"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:

A digital pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Martin family in Alencon - June 15, 2016

This beautiful virtual pilgrimage to Alencon (54:18) filmed by Mario Calcagno has beautiful music, unusually good camera work, and superb interviews and narration.  The audio is in French, but, even if you do not understand French, you can see places related to Saints Louis and Zelie and Saint Therese that do not often appear in online films.  For example:

• At 36:49 the church of St. Pierre de Monsort, Louis and Zelie's parish church  1858-1871.  The building in which they worshipped has been replaced by a new church, which contains the baptismal font at which all the Martin children except Therese were baptized.
• At 42:08, the Pavilion, the small walled garden Louis Martin purchased on the outskirts of Alencon.  He kept his fishing tackle there and went there to meditate and pray; his daughters cultivated little gardens and pick picked strawberries..
• At 46:14 Louis and Zelie's first home on Rue Pont-Neuf, where the first eight children were born
• At 47:18 the building where the Sisters of Providence conducted a school for the makers of Point d'Alencon lace.  Zelie and her future mother-in-law attended classes there.

If you have already visited Alencon, this film will recall the memories.  If you have not, all the more reason to view the film.  

A novena of gifts for the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux - Day Two

Susan Ehlert's four-minute photo show "A Pilgrimage Visit to St. Therese's birthplace, Alencon"

You will see many photos of Therese's birth house, 36 Rue Saint Blaise, Alencon, as it appeared before the restoration of 2008, and of the garden.

"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.