"The World of Saint Therese and Her Family," a photo show

In honor of the pilgrimage of the relics of St. Therese and of her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, and if the visit of Pope Francis o Ireland in connection with the World Meeting of Families, I have created a photo gallery, "The World of Saint Therese and Her Family," to offer you a visual experience of the concrete reality of their lives on earth, during which they became holy. It contains more than 350 photos, many, from my visit to France in May, never published before.  Arranged in chronological order, these images illustrate the story of their lives from the birth of St. Louis in 1823 until the canonization of the Martin spouses in 2015.  I thank the Shrine at Alencon and the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.  If you enjoy it, please help me spread the word. Thank you.  The above shows highlights of the first part of the photo gallery.  To see the gallery, click the photo below:

Novena of gifts for the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux - Day Five - Schedule and Films of the Celebrations of the Feast of St. Therese at Lisieux

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. Thérèse of 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

Novena of gifts for the feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux - day three - Exhibit of photographs of Lisieux at the time of Therese

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.

7 rue Labbey, last home of Blessed Louis Martin, the father of St. Therese of Lisieux

On the vigil of the feast of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, a commemorative plaque was dedicated to mark the house at 7 rue Labbey, Lisieux, where Louis lived after he left the Bon Sauveur hospital in Caen in May 1892.  Susan Ehlert and the house's present owners, Mme. Anne-Marie Hervieu and M. Jacques Hervieu, graciously made available photos of the house and plaque and a film of the ceremony, including a view of the garden where Louis spent so much time.  Click here for a virtual visit to rue Labbey.

"Pilgrimage to the Beatification of Blessed Zelie and Louis Martin: Alencon and Lisieux, 2008" - a film by Susan Ehlert

With thanks to Susan Ehlert, I am happy to present her seven-minute photo show of the events of the week of the beatification of Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese in October 2008.  Join us as we tour the places Louis and Zelie knew in Alencon.  Glimpse the historic exhibit of the belongings of the Martin family at St. Jacques Church in Lisieux.  See the renovated Carmelite monastery and the souvenirs of St. Therese.  Watch the events of Beatification Sunday.  Visit the garden of the house in Rue Labbey, Lisieux, where Blessed Louis lived for the last two years of his life.  Scroll down a little on the page to find the photo show.