Little Carmen with her parents and Mgr Jacques Habert, bishop of Seez, in Valencia, Spain in May 2013. Courtesy of the Shrine at Alencon.

Please read my English translation of the press release from the Shrines of Alencon and Lisieux reporting that Pope Francis has approved the healing of little Carmen as the miracle necessary for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin. This communique, issued March 18, 2015, contains information about Carmen's healing never published before.

Eight doctors testify to the “astonishing recovery, without any medical explanation,” of a little girl, born prematurely in Spain, who is now four years old.

by Maureen O'Riordan for "Saint Therese of Lisieux: A Gateway"

 On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Mgr Carlos Osoro Serra, Archbishop of Valencia, presided at the closing session of the diocesan tribunal which had investigated the “presumed miracle” of the healing of a baby girl, known as Carmen, who was born prematurely on October 15, 2008.  Her cure was attributed to the intercession of Blessed Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. 

The closing session took place in the Gothic hall of the Archbishop’s palace.  Two French bishops traveled to Spain for the ceremony.  Mgr Jacques Habert, bishop of Séez, was present: Alençon, where Louis and Zélie spent their married life, is in the diocese of Séez.   Father Thierry Hénault-Morel, rector of the Basilica of Notre Dame in Alençon, where Zélie and Louis were married and where their daughter Thérèse was baptized, joined Bishop Habert.

Mgr. Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, also traveled to Valencia for the ceremony.  After Zélie died in 1877, Louis moved to Lisieux, in the diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux, and lived there until he died in 1894.  Bishop Boulanger was joined by Mgr Bernard Lagoutte, rector of the Basilica in Lisieux built in honor of Louis and Zélie’s famous daughter, St. Thérèse.  It was in this Basilica that, after the Church had accepted the healing of a newborn baby in Italy, Pietro Schilirò, as a miracle worked at their intercession, Louis and Zélie were beatified on October 19, 2008.

Story of the miracle

The little Carmen, whose family prefers to remain anonymous, was born at "October 9 Hospital" in Valencia on October 15, 2008, four days before Louis and Zélie were declared blessed.  Father Antonio Sangalli, O.C.D., an Italian Carmelite friar who is vice-postulator of the cause of Louis and Zélie, later remarked:  "Apparently,  nothing seems to connect the two events, but later faith allowed us to discover the mysterious ties  that  point to a “miracle."  Born after only six months of pregnancy, Carmen had many life-threatening health problems.

Father Sangalli told the tribunal on Monday that the child “suffered multiple pathologies, among them, a double septicemia and an intraventricular cerebral Grade IV hemorrhage, the most severe.” The doctors could do nothing for her, and her parents were told to prepare for the worst.  Her father and mother, “seeing the danger of death, immediately turned to God, and, thanks to the nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Serra, the parents, family, and friends started a novena to the blessed Martin spouses,” continued Father Sangalli.  The Carmelites gave the child’s parents a prayer card with images of Zélie and Louis and a prayer for their canonization, and the nuns joined Carmen’s family and their friends in a sustained prayer for her healing.  Father Sangalli explains:

“This is how it started: a real and intense communion of prayer of the family, of friends, of the monastery of Serra, of all those concerned for little Carmen, who was fighting against a sure death.”  As soon as the novena began, the baby began to get better, culminating in her “astonishing recovery, without any medical explanation.” 

The vice-postulator investigates the "presumed miracle"

Father Sangalli learned of the presumed miracle through one of his Carmelite brothers.  He relates: "January 17, 2009  I was returning to France after a stay in Rome to deliver a reliquary to Benedict XVI.  It was at this time that I met Father José Castellá, rector of the Sanctuary of Saint Therese [in Lleida, about three hours from Valencia], who spoke to me about a presumed miracle.  Then I talked to the child's father and her  grandparents, who were there with Ismael, Carmen's brother.  They had come from Valencia, a round trip of 650 kilometers, to thank Louis and Zélie for saving Carmen from a sure death.   And, immediately I had the sensation of being in front of a truly unusual event that deserved a deeper investigation.  I  contacted the person in charge of the cause of canonization of the Blessed Martins and he asked me to  undertake all that was necessary to verify the presumed cure."

