"Supper with the Martin Family" - Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - Center for Carmelite Studies - Catholic University of America

On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., I will have the honor of speaking on Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, St. Therese's parents, and on the Martin family for the Center for Carmelite Studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. This is part of a series of events the Center is sponsoring in honor of the 150th jubilee of St. Therese's birth and her recognition by UNESCO. Everyone is welcome.

The event will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SIbdaFH2Os

Supper begins at 5:45 p.m. This same information is available on the University's Web site at https://cua.campuslabs.com/engage/event/9362223

For the feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, July 12, 2023: their relics and those of St. Therese to visit the United States in September and October

A blessed feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin! This year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of their daughter, St. Therese of Lisieux, and of the 200th anniversary of St. Louis Martin’s birth, which we celebrate on August 22, 2023, the relics of Sts. Louis and Zelie will visit the United States for the first time, together with the relics of St. Therese, which visited this country once before, in 1999.

The relics will come first to the National Shrine of St. Therese in Darien, Illinois from September 17, 2023 through October 1, 2023 (the feast of St. Therese). They will be available for public veneration. For the details of this visit, cut and paste this URL into your window:

https://www.littleflower.org/learn-about/special-events/2023-st-therese-relics-visit/

Next the relics will go to the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, from October 3, 2023 through October 15, 2023. From the pastor of St. Therese Parish in Deephaven, Minnesota, I received a schedule for this visit; click on it at https://mcusercontent.com/9b4aea9f9a9fdb3d1e0055f56/files/d937def6-2ddc-a723-9d30-43ce569f5ee3/ST_Therese_Relics_v5.pdf

I hope many of you will be able to pray in person in the presence of the relics of the Martin family.

interview with Fr. Antonio Sangalli, vice-postulator for Louis and Zelie Martin, in 2015

In the meantime, to celebrate the feast, please watch this short conversation in English with Fr. Antonio Sangalli, who was interviewed in 2015 before the canonization of Sts. Louis and Zelie. He says Louis and Zelie lived simply, but were generous to the poor; that, in the face of many tragedies, they continued to trust in God; and that they specialize in helping persons find a boyfriend or a girlfriend; helping couples have children; and helping spouses love each other more every day. May they bless you and your family on their feast day.

"In the footsteps of St. Therese in Alencon," a video novena in English to prepare for the centenary of St. Therese's beatification on April 29, 2023

I’m delighted to announce that, to celebrate the centenary of the beatification of St. Therese on April 29, the Shrine at Alencon is offering a novena in English (presented by video). I post below the invitation the Shrine sent me. Note that the videos will be made available day by day. You may also send electronically your petitions or your thanksgiving to be placed in little Therese’s cradle, and may request that a candle be lit near her relics in Alencon. (For the lighting of a candle, an online donation is requested; pull down the arrow for a partly English instruction).

Novena - In the footsteps of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
From April 21 to 29

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the beatification of St. Therese on April 29, we invite the English-speaking friends of the Shrine of Alençon to join in a novena of prayer in English.

From April 21 to 29, prepare for this anniversary with this novena "In the footsteps of Little Therese in Alençon."

Each day, find a video on the shrine's YouTube channel with a prayer intention, a bit of history, a prayer, and an action to take during the day.

Do not hesitate to accompany your prayer by placing an intention in Therese's cradle and a candle next to her relics at the Alençon Shrine by clicking here.

Do not hesitate to share this novena with those around you!

For the shrine's YouTube channel, click here

To accompany your prayer by placing an intention in Therese's cradle and a candle next to her relics at the Alençon, click here.

The Shrine's Facebook page 

Follow the Shrine on Twitter

The Shrine’s Instagram feed  

 Pray with the Shrine on Youtube

Sanctuaire Louis et Zélie d'Alençon, 50 rue Saint Blaise 61000 Alençon
02 33 26 09 87 - sanctuaire@louisetzelie.com - www.louisetzelie.com

"Death of a mama," St. Zelie Martin's death, August 28, 1877

St. Zelie Martin’s original tombstone, from her first grave in the cemetery of Notre Dame Church in Alencon.

Please click to read the article “Death of a mama,” which appeared in Thérèse de Lisieux – n ° 829 – January 2003. Our thanks to the Shrine at Lisieux for permission to translate it and publish it in English.

Happy feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, July 12, 2021

Composite photograph of Zelie and Louis Martin

This is to wish all our readers many blessings on the feast of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin! May they come to the aid of all the persons and families who have suffered this year as a result of sickness, death, war, natural disasters, and other trials.

For a feast-day treat, I invite you to visit my slide show “The World of Saint Therese and Her Family,” founded on much research and including more than 350 photos, some never before published. Through this photo show you can walk through the lives of Louis and Zelie and of Therese.

Note: The slide show is most effective in fullscreen. If you have a projector, you are welcome to project the slide show from this Web site for groups and to add any commentary you may wish to make while displaying the photos. This is a superb visual introduction to the life of the Martin family. Permission is not given to copy the images, but I’m delighted to see them projected from the site. Please remember in your prayers the generous photographers and others, both French and American, who helped me to obtain these images during my visits to France. Thank you.