A pilgrimage of volunteers to Caen in the footsteps of Leonie Martin and Blessed Louis Martin, June 24, 2013

Mgr Habert with volunteers of the Shrine of Alençon outside the chapel of the Visitation at Caen

An historic pilgrimage in the footsteps of Léonie Martin and of her father, Blessed Louis Martin, took place in France today.  The volunteers of the newly organized shrine at Alencon, who welcome pilgrims who want to walk in the footsteps of the Martin family in and near Alencon, in the diocese of Séez, where Louis and Zélie Martin met, married, and spent their married life, and where Thérèse was born, made a pilgrimage as a group to Caen to visit the Monastery of the Visitation, where Léonie Martin lived from 1899 until her death in 1941, and the Bon Sauveur Hospital, where Blessed Louis Martin was confined from February 12, 1889 through May 10, 1892.

Mgr Habert, bishop of SeezThey were accompanied by Mgr Jacques Habert, bishop of the diocese of Seéz.  Father Thierry Hénault-Morel in the Visitation chapelFather Thierry Hénault-Morel, the rector of the basilica of Notre-Dame at Alençon, was their guide.

The Shrine at Alençon has already posted 94 photos of the pilgrimage.  Although the captions are still in French, it is a wonderful chance to see photos of the Visitation chapel and  the crypt,  Léonie's souvenirs and her tomb, and almost the first contemporary photos of the interior of the chapel at the Bon Sauveur where Louis Martin worshipped. [Update in 2019: I regret that the Shrine appears to have removed these photos from its Web site].

The sudden disappearance of Blessed Louis Martin from Les Buissonnets on June 23, 1888 (125 years ago with St. Therese of Lisieux)

On the morning of Saturday, June 23, 1888, there was panic at Les Buissonnets, the little villa where Blessed Louis Martin, the father of St. Therese of Lisieux, was living with his daughters Celine and Leonie.  Louis had suddenly disappeared without notifying anyone.

Louis was then sixty-four years old.  This photograph had been taken about three years before. In the months of May and June 1888 he had made several business trips to Paris, where he invested (and lost) 50,000 francs on the Panama Canal.

Louis had recently experienced many losses.  A widower, he had given his second daughter, Pauline, to God as a Carmelite nun in 1882.  In 1886 his oldest daughter, Marie, followed Pauline.  On Monday, April 9, 1888, Louis escorted his youngest, Therese, his "little Queen," to the Carmel.   Six weeks later, on Tuesday, May 22, Marie made her vows.  The next day, on Wednesday, May 23, Louis assisted in the public ceremony at the Carmel chapel in which Marie received the black veil of the professed Carmelite choir nun.  Father Almire Pichon, the Jesuit "spiritual director of the Martin family," preached the sermon.

At this time, despite his losses, Louis was experiencing consolation in prayer.  Therese speaks of his eyes being flooded with tears after he received communion.  Referring to an incident in May 1888, a passage inserted into Story of a Soul by Pauline reads: 

"O Mother, do you remember the day and the visit when he said to us "Children, I returned from Alencon where I received in Notre-Dame Church such great graces, such consolations that I made this prayer:  My God, it is too much! yes, I am too happy. it isn't possible to go to heaven this way!  I want to suffer something for you!  I offer myself . . . . the word 'victim' died on his lips; he didn't dare pronounce it before us, but we had understood."1

Sometime in 1888 Louis sent this note to his Carmelite daughters:

I want to tell you, my dear children, that I have urgent desire to thank God and to make you thank God because I feel that our family, although very humble, has the honor of being among the privileged of our adorable Creator.2

This privilege did not come cheap.  On Friday, June 15, Celine told her father that she also had a vocation to Carmel.  She writes: 

"June 15.  I announced to Papa my vocation for Carmel, and these were the circumstances.  I was showing my dear father a painting I had just completed; he was in the belvedere, seated at his little work table, and he seemed to be meditating.  He turned to me, and he studied my canvas with joy and suggested that he take me to Paris to have me pursue a course in painting.  I immediately answered that I would prefer to give up this art completely rather than expose my soul to any danger, that, having given my heart to Jesus a long time ago, I wanted to keep it pure . . . ." (Sister Genevieve, CMG IV, pp. 183-184).3