Later that same year, from November 6 to November 11, 2009, Father Sangalli visited Valencia for the first time.  He wanted to begin a preliminary study of the case and to establish a definitive diagnosis about Carmen's presumed cure.  Carmen's family "always collaborated, and all they sought was to thank God for Carmen´s cure."  A year later (November 8 to 12, 2010) Father Sangalli visited Valencia again.  He noted “Carmen´s new and surprising progress."  Still, to get a precise scientific picture, Carmen's family traveled to Italy from  July 6 to 13, 2011. "The child underwent a series of scientific tests and had no consequences from the cerebral hemorrhage that she had suffered," Father Sangalli explained.  In September 2012 Father Sangalli got in touch with Archbishop  Osoro about the healing that had taken place in his diocese.  On  December 8, 2012, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he asked Archbishop Osoro to open the diocesan phase of the process to inquire into the miracle.

The diocesan process opens

On January 7, 2013, Archbishop Osoro presided at the opening of the canonical process to investigate whether Carmen’s recovery was a miracle obtained through the intercession of the Martin spouses.  Father Sangalli stated that during the sessions “eighteen testimonies have been heard: Carmen´s parents and grandparents, her teacher, a priest, four Carmelite nuns of Serra, and eight doctors.”

Every one of the eight doctors from Valencia testified before the tribunal that Carmen’s recovery is “scientifically inexplicable.”  Six of them had witnessed her healing at the time; two were appointed later by the tribunal that has investigated the miracle.  The supervising judge of the tribunal, Monsignor Ennio Apeciti, said that all eight doctors “joined in agreeing that, due to her severe health problems, the little girl should [medically speaking] have died.  All the physicians were astonished that Carmen survived.  They also believed that, due to her condition, she should have suffered significant physical and psychological consequences forever.”  They were astounded at Carmen’s “sudden, complete and lasting” cure.  Monsignor Apeciti added that she is “completely healthy” today.  Read more about Carmen's story.

The diocesan process closes

Little Carmen was present at the closing session on May 21 with her parents and other family members.  The Carmelite nuns of Serra also participated.

Watch a video (1:55) of the closing session.  You see the little Carmen waving at the photograph of Louis and Zélie and four of the Carmelite nuns who suggested the novena to Carmen’s parents and prayed it with them.

At the closing session Archbishop Osoro gave “thanks to the Lord for this fact  that we want to present to the Holy Father as a miracle worked for Carmen.”  He called the way Carmen’s parents have acted “a precious gesture,” “because you believed in the intercession of the Blessed and, through their hands, you put your daughter into the hands of God.”

  Archbishop Osoro acknowledged the conduct of the community of the Carmelite nuns of Serra during the whole process, saying “through you we see how God is made present.”  He called Blessed Zélie and Louis “a reference, and an example to imitate, who lived in constant attention to God and attentive to his signs and preferences.”

What does the closing of the diocesan process mean for the cause of the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin?

It is an important advance toward sainthood for Louis and Zélie.  Father Sangalli explained that the court constituted in Valencia to guide the process in its diocesan phase “does not pronounce, does not announce a position on the authenticity of the miracle,  but on the seriousness of the collected documentation.”  The final decision to name saints is always made in Rome.

That the court closes the diocesan inquiry and sends the cause to the Vatican to continue its investigation is a “significant advance for the process,” as Father Sangalli noted.  He reminded us that, if the diocesan court of canonization does not find enough indications of authenticity or rigor in investigating a presumed miracle, the court has authority to stop the process.

What happens next?

Now that the diocese of Valencia collected documents, examined witnesses, and completed its inquiry, Father Sangalli, as vice-postulator, is charged with taking the documentation immediately to Rome to submit it to the judgment of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.  There it is to be examined first by doctors, then by theologians, and finally by bishops and cardinals.  If the Congregation recommends to Pope Francis that Zélie and Louis should be named saints, the way will be open for their canonization.

