of St. Thérèse (in French) at the Centre d’Accueil Pastoral International located under the square facing the Basilica.
At 4:30 p.m. each day:
Vespers in the Basilica
Sunday, October 1 - liturgical feast of St. Therese
10:00 a..m.
Feast-day Mass in the Basilica
3:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
Conference
Vespers
Saturday, October 2 - A day for the sick and disabled
10:30 a..m.
The celebration of the sacrament of the sick in the Basilica
3:00 p.m.
Mass for the sick in the Basilica
Sunday, October 3
10:30 a..m.
Closing Mass of the feast in the Basilica of St. Thérèse
3:00 p.m.
Celebration of Vespers in the Basilica.
For more information,
please call the Pilgrimage Office at Lisieux: Tel. 02 31 48 55 08
The festival program is available on the Internet in French at the Web site of the Shrine of Lisieux at http://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr/Venez-consulter-le-Programme-2010-du-Sanctuaire.html
The photographer of the blog "l'instantane normandie" has graciously permitted me to display 72 of his beautiful photographs of the countryside around Lisieux, little changed since the day of St. Therese. Many of the scenes he has photographed are places the Martin family would have included in their family walks, picnics, and fishing trips. Please see them here.
As today's gift to prepare for Therese's feast, I invite you to visit an online exhibit of 116 photos of Lisieux "au temps de Therese." These photos are from the album of Francois Bidet, who was proprietor of a pharmacy near that of Isidore Guerin, Therese's uncle. I thank La Bibliotheque Electronique de Lisieux for mounting this exhibit. The photos are the property of the Musee d'art et de histoire de Lisieux. Jean Bergeret wrote the accompanying text. You can see townspeople shoveling snow before the Cathedral Saint-Pierre on the Place Thiers during the bitterly cold winter of 1895; a man begging who could be one of the people helped by the Martin family; a Eucharistic procession in the town square; market day, and many other photos. Please visit them at this site.
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the Parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
The lives of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux; their spirituality; the life of their family; their beatification in 2008 and canonization in 2015; what we can learn from them today. Articles, homilies, conferences, photo galleries. A unique photo show to celebrate the visit of their relics to Ireland in 2018.