Louis readily gave his consent.  "You can all leave.  I will be happy to give you to God before I die.  In my old age, a cell will be enough for me."4  In fact, Celine planned to become a Carmelite only after the death of her father.  Deeply moved, Louis pressed Celine to his heart and said, "Come, let us go together to the Blessed Sacrament to thank the Lord for the graces He has bestowed on our family and for the honor He gave me of choosing His spouses in my home.  Yes, if I possessed anything better,  I would hasten to offer it to Him."5

We leave his family searching for him and the Carmelites praying for his safety.  Please return for the rest of this little adventure, which ends on June 26.  

1 Story of a Soul, tr. John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 2005, p. 237.

2A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, 1863-1885.  Tr. Ann Connors Hess, ed. Dr. Frances Renda.  Staten Island, N.Y.: Society of St. Paul, 2011, p. 365.

3Letters of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Volume I (1877-1890), tr. John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1982, p. 435 (LT 53, footnote 3). 

 4Celine, soeur et temoin de Sainte Therese de l'Enfant Jesus, by Stephane-Joseph Piat.  Office Central de Lisieux, 1964, p. 37 (my translation).

4Story of a Soul, op. cit., p. 239.

The Web site of the Shrine at Alencon was launched today in French; English will follow

 

The "Sanctuaire d'Alencon" (the Shrine of Alencon) launched its new Web site today in French.  Later on it will launch in English and in other languages.  Since the beatification of Louis and Zelie Martin in 2008 and the reopening of the "Martin family house" (formerly known as the birthplace of St. Therese), a pilgrimage office has been established at Alencon to help the pilgrims find the sites associated with the Martin family and to walk in their footsteps.  The site offers photos and information about the sites associated with the life of the Martin family in Alencon; practical information for arranging individual or group pilgrimages; news about special occasions and events; reflections on the spirituality of the Martin family; and more.  This will make it easy for pilgrims tracing the footsteps of the Martin family to begin at Alencon, where Zelie and Louis spent their whole married life.  Please visit the French site.  As soon as the site opens in English, I will post it.  

The Martin home on Rue Pont-Neuf in Alencon

To give you a small taste of what is to come, I reproduce at left, courtesy of the Sanctuaire, a rare old photograph that shows the area in back of the house and watch-shop on Rue Pont-Neuf, where Louis and Zelie lived from their marriage in 1858 until 1871.  (Louis bought this house in 1850.  Before his marriage he had lived here with his parents and his young nephew, Adolphe Leriche).  Louis and Zelie spent most of their married life here, and all their children except Therese were born in this house.  It is much less well-known than the house on Rue Saint-Blaise, where Zelie had lived as a girl, but where Louis and Zelie and their children lived for only six years).  Today an insurance agency occupies the ground-floor space where Louis's watch shop was located on Rue Pont-Neuf.   After the Franco-Prussian war,  Louis sold the jeweler-watchmaker shop to Adolphe Leriche and devoted himself to handling the business end of Zelie's lacemaking work, and the family moved to Zelie's childhood home on rue Saint-Blaise. 

Imprimatur granted for a prayer that Léonie Martin, the sister of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, might be declared venerable

On June 16, 2013, the Shrine at Lisieux announced that the beatification of Léonie Martin, sister of St. Thérèse ofLisieux, is under consideration.  Mgr Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, granted the imprimatur for a prayer that Léonie might be declared "venerable."  A person named "venerable" by the Church is considered to have practiced "heroic virtue."  St. Thérèse was declared venerable on August 14, 1921 by Pope Benedict XV, after her life had been examined by a diocesan tribunal (the "bishop's process") and by a tribunal appointed by Rome (the "Apostolic Process").   To be declared "venerable" is a big step in the cause for sainthood; the next two steps are to be named "blessed" and to be canonized.  Léonie Martin, born on June 3, 1863 (150 years ago this month),  became a Visitation nun, Sister Françoise-Thérèse, at Caen, where she died on June 17, 1941. 