The influence of Louis and Zélie

Mgr Lagoutte, the rector of the Basilica at Lisieux, told those present at the closing session that Blessed Louis Martin and Zélie Guerin continue to be “very active.”  The Shrine at Lisieux receives testimonies from “spouses from all over the world” who had been unable to have children but have have succeeded “thanks to their intervention.”

The pastoral significance of Zélie and Louis 

Father Sangalli remarked that the Martins had "an exceptional marriage.  They educated not only the most famous of their five children, Thérèse, but also the other four,  particularly Léonie, a complicated daughter, who had problems.”  

“We have just concluded the investigation of Carmen´s cure and have sent it to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in Rome.  We hope that the Blessed French spouses follow their daughter, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, so that these Blessed parents can, if God permits,  be canonized by Peter´s successor, Pope Francis .  In this Year of The Faith, the Christian testimony of this marriage:  educator, teacher of faith and sanctity, presents issues that are clearly relevant for the whole Church

Bishop Boulanger of Lisieux pointed out that “The Lord has given us these spouses to accompany today’s families.”  The Discalced Carmelite nuns of Serra noted that “the Martin marriage is essential in a society as individualistic as our contemporary society.  The Martins were the example of union and of how to live spirituality as a family.”

Father Sangalli urged everyone to “repeat with force that the Martins are a special marriage, an example to our families today.  They are teachers in the field of faith, of education to domestic, ecclesial, and social sanctity.”

Sources:

1. "Ocho médicos testifican en la curación “inexplicable” de una niña valenciana de 4 años que investiga la Iglesia como presunto milagro" at elperiodic.com, 21/05/13.
2. "Sangalli: ´Los Martín son especiales'" by M. Ros, Valencia for Levante: El Mercantile Valenciano 26.05.2013 | 01:36
3. "Historia de un milagro," by Mónica Ros, Valencia, for Levante: El Mercantile Valenciano 26.05.2013 | 01:36
4. Ocho médicos testifican, “asombrados”, por un posible milagro en la curación inexplicable de una niña valencianaAtribuido a la intercesión de los padres de santa Teresita de Lisieux, ya beatificados by Eduardo Martinez 23-05-13 for Paraula

I am deeply grateful to my fellow apostle, Teodolinda Garcia of Panama, for translating the Spanish sources.  I thank elperiodic.com for permission to display the photos.

Process opens in Spain to examine a "presumed miracle" for the canonization of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

by Maureen O'Riordan for www.thereseoflisieux.org

 The cure of the baby Carmen in Valencia

     On October 19, 2008, Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, were beatified in France.  Four days earlier, on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, a little girl named Carmen was born in Valencia, Spain.  Carmen’s parents prefer to remain anonymous.  They had looked forward happily to the birth of their second child, but the pregnancy was a high-risk one, and Carmen was born most prematurely, after only six months, with grave complications.  The midwife’s first words were “Expect the worst.”  The baby had a grade 4 ventricular hemorrhage (severe bleeding in the brain).  “It started with a brain hemorrhage but was complicated by the lungs, the heart . . ,” the parents recall.  Carmen did not respond to treatment.  The doctors could do nothing for her, and her parents prepared for her death.

     Although there was no human hope, Carmen’s mother and father did not lose hope in God.  Because his daughter was born on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, her father decided to ask St. Teresa to intercede for her.  On the Internet he found a nearby monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns (the order St. Teresa reformed) and went to visit them.  “I arrived at night. It was closed and I could only talk to the nuns by the intercom. But the next Sunday we went there to Mass,” says the father. That Sunday was probably October 26, the first Sunday after the beatification of Louis and Zélie.   The parents came to trust the nuns, and “some days later, when things turned very bad for the baby, the nuns encouraged the family to seek the intercession of Louis and Zélie Martin,” said Sister Monique-Marie.  Zélie and Louis had already obtained  from God the cure of the newborn Pietro Schiliro near Milan in Italy, the miracle that led to their beatification.  The Carmelites gave Carmen’s parents a card with a prayer to Louis and Zélie and promised to pray with them for the child’s cure.

