"Louis and Zelie Martin of Alencon" shows scenes familiar to the Martin family in Alencon, interviews in French, and the first film footage of the Pavilion, Blessed Louis Martin's watchtower and walled garden on the outskirts of Alencon.  Until the beatification of Zelie and Louis in October 2008, this property had been closed to pilgrims for decades. 

"The Inauguration of the Martin Family Home in Alencon" films the event in late April 2009 at which Louis and Zelie Martin's house on Rue Saint-Blaise, where St. Therese was born, was reopened to the press after having been closed for restoration.  Most of the film is interviews in French with Mgr. Jean-Claude Boulanger, bishop of Seez, and artists who worked on the restoration.  I thank the diocese of Seez WebTV for permission to post the films. To see them, please visit this page.

"The Basilica of St. Therese at Lisieux" features an exhaustive tour and history of the basilica of St. Therese, background about the saint's life, and interviews in English with Mme. Laurence Panontin, a long-time and knowledgeable member of the staff of the Pilgrimage Office at Lisieux.  I thank "Catholic Destinations," a TV show produced by Catholic TV in Massachusetts, for allowing me to post their film. 

    The archives of the Carmel of Lisieux conserved a document signed by Therese Martin at the age of 12, showing that on October 15, 1885 she enrolled in the Apostleship of Prayer, an association born of the missionary desires of Jesuits at a French seminary in 1844.  St. Therese of Lisieux is now co-patron of the Apostleship of Prayer.  Learn more about the Apostleship of Prayer and Therese's relationship with it.

February 25, 2009 marks fifty years since Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face and Saint Therese, the last surviving sister of St. Therese of Lisieux, died in the Carmel of Lisieux on February 25, 1959.  Born Marie Celine Martin, she lived at home with St. Therese until Therese entered Lisieux Carmel on April 9, 1888.  For more than six years, while Celine lived as a laywoman and looked after their father, who was ill, the sisters were separated.  After the death of Blessed Louis Martin, Celine entered the Carmel on September 14, 1894.  As a novice she learned her sister's "way of confidence and love," of which she was a tireless apostle all her life.  She made the offering of herself to Merciful Love with St. Therese on June 11, 1895, and she was the first person to read the childhood memories Therese wrote in 1895 (later the first part of "Story of a Soul").  She looked after St. Therese during her illness.  She painted a famous image of the Holy Face of Jesus and many other portraits, especially of her sister.  She testified at the processes for Therese's beatification and canonization and at the diocesan processes for the cause of her mother and her father, Blessed Zelie and Louis Martin.

For significant dates in Sister Genevieve's life, please see the Web site of the Shrine of Lisieux.

For the powerful correspondence between Therese and Celine, please see  The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux (Volume I, 1877-1890; Volume II, 1890-1897) on this page.

For Celine's memoir of her sister, please see "My Sister Saint Therese" at the bottom of this page.

For "Celine: Sister and Witness of St. Therese of the Child Jesus," a biography by Franciscan Father Stephane-Joseph Piat, please see the bottom of this page.

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.