Please feel free to offer the prayer below to Léonie for your intentions.  Note that to be accepted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as the miracle that leads to a candidate's being beatified or canonized, a favor must be attributed to the sole intercession of that candidate.  So, if you want to receive the grace that might make Léonie a blessed or a saint, be careful to ask only her, no one else, to intercede with God for your intention.  Of course, if you invoke her with others, God may still send an "unofficial miracle!" 

 _________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Léonie our Sister,

You have already intervened with God on our behalf,

and we would  like to be able to pray to you officially,

so that many more might know you.

Come to the aid of parents who risk losing a child,

as you nearly died at a very young age.

Continue to uphold the families

where different generations have problems living together in peace.

Enlighten youth who question their future and hesitate to commit.

Show to all the way of prayer

which permits you to bear your limitations and your difficulties with confidence,

and to give yourself to others.

Lord, if such is your will,

deign to accord us the grace that we ask of you

through the intercession of your servant Léonie,

and inscribe her among the number of the venerable of your Church.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Imprimatur: March 25, 2012

†  Jean-Claude Boulanger

    Bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux

Persons who receive favors by the intercession of Léonie Martin,

in religion Sister Françoise-Thérèse,

are asked to make them known to the Monastery of the Visitation:

Monastery of the Visitation

3 rue de l’Abbatiale

14000 CAEN

FRANCE

translated by Maureen O'Riordan

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________

To learn more:

1.  See almost all the information and photos available online in English aboutLéonie.

2.  To learn about the spirituality of Léonie's religious community, the Visitation Order, I highly recommend the book "Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction," selected and introduced by Joseph F. Power, O.S.F.S. and Wendy M. Wright; translated by Péronne Marie Thibert, VHM; and with a preface by Henri J. M. Nouwen (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1988).  The Visitation was founded by Jane de Chantal; Francis de Sales, who shared its vision with Jane, was closely associated with the community.  The spirituality of the Visitation was important to the Martin family.  Léonie's aunt Elise was Sister Marie Dosithée at the Visitation of Le Mans, where Marie and Pauline Martin, the two oldest daughters, were boarding pupils.  Léonie was there for a short time, but was dismissed because of her special needs.  Later Léonie entered the Visitation Monastery at Caen several times; her third and definitive entry was in 1899.

This book contains letters Jane and Francis wrote over many years to persons to whom they gave spiritual direction.  It includes many letters from Francis to Jane.  "Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction" is one of my desert-island books.  Wendy Wright's comprehensive introduction is widely considered one of the very best English-language introductions to the spirituality of Jane and Francis and of the Visitation.  It is a remarkable book in its own right and a superb way to understand many of the influences that surrounded Léonie and Thérèse.

Vatican to investigate “presumed miracle” attributed to Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Will the healing of little Carmen make them saints?

Eight doctors testify to the “astonishing recovery, without any medical explanation,” of a little girl, born prematurely in Spain, who is now four years old.

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

 On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Mgr Carlos Osoro Serra, Archbishop of Valencia, presided at the closing session of the diocesan tribunal which had investigated the “presumed miracle” of the healing of a baby girl, known as Carmen, who was born prematurely on October 15, 2008.  Her cure was attributed to the intercession of Blessed Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. 

The closing session took place in the Gothic hall of the Archbishop’s palace.  Two French bishops traveled to Spain for the ceremony.  Mgr Jacques Habert, bishop of Séez, was present: Alençon, where Louis and Zélie spent their married life, is in the diocese of Séez.   Father Thierry Hénault-Morel, rector of the Basilica of Notre Dame in Alençon, where Zélie and Louis were married and where their daughter Thérèse was baptized, joined Bishop Habert.

Mgr. Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, also traveled to Valencia for the ceremony.  After Zélie died in 1877, Louis moved to Lisieux, in the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, and lived there until he died in 1894.  Bishop Boulanger was joined by Mgr Bernard Lagoutte, rector of the Basilica in Lisieux built in honor of Louis and Zélie’s famous daughter, St. Thérèse.  It was in this Basilica that, after the Church had accepted the healing of a newborn baby in Italy, Pietro Schilirò, as a miracle worked at their intercession, Louis and Zélie were beatified on October 19, 2008.

