"Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin: The Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux A Step Closer to Canonization," by Maureen O'Riordan. Carmelite Review, Summer/Fall 2013 Issue, p. 12

The Carmelite nuns of Valencia, who suggested that Carmen's parents, family and friends join them in praying a novena to Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin for the child's cure, greet Mgr Carlos Osoro Serra, Archbishop of Valencia, at the closing of the diocesan inquiry into the "presumed miracle" on May 21, 2013.  Photo credit: elperiodic.com

 I am happy to announce that Carmelite Review has published my short article about the closing of the diocesan process in Valencia, Spain in May 2013 that examined the healing of the little Carmen, a "presumed miracle" attributed to the intercession of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin.  Carmen was born on October 15, 2008, so she will celebrate her fifth birthday next Tuesday.  To my knowledge, Carmelite Review is the first print publication to feature a story in English about Carmen's cure.  Please read

"Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin: The Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux A Step Closer to Sainthood." 

The documentary "Saint Therese of Lisieux: Running Like A Giant" with English subtitles

"Saint Therese of Lisieux:
Running Like A Giant."

In this 35-minute documentary, Fabrice Maze recounts the 24 years of the earthly life and the extraordinary posthumous life of St. Therese of Lisieux.  We share in the footsteps of her family, the places of her childhood and adolescence, as well as in the daily milestones of her religious life.  This is an excellent introduction to St. Therese and a splendid resource for groups whose sessions don't allow the 90-minute documentary mentioned below.  The film is a good background for reading Therese's memoir, Story of a Soul.  In French with subtitles in English and other languages.

The same DVD also contains a second film, The Basilica of Saint Therese of Lisieux, in which we discover the biggest religious building constructed in France in the 20th century, a symbol of the worldwide radiance of Therese.  A bonus DVD includes videos about the making of the two films above.

You may order this film online from Seven Doc, a company in France which produces splendid documentaries about spirituality and other topics.  I own one and have had no trouble playing it in the United States. I recommend it highly.

 For more information or to order, click on the image above or click here.  See the one-minute and 44-second trailer below. 

Sainte Thérese de Lisieux by Sevendoc

The same DVD also contains a second film, The Basilica of Saint Therese of Lisieux, in which we discover the biggest religious building constructed in France in the 20th century, a symbol of the worldwide radiance of Therese.  A bonus DVD includes videos about the making of the two films above.

The religious profession of St. Therese of Lisieux, September 8, 1890

 Seotember 8, 1890, the feast of the Birth of Mary, was the date set for St. Therese's religious profession.  At that time nuns did not make temporary vows, so one's novitiate ended with the one set of permanent vows.  According to the custom of Carmel, professions were usually made on a feast day of Mary, the patron of the Carmelite Order.

On every September 8, the Carmelites of Lisieux had the custom of  exposing on the altar of the choir a small wax statuette representing  the newborn Mary so that the nuns could venerate it there.  The statue  was called "La Bambina." Please click here to see the statue and here to see a close-up of the face of the statue. Have you ever seen another statue representing the infant Mary? 

We may imagine Therese and her sisters venerating this statue on  Therese's Profession day and on the feast of the Nativity of Mary every  year.

For Therese's dispositions in the days leading up to her Profession, please see the letters St. Therese wrote during her retreat for Profession, starting here.

On the morning of September 8, 1890, after Mass, the community escorted Therese, in procession, to the chapter room on the second floor, where the ceremony of professing vows was always held. This ceremony was a private one for Therese's Carmelite family. Click here to see a photograph of the chapter room decorated for a Profession.  The young nun prostrated herself on the carpet for part of the ceremony.  Over her heart Therese wore her "profession note," a little letter to Jesus expressing her desires.  Please see both the English typescript and the handwritten note in French.  During the ceremony the prioress placed on her head this crown of white roses:

This particular crown of roses had been worn by Mother Genevieve, a foundress of the Lisieux Carmel, for her jubilee, and Therese's sisters Pauline, Mother Agnes of Jesus, and Marie, Sister Mare of the Sacred Heart, also wore it for their professions.  A few days before Therese's profession it was entrusted to Celine, who brought it to her father  at the Bon Saveur hospital so that he might bless it. 