     "Because it was a crucial moment, we prayed with much faith” to the new blesseds, who had lost three of their own children as infants and one at the age of five.  After several critical weeks, Carmen suddenly experienced a radical change.  She was completely and inexplicably cured.  Her physicians were stunned.  Although they warned that Carmen would experience complications from her illness, she has not.

 “She is perfectly well, speaks normally, attends school, and is in excellent health.”  Her family cannot stop giving thanks for everything.  In January 2009, when the relics of Louis and Zélie came to Spain, the family went gratefully to venerate them.

At left, the four-year-old Carmen on January 7, 2013.

The Church begins to examine the alleged miracle

     When the Carmelite nuns learned of Carmen’s astounding cure, they communicated with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.  Information about Carmen’s case was collected and evaluated by a team at Lisieux and by the vice-postulator for the cause of the Martin spouses, Father Antonio Sangalli, O.C.D.  Father Sangalli, a Carmelite friar, was a friend of the parents of Pietro Schiliro, and it was he who urged them to make a novena to Zélie and Louis for the cure of their baby.  Father Sangalli was later appointed vice-postulator for the cause of Louis and Zélie, and Pietro’s cure was the miracle that led to their being named blessed a few days after Carmen was born.

Monsignor Lagoutte and Father Sangalli ask the Archbishop to open an inquiry into whether Carmen was miraculously cured at the intercession of Blessed Zélie and Louis

     In September 2012, Monsignor Bernard Lagoutte, rector of the Basilica of St. Thérèse, traveled to Valencia to present the dossier about Carmen's cure to the Archbishop of Valencia, Carlos Osoro Serra.  Sister Monique Marie of the Community of the Beatitudes, who often accompanies the reliquary of St. Thérèse in its travels and who is fluent in Spanish, went with him. She receives the testimonies of reported favors received at the intercession of Louis and Zélie, including the healing of the Italian child Pietro Schiliro; of an American child, now aged ten, who had suffered with leukemia; and of the little Carmen.  A former nurse, Sister Monique Marie quickly became passionate about the cure of Carmen.  As vice-postulator, Father Sangalli, who had shepherded the cause of Louis and Zélie to their beatification, joined them at Valencia. Father  Raymond Fita was present as archdiocesan delegate for the Causes of Saints.

from left: Fr. Sangalli; Msgr. Lagoutte; Archbishop Osoro; Sister Monique Marie; Fr. Raymond Fita.

     The Archbishop also received Carmen’s parents: they were “caring and concerned and recognized the investigative work our team had already done over the last three years,” said Sister Monique Marie.  In October the Archbishop decided to open the process in early 2013.

The process opens

     On Monday, January 7, 2013, in the Gothic Hall of the Archbishop’s Palace, Archbishop Osoro presided at the formal opening of the canonical process to inquire into whether Carmen’s cure was a miracle attributable to the intercession of Blessed Zélie and Louis Martin.  Father Sangalli had prepared a document detailing the alleged miracle and asking the Archbishop to open the canonical cause; he submitted the list of witnesses and the documents received in the case.  Jorge Miró, Chancellor of the Archdiocese, read the translation of this document.

     Father Sangalli confirmed his request and gave the archbishop the mandate accrediting him as the postulator of the cause.  The Archbishop then appointed a tribunal to examine the cause.  The members of the tribunal accepted their offices and were sworn in.  At the end of the opening session, little Carmen’s father read a brief sketch of the Martin couple.

     “That this process is going to open parallels the desire of many bishops and faithful of France.  Long live Spain, who cares about the sanctity of the two of France,” said Monsignor Lagoutte, smiling warmly.