Story of the miracle

The little Carmen, whose family prefers to remain anonymous, was born at "October 9 Hospital" in Valencia on October 15, 2008, four days before Louis and Zélie were declared blessed.  Father Antonio Sangalli, O.C.D., an Italian Carmelite friar who is vice-postulator of the cause of Louis and Zélie, later remarked:  "Apparently,  nothing seems to connect the two events, but later faith allowed us to discover the mysterious ties  that  point to a “miracle."  Born after only six months of pregnancy, Carmen had many life-threatening health problems.

Father Sangalli told the tribunal on Monday that the child “suffered multiple pathologies, among them, a double septicemia and an intraventricular cerebral Grade IV hemorrhage, the most severe.” The doctors could do nothing for her, and her parents were told to prepare for the worst.  Her father and mother, “seeing the danger of death, immediately turned to God, and, thanks to the nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Serra, the parents, family, and friends started a novena to the blessed Martin spouses,” continued Father Sangalli.  The Carmelites gave the child’s parents a prayer card with images of Zélie and Louis and a prayer for their canonization, and the nuns joined Carmen’s family and their friends in a sustained prayer for her healing.  Father Sangalli explains:

“This is how it started: a real and intense communion of prayer of the family, of friends, of the monastery of Serra, of all those concerned for little Carmen, who was fighting against a sure death.”  As soon as the novena began, the baby began to get better, culminating in her “astonishing recovery, without any medical explanation.” 

The vice-postulator investigates the "presumed miracle"

Father Sangalli learned of the presumed miracle through one of his Carmelite brothers.  He relates: "January 17, 2009  I was returning to France after a stay in Rome to deliver a reliquary to Benedict XVI.  It was at this time that I met Father José Castellá, rector of the Sanctuary of Saint Therese [in Lleida, about three hours from Valencia], who spoke to me about a presumed miracle.  Then I talked to the child's father and her  grandparents, who were there with Ismael, Carmen's brother.  They had come from Valencia, a round trip of 650 kilometers, to thank Louis and Zélie for saving Carmen from a sure death.   And, immediately I had the sensation of being in front of a truly unusual event that deserved a deeper investigation.  I  contacted the person in charge of the cause of canonization of the Blessed Martins and he asked me to  undertake all that was necessary to verify the presumed cure."

Later that same year, from November 6 to November 11, 2009, Father Sangalli visited Valencia for the first time.  He wanted to begin a preliminary study of the case and to establish a definitive diagnosis about Carmen's presumed cure.  Carmen's family "always collaborated, and all they sought was to thank God for Carmen´s cure."  A year later (November 8 to 12, 2010) Father Sangalli visited Valencia again.  He noted “Carmen´s new and surprising progress."  Still, to get a precise scientific picture, Carmen's family traveled to Italy from  July 6 to 13, 2011. "The child underwent a series of scientific tests and had no consequences from the cerebral hemorrhage that she had suffered," Father Sangalli explained.  In September 2012 Father Sangalli got in touch with Archbishop  Osoro about the healing that had taken place in his diocese.  On  December 8, 2012, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he asked Archbishop Osoro to open the diocesan phase of the process to inquire into the miracle.

The diocesan process opens

On January 7, 2013, Archbishop Osoro presided at the opening of the canonical process to investigate whether Carmen’s recovery was a miracle obtained through the intercession of the Martin spouses.  Father Sangalli stated that during the sessions “eighteen testimonies have been heard: Carmen´s parents and grandparents, her teacher, a priest, four Carmelite nuns of Serra, and eight doctors.”

Every one of the eight doctors from Valencia testified before the tribunal that Carmen’s recovery is “scientifically inexplicable.”  Six of them had witnessed her healing at the time; two were appointed later by the tribunal that has investigated the miracle.  The supervising judge of the tribunal, Monsignor Ennio Apeciti, said that all eight doctors “joined in agreeing that, due to her severe health problems, the little girl should [medically speaking] have died.  All the physicians were astonished that Carmen survived.  They also believed that, due to her condition, she should have suffered significant physical and psychological consequences forever.”  They were astounded at Carmen’s “sudden, complete and lasting” cure.  Monsignor Apeciti added that she is “completely healthy” today.  Read more about Carmen's story.

The diocesan process closes

Little Carmen was present at the closing session on May 21 with her parents and other family members.  The Carmelite nuns of Serra also participated.