During the ceremony Therese received her Profession crucifix from the prioress:

From Therese's own writings we know that she was "obliged" to ask for her father's cure that day, but would only pray "My God, I beg You, let it be Your will that Papa be cured."  Much bolder was her prayer for Leonie:  "Let Leonie become a Visitation nun, and, if she has no vocation, I beseech You to give her one; You cannot refuse me that." For how Therese remembered her profession later, see both the English typescript and the French handwritten manuscript of Therese's description of her Profession in her memoir, Story of a Soul.

For the two photos displayed here, I thank Adele Giambrone.  For the linked photos, I thank the the Web site of the archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.  For the text, I thank the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, who own the English text, and the Web site of the archives of the Carmel of Lisieux, which dislays it online.

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The launch of the new Web site "Léonie Martin, Disciple and Sister of St. Thérèse of Lisieux"

I am happy to announce the launch of my new Web site "Léonie Martin: Disciple and Sister of St. Thérèse of Lisieux." During her earthly life and for many years after her death, Léonie lived on the margin and in the shadows.  Now Mgr Boulanger, the bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, has granted the imprimatur for the prayer that she might be declared venerable; Father Sangalli, the vice-postulator for the cause of her parents, declared publicly that he hopes her cause for beatification and canonization can be opened soon, as so many letters request.  More than seventy years after her death, Léonie is emerging into the light.  Without destroying the hiddenness that was so much a part of her spirituality, and while still looking at her in the context of her relationships, I want to examine Léonie in her own right.  I believe that, the more we study her, the more she will teach us about her pilgrimage on the way of confidence and love.

This new Web site contains all the information about Léonie that was on "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway."  You can still access it from the link at left.  It also has two jewels, never in English before, that are unique to it:

• My English translation of the new illustrated booklet "The Life of Léonie Martin," prepared in 2012 by Léonie's sisters at the Monastery of the Visitation of Caen.  Copies of this booklet are offered to the pilgrims who come to pray at Leonie's tomb.  Now this online copy offers English-speaking pilgrims the chance to make a "virtual pilgrimage" to Léonie's monastery and to her tomb.  Please join me in thanking the present-day nuns of Léonie's community, who have been kindness itself to me, for their generous permission to translate and share this doorway to Léonie's world with her English-speaking disciples.  May God bless them for it.

• With the very generous permission of Famille Chretienne, my Engish translation of the contemporary article "The hidden life of Léonie Martin, the rebel sister of St. Thérèse emerges from oblivion," which appeared in the June 8, 2013 issue.  I thank Anne Slater for her help in translating this groundbreaking article, and I recommend it highly to those who want to learnabout the rise of devotion to Léonie, the present state of her cause, and her influence on the lives of those who have received graces through her intercession.

To visit "Léonie Martin: Disciple and Sister of St. Thérèse of Lisieux" directly, please visit http://leoniemartin.org  This is the first "daughter site" of  "Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: A Gateway."  Please God, it will not be the last.

Please join me in thanking my friend and benefactor Juan Marrero, a good friend and fervent devotee of Léonie, Thérèse, and Louis and Zélie, whose generous gift made Léonie's Web site possible.  Please remember him gratefully in your prayers.

Panoramic views of the sites of St. Therese at Alencon and Lisieux and spend a "virtual summer vacation" with St. Thérèse at Saint Ouen-le-Pin

  Please visit the site "la petite Thérèse" to see its latest and most beautiful offering: a panoramic view of Alencon and Lisieux and of the sites associated with Therese in each.  This opportunity to see the sites associated with Thérèse as they appear in the surrounding landscape is not to be missed.  See Les Buissonnets, St. Pierre's Cathedral, the Lisieux Carmel, and the basilica in Lisieux; see Therese's birthplace in Alencon and the village of Semallè, where she was nursed.

This panoramic visit is the work of those who have created a beautiful "virtual museum" out of the house at Saint-Ouen-le-Pin where Thérèse spent several summer vacations.  Their work is exquisite; I cannot presume to praise it.  A webcam allows you to visit the house and garden 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  See more about this pilgrimage site and about Therese's time at Saint-Ouen-le-Pin.   What a beautiful way to create a pilgrimage site!  How wonderful it would be if other places Therese visited could be similarly made available.