Four-year-old Carmen at the ceremony

     Carmen’s parents and grandparents witnessed all these formalities in the Gothic hall of the Archbishop’s palace.  The little girl herself was there, unconscious of what a serious moment it was and of how important the grace she allegedly received was.  She played with her brother, moved from the arms of her mother to those of her father, licked a big lollipop she had just received, and made faces at the photographer’s camera.  Her innocent and playful presence added a touch of spontaneity to the solemn ceremony. In the 100-second video above, you may see Carmen at 1:01 and Father Sangalli signing the documents, with Sister Monique-Marie, at 1:19.

Witnesses and documentation

     Now the court will collect documents and evidence from doctors and witnesses to examine and prove the existence of the miracle.  When the diocesan tribunal finishes its review, the documents will be sent to the Holy See.  “The record is very advanced, and we hope [the diocesan process] will go quickly, five or six months,” said Sister Monique Marie.  In Rome, the evidence will be examined first by the medical conference of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, then by the commission of theologians, and finally by the bishops and cardinals, who will present the documentation to the Pope.  Pope Benedict may promulgate the "decree miracle,” the second miracle attributed to the intercession of the Martin spouses.  If he does, the way will be open for Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin to be canonized as a couple.

How long might the process take?  From the end of the diocesan process for the healing of Pietro Schiliro, it was more than five years before Zélie and Louis were beatified.

Comments on the cure

“For medicine, this is something extraordinary.” - Giuseppe Paterlini, medical court expert.

“You see more and more the intercession of the blessed spouses.”- Monsignor Bernard Lagoutte. Rector of the Basilica of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

“If it is confirmed, this is all an act of God.” - Archbishop Ennio Apeciti, the overseeing court judge

“Science is not everything, we are in the hands of the Other.” - Father Antonio of the Mother of God (Father Antonio Sangalli), Discalced Carmelite friar and vice-postulator of the process.

My reflection

Will the Church certify this cure as miraculous?   Without anticipating the judgment of the Church, if the miracle is accepted, we might consider:

• Carmen was born on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila, who reformed the branch of the Carmelite Order to which Thérèse and her three sisters belonged.  October 15 was Thérèse’s feast day during her lifetime.  If God sent the miraculous cure in Spain, the land from which the French Carmels were founded, and healed the child after the Carmelite nuns suggested invoking Zélie and Louis, does God want to emphasize the union between the sanctity of Louis and Zélie and that of their Carmelite daughter Thérèse?

• The Church accepts for canonization only miracles worked after the intercessors were beatified.  When Zélie and Louis were beatified, Carmen was four days old; she was cured very soon after that.  Might God want Louis and Zélie to be canonized without delay?

written by Maureen O'Riordan for www.thereseoflisieux.org     

Sources:

“L'histoire Il y a une quinzaine de jours, Mgr Bernard Lagoutte s'est rendu en Espagne,... – Lisieux,” by Anne Blanchard-Laizé.  Quest-France, October 16, 2012.

“El Arzobispado estudia un posible milagro en una niña valenciana atribuido a los padres de santa Teresita de Lisieux,” written by the agency AVAN and published on the Web site of the Archdiocese of Valencia, January 7, 2013.

"Un milagro en Valencia," January 8, 2013, by Laura Garcés for lasprovincias.es

  Expectación en Francia y en toda la Iglesia ante el posible milagro en una niña valenciana de 4 años signed by L. B. in the January 9, 2013 edition of Paraula (Iglesia en Valencia).

I gratefully acknowledge the generous collaboration of Teodolinda Garcia of Panama in translating the sources.

"The process concerning the diocesan inquiry into the presumed miracle attributed to the Martin spouses will be officially opened by the Archbishop of Valencia, in Spain, on January 7 at 7:00 p.m.  The Tribunal will be named, and the first session will follow the next day.  If all goes well, the final work could be sent to Rome at the end of April or the beginning of May, which could mean . .  . canonization of Louis and Zelie in 2013!" 

On December 12, 2012 the Shrine at Lisieux posted the above announcement in French on its Facebook page. See more about the lives of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin. Read about "A Call to a Deeper Love," their collected letters.