Watch a video (1:55) of the closing session.  You see the little Carmen waving at the photograph ofLouis and Zélie and four of the Carmelite nuns who suggested the novena to Carmen’s parents and prayed it with them.

At the closing session Archbishop Osoro gave “thanks to the Lord for this fact  that we want to present to the Holy Father as a miracle worked for Carmen.”  He called the way Carmen’s parents have acted “a precious gesture,” “because you believed in the intercession of the Blessed and, through their hands, you put your daughter into the hands of God.”

Archbishop Osoro acknowledged the conduct of the community of the Carmelite nuns of Serra during the whole process, saying “through you we see how God is made present.”  He called Blessed Zélie and Louis “a reference, and an example to imitate, who lived in constant attention to God and attentive to his signs and preferences.”

What does the closing of the diocesan process mean for the cause of the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin?

It is an important advance toward sainthood for Louis and Zélie.  Father Sangalli explained that the court constituted in Valencia to guide the process in its diocesan phase “does not pronounce, does not announce a position on the authenticity of the miracle,  but on the seriousness of the collected documentation.”  The final decision to name saints is always made in Rome.

That the court closes the diocesan inquiry and sends the cause to the Vatican to continue its investigation is a “significant advance for the process,” as Father Sangalli noted.  He reminded us that, if the diocesan court of canonization does not find enough indications of authenticity or rigor in investigating a presumed miracle, the court has authority to stop the process.

What happens next?

Now that the diocese of Valencia collected documents, examined witnesses, and completed its inquiry, Father Sangalli, as vice-postulator, is charged with taking the documentation immediately to Rome to submit it to the judgment of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.  There it is to be examined first by doctors, then by theologians, and finally by bishops and cardinals.  If the Congregation recommends to Pope Francis that Zélie and Louis should be named saints, the way will be open for their canonization.

The influence of Louis and Zélie

Mgr Lagoutte, the rector of the Basilica at Lisieux, told those present at the closing session that Blessed Louis Martin and Zélie Guerin continue to be “very active.”  The Shrine at Lisieux receives testimonies from “spouses from all over the world” who had been unable to have children but have have succeeded “thanks to their intervention.”

The pastoral significance of Zélie and Louis

Father Sangalli remarked that the Martins had "an exceptional marriage.  They educated not only the most famous of their five children, Thérèse, but also the other four,  particularly Léonie, a complicated daughter, who had problems.”  

“We have just concluded the investigation of Carmen´s cure and have sent it to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in Rome.  We hope that the Blessed French spouses follow their daughter, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, so that these Blessed parents can, if God permits,  be canonized by Peter´s successor, Pope Francis .  In this Year of The Faith, the Christian testimony of this marriage:  educator, teacher of faith and sanctity, presents issues that are clearly relevant for the whole Church

Bishop Boulanger of Lisieux pointed out that “The Lord has given us these spouses to accompany today’s families.”  The Discalced Carmelite nuns of Serra noted that “the Martin marriage is essential in a society as individualistic as our contemporary society.  The Martins were the example of union and of how to live spirituality as a family.”

Father Sangalli urged everyone to “repeat with force that the Martins are a special marriage, an example to our families today.  They are teachers in the field of faith, of education to domestic, ecclesial, and social sanctity.”

Sources:

1. "Ocho médicos testifican en la curación “inexplicable” de una niña valenciana de 4 años que investiga la Iglesia como presunto milagro"atelperiodic.com, 21/05/13.
2. "Sangalli: ´Los Martín son especiales'" by M. Ros, Valencia for Levante: El Mercantile Valenciano 26.05.2013 | 01:36
3. "Historia de un milagro," by Mónica Ros, Valencia, for Levante: El Mercantile Valenciano 26.05.2013 | 01:36
4. Ocho médicos testifican, “asombrados”, por un posible milagro en la curación inexplicable de una niña valencianaAtribuido a la intercesión de los padres de santa Teresita de Lisieux, ya beatificados by Eduardo Martinez 23-05-13 for Paraula

I am deeply grateful to my fellow apostle, Teodolinda Garcia of Panama, for translating the Spanish sources.  I thank elperiodic.com for permission to display the photos.

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