An Encounter with St. Thérèse of Lisieux
and her parents, Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin 

Pray in the presence of their relics on Sunday, July 6, 2014
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

“The Eucharist as Source and Summit
of the Life of the Martin Family"

- a conference by Maureen O’Riordan at 1:00 p.m.

Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 3:30 p.m.

Carmelite Monastery                                Bookstore Open
1400 66th Avenue                                     10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
(66th Avenue and Broad Street)               Spiritual books, 
Philadelphia, Pa.                                     children's books, DVDs,
Free parking in monastery lot                  and religious articles.
on 66th Avenue                                        Cash and checks only

Chapel is handicapped-accessible.

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Learn more about Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin at the Web site "Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin."

119 years ago today, St. Therese of Lisieux spontaneously offered herself to Merciful Love on Trinity Sunday, June 9, 1895.  I've prepared an anniversary gift for you.  Please help me by unwrapping it: click where I indicate to see several documents and photographs related to the Offering on the Web site of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux.  Please bear with these paragraphs of unrelieved text, for the links are a doorway to beautiful images and words related to the Act.  These are but a taste of the treasures the Archives site is sharing with the world.

At the end of 1895, Therese wrote in her first autobiographical manuscript about the inspiration she had received to offer herself to Merciful Love. Thanks to the kindness of the Washington Province of Carmelite Friars and the Archives of the Carmel, you may see a photo of the handwritten manuscript and also read in English her description of how, on  the morning of June 9,1895, "I received the grace to understand more than ever how much Jesus desires to be loved."  She received this grace in the choir.  Within the next two days she wrote the Offering out; see the manuscript and the English text of her "Offering of myself as a Victim of Holocaust to the Merciful Love of God."   This prayer has often been called the "Act of Oblation," but, as you will see, that title is not from Therese; she wrote only "Offering of myself."  For all its solemnity, her written Offering retains its spontaneity; she did not write in formal terms like "Act of Oblation."  "We have nothing to fear from this Offering," she often declared happily.

To see Therese's appearance at about this time, see the photo of the Carmelites of Lisieux taken closest to this date; Therese is in the second row, second from left. 

The text of the Offering appears in Story of a Soul.  For a fuller understanding of the Offering and its significance in Therese's life and spirituality, I highly recommend the marvelous little book The Prayers of Saint Therese of Lisieux (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996), which contains the text of the several copies and adds rich commentary.  I recommend it especially if you are thinking of offering yourself to Merciful Love with Therese and want to understand the offering better.  To "search inside" or for more information, please click on the text link or the image above.  The book also contains twenty other prayers written by Therese, and it brings her to life in a unique way.

To read more reflections on the offering right now, see my page "Offering of Myself to Merciful Love, June 9, 1895."  Blessings on the anniversary of this great day of grace.

"Lisieux basilica". Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Immediately after the liberation of Lisieux on August 24, 1944, two Canadian newspapermen interviewed the Carmelites and other townspeople and cabled the story to Canada.  Substantial excerpts from both stories about the "miracle of Lisieux" appeared in the Southern Cross, the newspaper of the diocese of Savannah, Georgia, on September 30, 1944. [Note: unfortunately, the archives of the Southern Cross have disappeared from the Web].

 "[On the night of June 8, 1944] [f]lames roared and crackled over blocks of the town, creeping nearer and nearer to the convent.  At the edge of the convent, perilously close to St. Therese's own chapel, the fire mysteriously slackened, then died out completely.  The townsfolk observed this, and today they are convinced that St. Therese herself intervened .  . . .

Devout brown-clad nuns of the Carmelite Order, to which Saint Therese belonged, today told me they believed the Saint had also intervened to spare the Basilica which bears her name. . . . I talked to Sister Anne of Jesus, aged 65 . . . to my surprise, I discovered the stooped, pale little nun was a Canadian, formerly Anne Goyer of Montreal . . . .

Tomorrow, a silent brown-garbed procession will walk quietly through the ruins of Lisieux, and the Carmelite nuns will once more step into silence and invisibility, which most will never leave again.

               Richard Sanburn, writing from Lisieux for the Ottawa Citizen

I found the nuns eating a simple meal on benches in one of the little side chapels, the chapel of the Virgin of the Smile.  In this and other side chapels of the crypt they have slept while men, women, and children have also been living and sleeping in close proximity, very different from the seclusion these women have known for years.  There were mattresses even on the flagged floor on each side of the altar.

                              Frederick Griffin, writing from Lisieux for the Toronto Star

To mark the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, please see films and photos of Lisieux in the summer of 1944. 

Film of the liberation of Lisieux on August 23, 1944.  Note the sign "Saint-Desir," the quarter in which the Benedictine Abbey where Therese studied had been located.  The Abbey and the church where Therese made her First Communion were destroyed that night.  You will also see a sign pointing the wya to the Carmel.  Above the hill on the outside of the town you'll see the Basilica still standing. 

 Below are many images and films to see on their home sites if you make the effort to click the links:

Click for a still photo of St. Jacques Church, substantially destroyed.  It has since been rebuilt but is no longer a church but a municipal exhibit hall.

At this link http://www.jpaventure.com/  click on “Lisieux 1944” for many photos of Lisieux before and after the bombing,  including some of the Benedictine Abbey, St. Desir Church where St. Therese received her First Communion, Les Buissonnets, St. Jacques Church, St. Pierre Cathedral, and other sites.

 At http://www.leveildelisieux.fr/2013/08/23/lisieux-meconnaissable/ see the photo of three nuns standing in front of Les Buissonnets showing a bomb that fell in the garden but never exploded.

A paragraph describing the battle of Lisieux on August 23, 1944, which led to its liberation.  With thanks to www.normandie44lamemoire.com

At http://www.criticalpast.com/products/location_history/Lisieux_France/1940/1944 are two short films with footage of Lisieux in 1944:

• The first, filmed on August 23, 1944, is: "British soldiers fight the Nazis in Lisieux and General Charles De Gaulle visits Chartres en route to Paris liberation," one minute long.  
• The second, "The bomb damaged town of Lisieux, France during World War II," also one minute long, shows the rescue operation.