On October 15, 2023, Pope Francis issued "C'est la confiance," his Apostolic Exhortation for the Jubilee Year of St. Therese of Lisieux.  He remarks:

Saint Therese is one of the best known and most beloved saints in our world. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, she is loved by non-Christians and nonbelievers as well. In addition, she has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the most significant figures for contemporary humanity. [3] We would do well to delve more deeply into her message as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of her birth in Alençon (2 January 1873) and the centenary of her beatification. [4] Yet I have not chosen to issue this Exhortation on either of those dates, or on her liturgical Memorial, so that this message may transcend those celebrations and be taken up as part of the spiritual treasury of the Church. Its publication on the liturgical Memorial of Saint Teresa of Avila is a way of presenting Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face as the mature fruit of the reform of the Carmel and of the spirituality of the great Spanish saint.

Read the whole text at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231015-santateresa-delbambinogesu.html

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.

I will have the honor of speaking on "A Map of the Way of Confidence and Love of St. Therese of Lisieux" in the chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and the Shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel at 18th Street and the Parkway in Philadelphia on Sunday, October 1 at 5:30 p.m.  Questions and answers will follow.  Everyone is welcome to come, and, if you wish, to remain for the Sunday evening Mass in the Basilica at 6:30 p.m.  Please pray that the event draws souls to God.  Thank you.

See the event on the Basilica's Web site at https://cathedralphila.org/memorial-of-saint-therese/

icon of St. Therese of Lisieux by Joan Cole, available at Trinity Icon Stores

 Shrine of Sainte-Thérèse of Lisieux  

In 1898, the publication of Histoire d'une âme made the young nun from Lisieux, who had died a year earlier, better known. Thanks to this publication in French, and then very quickly in many other languages, the message of Thérèse of Lisieux went out to conquer the world. At the same time, pilgrims flocked to the Lisieux cemetery, and the small size of the Carmelite chapel required the construction of another building.

The idea gained ground, and, in 1925, at the time of the canonization of Saint Thérèse, the project of a basilica was born. The architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier was chosen in 1927; the structural work lasted from 1929 to 1939, mobilizing 400 workers and engineers all week long on the hill overlooking Lisieux. In 1937, the Basilica was blessed by the legate of Pope Pius XI, Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII.

After the 1944 bombings, which spared the newly built Basilica, work began again. The Basilica was consecrated in 1954.

Pilgrimage in the footsteps of the saints of Lisieux

From 1897 to the present day, pilgrims and visitors from all over the world have flocked to Lisieux to follow in the footsteps of Thérèse of Lisieux, who had come to join them in their lives and in their daily concerns. They visit in turn the Basilica, the Carmelite monastery, the "Buissonnets" (the family home of Saint Thérèse), and the Cathedral of St. Pierre.

The image of Saint Thérèse, present on the five continents in the most remote chapels as well as in the greatest cathedrals, allows us to make a diversion to the Basilica of Lisieux, erected in the “pays d’Auge” in her honour in the 20th century, where there is a significant reliquary. The recumbent statue, of Thérèse, otherwise known as a shrine, can be seen in the chapel of the Carmel in the city center, where Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face spent the nine years of her religious life. Finally, the walk to the Buissonnets house, inhabited by Louis Martin and his five daughters in November 1877 after the death of his wife, allows us to measure the youth of Thérèse from the age of 4 to 15.

Since 19 October 2008, the Basilica of Lisieux has contained the shrine with the bodies of Louis and Zélie Martin, declared saints by Pope Francis on 18 October 2015. This recognition thus offers Lisieux the presence of three saints from the same family.

Today, the various places of the Shrine of Lisieux receive more than one million people a year. The reputation of the Shrine of Lisieux places it second only to Lourdes as a shrine in France.

Visitors come from all five continents: America (United States, Brazil, Canada, etc.); Europe (Italy, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Spain, etc.); Asia (the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, India, etc.); Africa (the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, etc.); and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand).

[To learn more about the work of the Shrine at Lisieux, visit its English Web site at https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr/en/]

This article is excerpted from a press release published on the Web site of the Shrine at Lisieux (https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr).  I reproduce it here with fervent thanks to the Shrine at Lisieux, the Shrine at Alencon, UNESCO, and all their partners in celebrating this worldwide honor done to Therese].  Look for more information about the universal significance of this award in the days to come.

"St. Therese on Air" icon by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS. Available from Trinity Stores.

A nature lover and sustainable development activist

taken up by Pope Francis

The contemplation of nature made Thérèse of Lisieux aware of the depth of the human person. It encourages humanity to care for creation, the development of which also serves the good of humanity.

From her earliest years, Thérèse of Lisieux's relationship with nature, through the elements, such as the sun, animals, flowers, the sea, the countryside, trees, and the earth, gives root to her universal message of love and reconciliation. She places it in a global economy, an ecology at the service of humanity, a society that takes into account the integral human. The education Thérèse of Lisieux received from her parents, in the family, opened her to these principles of life. 

The question of sustainable development refers in the Bible to the Book of Genesis, to the question of Creation, and opens the way to the integral ecology of which Pope Francis speaks in his second encyclical entitled "Laudato si'" ("Praise be to you"). It invites men and women of good will to take care of our earth, our common home, and ultimately to correspond to God's plan in his work of creation that he continues to instill day by day throughout the worl

Taking care of the common home also means taking care of the people we are (or are not) in a relationship with. A common house is made for the meeting of those who live in it.

 In "Laudato si,” Pope Francis draws on the example of "Thérèse of Lisieux"(n. 230 , editor's note) and, in substance, says that integral ecology begins here and now, precisely with a smile, a benevolent attention, an outstretched hand, which bring men and women of good will into contact with one another and awaken in them the desire for a common house where it is good to live, respecting the traditions and cultures of those who inhabit it.

This is the missionary desire of Thérèse of Lisieux, expressed here, to go out to meet the world in order to share with as many people as possible what makes her live and to desire to continue to "do good on earth.”

This article is excerpted from a press release published on the Web site of the Shrine at Lisieux (https://www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr).   I reproduce it here with fervent thanks to the Shrine at Lisieux, the Shrine at Alencon, UNESCO, and all their partners in celebrating this worldwide honor done to Therese].  Look for more information about the universal significance of this award in the days to come.